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The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website.
Announcements
- 1st of September 2024 marks 25 years since the launch of the Wartime Memories Project. Thanks to everyone who has supported us over this time.
- The Wartime Memories Project has been running for 25 years. If you would like to support us, a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting and admin or this site will vanish from the web.
- 19th Nov 2024 - Please note we currently have a huge backlog of submitted material, our volunteers are working through this as quickly as possible and all names, stories and photos will be added to the site. If you have already submitted a story to the site and your UID reference number is higher than
264989 your information is still in the queue, please do not resubmit, we are working through them as quickly as possible.
- Looking for help with Family History Research?
Please read our Family History FAQs
- The free to access section of The Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers and funded by donations from our visitors. If the information here has been helpful or you have enjoyed reaching the stories please conside making a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting or this site will vanish from the web.
If you enjoy this site
please consider making a donation.
Want to find out more about your relative's service? Want to know what life was like during the War? Our
Library contains an ever growing number diary entries, personal letters and other documents, most transcribed into plain text. |
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Wanted: Digital copies of Group photographs, Scrapbooks, Autograph books, photo albums, newspaper clippings, letters, postcards and ephemera relating to WW2. We would like to obtain digital copies of any documents or photographs relating to WW2 you may have at home. If you have any unwanted
photographs, documents or items from the First or Second World War, please do not destroy them.
The Wartime Memories Project will give them a good home and ensure that they are used for educational purposes. Please get in touch for the postal address, do not sent them to our PO Box as packages are not accepted.
World War 1 One ww1 wwII second 1939 1945 battalion
Did you know? We also have a section on The Great War. and a
Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations.
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Want to know more about 5th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment)? There are:1333 items tagged 5th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War. |
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Pte. Colin Ewing 1/5th Btn. Sherwood Foresters Colin Ewing was PoW No 15110 from August 1940 to June 1945. He was seriously affected by the trauma for the rest of his life, which made family life and life in general difficult for him and everyone at home.
Colin would never talk about his experiences, making it hard for others to comprehend why he was affected so severely.
As a very young man he had to go through this alone and unfortunately never received any help or support that we know of following his time in service.
Unfortunately this experience caused Colin to be quite distant and isolated with nightmares to deal with throughout reminding him of the horrors of war.
He did enjoy his Grandchildren's visits later in life, always feeding them as much chocolate as he could while visiting.
We are only now beginning to research and understand all of this.
Lovingly remembered by his daughter Margaret Elaine.
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Cpl. Jack Sanson 5th Btn. Sherwood Foresters Dad, Jack Sanson told me about fighting in Tunisia, how Americans would drive past their positions in the mountains asking "where's the shooting match, Bud?".
They would get a bollocking for driving with their lights on and betraying British positions.
He told me about Salerno and HMS Warspite shelling the Germans. He was very reticent to speak about how he came to be wounded: I know it was after Salerno and involved crossing a river, maybe the Volturno? He described being carried to the water and comrades being shot at by paratroopers as they got him to the other bank.
If it was the Volturno then the crossing would have been at or near Cancello, the Foresters were hammered there.
I am desperate for any information about that crossing: A, B and C Coy's of 2nd Bbattalion. I have some after action reports but need to pin down which Companyy Jack Sanson was in.
God bless all who fought in Italy, you were never given the recognition you so richly deserved
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Pte. William Taziker 5th Btn. Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regiment) (d.12th Sep 1943) William Taziker was my father's brother.
He was born in 1917.
He joined the Sherwood Foresters, 5th Battalion and died in Salerno, Italy on 12th of September 1943 at the age of 26.
He is buried in the Salerno War Cemetery, Italy.
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Pte. Frederick Charles Banks 1/5th Btn. Sherwood Foresters (d.2nd May 1943) Frederick Banks was the husband of Louisa Violet Banks, nee Alberry. Before the war, he was in the retail industry.
On 15th of February 1942, he was captured at the fall of Singapore. At age 27, he died in a camp in Thailand, camp name not known, and is buried in Kanchanaburi War Cemetery.
