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Royal Signals 1st Air Formation, Royal Corps Signals 1st Divisional Signals, Royal Signals Corps 2nd Air Formation, Royal Corps Signals 2nd Division Royal Signals 3rd Company, Royal Signals 4th Division, Royal Signals No. 4 Line of Communication Signals, Royal Corps of Signals 5th Division, Royal Signals 5th (London) Corps, Royal Signals 6th Airborne Divisional Signals Regiment, Royal Corps Signals 6th Division Royal Signals 7th Armoured Division Signals, Royal Signals 8th Division, Royal Signals 9th Armoured Brigade Signal Squadron (Middlesex Yeomanry), Royal Signals 10th Air Formation Royal Signals 10th Divisional, Royal Signals 10th Line Section, Royal Corps of Signals 11th Armoured Division Signals, Royal Signals 11th Operating Section, Royal Signals 12th Coy. Royal Corps Signals 14th Line Section, Royal Signals 15th Air Formation, Royal Signals 15th (Scottish) Divisional, Royal Signals 16th Air Formation, Royal Signals 18th Division Royal Signals 19th Air Formation, Royal Signals 23rd Divisional Signals, Royal Corps of Signals 24th Guards Brigade Company, Royal Signals 27th Line Section, Royal Corps of Signals 28 Wing Section, Royal Corps of Signals 29th Line Section, Royal Signals XXX Corps Signals, Royal Corps of Signals 30th Divisional, Royal Signals 44c (Far East) Royal Signals 46th Divisional Royal Signals 49th Division Signals Regiment, Royal Signals 50th (Northumbrian) Divisional Signals Regiment, Royal Signals 51st (Highland) Divisional Signals, Royal Corps of Signals 53rd Divisional Signals, Royal Corps of Signals 54th Regiment, Royal Signals 57th Field Regiment, Royal Signals 69th L/M Section, Royal Signals 97 Tele-Ops Coy, Royal Signals 101 Special Wireless Section, Royal Signals 217th Squadron, Royal Signals 280th Squadron Royal Signals No 3 HQ Royal Signals Guards Armoured Division Signals, Royal Corps of Signals HQ Railway Telegraph Coy. Royal Signals Indian Special Wireless Service, Royal Signals Y Group, Royal Corps of Signals Y Service If you can provide any additional information, especially on actions and locations at specific dates, please add it here. Those known to have served with Royal Signals during the Second World War 1939-1945. Abbott Jack. Cpl. Akeroyd Irene. Alexander Stanley John. Allan Osborne Ronald. W/Sgt. Anderson Robert. Sgt. Andre Cyril Ernest. Angier Eric John Abner. Sig. (d.8th June 1945) Arnott Thomas Wood. Ashley Jeffrey James. Sgnlmn. Atherton James Ambrose. Cpl. Bailey Harry Frederick. Sig. Baker Lancelot Barton Hill Custance. Capt. Baker Thomas George. Capt. Bamforth William. Corporal Bamforth William George. Cpl. Barker Frank Sherwin. Barnet Horace. Sig. Beaumont Anthony. Bedford Stanley F.. Sig. (d.17th Dec 1942) Bennett MM & Bar. Robert William. L/Cpl. Bentley Donald. L/Cpl. (d.27th May 1942) Betts James John. Bevan Warren Stanley. Biden John Francis. Biden John Francis. Sgt. Bigden William Joseph. L/Cpl (d.18th March 1941) Blake Walter Charles. L/Cpl. Blease . Bolton Howard Burton. Mjr. Bond Valiant. Sgm. Booth Thomas O. Bowden Ernest. Sgt. Brereton John. Sig (d.20th June 1944) Briggs Albert Vernon. Broadbent Arthur. Sgt. Brown Bertram Harry. Sgt. Brown David. W/Sgt. Brown T. D.. Lt. Bugg William. Burgess Thomas. Burton Oliver George. Sgt. Butterworth James Ernest. Pte. Byron Patrick Christopher. L/Cpl. Bégué MC. Georges. Caley Harold Arthur. Cpl. Campbell Henry. (d.24th August 1946) Capp Cyril Charles. Sgt. Carre Gerald Douglas. Sig Carry Joe R. Carville Hugh. Sig. (d.17th May 1940) Chambers Vincent Ralph. Chipchase Oswald. L/Cpl. Clark Reginald William. Clarke Leslie George. Pte. Clarke Victor Cecil. L/Cpl. Clayton Frederick George. Sgt. Coates Donald Hagger. Sgt. Cohen Norman Wilfred. Sgl. Collier John. L/Cpl. (d.21st Sep 1944) Conley John Wilson. Sig. (d.7th July 1944) Cooper Francis Henry. Coppersmith Max. Cotter George William. Sgt Crowther Cyril. Lt. Croxall George Henry. Sig. Cullen Paul. Culshaw Gregory. Corporal Culshaw Gregory. Cpl. Curtis Bernard Trevor. L/Cpl. De-Fontaine Leslie. Sig. (d.7th June 1940) Dembon George William. Cpl Derbyshire Albert. Signalman (d.19th Jan 1945) Derbyshire Albert. (d.19th January 1945) Derrett John Fitzroy. L/Cpl. Dewison Fred Okell. Pte. Dewsnap Allan. Sgm Dick Robert Penman. Pte. Dicks Leonard. Dillon Thomas Boyle. Dvr Dowle Charles William. Pte. Downing Dennis David. Dvr. Downs James Archibald. Drabble James Alfred. Signalman (d.17th June 1940) Drinkwater Horace. Pte Duguid MM. James. Cpl. (d. ) Dunkeld George Guy. Dvr. Dunlop James. Sgt. (d.18th September 1945) Dunlop James. Sgt. (d.18th September 1945) Earnshaw John K. S.. A/Cpl. (d.21st Sep 1944) Eastman John Edward. Edwards Ron. Edwards Ron. Edy Douglas George. Ellis Dick. Elwell Francis Kenneth. Dvr. (d.12th September 1944) Emmett Arthur. Sgt. Enever William Robert. Pte. Entwistle Benjamin. Sgt. Errington George Elliot. Drv. (d.17th April 1942) Etherington MM. Phillip Dudley. Sig. Eva James Albert. Sig. Evans Terence William. Exley John William. Pte. Falkingham