Welwyn Garden City residents who died in WW2

The Memorials

Both the Hatfield Hyde and Howardsgate Memorials have the same names of those who died serving their country during World War One and Two. This article provides details about those who died in World War Two.

The World War Two names on the Memorials

AMES, HAROLD VICTOR

Rank:  Flight Sergeant

Trade: Wireless Operator

Service No: 1461233

Date of Death: 29/12/1944

Age: 24

Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Cemetery: Ardglass (St. Nicholas) Church of Ireland Churchyard, UK

Additional Information: Son of Walter and Kate Ames.

Killed when the Anson 1, LT 431, he was flying in crashed at Crossgar, Northern Ireland whilst on a low flying exercise.

AUGSBERGER, STANLEY C

Rank: Stoker 2nd Class

Service No: P/KX 664747

Date of Death: 22/08/1944

Age: 18

Regiment/Service: Royal Navy, HMS Bickerton

Memorial: Portsmouth Naval Memorial, UK

Additional Information:

Son of George Stanley and Margaret Augsburger, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.

Royal Navy frigate HMS Bikerton was torpedoed by U354 whilst on convoy duty off the North Cape in the Barents Sea. 39 crew died including Stoker Stanley Augsberger.

BAKER, F W

Details unknown

BARRETT, WILLIAM

Rank: Sergeant

Service No: 541539

Date of Death: 09/01/1943

Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force ,  44 (Rhodesia) Squadron.

Memorial: Runnymede Memorial, UK

Additional Information:

No. 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron was an aviation unit of the Royal Air Force based at RAF Waddington. In 1941 the squadron was renamed No. 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron in honour of the Rhodesian contribution to Britain’s war effort, and also to recognise that up to 25% of the ground and air crew were Rhodesian.

No. 44 received its first Avro Lancaster, BT308, in late 1941 and became the first squadron to convert completely to Lancaster’s—flying their first operational missions in the aircraft on 3 March 1942. The squadron suffered the third highest overall casualties of RAF Bomber Command.

Sergeant William Barrett took off in Lancaster 1, Serial: W4176, Code: KM-X from R.A.F. Waddington, Lincolnshire at 17.54 hrs to lay sea mines in the “Daffodils” area. It was part of a 73 Lancaster force to drop mines off the Danish and German coastline when it is understood was intercepted, shot down in the target area at around 2.500 mtrs “probably” by Maj. Günther Radusch of II./NJG3 at 21.10 hrs. The aircraft is thought to have come down in the North Sea west of Sylt, Denmark. All the crew were killed, Sgt William Barrett was the Flight Engineer.

BERKS, IRENE CLARA

Rank: Aircraftwoman 2nd Class

Service No: 2132775

Date of Death: 30/11/1943

Age: 19

Regiment/Service: Women’s Auxiliary Air Force

Cemetery: Welwyn Garden City (Hatfield Hyde) Burial Ground, UK

Additional Information:

Daughter of Leonard William and Elizabeth Susan Berks, of Welwyn Garden City.

Irene died of influenza in a hospital in Hitchin. She served at RAF Barkway near Royston and  her father was appalled at the living conditions at her base where she contracted influenza. Her family lived in Newfields, Welwyn Garden City.

BERRETT, ALONZO HENRY

Rank: Stoker 1st Class

Service No: C/KX 98175

Date of Death: 14/10/1940

Age: 20

Regiment/Service: Royal Navy, HMS Liverpool

Cemetery: Alexandria (Chatby) Military and War Memorial Cemetery, Egypt

Additional Information:

Son of Grace Lilian Berrett, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.

HMS Liverpool, named after the port city of Liverpool was a Town-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy in service from 1938 to 1952. She was launched in March 1937.

When the Mediterranean Light Forces restructured in August 1940, Liverpool was switched to the 3rd Cruiser Squadron, grouped with Gloucester and Kent under the command of Rear-Admiral Edward de Faye Renouf. On 28 September, as part of Operation MB.5, Liverpool and Gloucester proceeded to Malta, transporting reinforcements, airmen, and RAF provisions. The cruisers—briefly protected by a force consisting of the battleships Valiant Valiant and Warspite, Illustrious with her aircraft, cruisers Orion, Sydney and York, and 11 destroyers—came under repeated aerial attack. Both cruisers later detached from the naval force and reached the island on the 30th.

The fleet again put to sea on 8 October with the intention of supporting Malta convoy MF.3 and the Alexandria-bound convoy MF.4, while seeking to engineer an encounter with the main assets of the Italian Navy. Although Admiral Cunningham did not realise his latter objective, which was limited to an engagement with Italian destroyers, the convoys reached their respective destinations. The Illustrious then conducted aerial operations against Italian installations on the island of Leros. While Liverpool and other escorts were returning from the sortie on the 14th October, Italian torpedo-bombers attacked the cruiser, inflicting considerable damage to the forward section and causing fuel to be released from the aviation tank. According to Captain Read, despite the petrol being surrounded with 70 tons of water in accordance with regulation, the fuel reached the mess decks and became exposed to an electrical short circuit. The subsequent explosion, at 19:20, seriously compromised Liverpool’s bow structure, enveloped the forecastle in flames, and blew up the vacated “A” turret.

Liverpool’s crew prepared the cruiser’s Carley floats and other small craft while warships, including Gloucester, began to arrive at the scene. The Orion, screened by the anti-aircraft cruisers Calcutta and Coventry, took her in tow at the stern.  While being towed on the 15th, Liverpool’s bow separated from the hull. Later in the day, 12 of the cruiser’s sailors (including one unidentifiable at the time) were buried at sea. Three more died in the night and were buried before the two cruisers reached the port of Alexandria on the 16th. Liverpool’s losses in the attack had amounted to 3 officers and 27 crewmen killed and 35 crewmen wounded.

Stoker Alonzo Berrett was one of the crewmen who died.

BERTLIN, JOHN ANTHONY RODEN

Rank: Warrant Officer

Service No: 1601599

Date of Death: 11/01/1945

Age: 22

Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Memorial: Runnymede Memorial, UK

Additional Information:

Son of Anthony Bertlin, and of Edith Maud Bertlin, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire. Born: Brentford 1922

Died whilst assigned to 20 OTU  at RAF Lossiemouth, Scotland on 11 January 1945 in a Wellington X, Serial: LR140 . All the crew died when the aircraft crashed at sea, position unknown.

BINZ, FREDERICK

Rank: Gunner

Service No: 917792

Date of Death: 08/06/1944

Age: 25

Regiment/Service: Royal Horse Artillery  2 Regt.

Cemetery: Jarrow Cemetery, UK

Additional Information:

Son of Frederick Theodore Binz, and of Margaret Binz, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire. Freederick was born in Jarrow.

Died of wounds (probably due to lost limbs) at Roehampton Military Hospital in London. The wounds were the result of fighting in either North Africa or Italy.

BOLDING, THEODORE

Rank: Flying Officer

Trade: Navigator / Wireless Operator.

Service No: 151483

Date of Death: 25/09/1944

Age: 23

Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 489 (RNZAF) Squadron.

Cemetery: Welwyn Garden City (Hatfield Hyde) Burial Ground, UK

Additional Information:

Son of Arthur Seabrook Bolding and Claire Bolding, of Welwyn Garden City.

489 (NZ) Squadron was formed from pilots of the Royal New Zealand Air Force on 12 August 1941 under RAF Coastal Command as an anti-submarine and reconnaissance unit.

The squadron converted to Beaufighters in November 1943 and was based at RAF Langham. Beaufighters were used to attack shipping in the North Sea and along the coast of Occupied Europe, Northern Germany and Scandinavia. From April 1944 it formed part of the Anzac Strike wing. It also flew air sea rescue missions, escorted convoys and continued anti-submarine work.

On 25 September 1944 seventy Beaufighters penetrated the heavily defended anchorage at Den Helder to attack shipping and port installations with notable success; nine ships – escorts, mine sweepers, and flak ships – were set on fire and one of them finally blew up in a sheet of flame. Five aircraft were lost with their crews. Flying Officer Theodore Bolding was killed during the action.

BOYCE, JOHN DOUGLAS

Rank: Private

Service No: 5952406

Date of Death: 28/03/1942

Age: 23

Regiment/Service: Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment and No. 3 Commando

Cemetery: Escoublac-La-Baule War Cemetery, France

Additional Information:

Son of William and Elizabeth Ann Boyce, of Tonypandy, Glamorgan.

Private John Boyce was a Commando in the St Nazaire raid on the night of 28 March 1942. He was one of 169 British Naval and Commando forces who were killed in the successful raid on the docks.

BROWN, JIM

Rank: Stoker 1st Class

Service No: C/SS 125060

Date of Death: 25/07/1941

Regiment/Service: Royal Navy HMS Achates

Memorial: Chatham Naval Memorial, UK

Additional Information:

Son of James and Sarah Brown; husband of Louisa Jane Brown.

