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16th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry
16th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry, was formed in 1940 and was part of 139 Brigade of the 46th Infantry Division, they saw action at Sedjenane I, E1 Kourzia, Salerno, Volturno Crossing, Teano, Monte Camino, Monte Tuga, Gothic Line, Gemmano, Cesena, Cosina Canal, Athens Greece.
1st Mar 1943 Infiltration
3rd Mar 1943 Withdrawal
10th Mar 1943 Prisoners of War
7th Apr 1943 Attack Made 
22nd Apr 1943 Attack Made
Jun 1943 Reports
1st Sep 1943 Orders
2nd Sep 1943 On the Move
4th Sep 1943 On the Move
5th Sep 1943 On the Move
5th Sep 1943 On the Move
7th Sep 1943 On the Move
9th Sep 1943 Stiff Opposition
9th Sep 1943 On the Move
10th September 1943 Advance
10th Sep 1943 Orders
11th September 1943 In Action
11th Sep 1943 Reliefs
11th Sep 1943 In Action
12th of September 1943 Attack Made
12th Sep 1943 In Action
13th of September 1943 Shelling
13th Sep 1943 In Action
14th Sep 1943 Guns Active
15th September 1943 Attacks Made
18th of September 1943 Withdrawal
19th of September 1943 Large Fire
20th Sep 1943 Reliefs
22nd of September 1943 Reorganisation
23rd of September 1943 Bold Plan
24th of September 1943 Mines
25th of September 1943 High Ground
26th of September 1943 Enemy Cleared
27th of September 1943 Orders
28th of September 1943 Town Captured
If you can provide any additional information, especially on actions and locations at specific dates, please add it here.
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Those known to have served with 16th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry during the Second World War 1939-1945. - Alcroft Frederick. Cpl. (d.16th October 1944)
- Hart Edward Anthony Peter. L/Cpl. (d.27th September 1944)
- Kirkup Frederick David Brookes. Capt. (d.9th Sep 1943)
- Lane Lawrence. Pte.
- Lane Lawrence. Pte.
- Moneypenny Charles Henry. Pte.
- Reed Joseph Edward. Intelligence Officer
- Smith George.
- Warf Norman. 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
Add a Name to this List
Records of 16th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry from other sources.
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Want to know more about 16th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry? There are:1355 items tagged 16th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry 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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Cpl. Frederick Alcroft 10th battalion Durham Light Infantry (d.16th October 1944) I never knew my uncle Freddie Alcroft, only that my father, his brother, and the rest of the family took his death very badly.
We have only just come across some old pictures of him. And had a historic pic from his daughter Morag of Freddie on the deck of a trawler on his rescue from Dunkirk, sadly now lost. We believe he is at rest in the Commonwealth Cemetery Assisi, Umbria, Italy
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Pte. Lawrence Lane 16th Btn. Durham Light Infantry My grandad, Lol Lane was reported missing on the 10th of March 1943 in Italy. He was transported to Stalag 344 Lamsdorf in Silesia, Poland. He returned home to Middlesbrough in 1945. He never spoke of his time in the camp but when he died in 2006 in his pocket he still had the letter my grandma received saying he was missing, presumed dead.
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Pte. Lawrence Lane 16th Btn. Durham Light Infantry My grandad Lawrence Lane was from Middlesbrough.
In April 1942 he married my gran, Hilda Murphy, who was pregnant with my mum. A couple of days later he left for war. He was in the 16th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry.
I have seen documents saying he was taken POW 10th of March 1943. He was in Italy but moved to a Stalag in Poland. My grandmother received a letter saying he was missing presumed killed in action.
He returned home in 1945 and saw my mum for the first time.
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Intelligence Officer Joseph Edward Reed 16th Btn. Durham Light Infantry I have recently found out that my great great Uncle Joe Reed was made an Intelligence Officer for 16th Durham Light Infantry attached to Sub Area Headquarters, Stanhope. I have found some writings of his, but reading his hadwriting is difficult and I cannot read all he has written. I would love to know how to find out more information.
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Pte. Charles Henry Moneypenny 16th Battalion Durham Light Infantry Dad, Charles Moneypenny was called up by the Army in 1939 at the age of 19, his army medical examination revealed he had a murmur of the heart and he was advised that he could decline army enrolment, he chose to enlist.
Dad spoke very little about his time in the Army but did mention a few things, I will endeavour to recall his memories as accurately as possible as he told them to me, they are not in any particular order.
It wasn't uncommon for soldiers to take refuge in bombed buildings. I don't know where he was at this time, he may have told me but I cannot remember. He was with his unit in a bombed and deserted house. The men were hungry and eating their rations. There was no running water in the house so my dad went outside to find some water. Almost immediately after he left the building it was hit by a bomb throwing dad to the ground. Dad was unharmed but all the soldiers in the building were killed. Dad lost all his comrades in one moment in time.
Dad returned home in 1944 for a two week R&R, he married mum then returned to his unit. They were sent to Greece
He couldn't remember the name of the place he was sent to, just that it was high in the mountains. Greece was on our side at that time and were friendly with the soldiers. One night, dad was talking to one of the Greek boys, a teenager. Dad gave him a cigarette and the boy said to him, today you are my friend, tomorrow you will be my prisoner. The following day Greece switched sides in the war and my dad and his unit were taken prisoner by the Greeks. They were marched for days further up into the mountains where they were thrust into a shack with sacks of hay scattered over the floor, that was their bedding. Dad was a prisoner of war in this shack until the war ended, a period of just over one year. The men were frightened to sleep because during the night the rats came and bit them, their food consisted of dry biscuits which, according to dad, were as hard as bullets, they drank only water. They were covered in fleas and other parasites having to be deloused when they were finally released.
Meanwhile, back in the U.K. my mum had received a letter from the War Office, your husband is missing, believed dead. Dad walked back through her door at the end of the war, she had received no warning that he was coming.
After a week-long battle (maybe more, time didn't mean much to him) and heavy losses on both sides, dad was walking through the battle field. He turned a German soldiers body over to see if he was still alive. The German had a massive hole where the middle of his torso should be, it was filled with wriggling maggots.
There were many times when the men were completely exhausted. This particular time dad was on guard duty at night, he fell asleep from exhaustion. He was caught in the act by his sergeant and court-marshalled, his punishment was peeling potatoes with a knife in the cook house for the troops, a job he was not good at and they ended up with more peelings than potatoes.
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George Smith 16th Battalion Durham Light Infantry My father, George Smith, served with the 16th Durham Light Infantry in North Africa and southern Italy in WW2. He was a sergeant and was injured in December 1943 losing his left arm just below the elbow, and various shrapnel wounds through out his body. I understand that a colleague stepped on a mine, killing him and 2 others,so I suppose dad was lucky to survive.
We still have the letter the matron wrote to his mother in Wingate, County Durham on 27th of December 1943. He regularly attended reunions in Durham for many years and was secretary of the local branch of BLESMA for years.
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Pte. Norman Warf 16th Btn. Durham Light Infantry Norman Warf was captured at Sedjenane in Tunisia in February 1943. He was transported to Italy and held in Camp 66 Capua. Then he was sent to Camp 82. After the Italian surrender Norman was transported to Stalag 8a and then, in November, to Stalag 8b Lamsdorf. He worked on railways and in mines. Norman survived the long march and was liberated by the Americans in May 1945.
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