John. Sgt. Faulkner Frank. Feasey Ernest Joseph. Pte. Fells MiD. Charles William. Sgt. Ferdinand William Victor. Sgt. Field Donald. Sgt. Finer Allen Reginald. Fishel Cecil Leon. Sig. Flanaghan Lawrence. Dvr. (d.1st October 1945) Foley Terence John Christopher. Ford James. Sig. Forshaw Matthew. Sig. (d.20th Nov 1941) Fox Frederick Thomas. Francis Albert Ernest. Francis Albert Ernest. Franklin Howard. Sig. Fullagar Sydney George. Signalman Fynn Edward William. L/Sgt. Gardner William. Gell John Stanley. Pte. Gibbon Thomas James. Sgt. Gibbs Donald. A/Sgt Mjr. Giddings William Charles. S/Sgt. Goss James. W/S/Sgt. Graham Stephen. Grant Jim. Sig. Gray Thomas Andrew. Pte. Green Frederick James. Sgt. Griffin MiD. Wilfred Featherstone. Cpl. Guy Jimmy. Halford Clifford. Lance Corporal Hamshire Bernard John Stanton. Harris John Leslie. Hawarden John James. Pte. Hayward DSM, MID. George . Sgt Heathcote Reginald Leslie. Sig. Hepburn Andrew. L/Cpl. Hickmott MID Edward William. Cpl. Higgins Patrick. Pte. Hill Desmond George. Hill Frank William. Sgt. Hill Harold Charles. Hogg John Willis. Holder Charles. Sgnlmn. (d.17th September 1940) Hornsby Joseph. Signalman Horry Thomas William. Dvr. Hotine Robert Edward. Dvr. Hotine Robert Edward. Drvr. Howard George William. L/Cpl. Hutchinson Jack. Jaggard Charles Cecil. Cpl. Jarvis James Percival. Sgt. Jocelyn William. Jones Elwyn. Cpl. Jones Owen Joycelyn. Cpl. Jones Victor William Thomas . Sig. Jordan Dennis. Sig. Jury Bertram. Sig. Keeling Walter . Signalman. (d.Between 24th April & 2nd June 1940) Kells DCM Ronald Frederick John. Sgt. Kirtley William Oswald. Sig. (d.21st Sep 1944) Knapman James B.. Pte. Lamb John. Dvr. Lawrence Peter. Ledger Hugh Hallam. Capt. Leech William Fraser. L/Cpl. Lewis John Robert. Sig. Lewis William Thomas Albert Edward. Pte. Lidster Ernest. (d.1999) Lightfoot Harold. Pte. Lishman John Turnbull. Loft Harold Roy. Drv. Lord Richard Dunstan. Signalman Louden Louis James. Pte Lowe Harry Patrick. Lyne Ralph. MacIndeor MID. Angus. Sig. Maguire Joe. Maile Charles Edward. Sgt. Makin Mark Brownlow. L/Cpl. Mann James. Manning Wilfred Roy. Marples James. Sig. Mavor Andrew Corbett. L/Cpl. May John. CSM. Mayle Frank Ernest. Corporal Maynard Eric Gordon. L/Cpl. McBlain Stewart. Linesman. McConney James George Randolph. Cpl. (d.28th March 1943) McConney James George. Cpl. (d.28th March 1943) McGowan Ernest. Sig. (d.17th June 1940) Mcgregor James Alexander. Pte. (d.11th January 1943) Mends Arthur George. RSM. Metcalf Alfred Guest. Capt Middleton George Sutherland . L/Cpl. (d.21st Jul 1945) Moffat William. Sgnlmn. Moon William Isaac Garfield. W/Cpl Moore Maurice Ingram. Morrison John Dow. Sig. Morton Kenneth. Pte Morton Kenneth. Sig. Murchison Roderick. Private Murray George. Pte. Nason-Waters Leonard Alfred. Sign. Nason-Waters Leonard Alfred. Sig. Neate Percy Albert. L/Cpl. New Edward William. Driver (IC). (d.15th Sep 1944) Newcombe Sydney Jack. Cpl. Newham Stanley Arnold. Sig. Noake Eric Stanley. Act Sgt. Nordberg William. Nye Albert Gordon . Dvr. Nye David Leslie. Sig. Oates A.. Pallister MiD George Henry. Sgt. Palmer Daniel Ralph. Pardoe Frederick Harry. Cpl. Parrott John Chadwick. Sgt. Potesta Sidney H. Corporal Potton James William. Sig. (d.21st Sep 1944) Poulton Charles Bertram. Sigmn. Powell Herbert. Pruim Bernard. Sig. (d.18th July 1946) Pullen Harry Gordon. Purvey George Edwin. Sigmn. Purvis Leslie. Sig. (d.31st Mar 1941) Putland Gilbert Hector. Sig. Rankin J.. Ratcliffe Ernest. RSM Rawson William. Sgt. Reeder Norman B.. L/Cpl Reid James. Reith Douglas. Ridsdale John Herbert. Lt. (d.21st December 1943) Ridsdale John Herbert. Lt. (d.23rd December 1943) Rix Douglas Alfred. Cpl. Roberts Edmund W.. Sig. (d.13th June 1940) Robertshaw Francis Rowland. Cpl. Rockingham David William. Sig. (d.20th Oct 1943) Roden Thomas. Sig. (d.9th Jun 1943) Rooks Alfred. Signalman Roscoe Walter. Sig. (d.7th Feb 1945) Roy Robert . Signalman (d. 30th Aug 1945) Roy Robert. Sig. (d.30th August 1945) Rudd Hector Charles. Sgt, Scorer MID, MC. Philip Segar. Mjr. Scotland John Burns. Sgnlmn. Seneviratne Christopher Leonard. Sig. Shaw James Cormack. Sig. Shaw William Phillipson. Cpl. Sheppard Cyril. L/Sgt. (d.26th Feb 1942) Shields James A.. Silver Walter. Signalman. Simpson Albert Alfred. 2nd Lt. (d.10th Dec 1944) Skinner Alfred Frederick Charles. Pte Small Arthur Henry. Cpl. Smith Arthur. Smith Arthur Edward. L/Sigmn. Smith MID. Frederick Gordon. Mjr. Smith Harry Leslie. Sgt. Smith Jack. Sig. (d.28/02/1944) Smith James. Smith Robert. Sgt Mjr. Snaith Arthur. South Donald Charles. L/Cpl. Spink BEM. Reginald William. Sgt. Staghall Norman . Stamper Arthur John Pickering. Sgt. Stanners William Horace James. Cpl Stephen MM. Alexander. Cpl. Stott MID. William. Dvr. Street Frederick John. Sundberg Johan Ashby. Swann Victor. Signalman. (d.1th Aug 1943) Tait Bernard. Dvr. Tennant Christopher Stanley Arthur. Drvr. Terry Alan Everard. Thomas Idris. Thomas Ronald John. Thompson Ronald. Thompson Ronald William. Cpl. Thurlow Robert George. Sgmn. Tiffin