Bulletin Board: War on Land Messages

I am searching for a Jack Harris, a family member, or any of his relatives. I know Jack was stationed at M.T Depot York around 1940. Any information would be very much appreciated.

I am looking for someone who may have served with my great uncle, Francis Alexander Jarvo. He served with the Essex Scottish Regiment, R.C.I.C. He was killed in action on October 19, 1944. He was 19 years old. I have very little info about him. I would like to know more about him ex: stories, pictures etc.
Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You!

Im trying to find out any information on the Roayl Engineers - 259 Field Coy.

My great uncle died in this division on 30th April 1943. Rumours are that he died by being shot in training in Ireland, but im unsure as to how reliable this information is. Im trying to track down any service history relating to him, but am comming up hitting blanks.

Without knowing exactly where he dies, I am limited to search for a copy of his death cert. Ive checked through Eng & Wales death registry, but nothing is listed for him. I got the date of death from his War Grave and the roll of honours list.

Sapper William Jones 14362412 - known as: Bill
Royal Engineers 259 Field Coy
Date of death: 30th April 1943 Age: 21
Date of birth: 1921
Place of birth: Hereford, Herefordshire, UK

Any information on William or the 259 Field Coy would be gratefully received! :D

Many thanks!

Hello All,

I am wondering if anyone knows if there are any WW2 related sites within the Vienna area (bunkers, pillboxes, above ground buildings ETC). I am looking for sites within 3 or so hours from the city.

-Thanks

My Father recently passed-Found a letter-and a picture-Very Beautiful lady-For privacy reasons-The lady's first name was *Peggy* There was a child-my Father called him *Shorty*-Not sure if he was my dads child-But willing to accept him if he is-The address of the Lady was-152 Whitehawk Ave. (k)or (h)*hemptow Brighton England-Would like to return the letter-(postcard) letter to My Grandfather-If this person is my Brother I need to tell you-Many things-My Father-Never forgot your Mother or you.Thank-You-Hope we can both anwser each other questions-I hope I can offer you Peace-

L/Acting Bombardier ERIC DOUG DICKERS
My son and I have done extensive reserch into my late farther,s regt,s history during ww11.He was well known for the printing of the regt,s magazine FLASH. Any informatiom on him or the regt would be most helpfull.
Many thanks Rob Dickers.

My mum's grandfather - Jack Parnell Whelan - was in the Home Guard in Barnes in London in 1940. He was fatally injured rescuing people from a bomb-damaged house - a doorway fell in. He died at his home in Madrid Road in Barnes on 16 October, just 9 days before my mother was born. I recently found the last letter ever written to him, from Melbourne, Australia. It is dated 14 November. The irony is the writer - who'd served with him in World War One [great grandad fought at the Somme] - was writing to a dead man. And didn't know it. Goodness knows what his widow must've thought reading it.

My dad [aged 7]was living in Teignmouth with his mother when the Germans bombed it. Two houses opposite were destroyed while they hid under the kitchen table! He recalls the German Prisoner of War Camp [the Rugby Club], the Anti-aircraft batteries [Bitton Park],and the barbed wire on the beach clearly. And the fact the Germans missed the key targets. They moved to Exeter shortly before the High Street was hit. Because of this, his mother decided to sail to Australia to stay with her cousins in Melbourne. Another link with that city! I have the photos of the two of them taken in Brisbane. They even sailed back again during the war, as the Japanese threatened to invade! My mother, living in Nottingham with her father‘s parents [he'd been called up], was put on checking-whether-the house-was blacked-out duty.

My father, Lt. James Andrew Hislop, served with the British Army as a Canadian Officer on Loan to Britain (CANLOAN). He was attached to the 5th Battalion-59th Infantry Division and was wounded on more than one occasion. He was wounded by German machine gun in a field somewhere in Belgium which resulted in his being sent back to England to hospital. I am wondering if anyone recalls this young Canadian Officer. (He had also served with the 3rd Battalion, 11th Armoured Division of the Monmouthshire Regiment).

Jim Hislop

My husband bought a panoramic framed photograph a while ago, with the title of
342 Hy. A.A. Battery R.A.
Although he loves it, it would be nice for it to be reunited with someone who has personal links with the regiment in the photo. (we would have to ask for the £30 we paid for it originally) please reply on the bulletin board if interested.

I am researching my husbands family history and we know that his Grandfather, George Giles, was in action in North Africa and Italy. We believe he was involved in the Salerno landings and was at Cassino.