HMS Achates was an A-class destroyer of the Royal Navy launched on 4 October 1929 and commissioned on 27 March 1930.

In July 1941, while taking position in the screen of carriers preparing for the disastrous air strike against Kirkenes/Petsamo, Achates was mined and severely damaged, but managed to make port for repairs. Stoker Jim Brown was killed as a result of the mine explosion.

BUCHANAN, DOUGLAS GARDNER

Rank: Flying Officer

Trade: Pilot Instructor.

Service No: 60768

Date of Death: 17/12/1941

Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Cemetery: Welwyn Garden City (Hatfield Hyde) Burial Ground, UK

Additional Information:

Cause of death unknown.

BULLOCK, JOHN ROSS

Rank: Flying Officer

Date of Death: 23-24/05/1943

Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force, 102 Squadron

Cemetery: Bergen General Cemetery, Germany

Additional Information:

Flying Officer John Bullock was in Halifax II, W7935 DY-Y on the night of 13/14 May 1943, on a bombing mission to Bochum, Germany. The aircraft was damaged and ditched in the sea of the coast of England near Great Yarmouth, John was rescued.

On 23/24 May 1943, he was in Halifax II JD112, DY-H on a mission to Dortmund when the aircraft was shot down and crashed at Bovenkarspel. John Bullock was killed and is buried in Bergen General Cemetery.

BURGER, ALAN DOUGLAS

Rank: Lieutenant (A)

Trade: Pilot

Date of Death: 04/05/1945

Age: 23

Regiment/Service: Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, HMS Formidable.

Memorial: Lee-on-Solent Memorial, UK

Additional Information:

Son of Richard Henry and Lilian Diana Burger, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.

HMS Formidable was an Illustrious class aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy during World War II. She was constructed by Harland & Wolff, Belfast, and launched on 17 August 1939.

During 1945, she saw service against Japanese forces with the 1st Aircraft Carrier Squadron of the British Pacific Fleet, and survived several kamikaze  attacks while supporting the landings on Okinawa. On May 4, just after 11.30 a.m. a Japanese plane made a steep dive from “a great height” at Formidable and was engaged by AA guns. The kamikaze was hit at close range, but crashed into the flight deck, making a massive dent about 10 feet (3 m) long, two feet (0.6 m) wide and two feet deep in the armoured flight deck. A large steel splinter speared down through the hangar deck and the centre boiler-room, where it ruptured a steam line, and came to rest in a fuel tank, starting a major fire in the aircraft park. Eight crew members were killed and forty-seven were wounded.

The 3″ armoured steel flight deck of Formidable prevented further damage by kamikaze attacks. One Corsair and ten Grumman Avengers were destroyed. However, the fires were gradually brought under control and the crater in the deck was repaired with concrete and steel plate. By 5 p.m., Corsairs were again able to land on Formidable.

Lt Alan Burger was one of those killed as a result of this attack.

BURR -THOMAS, WILLIAM KELMAN

Rank: Flying Officer

Trade: Pilot

Service No: 72251

Date of Death: 04/02/1941

Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force 106 Squadron.

Cemetery: Nantes (Pont-de-Cens) Communal Cemetery, France

Additional Information:

Flying Officer William Kelman Burr-Thomas was the pilot of a Hampden AD750 of 106 Squadron. Airborne 1730 hrs 4 Feb 1941 from RAF Finningley for a mining operation off St- Nazaire (Beech Region). Crashed near Nantes (Loire-Atlantique) killing all 4 of the crew.

CASTLE, FRANK VALENTINE

Rank: Able Seaman

Service No: C/SSX 26883

Date of Death: 15/12/1942

Age: 21

Regiment/Service: Royal Navy, HMS Asphodel

Memorial: Chatham Naval Memorial, UK

Additional Information:

Son of Frederick George and Edith May Castle; husband of Enid Maude Castle, of Woolmer Green, Hertfordshire

HMS Asphodel was a Flower Class Corvette launched in 1940. She was torpedoed and sunk by U-boat U-575 in March 1944 whilst on convoy protection with a loss of 92 crew, 5 survived. Frank Castle is reported as Missing Presumed Killed whilst serving on HMS Asphodel on 15 December 1942.

CHORLEY, GERARD

Rank: Warrant Officer Class II

Trade: Company Sergeant Major.

Service No: 3766492

Date of Death: 29/06/1942

Age: 32

Regiment/Service: Army Physical Training Corps

Cemetery: Aldershot Military Cemetery, UK

Additional Information: Husband of Helen Chorley, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.

Cause of death unknown.

CLEMENTS, HARRY

Details unknown

CLENNELL, JAMES

Rank: Squadron Leader

Trade: Pilot

Service No: 32242

Date of Death: 25/02/1942

Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, 255 Squadron.

Cemetery: Scottow Cemetery, Norfolk, UK

Additional Information: Husband of Joan Clennell

Whilst No.255 Squadron were based at RAF Coltishall in Norfolk.  An engine failure in flight, resulted in the crash of Beaufighter Mk II T3023 on 25 February 1942 and the deaths of 32242 Acting Squadron Leader Geoffrey James Ian Clennell (Pilot) and 102185 Pilot Officer Harold Nigel Vincent (Passenger), the sole survivor being 112517 Pilot Officer Ronnie Wynzar (Radio Operator). The Accident Card reads as follows:

“Group Engineering Officer considers (1) Superchargers of Merlin XX of unsatisfactory design. (2) Aircraft under-powered. Thus extreme boost used in chasing enemy. +12lb boost always used on take-off. Every effort should be made to re-equip Beaufighter II squadron with Beaufighter VI. Hercules engines more reliable.”

The squadron did re-equip and all subsequent variants of the Beaufighter reverted to Bristol Hercules engines, the anticipated shortage of which failed to materialise.

COLEY, JOHN WILSON

Rank: Lance Sergeant

Service No: 2033377

Date of Death: 08/11/1944

Age: 30

Regiment/Service: Royal Engineers 79 Assault Squadron.

Cemetery: Bergen-Op-Zoom War Cemetery, Belgium

Historical Information

Bergen-op-Zoom War Cemetery contains 1,284 Commonwealth burials and commemorations of the Second World War. 116 of the burials are unidentified. Many of the casualties are as a result of the Battle for Walcheren (Operation Infatuate), at the beginning of November 1944. Walcheren was an island that dominated the entrance to the River Scheldt, which the Germans fortified to prevent the allies gaining access to the vital deep water port at Antwerp. After a hard fought battle, that principally involved units from the 52nd (Lowland) Division, the 5th Canadian Infantry Brigade and the 4th Special Service Brigade, the island was secured on the 8th November 1944.

Lance Sergeant John Coley seems to have been killed on the day when the island of Walcheren was secured.

COLLOM, RICHARD HOCKLEY

Rank: Civilian

Date of Death: 03/10/1940

Age: 33

Regiment/Service: Civilian War Dead

Reporting Authority: Hatfield Rural District, UK

Additional Information:

Son of Mrs. Bowyer (formerly Collom), of Brick Lane, Enfield, Middlesex, and of the late R. H. Collom; husband of V. M. Collom, of 6 Heronswood Road, Welwyn Garden City.

Died at De Havilland’s aircraft factory, Hatfield as the result of a bombing raid by the Luftwaffe.

COMBE, GERALD EDWARD

Rank: Lieutenant

Service No: 67503

Date of Death: 27/05/1940

Age: 23

Regiment/Service: Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment 5th Battalion

Cemetery: Le Grand Hasard Military Cemetery, Morbeque, France

Additional Information:

Son of Herbert Walter and Mildred Eleanor Combe, of Bromley, Kent.

Le Grand Hasard Military Cemetery, begun by the 31st Division at the end of June 1918, was also used by the 40th Division. On its closure at the end of August the cemetery comprised Plots I and II, but after the Armistice Plots III and IV were added when scattered graves were brought into the cemetery from a wide area around Hazebrouck. The earliest of these graves dates from May 1915, but the majority were from the fighting of April 1918.??There are now 300 Commonwealth burials of the First World War in the cemetery.??

Two further plots of 138 burials were added to the cemetery during the Second World War. Among these later burials, all dating from May and June 1940, are special memorials to a number of casualties known to be buried within the cemetery whose graves could not be precisely located. 58 of the graves are unidentified.?

Lt Gerald Edward Combe probably died during the rearguard fighting during the Dunkirk evacuation. The survivors of the Regiment were evacuated back to England from Dunkirk.

COTTRELL, HENRY

Rank: Leading Aircraftman

Service No: 1201927

Date of Death: 10/06/1946

Age: 34

Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Cemetery: Welwyn Garden City (Hatfield Hyde) Burial Ground, UK

Additional Information:

Son of Henry and Sarah Jane Cottrell; husband of Agnes Cottrell, of Welwyn Garden City.