Francis Victor. Lt. Tilley Harry Edwin. L/Cpl. Topping John Joseph. L/Cpl. Tracy GC. Arthur Herbert. Sergeant Trant Alfred Douglas. Sig. (d.2nd Mar 1944) Turner Ernest. Lt. Turner Jack. Turner Jimmy. Turner William Waterhouse. Pte. Twiddy Donald Frederick. L/Sgt. (d.26th June 1944) Varley Arnold. Sigmn. Vickers Betsy. Walbank David Marston. WS/Lt Walker John Charles. Walker Peter. Walton Ronald Walter. Walton Ronald Walter. L/Cpl Ward Arthur James. Signalman (d.24th Nov 1945) Ward William Arthur. Pte. Warren MID. Hobart Wallace . Sig. Webster Edward. Drv. Weir David Hutton. Signalman. Welsh Bernard Arther . Sgmn. (d. 26th Mar 1942) Welstead William. Drv. (d.22th Nov 1944) Westcott Jack Leonard. WO2 Whelan John. Cpl. Whitaker Alan. Sgmn. Whitbread Ronald J. Driver White William James. Whiteman Frances Freeman. Sig. Whitmarsh Leonard. Why Dennis Victor. Wilkins Edwin. Wilkins Kenneth Aubrey. Cpl. Wilkinson Jack. Sig. (d.8th Feb 1943) Williams Alan Rein. Williams Charles Ernest. Sig. Williams Wilfred. L/Cpl. Williams William Edward. Pte. Wilson Alexander MacKinnon. Lt Wilson Arthur. Drvr. (d.3rd March 1944) Wilson N R. Cpl. Wilson Thomas Edward Maurice. Windsor John Henry. Sig.. (d.12th July 1942) Wood Leonard. Pte. Wood Stanley K.. 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 Signals 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. 18th Dec 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 265120 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 the Royal Signals? There are:1523 items tagged Royal Signals 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. Sgt. John Falkingham Royal Corps of Signals Does anyone have any information on John Falkingham who was born in 1915? He may have been a journalist and served in the TA before WW2. He was a Sergeant in 1944 when he was a patient at Addenbrooke Hospital 1943/44. He recovered and went to France in April/May 1944 and "never came back." Whether that means he was killed in action or never contacted the reporter again, I do not know. Thanks for any help anyone can provide. Gwen Walker Add to this record. Arthur Smith Royal Signals Arthur Smith joined the Royal Corps of Signals in 1940. He was in Cairo for his 21st birthday, Tobruk for his 22nd and a prisoner of war camp for his 23rd. Captivity in Libya and Bologna was followed by a Stalag in Poland which, unbeknown to the inmates, was within 15-20 miles of Auschwitz. 1945 saw the Russians advancing from the east and Arthur’s POWs were marched out ahead of them to criss-cross northern Germany for a thousand miles on foot, during which they saw Dresden go up in flames. After the war ended, he went to live in the small village of Youlgrave in Derbyshire where he had four children with Vera Wilson. He is my Grandfather and I am keen learn more about his military career. Mary-Ann Gow Add to this record. Signalman Robert " " Roy (d. 30th Aug 1945) Unfortunately I know almost nothing about my Uncle Robert Roy, other than he died as a POW in Changi Singapore and is buried at Kranji Cemetery in Singapore. My son is currently in the far east and plans to visit the grave next week. If anybody has any info, we would be very interested. John Roy Add to this record. Pte. Ernest Joseph Feasey 10th Btn. Beds & Herts Regt. I enlisted at Bedford on the 29th of Jul 1941, attended Basic Training and served with 10th Bn, until I transferred to the Royal Signals on the 1st of Sept 42. I then served with 47 Div Sigs, 38 Div Sigs, 2 Corps Sigs, 39 HQ Sigs, 3 GHQ Sigs in the UK, MELF & Italy. I was discharged on the 15th of December 1946. Ernie Feasey Add to this record. James Archibald Downs Royal Signals My father-in-law, James Downs was a prisoner of Stalag IVb. He was captured at Tobruk in 1942, and I believe spent all the rest of the war in this Stalag. Lesley Downs Add to this record. Pte. John Stanley Gell 11 LoC Royal Signal Regiment One of the stories my father, John Gell told me about his service in North Africa during the period 1942 - 1944 comes particulary in mind especially when I brood about Fate and Destiny. Together with his mates, after working on the phone lines near Bizerta - Tunisia, a place known to the troops as Messerschmit Alley, he was resting at camp. Just as dusk was setting in, a sort of rumbling noise was continuosly heard. To be on the safe side, Dad coaxed the group out of their billet and had them move nearby. Only one of his mates refused to go, saying they were scared for nothing, it was only the sound of distant guns. Shortly after the group had moved, a section of Ju 87 dive bombers, in an effort to destroy allied comunications, hit the site, killing the one soldier who decided to stay back. Sometomes it's better to follow one's instinct than turn it down! My beloved father passed away a couple of months ago and with this short story I would like to honour his memory. Thank you. Stephen Gell Add to this record. Pte. Patrick "Patsy" Higgins Royal Corps of Signals Patrick served with the 51st Scottish Division and was captured at