|
|
|
Royal Army Chaplains Department |
Those known to have served with Royal Army Chaplains Department during the Second World War 1939-1945. - Banting Gareth Bernard. Chap. (d.10th Oct 1944)
- Ketley MID Ernest Wilfrid. Chaplain
- Mackenzie MBE George. Capt.
- Mackonochie Christopher. Capt.
- Nesbitt CdeG, MID Gerard. Padre (d.5th July 1944)
- Urquhart George Blair. Capt.(Chapl).
- Williams Arthur Wellesly P.. Chaplain. (d.16th Dec 1943)
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 Royal Army Chaplains Department from other sources.
|
|
|
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. |
|
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.
|
|
Want to know more about Royal Army Chaplains Department? There are:1349 items tagged Royal Army Chaplains Department 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. |
|
Capt. Christopher Mackonochie att. Beds and Herts Regiment Army Chaplains Dept. My father Chris Mackonochie was a padre attached to the Beds and Herts. He went into France on D Day plus 6 across Sword Beach and went all the way up into Holland before being invalided back to the UK in January 1945.
|
Capt. George Mackenzie MBE East Lancashire Regiment My father George Mackenzie was a Territorial from the mid to late 1930's.
He was called-up on 7th of September 1939, following his marriage on 9th of September 1939, he went to France with the East Lancashire Regiment.
He returned to the UK via Dunkirk. Later he was posted to North Africa with the 1st Army, returning to the UK through illness to became assistant to Chaplain General South East Command, having a difficult responsibility in finding suitable positions for returning Padres.
He died aged 94 in 2004.
|
Chaplain Ernest Wilfrid Ketley MID 2nd Btn. East Surrey Regiment Ernest Wilfred Ketley was one of the last and one of the oldest to be evacuated from Dunkirk (he was 53 in 1940). He was referred to in a book (not by name) as a Padre who was carrying 4 rifles who went up and down the queue at Dunkirk comforting and reassuring the soldiers who were all waiting to be rescued. The time and place tallied and he was the only Chaplain in that area so it must have been him. He was mentioned in dispatches for his courage and actions at that time. He was subsequently promoted to Staff Chaplain at Southern Command, stationed in Andover, for the remainder of the war. Joy Coles (granddaughter)
|
Capt.(Chapl). George Blair Urquhart Cameron Highlanders (Queens Own) My father, the Rev. George Blair Urquhart, was minister of Chalmers Church, Larkhall, Lanarkshire at the outbreak of WW2. He was initially rejected for war service on medical grounds due to a heart murmur, but eventually by obtaining further medical opinions, was able to join as an army chaplain. He served with the Cameron Highlanders, and the Black Watch, and perhaps other units. He was part of the advance through France into Germany after D-Day. His unit was supposed to cross the Rhine at Arnhem in the wake of its capture but that did not happen as is well known. He was based in Germany for a while at the end of the war. He later served with his unit in India before leaving the army around 1946-47.
|
Padre Gerard Nesbitt CdeG, MID Att. 8th Btn. Durham Light Infantry Royal Army Chaplain's Department (d.5th July 1944) Rev. Gerard Nesbitt was a teacher as St Cuthbert's Grammar School, Newcastle before he joined the DLI in 1940. He served in North Africa and Sicily before joining the D-Day landings. He was killed by a stray shell as he was burying his predecessor.
He was awarded the French Croix de Guerre and was also Mentioned in Dispatches as confirmed in the London Gazette dated 12th January 1944.
|
Chaplain. Arthur Wellesly P. Williams Royal Army Chaplains' Department (d.16th Dec 1943) At the age of Seventy am still in the throes of completing the story of my Papa's service as a padre with the 8th Army, attached to 113 Field Regt, Royal Artillery. It's based on my family's recollections, Papa's letters, the official - anodyne - report of his death and the remarkable and totally coincidental meeting I had with one of his brother officers who was in his unit and was present when Papa stepped onto a mine.
'What Really Happened' will never be the definitive version, but unless there is more information out there, it'll have to do.
Should anyone wish to read it, I would be delighted to attach the piece to an e-mail. It should only take ten minutes or so to read.
However, if there's anybody out there who can give me more details of 113's service up to the hideous battle for the Monastery I should be eternally grateful and will edit my piece accordingly.
I make occasional pilgrimages to his War Grave at Minturno and will be there with my daughter, her husband and their son next week. So if anyone tries to contact me and doen't receive a prompt reply, you'll know why.
|
Recomended Reading.Available at discounted prices.
|
|
|
Site Home
Add Stories