It is likely that Leading Aircraftman Cottrell was injured during the war and died some months later as a result of his injuries.

CROUCH, PHILIP HAYWARD

Rank: Sergeant

Service No: 7892830

Date of Death: 30/06/1942

Age: 28

Regiment/Service: Royal Armoured Corps 4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters)

Memorial: Alamein Memorial , Libya

Additional Information:

Son of Walter Horace and Helena Gertrude Crouch, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.

Sergeant Crouch died during the North Africa campaign at the battle of Gazala near Tobruk. Allied forces lost Tobruk to Rommel’s forces, Philip Crouch, probably in the period after the battle, died where some 6,000 troops were lost to Axis forces. He has no known grave.

DAVIS, CECIL

Details unknown

De SOISSONS, PHILIP A. De SAVOIE-CARIGNAN

Rank: Midshipman

Date of Death: 23/05/1941

Age: 17

Regiment/Service: Royal Navy, HMS Fiji

Memorial: Portsmouth Naval Memorial, UK

Additional Information:

Son of Louis De Savoie-Carignan de Soissons and Elinor De Savoie-Carignan De Soissons, of Regents Park, London.

Architect of Welwyn Garden City

HMS Fiji was built by John Brown and launched on 31 May 1939. She was the first of the Crown Colony class to enter service, and the class is sometimes known as the Fiji class as a consequence. She was commissioned on 5 May 1940, and initially joined the Home Fleet. On 31 August 1940 she sailed for the African Atlantic coast to take part in Operation Menace, the attack on Dakar. Before she could join the taskforce, Fiji was damaged by a torpedo from U-32 on 1 September and had to return to Britain for repairs, which lasted for the next six months. She was fitted with radar and her Anti-Aircraft armament was also marginally increased.

She returned to service in March 1941 and was assigned to patrol the Denmark Strait for German raiders. She missed the homeward bound German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer, and in April she was reassigned to Force H to blockade the German heavy ships then stationed at Brest. With Force H, she sailed into the Mediterranean to support operations to relieve the island of Malta.

On completion of these duties she participated in the Battle of Crete. On 22 May 1941 she was acting in company with the destroyers HMS Kandahar and HMS Kingston shortly after the loss of HMS Glouster. These ships fought on and shot down one attacker and damaged two others. She finally expended all of her AA ammunition fighting off numerous air attacks that persisted for two hours. She was attacked and hit by several bombs from Messerchmitt Bf 109s before an aircraft of Jagdgeschwader 77 dropped a bomb close alongside to port. This blew in Fiji’s bottom plates and caused a list to port. Fiji lost power and came to a standstill. She was now largely defenceless, having practically exhausted her 4 inch ammunition. She was then hit by three bombs dropped by a Junkers Ju 88 from Lehrgeschwader 1 piloted by Gerhard Brenner. Captain Peveril William-Powlett gave the order to abandon ship and at 2015 Fiji rolled over and sank. The destroyers dropped floats and withdrew to the south. They returned after dark to pick up 523 survivors. 241 men had gone down with the ship. Midshipman De Soissons was one of those lost.

DERWENT, I R

Details unknown

DIBBEN, JOSEPH HENRY

Rank: Gunner

Service No: 906940

Date of Death: 02/09/1940

Age: 20

Regiment/Service: Royal Artillery 86 (The Hertfordshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment

Cemetery: Widdrington (Holy Trinity) Churchyard, UK

Additional Information:

Son of Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Dibben, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.

The 86th (East Anglian) (Herts Yeo) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery was mobilised in September 1939, its three batteries were the;

341 (St Albans) Battery

342 (Hertford) Battery

462 Battery

In 1940 the regiment was equipped with 8 x 4.5 inch Howitzers & 4 x 18/25 pounder guns,it remained in the United Kingdom until 1944 being attached to various divisions. During this time it used a number of new self propelled artillery vehicles Bishop, Priest and the Sexton self-propelled guns.

Gunner Joseph Dibben died in UK presumably from an accident whilst based in Northumberland.

DOBSON, JIM

Details unknown

DORN, BERNARD HENRY

Rank: Flight Sergeant

Trade: Observer.

Service No: 1324162

Date of Death: 27/03/1944

Age: 34

Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 271 Squadron.

Cemetery: Welwyn Garden City (Hatfield Hyde) Burial Ground, UK

Additional Information:

Son of Carl Laurits Dorn and Edith Mary Dorn; husband of Cecilia Agnes Dorn, of Seven Kings, Essex. B.A. Hons. (Lond.). Lived at 27 Parkfields, Welwyn Garden City, Herts

No. 271 Squadron was a transport squadron. In May 1940, the squadron was created from the former 1680 Flight at Doncaster, in a transport role. Equipment mostly consisted of the Handley Page Harrow, supplemented with the Bristol Bombay and civil airliners impressed into military service, including the Handley Page H.P.42s from Imperial Airways.

Among the early tasks of the squadron was the support of RAF units in France, and the evacuation of them once the fall of France became inevitable. Following that, they worked mostly within the UK, moving equipment and supplies, especially when RAF fighter squadrons moved airfields. For a while the Squadron operated a detached flight at RAF Wick running a regular service to Reykjavik in Iceland using de Havilland DH.91 Albatross aircraft, but when both were lost this was abandoned, the detached flight instead acquiring de Havilland Dominies, which were used to supply remote Scottish communities.

From 1942 they began an association with the airborne forces and this role would show an increasing prominence in the Squadron’s mission. Airborne training flights were a commonplace task during 1942 and 1943. The Squadron was transferred to the newly formed Transport Command in March 1943, and was re-equipped with Douglas Dakotas from August, although a flight of Harrows were retained as air ambulances.

In February 1944, the Squadron became a part of the newly formed 46 Group, and their establishment of thirty Dakotas were moved to RAF Down Ampney, which they shared with 48 Squadron, but the Harrow Flight remained behind at Doncaster. From March until the end of May, all Squadrons in the Group trained intensively with the 1st and 6th Airborne Divisions, and the 1st Polish Parachute Brigade, in preparation for the forthcoming invasion. In this way they became familiar with the deployment of both gliders and paratroopers, and also they practiced large scale formation navigational exercises at night.

Flight Sergeant Bernard Dorn died in Gloustershire which is where RAF Down Ampney is, cause of death not known.

DOWNEY, JAMES

Details unknown

EAGLES, ARTHUR JAMES

Rank: Lance Bombardier

Service No: 1774334

Date of Death: 11/12/1942

Age: 38

Regiment/Service: Royal Artillery 250 Battalion, 28 Light Anti Air Regiment.

Cemetery: Delhi War Cemetery, India

Additional Information:

Son of Arthur James Eagles and Florence Maud Eagles; husband of Ivy May Eagles, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.

Cause of death unknown.

EDINBURGH, WILLIAM HENRY

Rank: Warrant Officer

Service No: 1379496

Date of Death: 24/09/1944

Age: 36

Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 156 Squadron.

Memorial: Runnymede Memorial, UK

Additional Information:

Son of William Henry and Kathleen Edinburgh; husband of Winifred Edinburgh, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.

The squadron reformed in February 1942 from the home echelon of 40 sqn at RAF Alconbury, in the Huntingdonshire area of Cambridgshire, as part of No 3 Group RAF and was equipped with Wellingtons. In August 1942 it joined No. 8 Group RAF it became one of the original pathfinder squadrons, converting to Lancasters in January 1943. It continued in the pathfinder role until the end of the war, being based at RAF Warboys, RAF Upwood and finally its original founding base, RAF Wyton , where it disbanded on 25 September 1945.

Warrant Officer William Edinburgh was in a Lancaster aircraft which took off from RAF Upwood on 24 September 1944 but failed to return after a bombing mission to Calais, all crew missing. Aircraft was a Lancaster III, PB177.

EDWARDS, MICHAEL WHITTAM

Rank: Flying Officer

Service No: 407056

Date of Death: 24/02/1942

Age: 29

Regiment/Service: Royal Australian Air Force

Memorial: Rabaul Memorial, New Guinea

Additional Information:

Son of Warren and Stephanie Edwards, of Adelaide, South Australia.

Flying Officer Michael Edwards belonged to 11 Squadron based in Papua New Guinea. On 24 Feb 1942, he was co-pilot of Catalina PBY-5, A24-13 which took off from Port Moresby on a bombing raid on Rabual. Nothing further was heard from the aircraft, the crew of 8 presumed dead.

ELLIOTT, CHARLES WILLIAM ERNEST

Rank: Private

Service No: 3657354

Date of Death: 06/06/1944

Age: 26

Regiment/Service: South Lancashire Regiment 1st Battalion.

Cemetery: Hermanville War Cemetery , France

Additional Information:

Son of William and Alice Elliott; husband of Margaret Mary Elliott, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.