Saint Valery in France after Dunkirk. He was a prisoner for 5 years in Poland in Stalag XXA, until the end of the war when he was released. Paul Brennan Add to this record. Dvr. George Guy Dunkeld Royal Signals George Guy Dunkeld was my father. H e enlisted 1 august1939 into the Royal Signals. He was very reticent about his life in the army as he was a POW in Italy, escaped twice and was helped by local people before recapture and was transfered to Germany to work in a rubber plant. At one time, I believe, he was being taken by train in Germany when the Allies bombed the train and all other passengers were killed. But this was never told to me by my father,his sister told me. My father was transfered to the M Reserve 18th Nov 1947. He served for 8yrs and 110 days of these 4yrs 18days were spent in captivity. I would love to hear from anyone who knew my father especialy as a POW. My father did tell me one story about life as a POW they would take old socks with holes in them and roll them up then swap them through the wire to a guard for cigarettes and in his own words "run like hell". Norman Dunkeld Add to this record. Driver (IC). Edward William New Royal Corps of Signals (d.15th Sep 1944) I have a letter from Signalman Alfred G Still 2356510 to my Grandmother Lillian New about the circumstances of his death. In hope that it would be of some comfort to her. Sue Day Add to this record. Terence William "Taffy" Evans Royal Signals My cousin Terry. Full name Terence William Fulford born 23.11.1944. I'm trying to locate his father. The only information we can give is Taffy Evans born in Wales serving with Royal Signals at Hadleigh Essex. Terry's mother Violet Elizabeth Fulford nee Naylor born 1914 has since died.We believe that Taffy was younger. Terry's elder sisters Joyce and Eillen were very young but vaguely remember Taffy. If anybody has any information please contact. Pat Pond Add to this record. Sig. Jack Smith Royal Corps of Signals (d.28/02/1944) I am looking for any information regarding my grandfather, Jack Smith of the Royal Signals. He lived in Burnley, Lancashire, England. He is buried at Minturno, Italy. My father was four years old when his dad died. Unfortunately, I do not have much more information, but if anyone has any information at all, please contact me, I love to hear from you. Lesley Horne Add to this record. L/Cpl. Victor Cecil "Nobby" Clarke Royal Signals My father never talked about his particpation in the war only that he was in the Signal Regiment. The only time he said anything was after thunderstorms because he would cower under the stairs with fright (something happened whilst he was wearing radio headset and lightening struck his antenna). Alan Clarke Add to this record. Signalman Arthur James "Archie" Ward Royal Corps of Signals (d.24th Nov 1945) Arthur James Ward was the brother of my grandmother and died of gunshot wounds in 1945 (listed as accidental) he was 32 years old. He is buried at Heliopolis War Cemetery. If anyone has information, please contact me. Elaine Sale Add to this record. L/Cpl. John Collier 18th Divn Royal Corps Signals (d.21st Sep 1944) John was a Territorial - had, I think, served on the Norway raid early in the war. I don't have much family detail - he would have been an uncle to me. 30 October 1941, Orient Line’s SS Orcades and seven other transports sailed in convoy (WS12X) from Liverpool’s Princess Jetty. The 18th Division regiments, totaling 20,800 officers and men were en route to the Middle East via Halifax. This was the first convoy secretly manned and protected by US Navy and Coastguard personnel with orders to sink any opposing craft - this was before Pearl Harbour and the US formal entry to WW2. 10 November 1941 TF 14 sailed from Halifax in 6 American transports via Cape Town for Suez. US Navy manned USS Mount Vernon (AP22), USS West Point (AP23) and USS Orizaba (AP24); US Coast Guardsmen manned USS Wakefield (AP21), USS Joseph T Dickman (AP26) and USS Leonard Wood (AP25). 7 December 1941 Pearl Harbor. 13 December 1941 convoy (WS12X) left Cape Town with revised orders for Bombay now renamed convoy TF-14.2. Subsequent splitting and reroutes saw transports arrive at Singapore between 13 January and 5 February 1942. John was then POW on the Burma railway. Another POW tried to track him down through his wife at the end of the war, saying John's actions had kept him alive as a POW - but it was later found out that John had perished but when and how? 4 July 1944 convoy SHIMI-05 left Singapore, 10 ships (5 carrying about 5000 POWs in total) being the largest group of POWs shipped at one time during the war. John along with 1286 POWs were put aboard the Hofuku Maru (nb: this ship was also known as the Fuku Maru, the Toyofuku Maru and the Fuji Maru) a 5825 ton cargo ship. Convoy made for Miri, Borneo which it reached on July 8. Hofuku Maru and another ship (not carrying POWs), dropped out to wait for another convoy. 