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Those known to have served with 7th Battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment (Queens Own) during the Second World War 1939-1945. - Banks Harold. (d.11th September 1944)
- Day Frank Leslie. Pte.
- Harrison Owen Horace. Cpl. (d.19th Jan 1945)
- Newman Ronald Harold. (d.10th Feb 1944)
- Penman David Irons. Tpr. (d.5th Oct 1944)
- Stevens Reginald. Pte.
- Stickley Leonard John. Pte
- Stringer Fredrick William. Pte.
The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed,
please
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Records of 7th Battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment (Queens Own) from other sources.
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Want to know more about 7th Battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment (Queens Own)? There are:1325 items tagged 7th Battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment (Queens Own) 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. Fredrick William Stringer 7th Btn. Royal West Kent Regiment Frederick Stringer completed the General Questionnaire for British/American Ex-Prisoners of War document in 1945. The information he provided is.
- Enlistment date - 20 October 1939.
- Captured in Albert, France 20 May 1940.
- Imprisoned in camp XX1D Posen from June 1940 to August 1944.
- Working camps, Posen Mum 1940 to Aug 1944 working on railways, then (nameplate not legible) from Aug 1944 to Jan 1945 working in a coalmine.
I'm not sure, but I think he must have then gone on the forced death march. He never spoke about any of this to us children.
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Harold Banks 44th Btn. Reconnaissance Corps (d.11th September 1944) Harold Banks was my great granddad. He died when he was 38 during the 2nd World War, he served with 7th Btn. Royal West Kent Regiment and the Reconnaissance Corps. His wife, my great gran, told us about him. She had a little card he had made from a bit of leather with a feather stuck in it. She passed away in 1989.
I did a search and found that Harold is buried in Italy in Coriani Ridge Cemetery. I don't know if my great gran ever got over there. They had two daughters Joyce and Greta. Grandma Joyce has passed away but Greta is still with us.
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Pte. Reginald Stevens 7th Btn. D Coy. Royal West Kent Regiment My father Reginald Stevens (known as Reg) was born in Barking, Essex on 23rd March 1919.
He was called up during the latter part of 1939 and reported to the Verne Citadel Barracks, Portland, Dorset on 1st December 1939. A good friend of his there, and later as a prisoner, was Reg Hamilton who came from Surbiton, Surrey.
Early in April 1940 he was transferred to Blandford Barracks, Dorset and assigned to the Queen's Own Royal West Kents, 7th Battalion. Later that month they moved to Gravesend and then to Southampton where, on 21st April, they embarked on the ship S.S. Bruges bound for Le Havre. Then by train to Elbeuf near Rouen where they spent about 3 weeks there. At this time there is mention of them being in Le Manoir near Alizay and Bailleul.
On 19th of May 1940 they were encamped in a small village about 4 miles from the town of Albert. A German attack took them completely by surprise and they dispersed into small groups. He was captured about 5 miles from Amiens on Tuesday 21st May and taken to Amiens civilian prison where he spent 2 or 3 nights. He was then set to work in a Red Cross Hospital cleaning and digging graves. There was an RAF air raid during this time and he assisted moving wounded soldiers to the cellars (a very harrowing job).
Not long after this they had to march to the Belgian frontier and finally boarded a train for Trier. On the 9th of June 1940 he entered Stalag XXA at Thorn (Torun) and was there until 1st of March 1941 when he was moved to Stalag XXB at Marienburg in Poland.
Five long years of manual labouring on farms and roads finally came to an end when he was liberated by American forces on Friday 13th April 1945 close to the town of Stendal in Germany. Towards the end of April he moved to New Brandenburg airport and after a week was flown home to Wing in Bedfordshire. He moved to barracks for rehabilitation including new clothes, 3 months double ration cards and travel passes. Finally in May 1945 he arrived back home in Barking and met his parents and sister after an absence of 5 years and 5 months.
At the end of July 1945 he reported to Colchester Barracks for ex-POW rehabilitation and weapons training with a view to being sent to the Far East where the Japanese were still fighting. The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended the conflict therefore his Far East adventure never took place.
He left the Army later in 1945 and returned to his old job in Holborn, London. After a long and mainly very happy life my father died in December 2000 aged 81.
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Ronald Harold Newman 44th (7th Queen's Own Royal West Kent) Recce Regt. (d.10th Feb 1944) Ronald Newman was my Uncle who gave his life and is resting in the Minturno Military Cemetery, Italy. We visited his grave a couple of years ago and it was a very humbling place.
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Tpr. David Irons Penman 7th Btn. Royal West Kent Regiment (d.5th Oct 1944) David Penman was my grandmother's sisters first child. He gave his life at the age of 23 and is buried in Cesena cemetery in Italy.
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