Private Charles Elliot was killed on D-Day 6 June 1944 during the landings on Sword Beach.

ELLIS, REGINALD CHARLES

Rank: Trooper

Service No: 7953953

Date of Death: 23/05/1944

Age: 23

Regiment/Service: Royal Armoured Corps North Irish Horse

Cemetery: Cassino War Cemetery, Italy

Additional Information:

Son of Charles Ernest and Elizabeth May Ellis, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire; husband of Ena Elsie Ellis, of Welwyn Garden City.

Trooper Reginald Ellis died during fighting at Monte Cassino, Italy

FOOKES, RICHARD KEEBLE

Rank: Pilot Officer

Service No: 120779

Date of Death: 28/09/1942

Age: 20

Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 208 Squadron.

Cemetery: El Alamein War Cemetery, Libya

Additional Information:

Son of Basil Keeble Fookes and Louisa Kathleen Fookes, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.

No. 208 Squadron was stationed in Egypt at the outbreak of World War II. It joined the war effort in mid-1940 flying Westland Lysander reconnaissance aircraft, Hawker Hurricane and Curtiss Tomahawk fighters on army co-operation duties in the North African Campaign and the Greek Campaign of 1941.

Killed during combat flying in the North Africa campaign.

GAFFNEY, OLIVER

Rank: Able Seaman

Service No: P/JX291388

Date of Death: 06/05/1944

Age: 23

Regiment/Service: Royal Navy, HMS Sirdar.

Cemetery: Maala Cemetery, Aden

Additional Information:

Son of James William and Mary Ellen Gaffney, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England.

HMS Sirdar was an S Class submarine launched March 1943. During the period of Oliver Gaffney’s death, the submarine was in transit from Aden to Trincomolee, cause of death unknown, no military action reported at the time.

GAFFNEY, PETER

Rank: Assistant Steward

Service No: C/LX 604427

Date of Death: 12/02/1944

Age: 19

Regiment/Service: Royal Navy, HMS Lanka

Memorial: Chatham Naval Memorial, UK

Additional Information:

Son of James William and Mary Ellen Gaffney, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.

HMS Lanka was a Royal Naval shore base in Columbo, Ceylon (Sri Lanka).Peter Gaffney was on board the troopship SS Khedive Ismail in Convoy KR8 in February, 1944. Carrying 1,511 personnel from the Army and the Royal and Merchant Navies, the Khedive Ismail sank on Saturday 12 February 1944, torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-27 in the Indian Ocean. No less than 1,297 people lost their lives in the space of the two minutes it took to sink the ship, including seventy-seven women (the single worst loss of female service personnel in the history of the British Commonwealth). Only 208 men and 6 women survived the ordeal. Peter Gaffney was on the payroll of HMS Lanka as that was the immediate destination of the ship.

GIBSON, HARRY

Details unknown

GILFILLAN, ALBERT

Rank: Private

Service No: 5950591

Date of Death: 21/09/1944

Age: 26

Regiment/Service: Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment 5th Battalion.

Memorial: Singapore Memorial, Singapore

Additional Information:

Died whilst a POW of the Japanese.

GRAY, GEORGE DIXON

Rank: Sergeant

Trade: Air Gunner

Service No: 1382320

Date of Death: 17/05/1941

Age: 21

Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force149 Squadron.

Cemetery: Golders Green Crematorium, UK

Additional Information:

Son of George Gordon and Marjorie Bruce Gray, of Potters Heath, Hertfordshire.

149 Squadron was reformed from ‘B’ Flight of No. 99 Squadron RAF on 12 April 1937 under No. 3 Group RAF at RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk where it remained until April 1942. Initially equipped with Heyford biplane bombers, the squadron converted to Vickers Wellingtons in January 1939.

Sergeant George Gray was killed during a training flight in a Wellington 1c R1587 on 17 May 1941, the aircraft crashed at Prickwillow in Cambridgeshire, all the crew were killed.

GREENSIDES, NORMAN

Rank: Private

Service No: 5343363

Date of Death: 07/06/1944

Age: 28

Regiment/Service: Royal Warwickshire Regiment 2nd Battalion

Cemetery: La Delivrande War Cemetery, Douvres, France

Additional Information:

Son of Henry and Florence Greensides; husband of Dorothy Greensides, of Beeston, Nottinghamshire.

Private Norman Greensides died in the fighting in Normandy, the day after D-Day.

GREENSIDES, STANLEY JOHN

Rank: Lance Corporal

Service No: 14713107

Date of Death: 18/04/1945

Age: 19

Regiment/Service: Royal Armoured Corps 11th Hussars.

Cemetery: Becklingen War Cemetery, Germany

Additional Information:

Son of Henry and Florence Greensides, of Roos, Yorkshire.

Lance Corporal Stanley Greensides died during the last months of the war. He was likely to have been in a Comet Tank.

GREATEREX, R

Details unknown

GRIFFITHS, VICTOR JAMES

Rank: Flight Sergeant

Service No: 944076

Date of Death: 18/05/1941

Age: 22

Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 45 Squadron

Memorial: Alamein Memorial, Libya

Additional Information:

Son of. Irene Jane Griffiths, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.

At the start of World War II, 45 Squadron was assigned Bristol Blenheims and was assigned to the Western Desert Campaign. On 11 June 1940 the unit participated in the first attack by the RAF on the Italian air force base at El Adem, where 18 aircraft were destroyed or damaged on the ground, against the loss of three British aircraft from 3 squadrons. On 12 June 1940 the squadron participated in an attack on Tobruk, damaging the Italian crusier San Giorgio. The unit operated against Italian and German forces in the area until 1942.

Flight Sergeant Victor Griffiths was killed during combat against German or Italian forces in North Africa.

GUIVER, EDWARD JAMES

Rank: Driver

Service No: T/1437154

Date of Death: 27/12/1944

Age: 38

Regiment/Service: Royal Army Service Corps

Cemetery: Phaleron War Cemetery, Greece

Additional Information:

Husband of Cassandra Anne Guiver, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.

Driver Edward Guiver was killed during civil war fighting in Greece.

HAMILTON, RICHARD

Rank: Aircraftman 2nd Class

Service No: 1634747

Date of Death: 22/05/1943

Age: 22

Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Cemetery: Welwyn Garden City (Hatfield Hyde) Burial Ground, UK

Additional Information:

Son of Samuel and Martha Hamilton, of Cleator Moor, Cumberland.

Died near Newbury probably either at RAF Greenham Common or RAF Welford.

HARLAND, JAMES

Rank: Private

Service No: 14384560

Date of Death: 22/01/1944

Age: 20

Regiment/Service: Green Howards (Yorkshire Regiment) 1st Battalion

Cemetery: Minturno War Cemetery, Italy

Additional Information:

Son of Harold and Lavinia Harland, of Rosedale, Yorkshire.

Private James Harland died during the battle of Monte Cassino, Italy.

HARRIS, ALEXANDER GORDON

Rank: Sergeant

Service No: 920869

Date of Death: 09/01/1942

Age: 22

Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 207 Squadron

Memorial: Runnymede Memorial, UK

Additional Information:

Son of William George Alexander Harris and Elsie Harris, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.

On 19 April 1940 the squadron’s training role was assumed by No. 12 Operational Training Unit (OTU), allowing 207 Squadron to reform on 1 November of the same year as part of Bomber Command’s No. 5 Group. At RAF Waddington, the squadron’s crews were assigned the task of introducing the ill-fated Avro Manchester into service. Later moving to RAF Bottesford, the Manchesters were replaced by the much improved Avro Lancaster in March 1942.

Sergeant Alexander Harris was a crew member of Manchester 1 L7322, EM-Q which took off on 9 January 1942 from RAF Bottesford to bomb the French port of Brest. The aircraft is believed to have crashed in to the sea in the vicinity of Crozen, all the crew were killed.

HAYTON, JOHN WILLIAM  (not John J Hayton)

Rank: Sergeant

Service No: 1333343

Date of Death: 04/09/1943

Age: 20

Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 100 Squadron

Memorial: Runnymede Memorial, UK

Additional Information:

Son of Charles and Annie Hayton, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.

On 15 December 1942, No. 100 Squadron RAF proper was re-formed in the UK, at RAF Grimsby, near Waltham, as a night-time heavy bomber squadron and was part of No. 1 Group, RAF Bomber Command. In January 1943, the squadron received the first of its new complement of Avro Lancasters; the first operation of the squadron was on March 4, 1943 against a  U-Boat base at St Nazaire. A few days later the squadron was involved in a raid against Nuremberg in Germany and from then on, in support of Bomber Command’s strategic role against Germany, took part in every major raid.

At the end of 1943, the squadron had completed the second largest number of successful operations of units within No. 1 Bomber Command and had the lowest ‘loss’ rate.

Sergeant John Hayton was in a Lancaster III, JA969, HW-N which took off from RAF Grimsby on the 4 September 1943 to bomb Berlin. The aircraft went missing, all onboard presumed killed.