19 July 1944 Hofuku Maru made it to the Philippines but lay in Manila harbour until mid-September while its engines were repaired. The POWs on board suffered terribly from disease, hunger and thirst and finally a number were removed to the Bilibid Prison hospital in Manila being replaced by a similar number from the Philippines making a total of 1289 POWs then on board. 20 September 20, Convoy MATA-27 sailed from Manila (11 ships including the Hofuku Maru now the only one carrying POWs) anchoring at Subic Bay for the night. 21 September 1944 convoy sailed for Takao (Formosa) but aircraft from the 17 carriers in Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher’s Task Force 38 attacked about 80 miles north of Corregidor. 10:35 am planes attacked the Hofuku Maru and then the entire convoy had been sunk by more than 100 American planes. About 200 of the POWs either swam to shore or were picked up by the Japanese and taken back to the Philippines. John was listed as dead. Jeremy Collier Add to this record. Pte. Robert Penman Dick Royal Corps of Signals My Father, Robert Dick served with the Royal Signals in campaigns in North Africa (1941-3) and in Sicily/Italy (1943-5). I believe that he was attached to the American 1st Army in Africa and was at Monte Cassino in Italy. If anyone has any information, I would be very interested in learning more. Ian Penman Add to this record. Sgt. John Chadwick Parrott 113 Despatch Rider Section Royal Signals My Grandfather, John Parrott joined the Army in 1935 as a member of the Territorial Army. Prior to the beginning of the war he was based at 2nd Operators Training Battalion, 2nd Signal Training Centre, Prestatyn, North Wales. From what I was told when he was alive he spent time in North Africa, Italy, Berlin, and at the end of the war he was in Oslo, Norway when it was liberated. I Don't know much more than that as he did not like to talk about it. Alistair Parrott Add to this record. Stephen Graham Royal Signals My father, Stephen Graham, was brought up in the Lanarkshire village of Shotts. He would never really talk about his experiences in WW2, but the little I do know is that he was in the Royal Signals in Italy, near Rome and Naples, he was injured in Italy and had shrapnel in his eye. I would be interested in hearing from anyone who knew him. Lynda Graham Add to this record. RSM. Arthur George Mends Royal Signals My Grandfather, George Mends was from Pembrokeshire. He joined the Army at a young age and was sent to Chilwell Barracks. He was in Iceland on 29th March 1941, the day my Mum was born. My Gran, Lavinia, wrote to him, asking what to call the baby and waited for his reply before naming her. She was 3 years old when she saw him for the first time and ran screaming that a strange man was coming. George kept his silver-topped cane by the fire all his life. Does anyone remember him? Dawn Anderson Add to this record. CSM. John May Royal Signals D-Day Jump - Wishaw Paratrooper's Thrilling Story The following letter has been received by his sister, Margaret, from Sergt. John May, of an airborne division son of the late C.S.M. Thomas May, D.C.M. and Bar, Wishaw, formerly of 3rd Lk. Bn. Of the Home Guard. Shortly before 1 am on D Day we jumped, dropped, or fell from our aircraft, over the allotted area, with mingled feelings of fear, hope and determination to do the job in the manner we had been taught. A terrific hail of A.A. and small-arms fire met us as we floated to earth. It was like Blackpool illuminations, whilst overhead roared scores more planes, dropping their troops all over the pre-arranged zones. I landed rather awkwardly in a small garden set out like a plantation, and badly twisted my ankle. Whilst struggling to get out of my parachute harness, I heard a voice call out “O.K. Tommy,” with a pronounced foreign accent. I immediately challenged him and received no reply. Having had some previous experience of Jerry’s tricks in N. Africa, I immediately threw a grenade in the direction of the voice, and ran after it as best I could. I found my man to be a French civilian wearing an armband of some kind, and he alleged to be a member of the Resistance movement. Not feeling like trusting him very much, I questioned him closely in French (Vive La Wishaw High School), and discovered I was in the back garden of a German H.Q. I then decided that it was time to put a move on, and as he and I climbed over the wall a machine-gun opened fire on us. Fortunately, we got over the wall O.K., but in doing so I finished my other ankle as well and could only hobble along. En route to my rendez-vous, I collected several members of another infantry battalion (still paratroopers), and we were attacked by German troops. Six of my fellows were wounded, but we shot two Jerries and captured their machine-guns, and continued on our way. Then the glider borne troops began to come in and we had a ringside seat at the most amazing spectacle I have ever seen. A.A. was filling the sky and the gliders just floated through it. Several were hit, but very few were actually shot down out of the scores and scores that came in. No film