Does anyone know anything about the regiment's activities at that time or have a relative who was in the same regiment?

POWs in German camps were allowed to take exams for the matriculation and degree papers of the University of London External system. Did you or someone in your family take one of these courses? Or were you in a camp where these courses were run? The University of London is conducting research into these wartime exams and would be pleased to hear from anyone who has something to contribute.

I am trying to obtain information about my father's military service during WW2. He apparently joined the Territorial Army in North Lincolnshire around 1938, probably at Scunthorpe. He became a driver in the RASC and was based at Sedgefield and later in the south of England, probably in Kent. I have a wartime picture of him in uniform showing RASC and CANADA and various patches and a stripe low on his left sleeve.
I do not have my father's service number. His name was William Leslie Bassindale. Born 1910 in Lincolnshire but spent his formative years in the Liverpool area.

I am researching the activities of my late grandfather, Robert Thornton, a private in the 1st Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment. He served throughout the war but was wounded in Sicily. I would be interested to hear from anyone researching York & Lancs 1st Battalion history or of course anyone who served in the battalion during this time. I am particularly interested in the Sicilian campaign (Operation Husky)which seems to be very overlooked in comparison to Normandy with limited information on the internet. I recently read the Battalion diary for Sicily (National Archives - Kew) and would be happy to pass on the notes I took.

I am trying to trace anybody who knew my grandad William Cowling. His date of birth was 17th June 1914. All I know was that he belonged to the Desert Rats and fought Rommel, possibly in the RASC or a driver. I have two photographs but neither of them show regimental badges. I would be extremely grateful for any information.

The following are three poems written at the time of the war by my father J T Turner RASC.

(1)

TO THOSE IN ENGLAND
(XMAS 1940)

While screaming shell and crashing, roaring gun
herald th' approach of 1941:
We – with a cloudless, noiseless sky above –
We,from a calm and peaceful sea, send love
to those in England.

And, if the future hold for us as well
the terror of the diving plane. . . the hell
wherein's destroyed all that is held most pure. . .
we shall be proud if we can but endure
as those in England.

And, when a peaceful New Year dawns, and greets
our ship returning - sees the crippled streets
bleeding, but still untrodden by the Hun –
these will bear witness that the war was won
by those in England.

J.T.T.
(Copyright 1940)

Written on board a troopship bound for an unknown destination in Nov.1940, as the great Blitzkrieg on Britain began.

(2)

TO DURBAN

Divinely fair, you crept into our lives;
Knowing we yearned for Mothers, sweethearts, wives;
Hiding your own sad partings with a smile,
Earning a lasting happiness the while.

Durban, my dear, may this small token serve
To reinforce the courage and the nerve
Of those who, by their friendliness and charm,
Have added to the strength of Britain's Arm.

Later, each lonely Tommy out from home
Will oft allow his fondest thoughts to roam
Back to the town whose charities portend
That very Love by which all wars will end.

J.T.T.

June,1941.

(3)

EASTERN CONVOY

The Sands roll by -
Grain upon myriad grain for mile on mile:
Blood-red or dazzling golden pile on pile,
Baked by relentless sun - and all the while
The sands roll by!

The roads roll by -
Pitted and pocked by War's unceasing wheels.
Rocks in the sand each sweating driver feels
On spine imprinted - forward the convoy steals,
And roads roll by!

The hours roll by -
Monotony "relieved" by arduous toil -
A broken spring, six punctures, "shorting coil" –
Still, sweating, dusty, parched and breathing oil,
The hours roll by!

The days roll by –
Torrential rains turning the land to slime:
Roadways impassable, camps in the grime -
Yet rations, guns and troops arrive on time,
As days roll by!

The years roll by -
Warfare will cease - rain, sun and sand remain.
History will write of triumph, terror, pain.....
They'll know at last their work was not in vain,
As years roll by.

J.T.T.

June 1941.

Copyright reserved by T/185862 C.Q.M.S. J.T.Turner,R.A.S.C.

I served in the ATS/RASC from 1943 through 1946 and am trying to contact any survivor of that period who also served in WW.II. I emigrated to Ohio in 1953 and have lived here since then. I enlisted in Manchester and my first posting was to Preston, then Carlisle, and finally Manchester. I have many memories of that time to exchange with others, but feel time is running out as so far I have been unsuccessful. "Still homesick" in Ohio

I am researching my late Grandfathers war exploits and would be grateful for any informtation anyone has regarding his units. He was in the 297th Coastal Battery (the old Margate TA Battery) which came under the 203rd Fixed Defences. He sailed from Liverpool to Augusta arriving on the 19th July 1943. I believe he sailed on the SS Franconia. He often mentioned being at Messina and Catiana. His name was George Henry Rumbol and he was from East London.