HAYDON, WALTER (not William)

Rank: Warrant Officer Class I

Trade: Clerk of Works

Service No: 1945485

Date of Death: 27/06/1945

Age: 41

Regiment/Service: Royal Engineers

Cemetery: Delhi War Cemetery, India

Additional Information:

Son of William Edward and Harriet Haydon; husband of Ivy Lillian Haydon, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.

Died in service in Delhi, India. He may well have been involved in work associated with improving civil infrastructure.

HOGG, JAMES JOSEPH RUTHERFORD

Rank: Lance Corporal

Service No: 5829065

Date of Death: 06/05/1943

Age: 21

Regiment/Service: Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment 2nd Battalion

Cemetery: Massicault War Cemetery, Tunisia

Additional Information:

Son of Robert Rutherford Hogg and Charlotte Mary Hogg, of Cambridge; husband of Peggy Ellen Rutherford Hogg. of Cambridge.

Lance Corporal James Hogg died in the final drive to Tunis after the battle of El Alamein in North Africa

HICKLING, ALAN WILLIAM

Rank: Flying Officer

Trade: Navigator

Service No: 153282

Date of Death: 13/08/1944

Age: 21

Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 115 Squadron

Cemetery: Rheinberg War Cemetery, Germany

Additional Information:

Son of William Thomas Hickling and Constance Ida Hickling.

In the Second World War 115 squadron took part in scores of raids and also played an active part in Gardening (minelaying) for victory. In April 1940, while flying Wellingtons (and while on temporary loan to RAF Coastal Command) it gained the distinction of making the RAF’s first bombing raid of the war on a mainland target-the enemy-held Norwegian airfield of Stavanger Airport, Sola. Sixteen months later, in August 1941, it undertook the initial Service trials of Gee, the first of the great radar navigational and bombing aids. As a result of its subsequent report on these trials Gee was put into large-scale production for RAF Bomber Command. Hercules engine Lancaster IIs replaced the Wellingtons in March 1943 and these were replaced by Merlin engined Lancaster Is and IIIs in March 1944. Around this time the squadron relocated from RAF Little Snoring to RAF Witchford.

Flying Officer Alan Hickling was a navigator on Lancaster III, PB127, KO-T which took off from RAF Witchford on 12 August 1944 on a mission to Braunschweig. The aircraft was shot down, all the crew killed.

HORNE, SYDNEY JAMES

Rank: Leading Writer

Service No: C/SR 8582

Date of Death: 12/07/1943

Regiment/Service: Royal Navy, H.M.S. Eskimo

Memorial: Chatham Naval Memorial, UK

Additional Information:

Husband of Winifred Mary Horne, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.

HMS Eskimo was a Tribal Class Destroyer launched in September 1938. Eskimo participated in the Second Battle of Narvik in April 1940, supported the Allied landings in North Africa in November 1942 and served with the 10th Destroyer Flotilla at Plymouth. Eskimo was extensively damaged when two German dive bombers attacked her in the Mediterranean while taking part in Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily in July 1943. A bomb landed in the aft part of the ship and exploded in the engine room killing a number of the crew. Sydney Horne was one of the casualties.

ILETT, TOM G

Rank: Private

Service No: 5962237

Date of Death: 01/11/1946

Age: 23

Regiment/Service: Devonshire Regiment

Cemetery: Padua War Cemetery, Italy

Additional Information:

Son of Thomas Henry and Elsie Jane Ilett, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.

Cause of death unknown.

JAMES, EDWARD CHAPMAN  (?)

Rank: Craftsman

Service No: QX21124

Date of Death: 08/11/1943

Age: 33

Regiment/Service: Australian Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers A.I.F. 1 Tank Battalion Workshops

Cemetery: Port Moresby (Bomana) War Cemetery, Papua New Guinea

Additional Information:

Son of Harry Pearce James and Margaret James; husband of Nancy Adolphine Bertha James, of Valley, Queensland.

Craftsman Edward James was killed during fighting against the Japanese in the Solomon Islands.

JONES, JAMES LESLIE

Rank: Trooper

Service No: 7903151

Date of Death: 09/10/1943

Age: 28

Regiment/Service: Royal Tank Regiment, R.A.C. 1st

Cemetery: Naples War Cemetery, Italy

Additional Information:

Son of Richards Owen Jones and Ann Jones; husband of Irene Jones, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.

Trooper James Jones was probably injured during combat in Italy and subsequently died from his wounds in a hospital in the vicinity of Naples.

JONES, RICHARD

Details unknown

KENT, DAVID WILLIAM

Rank: Flying Officer

Trade: Pilot

Service No: 101026

Date of Death: 23/07/1942

Age: 20

Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 229 Squadron

Cemetery: Malta (Capuccini) Naval Cemetery, Malta

Additional Information:

Son of Ernest William and Gladys Kent, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.

On 6 October 1939, 229 Sqn was reformed at RAF Digby as a Fighter squadron and was equipped with Blenheims for a role protecting shipping. The squadron began convoy patrols on 21 December but also carried out night training and radar trials. In March 1940, the squadron was re-equipped with Hurricanes and soon after the German invasion of France in May 1940, sent one flight to reinforce the French-based fighter squadrons for eight days during the Battle of France. After flying defensive patrols over the East Coast, No 229 moved to RAF Northolt in September and remained there for the rest of the Battle of Britain.

In December 1940 the squadron moved to Merseyside and in May 1941 left for the Middle East. The squadron’s pilots were embarked in HMS Furious and flown off to Malta where, after refuelling, they moved on to Egypt, two separate detachments being convoyed fifteen days apart by the carrier. On arrival the first detachment was attached to No. 274 Squadron RAF to cover the evacuation of Crete and the second detachment was divided between Nos. 6, 208 and 213 Squadrons. A flight was transferred from No. 274 to No. 73 Squadron on 11 June as the latters C Flight, and remained detached in Egypt at the end of July. It was September before the squadron began functioning as an independent unit. Fighter sweeps were flown over Libya until the end of March 1942 when the squadron was transferred to Malta to reinforce the islands fighter defences. On 29 April 1942, it ceased to function, its surviving aircraft and pilots being absorbed by other units.

Flying Officer David William Kent was killed on 23 July 1942 when his Hurricane fighter suffered an engine failure during landing. He had been on a sortie protecting Malta from Luftwaffe bombers.

LINES, HERBERT THOMAS

Rank: Sapper

Service No: 1894361

Date of Death: 29/05/1940

Age: 26

Regiment/Service: Royal Engineers 667 General Construction Company

Cemetery: Marck (Les Hemmes) Churchyard, nr Calais, France

Additional Information:

Son of Bertie Charles and Margaret Annie Lines, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.

Sapper Herbert Thomas Lines was killed in the days after Dunkirk having failed to reach the coast.

MEAD, DONALD

Rank: Fusilier

Service No: 5957712

Date of Death: 07/09/1944

Age: 28

Regiment/Service: Royal Scots Fusiliers 6th Battalion

Cemetery: Deerlijk Communal Cemetery, Belgium

Additional Information:

Fusilier Donald Mead was one of four from the 6th Battalion who were killed due to very heavy shelling and bombing during the liberation of the village of Deerlijk in Belgium.

MILLER, DONALD

Rank: Cabin Boy

Date of Death: 05/05/1943

Age: 17

Regiment/Service: Merchant Navy S.S. North Britain (Newcastle-on-Tyne)

Memorial: Tower Hill Memorial, UK

Additional Information:

Son of William and Mabel Miller, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.

The SS North Britain, an armed cargo ship built in 1940, sailed from the River Clyde on 21st April 1943. At 02.22 hours on 5 May, 1943, a straggler from convoy ONS-5 (about five miles behind), she was hit by one of three torpedoes fired by U-707 and sank by the bow within two minutes south of Cape Farewell. The master, 27 crew members and seven gunners were lost. Ten crew members and one gunner were picked up by the HMS Northern Spray and landed at St.Johns.

Donald Miller was one of the crew who lost their lives.

MONROE, SYDNEY JOHN

Rank: Squadron Leader

Trade: Pilot

Service No: 37685

Date of Death: 29/10/1942

Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force

Awards: D F C

Cemetery: Khartoum War Cemetery, Ethiopia

Additional Information:

Son of Harold and Belle Monroe; husband of Violet Madeline Monroe, of Morden, Surrey.

Squadron Leader Sydney John Monroe was killed flying a Lockheed Hudson.

MOORE, G C

Details unknown

MOULE, STANLEY HAROLD

Rank: Gunner

Service No: 1118278

Date of Death: 26/04/1943

Age: 38

Regiment/Service: Royal Artillery 88 Field Regiment

Cemetery: Chungkai War Cemetery, Burma

Additional Information:

Gunner Stanley Harold Moule died whilst a Japanese POW working on the Siam – Burma railway.