ever made could depict such a scene. My next adventure was the capture of a chateau, in company with two officers and two men. The place was very quiet, but we didn’t take any chances, believe me it, and it was just as well. We finished up with four prisoners, one a Frenchman in German uniform. The days following, and the general performance of all the airborne units have, I believe, been pretty well reported already, so I won’t go into any more detail about it, but all I can say is that the organisation of this party was terrific. Having been previously in France and North Africa, I can definitely state that as far as I am concerned, with the exception of Dunkirk, itself, they were sideshows compared to this. Nevertheless, everyone here is full of confidence that we cannot fail, and we will not fail to carry out any task allotted to us. I fully expect that German propaganda will be at work at home now, but disregard it entirely and trust the BBC - slow, maybe, but none the less true. This newspaper article is about my mother's sister's husband Uncle John, who went through Dunkirk, D-Day (with 6th Airbourne), Market Garden, and died peacefully at home some 10 years ago. Alan Taylor Add to this record. Sig. Walter Roscoe Royal Corps of Signals (d.7th Feb 1945) My Uncle Walter Roscoe was born in St Helens, Lancashire in 1919. He was captured at Tobruk and remainded a prisoner of war until he was killed at Niederwiesa, Nr Chemnitz, Germany on the night of 6-7 February 1945. He is buried in the Berlin War Cemetery. If anyone can add to this information I would love to hear from them Rowena Fairley Add to this record. Harold Charles "Rocky" Hill Royal Signals My Father served in the Signals. I think he lied about his age to join up. I know little about his service except that he saw Vesuvius erupt in 1943. Rev. Charlie Hill Add to this record. L/Cpl. Wilfred Williams Royal Signals Our father, Wilfred Williams, Royal Signals Army No 2328793 was at Stalag XXb. He was a prisoner of war from June 1940 to May 1945. In his later years he told us some of what had happened to him. Dad was an office boy working in a hospital in Portsmouth. He wanted a choice, not be drafted into the P B I (poor bloody infantry) so joined up and was put into the Signals Corp. All the British equipment was old, no tanks. After the First World War disarmament was the way of most of the world, but the Germans had the principle of ‘guns before butter’. The Signals Corp had wireless trucks but instead of having the proper radio equipment in them, they had a lot of cricket equipment, games etc. They thought the war would be over soon. In 1940 he was near a beach with cliffs at St Valery-en-Caux near Calais as rear guard as the 51st Highland Division was being chased down the coast. Their original orders were to ‘Hold the line’, but then came the order ‘Every man for himself!’ and to dismantle rifles so they could not be used by the enemy, but the guns were from the 1914 war anyway. It was desperate. His company was surrounded at gunpoint by Germans. Eventually with thousands of other British, French, Dutch and Belgians they were marched from France to Holland, living on the occasional loaf or whatever they could find in the fields or hedges. In Holland the POW's were loaded onto barges with no facilities for five days, until reaching Germany where they were put onto trains. The carriages said ‘8 horses or 40 men’, but 100 men were put in each. There was little water or food, and just a 3 feet by six inch opening where men took turns to stand. In Poland they were taken to the prison camp Marienburg Stalag XXb. Dad told us, ‘Everyone was suffering alike. They were a good lot of lads and relieved to be alive, to live through another day. Some comedians had a sense of humour. They were never overfed. It kept you down. Lousy, covered completely with lice. In the delousing chambers/showers it just brought the young eggs out. Clothes would come off and be boiled and cooked. We had to walk through the water, no soap or towels. By the time you got back to camp all the lice were back again. People were moved from camp to camp. It was boring and rotten. There was day after day of lice, scratching and no food. If there was bread, you ate it. Some saved it in pieces for breakfast/lunch/dinner, others ate it immediately. ‘ The friends he refers to in his account are Frank Tayler, Gordon Gibson (Gibby). He also mentions ‘Double’ (liked 2 food portions), Jake Porter (cockney) and Andy Anderson. At Stalag XXb he was sent to work in a factory for 3 months during the beet harvest, doing 12 hour shifts. The beets were cooked in eight big boilers. He had to open the boilers at the bottom to empty them of the cooked beets, all hot and wet, then closed them up to refill. He suffered with painful, cracked skin on his hands for the rest of his life as a result of this. Back at camp they were starving and bitterly cold. Dad collapsed and was marched off to a hospital by a German soldier, having to walk in the gutter, was