He had one child, Evelyn Sheila Banks (1936-1945). In 1950, his wife remarried to Thomas Edward Cleal, there were no children from this marriage.
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Pte. Frederick William Miller 5th Btn. Sherwood Foresters  Frederick Miller enlisted in the army on 18th of April 1940. He was posted to Infantry Training Centres in Rochdale, Galashiels and Dereham, prior to embarcation to North Africa on 23 December 1942. Disembarked in North Africa (Tunisia?) on 3rd of January 1943.
He was with 2/5 Btn Sherwood Foresters (re-designated as 5th Btn on 28th of January 1943), who were over-run by a German Parachute Engineer Battalion, under the command of Major Rudolf Witzig, in the 1st Battle of Sedjenane in Tunisia on Tuesday 2 March 1943, which is when he was reported missing, believed to be a POW. Believed he was acting as a medic, caring for the many wounded soldiers from the battle. Next of kin not informed until 26th of March 1943.
Confirmed as a POW in Campo 53 on 25th/26th of April 1943, he was transferred to Stalag IVG (Oschatz or its Work Camp at Klinga) in Germany on 30th December 1943 as POW 227653. Next of kin informed 11th of January 1944. He worked on an Arbeitskommando (Work Group) - one of 76 Work Groups based on Stalag IVG in the Grimma area, 50 miles WNW of Dresden.
He was transferred from Stalag IVG to Stalag IVA (Hohnstein-Ernstthal - Airfield at Dresden-Klotsche) on 16th of February 1944. Apparently, the main camp was liberated by the advancing Russians on 24th of April 1945. His Army record lists liberation on 7th of May 1945 - the day before VE Day.
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L/Sgt. Clifford Edwin Banton MM. 5th Btn. Sherwood Foresters Clifford Banton was captured at Monte Cassino during the Italian campaign and sent to Stalag 7A in Moosburg, Germany.
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Cpl. William Newton 5th Battalion Sherwood Foresters William Newton was my grandfather. He was a POW for approximately 2 years at Stalag 4D/Z before he managed to escape, along with one other prisoner.
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Pte. Anthony Clark 5th Btn. Sherwood Foresters  Anthony Clark was my father. He joined the army as soon as he was old enough. After training he went out to Tunisia or Egypt in time to take part in the invasion of Italy. He landed with the second wave in Salerno and moved with the fighting up Italy, crossing the Volturno River and on to Monte Casino. Before the fall of Monte Casino he was invalided out to Naples with TB. He was on HMHS Aba when she was bombed by stukas and narrowly missed being killed when one of the bombs went through the floor in the corridor near his cabin but failed to explode. He clearly remembered Mount Vesuvius erupting and the deck being covered in ash. He was returned to the UK where he spent several months in a sanatorium in the south of England, and was not expected to survive. Happily he did survive which is why I am here to write this. Unfortunately he died early at the age of 59 from a heart attack.
As a child he tended to only tell the more light-hearted stories such as the time he was put in charge of 3 German prisoners. My Father was the platoon Bren Gunner and the prisoners were very interested in the weapon.
Dad showed them how to strip it and rebuild it, which was fine until he let them have a go, which was at this point when one of his superiors arrived. Dad said these guys were just like him, they didn't want to fight a war and he saw nothing wrong with being friendly with them. Of course that was not an acceptable excuse and he was put on a charge. Dad never let on about the horrors of war but on this occasion he let something slip that indicated what a hard time he must have had. He said the charge was not followed through because they were short of men and there was only three of them left out of his platoon and they were needed at the front.
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Pte. Charles Burt Smith 5th Btn. Sherwood Foresters (d.7th October 1943) Charles Smith was my Gran's brother, he died in Italy and has a war grave in Naples.
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Sgt. Harry "Paddy" Collins 5th Btn. Sherwood Foresters My father, Harry Collins served with the 5th Btn. Sherwood Foresters. I am trying to locate his military history.
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