MULLEN, BRIAN JOSEPH

Rank: Lance Corporal

Service No: 2075499

Date of Death: 06/06/1944

Age: 33

Regiment/Service: Royal Engineers and No. 4 Commando

Cemetery: Hermanville War Cemetery, France

Additional Information:

Son of Patrick Joseph and Elsie Maud Mullen; husband of Janet Edith Mullen, of Matlock Bath, Derbyshire.

Lance Corporal Brian Joseph Mullen was killed on D-Day, 6th June 1944 during the landings in Normandy.

MURPHY, PETER

Details unknown

OUGHTON, MAURICE EDWIN

Rank: Leading Aircraftman

Service No: 1285546

Date of Death: 23/07/1941

Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Cemetery: Welwyn Garden City (Hatfield Hyde) Burial Ground, UK

Additional Information:

Lived at 43 Woodhall Lane, Welwyn Garden City, married to Brenda Oughton.

Died at Penrhos, Carnarvonshire. RAF Penrhos was an RAF training establishment for armament training. Cause of death unknown.

PARTRIDGE, HAROLD JAMES

Rank: Second Officer

Date of Death: 27/12/1940

Age: 40

Regiment/Service: Merchant Navy S.S. Ardanbhan (Glasgow)

Memorial Tower Hill Memorial, UK

Additional Information:

Son of James and Adelaide Partridge; husband of Mary Elizabeth Partridge, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.

SS Ardanbhan was launched September 1929 on the Clyde.

27 December 1940, the German submarine U.38 torpedoed and damaged Ardanbhan enroute from Hull to Mar del Plata, Argentina with a cargo of coal in Convoy OB.263. Thirteen hours later she was finally sunk by the Italian submarine ENRICO TAZZOLI, 235 miles NW of Rockall.

There were no survivors.

PERRY, STANLEY GEORGE HENRY

Rank: Corporal

Service No: 5568050

Date of Death: 11/07/1943

Age: 31

Regiment/Service: Wiltshire Regiment 2nd Bn.

Cemetery: Syracuse War Cemetery, Sicily, Italy

Additional Information:

Son of Ethel Mary J. Perry, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.

Corporal Stanley George Henry Perry was killed during the invasion of Sicily in July 1943.

PAXTON, RODERICK JOHN

Rank: Signalman

Service No: C/JX573177

Date of Death:

12/06/1945

Regiment/Service: Royal Navy H.M.S. President III

Cemetery: Portsmouth (Evergreen) Memorial Park, UK

Additional Information:

Son of Mr. and Mrs. J. Paxton, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England.

HMS President III was a shore based established in Bristol in 1939 to train those allocated for service on the Defensively Equipped Merchant Ships.

Cause of death unknown.

PAXTON, RONALD WILLIAM

Rank: Stoker 1st Class

Service No: C/KX 139300

Date of Death: 21/12/1942

Age: 19

Regiment/Service: Royal Navy H.M. Submarine P.222.

Memorial: Chatham Naval Memorial, UK

Additional Information:

Son of Robert William and Doris May Paxton, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.

HMS P222 was an S class submarine of the Royal Navy, and part of the Third Group built of that class. She was built by Vickers Armstrong and launched on September 20, 1941. She was initially assigned to the naval base at Gibraltar to guard the entrance to the Mediterranean. On 27 July, 1942 P 222 intercepted the Vichy French merchant Mitidja off Cape Palos, Spain. The Mitidja was boarded by the V class destroyer HMS Wrestler and escorted to Gibraltar.

P222 left Gibraltar to patrol off Naples on 30 November 1942. She sent a number of messages on 7 December but after that date no further communication as made. She failed to arrive at Algiers on her due date and was reported overdue on 21 December 1942. The Italian torpedo boat Fortunale claimed to have sunk a submarine with depth charges on the 12 December, south-east of Isola di Capri. This remains the most probable cause of the submarine’s loss but there has been no confirmation. Since she was sunk before her name could be formally assigned, she is known by her pennant number, P222.

PERRING, S

Details unknown

PIKE, R J

Rank: Sergeant

Trade: Nav./Bomber

Service No: 657492

Date of Death: 01/05/1943

Age: 28

Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, 78 Squadron.

Cemetery: Skewen (St.John) Churchyard, Glamorganshire

Additional Information:

Son of Arthur and Edith May Pike, of Skewen, Neath.

Sergeant Reginald J Pike in a Handley Page Halifax II W7929 EY-S based at Lynton-on-Ouze on a bombing mission to Essen crashed at Dorking in Norfolk, all crew killed.

POOLE, WALTER MAURICE

Rank: Stores Assistant

Service No: D/MX 121266

Date of Death: 18/06/1944

Age: 36

Regiment/Service: Royal Navy H.M.S. Bherunda.

Cemetery: Wheathamstead (St Helen) Churchyard, UK

Additional Information:

Son of Maurice and Mabel Cane Poole; husband of Doris Poole, of Welwyn Garden City.

After the fall of Singapore the Royal Navy’s East Indies Station was moved to Colombo and then to Trincomalee. The order was given to construct an airfield at the Colombo Racecourse. Two squadrons of the Royal Air Force where based at the racecourse. They were No. 258 Squadron RAF with Hawker Hurricanes and No.11 Squadron RAF with Bristol Blenheims.

The Royal Navy also established a Royal Naval Station Air Station (RNAS) here during the duration of the war with the name HMS Bherunda. 882 Naval Air Squadron was based here.

Walter Poole died in a hospital in Crosby, Lancashire, England

POPE, H

Details unknown

POWERS, KENNETH SIDNEY

Rank: Sergeant

Trade: Pilot

Service No: 742000

Date of Death: 06/10/1940

Age: 20

Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 106 Squadron

Cemetery: Stradishall (St. Margaret) Churchyard, UK

Additional Information:

Son of Capt. Sidney Jesse Powers and Mabel Rose Powers, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.

The squadron reformed in 1 June 1938 at Abingdon from a nucleus provided by a flight from No. 15 Squadron. Initially equipped with Hinds, it began to receive Battles the following month but these actually left the squadron before the Hinds, in June 1939 due to the fact the squadron was to be a No. 5 Group unit and this group was to be equipped with Hampdens, which began to arrive in May 1939 together with Ansons to assist in the conversion process.

At the outbreak of the Second World War the squadron was flying Hampdens with No. 5 Group in a training role which continued up until 1 March 1941.

Sergeant Kenneth Sydney Powers was a navigator in Hampden L4100 on 6 October 1940 on a cross country flight when two fighters, believed to be Hurricanes from 17 Squadron piloted by Pilot Officer Jack Ross and Flight Sergeant George Stewart attacked it near RAF Stradishall in Suffolk just after midday. Sgt K.S Powers was killed but none of the other crew members suffered injury nor was the Hampden badly damaged and it was able to land normally.

ROBERTS, GEORGE CHRISTOPHER

Rank: Sergeant

Trade: Pilot

Service No: 1381479

Date of Death: 31/05/1942

Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 103 Squadron

Cemetery: Welwyn Garden City (Hatfield Hyde) Burial Ground, UK

Additional Information:

At the outbreak of the Second World War the Squadron was deployed to France as part of the RAF Advanced Air Striking Force. On the 10 May 1940 the Luftwaffe and the German Army invaded France, Belgium and the Netherlands. The Squadron was heavily committed during this period, sustaining many losses. In mid June 1940 the Squadron withdrew from France for RAF Abingdon in England. 103 Squadron was then transferred to RAF Newton near Nottingham and reverted to the control of No. 1 Group RAF, Bomber Command. In October 1940 it was re-equipped with Vickers Wellington bombers. Operations were carried out with this type on targets on mainland Europe. The Squadron moved into the new airfield at RAF Elsham Wolds in July 1941. In July 1942 the Wellingtons were replaced by Handley Page Halifax bombers.

Sergeant George Roberts was in a Wellington 1c R1234, PM- on a transit flight which crashed on 31 May 1942 near RAF Kirmington, he was killed in the accident.

RHODES, FRANCIS MONS

Rank: Private

Service No: 5956694

Date of Death: 19/08/1942

Age: 27

Regiment/Service: Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment and No. 3 Commando

Cemetery: Dieppe Canadian War Cemetery Hautot-sur-Mer, France

Additional Information:

Son of Francis and Grace Lilian Rhodes; husband of Joan Eva Rhodes, of East Ham, Essex, England.

Private Francis Rhodes was killed during the Dieppe raid in 1942.

ROSS, JAMES ALLEN

Rank: Sapper

Service No: 3310426

Date of Death: 16/07/1946

Regiment/Service: Royal Engineers formerly Highland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow Regiment)

Cemetery: Welwyn Garden City (Hatfield Hyde) Burial Ground, UK

Additional Information:

Husband of Charlotte Ross, of Glasgow.