given a ‘pick-me-up’ and then walked back to camp having lost his clothes but in a long Polish army overcoat. On the footpath Poles stuffed things in his pockets, cigarettes, hard buns. One job was to get sand for rail works. They were on narrow tracks, shovelling sand. One day all the sand slipped and two chaps died. A New Zealander officer who led the funeral told the POWs the latest news from the outside world. Dad volunteered for a farm. The first farmer was a ‘typical’ Prussian and did not want English prisoners saying they were trouble and would not work. They were then taken to another farm under Herr Johst, who was remembered as being important as he had a vehicle with rubber tyres. Ten of the lads were there from November 1941 to February 1945, all survived. At the farm the granary was destroyed and extra hands came in, in the form of Ukranian civilian POWs who brought whisky and a radio, so they heard the news that Singapore had fallen to the Japanese. When the farmer was away the Polish housekeeper let Dad in to listen to the radio and he heard ‘ITMA’ (It’s that man again – Tommy Handley). He was nearly caught coming back and had to dive into a ditch, a hairy moment, no fun at the time. He reported that all the Germans were different, some friendly, some not. In early 1945 the invasion was succeeding. Dad and his mates were told that they must move out. On 12 February they had to leave hurriedly because the Russians were coming. They picked up what they could carry and were marched from Poland across N Germany. Now we know that the troops were used as pawns by the Germans. They walked for 3 months living off the fields with no washing facilities anywhere, heading closer to the war activity. On 5 May 1945, still marching, US vehicles came over the horizon. The Germans put down their weapons and the US soldiers rounded everyone up. The US soldiers gave out cigarettes and candies. Vehicles took people to camps – with food! His group (in rags but with food) was put in a Lancaster bomber. It had no seats or weapons, just shells and gun towers in the middle and tail. They took turns to view the devastation. They flew over Essen and saw the damaged towns with white sheets hanging from the windows – surrender. They landed in Beaconsfield and were showered, given new underwear, a uniform and a meal. There was a show from the Folies Bergere and every chair had a copy of the Daily Express. Dad remembers black singer Josephine Baker stroking the hair on the back of the soldiers’ necks. He was given money and a railway pass, put onto a lorry to London and dropped off at Waterloo Station. He sent a telegram to his parents saying he was coming home. When he arrived at his parents’ home in Portsmouth his mother was crying with relief as his brother had arrived home from the Navy that same day. The telegram arrived three days later. Dad told us,”For me, the war was really over”. At the age of 80, in 1996, Dad went with his wartime pals Frank Tayler and Gibby back to Poland. They hired a car and visited the old buildings in Gdansk and looked for the farm they had been on. They found the house of Mr Klein, who had been the leading farm hand, and they found the house of Herr Johst. They remembered where the concentration camp they had been in was, and the striped uniforms of the Jews and dissidents. All they saw of the area they knew was run down, just grass and mature trees. They met a farmer who said that there had been a transformer and houses there, which were blown up by the Russians. The three old soldiers were given strawberries and a red rose each by the farmer’s wife, which Dad brought back to Mum. Wilfred Williams 16 July 1916 – 23 October 2009 Claire Williams Add to this record. Sgt. Donald Hagger Coates Royal Signals My late father, Donald Coates was in the Royal Signals from 1939 to 1945. He told us very little about his service although he served in Aden and India. Is there anyone out there who remembers him or has any photos please? Andrew Coates Add to this record. Sig. Ernest McGowan Royal Signals (d.17th June 1940) My uncle, Ernest McGowan from Glossop in Derbyshire, he was a signalman with the Royal Corps of Signals. Service Number 2587688. He was aged 26 when he died, presumed drowned aboard the SS Lancastria on 17th June 1940. I suppose it would be too much to hope that anyone reading this would have any memories of him. Rita Porter Add to this record. Cpl. Arthur Henry "Jack" Small Royal Signals I have my Father's Hand made Scroll made in conjunction with a William Garman on an old handkerchief which I have framed to preserve. My Father was Arthur Henry Small, Corporal, Royal Signals Army No 117487 and POW No 12776. He was captured in North Africa before the fall of El Alamein coming up from Tobruk. First he was held in Italy and very badly treated, but eventually arrived in Stalag IV B at Muhlberg/Elbe and the inscription on the scroll is dated June 29th 1942 and shows a shield with pick and shovel and inscribed "Work Camp". He seldom spoke of his