Any information or recollections would be really helpful.

i am trying to find veterans who were in this regiment during ww2. My grandad would like to talk to anyone who was in his regient his no wwas 7019316 and his name is jim roffey he served from 1941 - 46

My Father was on the ammunition train at the time of the bombing, only survivor of his platoon when their coach was hit.
If anyone was there I would be pleased to hear their memories.
I am looking for photographs of the station before the bombing and immediately post bombing.

Would appreciate any information concerning the activities of the Royal irish Fusiliers in Sicily, particularly during August 1943

In 1943, following Rome liberation and the subsequent German retreat from the city, the italian seaplane base at Bracciano (located by the same lake, north of Rome)was occupied by british army troops. The base, which had hosted an italian and a german seaplane group, had been since 1923 the experimental ground for the italian military seaplane production and all of the archives (photo and other)were hosted at the base itself.
The base was not bombed during the war and only occasional strafe, with minor damages, occurred during the war. The base was abandoned by italian sea recon. sqdn on sept. 10th 1945, the few still operative planes were sunk in the lake and the
The base was handed over by british to the italians in 1946.
I am looking for any information and/or photographic material about british activity in the Bracciano base during the period 1943 - 1945.
Thank You

I JOINED RAF IN DECEMBER 1942, TRAINED AS A NAVIGATOR IN SOUTH AFRICA AND SPENT SOME TIME IN MIDDLE EAST.
WAS EVENTUALLY MADE REDUNDANT AND POSTED TO 120 MU IN PALESTINE.

WOULD LIKE TO CONTACT ANY EX RAF, WAAF, 6th. AIRBORNE WHO WERE AT 120 M.U. RAS EL AIN PALESTINE 1945 ONWARDS.

I was in the small van-guard of the 8th Kings Royal Irish Hussars leaving from Itzehoe to Berlin to prepare for the British occupation of the Potsdam area of Berlin after partition was agreed.
We took over the 1936 Olympic games complex as barracks which had been used by the Russians and which was in an incredibly unpleasant state there being no water or sanitation for some time.
I would be interested to hear from anyone who was in the 8th KRIH at that time.
Roy Asher Cpl

Dunkirk survivor Tom Lancaster celebrates his 100th birthday on Monday 05 September 2005.
Sixty-five years ago Tom was part of the British Expeditionary Force that was miraculously evacuated from Dunkirk beaches.
Originally in the Border Regiment he was transferred into the Royal Engineers, and he believed a lot of the men would not have got off the beaches at Dunkirk if it hadn't been for the work of the engineers.

" They were making tank traps . Tanks couldn't get by them . There was a good chance that nobody would get off but the worst part of the war for me was the bombing . You had no way of stopping it . You had no protection against it," he said.

Originally from Cumberland in England ,Mr Lancaster had been in the army as a reserve before the war, and his service was to take him to North Africa and Italy.

I think he is a relation of mine.
Possibly Grandson of Matthew Dexter coal miner of Castleford Yorkshire.
If anyone could contact his descendents I would be happy to give them the info. I have on his ancestors.

Seeking veterans of this Regiment or their relatives to get in touch and share memories. I am compiling their history.
Thanks

I'm trying to find some information on an English Army Telescope I've received. It is marked Telescope Sighting No. 9B and is dated 1918, made by the Periscopio Prism Co. Limited of London. It is a five to 15 power zoom scope. It came in its carrying case with two attachments marked Attachment Bino No.4 Mk II, dated 1941. It is a large piece and we are very curious to know what it was part of, especially since its service life spanned both WW1 and WWII.

Anything anyone might be able to tell me about it, or any possible leads would be much appreciated.

I have come across a series of tankards and other souvenirs made by Granger in Egypt. They have maps of the different theatres of war and lists of important dates in the war inscribed on them. Most items appear to have origionally been silver plated or chromed but they carry an inscription stating that they are made from brass salvaged from the battlefields. The quality of manufacture and engraving suggests that they have been "mass produced" for sale to the troops. Can anyone tell me who Granger was and where in Egypt he had his factory?