Cause of death unknown.

ROBINSON, PATRICK

Rank: Ordinary Seaman

Service No: P/JX 272893

Date of Death: 15/03/1942

Regiment/Service: Royal Navy H.M.S. Vortigern

Memorial: Portsmouth Naval Memorial, UK

Additional Information:

Vortigern was sunk off Cromer on 15 March 1942, whilst defending a coastal convoy against attack by E-boats. She was torpedoed by the E-boat S104, and sank with the loss of 110 lives. Only 14 survivors were rescued. Eleven bodies were recovered from the sea by the Cromer lifeboat H F Bailey III. The wreck site is designated as a Protected Place under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.

SCALES, CECIL

Rank: Aircraftman 2nd Class

Service No: 1619153

Date of Death: 27/07/1942

Age: 20

Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Cemetery: Welwyn Garden City (Hatfield Hyde) Burial Ground, UK

Additional Information:

Son of Oliver Stanley and Daisy Scales, of Welwyn Garden City.

Probably died as a result of a training exercise either at RAF Spilsby or Skegness.

SCHOFIELD, ERNEST VICTOR

Rank: Private

Service No: 13088724

Date of Death: 15/09/1943

Regiment/Service: Pioneer Corps 242 Company

Cemetery: Salerno War Cemetery, Italy

Additional Information:

Son of Joseph and Elizabeth Schofield; husband of Rose Hannah Schofield, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.

Private Ernest Schofield died during the invasion of Salerno in 1943.

SMALE, ALBERT EDWARD

Rank: Signalman

Service No: C/J 27525

Date of Death: 02/10/1942

Age: 44

Regiment/Service: Royal Navy H.M.S. Tamar

Memorial: Chatham Naval Memorial, UK

Additional Information:

Son of William Thomas and Cordilla G. Smale; husband of Margaret Blyth Smale, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.

HMS Tamar  was the name for the Royal Navy’s base in Hong Kong from 1897 to 1997 which is where Albert Smale was based.

Signalman Albert Smale became a Japanese POW with the fall of Hong Kong..

On October 1st 1942, the American submarine Grouper fired six torpedoes at a Japanese troop transport, the Lisbon Maru, off Shanghai. Five of the unreliable Mk 14 fish either passed under the target or failed to detonate, but one exploded against the stern, bringing the ship to a standstill. Grouper immediately came under attack from patrol boats and aircraft, and departed the scene, taking one last look at 700 Japanese soldiers being taken off the stricken vessel.

What they didn’t see, however, was that the soldiers had battened down the hatches over the holds as they left. In those holds, trapped and waiting to drown in appalling conditions of filth, disease, and malnutrition were over 1,800 British Prisoners of War who had been captured at the fall of Hong Kong nine months earlier.

None need have died, but only 748 returned to Britain alive.

Signalman Albert Smale was one who died, listed as Missing in Action.

SETTERFIELD, CHARLES HENRY

Rank: Flying Officer

Service No: 155643

Date of Death: 09/05/1944

Age: 31

Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 527 Squadron

Cemetery: Welwyn Garden City (Hatfield Hyde) Burial Ground, UK

Additional Information:

Son of Richard Smith Setterfield and Gertrude Elliot Setterfield; husband of Annie Setterfield, of Welwyn Garden City.

No. 527 Squadron was formed from various calibration flights at RAF Castle Camps, Cambridgeshire on 15 June 1943 for radar calibration duties with Bristol Blenheims and Hawker Hurricanes. The squadron was engaged with the calibration of radar stations in southern England and East Anglia. In April 1944, the Squadron moved to RAF Watton, Norfolk. The need for calibration units lessened considerably in 1944, so the squadron absorbed 528 squadron on 1 September 1944, extending its coverage in the process to Lincolnshire, and 526 squadron on 1 May 1945, adding the de Havilland Hornet Moths, Airspeed Oxfords and de Havilland Dominies of these units to its strength.

Cause of death unknown.

SPERRING, GODFREY A

Details unknown

STONE, HARRY ALFRED

Rank: Leading Aircraftman

Service No: 1235492

Date of Death: 25/03/1944

Age: 33

Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 271 Squadron

Cemetery: Welwyn Garden City (Hatfield Hyde) Burial Ground, UK

Additional Information:

Son of Arthur and Ellen Stone; husband of Joan Edith Stone, of Redbourn.

In 1942, 271 Squadron was associated with the airborne forces and this role would show an increasing prominence in the Squadron’s mission. Airborne training flights were a commonplace task during 1942 and 1943. In February 1944, the Squadron became a part of the newly formed 46 Group, and their establishment of thirty Dakotas were moved to RAF Down Ampney. From March until the end of May, all Squadrons in the Group trained intensively with the 1st and 6th Airborne Divisions, and the 1st Polish Parachute Brigade, in preparation for the forthcoming invasion. In this way they became familiar with the deployment of both gliders and paratroopers, and also they practiced large scale formation navigational exercises at night.

In March whilst practicing close formation flying, the wing tip of one Dakota contacted the elevators of another, which plunged to the ground killing all of the aircrew and some of mechanics who had gone up for a joy ride. It seems likely that Leading Aircraftsman Harry Stone was one of those mechanics who were killed.

STRUTT, IVAN CORNWALLIS

Rank: Squadron Leader

Service No: 72438

Date of Death: 06/01/1943

Age: 27

Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 104 Squadron

Awards: D F C

Memorial: Malta Memorial, Malta

Additional Information:

Son of Geoffrey St. John Strutt, C.B.E., J.P., and Sybil Eyre Strutt, of Bath, Somerset.

The squadron formed on 1 April 1941 at RAF Driffield, equipped with the Vickers Wellington and began night bombing operations in May as part of No.4 Group RAF until February 1942. A squadron detachment was sent to Malta in October 1941, moving to Egypt in January 1942, shortly afterwards the home contingent of the squadron at Driffield was renumbered No.158, whilst the remainder of the squadron in the Middle East remained No. 104. The squadron later moved first to captured airfields in Tunisia, followed by a move to the Italian mainland in December 1943.

Wellington W 5401 of 104 Sqn RAF Middle East took off at 1754 hours on 6 January

1943 together with 7 other aircraft to bomb the docks at Tunis. As a result of bad weather over the target area, the formation changed course for Sousse. Heavy ack-ack fire was encountered at Sousse, and two aircraft reported seeing an explosion at 7000 feet at 2130 hours, and immediately after saw an aircraft on fire on the ground 3 to 5 miles SSW of Sousse. W 5401 failed to return to base.

Sqn Ldr Strutt, L C DFC Captain (Pilot) was killed along with all his crew, their bodies were never found.

STUBBS, ROBERT LANGHORN

Rank: Corporal

Service No: 5950934

Date of Death: Between 05/02/1942 and 15/02/1942

Age: 23

Regiment/Service: Reconnaissance Corps 18th (5th Battalion, The Loyal Regiment) Regiment

Memorial: Singapore Memorial, Singapore

Additional Information:

Son of Arthur and Annie Stubbs; husband of Elizabeth Stubbs, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.

Corporal Robert Stubbs died during the Japanese invasion of Singapore

SUMMERS, WILLIAM (?)

Rank: Engineman

Date of Death: 01/06/1940

Regiment/Service: Royal Naval Reserve, HMT Argylshire

During Operation Dynamo, Anti Submarine Trawler Arglyshire was a unit of the 10th Anti-Submarine Striking Force which was sunk by German motor torpedo boat S 34 near Dunkirk in the North Sea at 0245. William Summers killed on Argylshire 1 June 1940

SWEENEY, TERENCE JAMES

Rank: Major

Service No: 193884

Date of Death: 05/09/1944

Age: 30

Regiment/Service: Royal Ulster Rifles 1st Bn. The London Irish Rifles

Cemetery: Gradara War Cemetery, Italy

Additional Information:

Son of James and Flossie Caroline Sweeney; husband of Eileen Henrietta Sweeney, of London.

Major Terence Sweeney died during the advance from Ancona to Rimini in Italy.

THOMAS, ALAN CEDRIC

Details unknown

TAYLOR, ALBERT COLLINS

Rank: Lance Sergeant

Service No: 880901

Date of Death: 01/11/1944

Age: 25

Regiment/Service: Royal Artillery 132 (The Glamorgan Yeomanry) Field Regiment

Cemetery: Santerno Valley War Cemetery, Italy

Additional Information:

Son of John Robert and Mary Ann Taylor; husband of Daphne Primrose Taylor, of Woodingdean, Sussex.

Lance Sergeant Albert Taylor died during fighting in the Apennine mountains in Italy.

THOMAS, DOUGLAS

Rank: Steward

Service No: LT/JX 199717

Date of Death: 10/03/1941

Regiment/Service: Royal Naval Patrol Service, H.M. Trawler Revello.

Cemetery:  Haslar Royal Naval Cemetery

Additional Information:

Son of William Daniel and Ellen Louisa Thomas, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.

During the night of 10/11 March, Minesweeping trawler REVELLO was sunk by German bombing at Portsmouth. Six crew were killed including Steward Douglas Thomas.

The trawler was raised and dry docked on 20 August. The ship was repaired and re-commissioned.

TOPPLE, JOHN EDWARD (Jack)

Rank: Warrant Officer

Service No: 1874884

Date of Death: 06/10/1945

Age: 21

Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 99 Squadron

Memorial: Singapore Memorial, Singapore

Additional Information:

Son of Mr. and Mrs. H. Topple, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.

The squadron was to be the first unit to be equipped with Vickers Wellingtons, just before the start of World War II. It was stationed first at RAF Newmarket, Suffolk, and then at RAF Waterbeach, assigned to No.3 Group RAF, Bomber Command. The squadron bombed targets in Norway and Germany.

In February 1942 the squadron was posted to India, operating at first Wellingtons and later Consolidated Liberators. During this period, the squadron included a significant number of Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) aircrew personnel, attached to it under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. The squadron moved to the Cocos Islands in August 1945, where it remained until the end of the war. On 15 November 1945 the squadron disbanded.

Warrant Officer John Topple was an air gunner on a Liberator EW236 “K” King, taking supplies to Singapore for prisoners of war. On the 6th of October 1945 they were taking supplies to Kallang airfield when it is believed the aircraft crashed into the sea in bad weather; possibly due to a cyclone. Although attempts were made to find them the bad weather forced the search aircraft back to base.

TURLAND, PHILIP RAMSEY (Richard)

Rank: Sub-Lieutenant (A)

Date of Death: 13/11/1944

Age: 25

Regiment/Service: Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve H.M.S. Dipper.

Cemetery: Henstridge (St, Nicolas) Churchyard, UK

Additional Information:

Son of Henry Francis Turland, and of Emma Turland, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.

RNAS HENSTRIDGE

During the Second World War, Yeovilton was the leading fighter pilot training station of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm.  When the requirement for new pilots gathered pace in the early War years, the need for a satellite airfield arose to house the expanding training facilities.

A suitable site for an airfield was found near Henstridge Marsh and construction commenced in mid-1941, but progress was very slow due to the wet nature of the land.  The usual 4 small and narrow tarmac runways, plus an equally narrow perimeter track, were laid.  A 5th runway was later provided, aligned to the same direction as one of the others, and used solely for deck landing practice on which arresting wires and deck markings were fitted to represent an Aircraft Carrier – the Dummy Deck.

Unlike the RAF, the Navy kept their aircraft under cover and, consequently, there were 28 hangars dispersed around the perimeter track.  However, the entire airfield was very small in comparison to most with its maximum runway length being just 1200 yards.  However, there was sufficient accommodation for the 1900 personnel. 1 April 1943, the Airfield opened when it was commissioned as HMS Dipper.

Pilot in 761 Squadron, Sub Lieutenant Philip Turland was killed in an air crash whilst flying a Spitfire from HMS Dipper.

WADE, LAURIE

Rank: Able Seaman

Service No: P/67075

Date of Death: 11/09/1942

Age: 22

Regiment/Service: Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve HM MGB 91

Cemetery: Welwyn Garden City (Hatfield Hyde) Burial Ground, UK

Additional Information:

Son of Richard B. Wade, and of Henrietta J. Wade (nee May), of Durban, Natal, South Africa.

PTC-1 Class Motor Boat Submarine Chaser:

Laid down 7 August 1940 by the Electric Boat Co., Elco Works, Bayonne, NJ

Launched 12 March 1941

Placed in service as PTC-10, 20 March 1941 and assigned to Motor Boat Submarine Chaser Squadron One under the command of LTJG John D. Buckley

Transferred to Great Britain 4 April 1941 as HM MGB-91

Able Seaman Laurie Wade killed during surface action in HM MGB-91.

WARD, ALAN

Details unknown

WARD, NELSON ERNEST

Rank: Lance Corporal

Service No: 5960139

Date of Death: 13/08/1944

Age: 21

Regiment/Service: Suffolk Regiment 1st Battalion

Cemetery: St. Charles de Percy War Cemetery, Normandy, France

Additional Information:

Son of Frederick George and Elizabeth Rose Ward, of Whetstone, Middlesex.

Lance Corporal Nelson Ward died during fighting in Normandy after the D-Day invasion.

WETTONE, ALBERT HENRY

Rank: Warrant Officer

Trade: Navigator

Service No: 1151961

Date of Death: 08/06/1944

Age: 23

Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 605 Squadron

Cemetery: Villeneuve-St. Georges Old Communal Cemetery, France

Additional Information:

Son of Albert and Winifred Constance Wekone, of Baildon, Yorkshire.

A new No. 605 squadron was formed at RAF Ford on 7 June 1942, equipped with Douglas Boston and Havocs in the intruder role. These were replaced with de Havilland Mosquitoes from February 1943 and it continued to operate this type until the end of the war, moving to Belgium in March 1945 and the Netherlands in April.

Warrant Officer Albert Wettone died whilst a navigator on a mission over France in a Mosquito two days after D-Day.

WILKINSON, WILLIAM

Rank: Lance Bombardier

Service No: 1061040

Date of Death: 29/08/1947

Regiment/Service: Royal Artillery, 23 Searchlight Regt.

Cemetery: Welwyn Garden City (Hatfield Hyde) Burial Ground

Additional Information:

Son of Thomas and Mary Wilkinson; husband of Mary Eileen Every Wilkinson, of Welwyn Garden City.

Cause of death unknown

WILLMOTT, WILLIAM

Rank: Marine

Service No: PLY/X 103071

Date of Death: 16/12/1944

Regiment/Service: Royal Marines, 3 R.M. A.A. Regt.

Cemetery: Schoonselhof Cemetery, Antwerp, Belgium

3 RM AA Regiment was deployed to Antwerp, Belgium in September 1944 to protect the city against V1 flying bombs. Marine William Willmott was killed during that deployment.

WILLIAMS, ADRIAN MORGAN

Rank: Aircraftman 1st Class

Service No: 1201833

Date of Death: 19/03/1942

Age: 26

Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Cemetery: Welwyn Garden City (Hatfield Hyde) Burial Ground, UK

Additional Information:

Son of Evan and Elvira Williams; husband of Phyllis Evelyn Williams, of Welwyn Garden City.

Cause of death unknown.

WILLIAMS, LYNN

Rank: Ordinary Seaman

Service No: C/JX 318489

Date of Death: 11/03/1943

Age: 19

Regiment/Service: Royal Navy, HMS Harvester

Memorial: Chatham Naval Memorial, UK

Additional Information:

Son of Thomas and Gertrude Williams, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.

HMS Harvester was a H-class destroyer originally ordered by the Brazilian Navy with the name Jurua in the late 1930s, but was bought by the Royal Navy after the beginning of World War II in September 1939 when she was launched.

Whilst defending Convoy HX 228 on 3 March, Harvester forced U-444 to the surface and then rammed it. She was badly damaged by the ramming, but she rescued five survivors after the submarine sank. The next day, Harvester was torpedoed by U-432 and broke in half. Nine officers and 136 ratings were lost, but the French corvette Aconit rammed and sank U-432 herself and then rescued Harvester‘s few survivors.

Seaman Lynn Williams died as a result of the ramming.

WOOD, JOHN

Details unknown

YARDLEY, HERBERT LAWRENCE

Rank: Leading Aircraftman

Service No: 1180663

Date of Death: 15/02/1942

Age: 25

Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 243 Squadron

Memorial: Singapore Memorial, Singapore

Additional Information:

Son of Henry Herbert and Letty Ruby Yardley, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.

RAF 243 Squadron was a RAF squadron in World War II, which was based at Kallang Airport in Singapore, and fought during the Battle of Singapore in 1941-42 with the inadequate Brewster Buffalo fighter.

Leading Aircraftsman Herbert Yardley died during the Japanese invasion of Singapore in 1942.

YEOMANS, KENNETH VICTOR

Rank: Trooper

Service No: 7959922

Date of Death: 21/05/1943

Age: 20

Regiment/Service: Royal Armoured Corps 110th (5th Battalion The Border Regment) Regment

Cemetery: Welwyn Garden City (Hatfield Hyde) Burial Ground, UK

Additional Information:

Son of Clement V. Yeomans and Margaret H. Yeomans; husband of Doreen Yeomans, of Welwyn Garden City.

Trooper Kenneth Yeomans probably died during training in Yorkshire.

Authors Note:

The information presented here has been researched and presented with full confidence of it’s accuracy. There are gaps in the information due to a mixture of difficulties in establishing the precise identity of the casualty named, the actual circumstances of death and which branch of the armed forces. Corrections and contributions are welcome. Apologies for any errors.