incarceration, but was repatriated after firstly Russians entered the camp but could do nothing for them. Eventually, the Americans released them and killed many with kindness as most were suffering from Beri Beri and my Father weighed 6.5 stone when he got back. Sadly, he passed away in 1996 aged 80 which was a surprise to all as we never expected him to make old bones! I am attaching a photo in case anyone recognizes him and also one of the scroll. I would like to receive any old photos in the camp and other info from others. Add to this record. William Bugg Royal Signals My late father was in the Desert Rats. His name was William Bugg, London and Guildford, Surrey. He was a radio operator. He was based in the Egyptian Desert and Northern Italy. I would love to hear from anyone who remembers him. Lisa Cresswell Add to this record. Ronald John Thomas Royal Signals I am trying to find out information on a serviceman, Ronald John Thomas, who I believe was in the Signals Regiment in WW2. He is the Grandfather of Emma Thomas who has asked me to help her trace her Grandad. Any information would be most welcome. James Darby Add to this record. Mjr. Howard Burton Bolton Royal Signals My grandfather Howard Burton was Royal Signals paymaster at Catterick Camp during WW2. He was unable to participate in active service due to loosing a lung from pneumonia following an operation to remove his appendix. Pippa Wagstaff Add to this record. Dvr. William Stott MID. No 62 Line Section Royal Signals My participation as a member of H.M. Armed services in World War Two lasted exactly five years, I was called up on January 8th 1941 and de-mobilised on January 7th 1946. On my entry into the Army I was initially posted to a camp at Prestatyn in North Wales were I received four weeks of basic training or “square bashing” as we used to call it. This consisted of learning to march in step, obey basic commands and to fire a rifle. The standard British Army rifle at this time was the Short Magazine Lee-Enfield .303 calibre an excellent if slightly dated weapon which kicked like a mule when fired and could break your shoulder if you didn't hold it correctly. After basic training I was posted to Hendon, North London for six months training with the Royal Signals and from there went to Number 62 Line Section at a little Village called Houghton-Regis near Dunstable. The unit was largely composed of ex Post office Engineers and drivers, the purpose of the unit was to follow after the fighting troops and lay down the telephone/ signals lines of communication. My particular job was as a driver of one of the 10 ton Austin Six Wheeler trucks which carried the drums of cable used for this purpose. In September 1942 we proceeded to the port of Greenock near Glasgow, there we embarked on a transport ship, the S.S.Narcunda, this ship formed part of a large convoy which was part of the invasion force for North Africa. This was Operation Torch when British and American forces were going to land at several points on the French North African coast in Morocco and Algeria. We landed at a port called Bougie on the 13th of November and were immediately sent up into the hills South of the port, this was fortunate as the Germans began to bomb Bougie heavily. It took us about a week to transport all our equipment from Bougie up to our base camp in the hills and we made several trips to complete this task. On one of the trips we recognised some of the crew from the ship we had travelled in – the S.S. Narcunda – and learned that she had been bombed and sunk by German aircraft 24 hours after we had disembarked' The liner SS Narkunda, Capt. L. Parfitt, D.S.C., was serving as an auxiliary transport during the Allied landings in French North Africa in November, 1942. She disembarked her troops at Bougie and had turned about for home when, toward evening on the 14th, she was bombed and sunk some distance off Bougie Thirty-one of her crew were killed. From Bougie we went to a town inland called Constantine and this really stands out in my memory, it was well out of range of enemy bombers and so had no blackout. Even without this though Constantine was a memorable place, built on either side of a steep ravine it was a most picturesque sight, to see it lit up at night was unbelievable especially as since the start of the War in 1939 Britain had been under severe blackout restrictions. So far we had not seen any action, however as we advanced into Tunisia we began to experience the delights of being shot at by the enemy. For some time we were based at a town called La Marsa which was also home to an American unit, the Americans had come prepared for a shooting war and had machine guns mounted on everything- Trucks, Jeeps, Motor-Cycles. Every day at about 4.00 PM four Messerschmitt 109's would appear and thoroughly beat up the town, strafing anything that moved, the Americans would open up with everything they had and I can well recall several occasions lying in a slit trench with German bullets hitting the road about 12 feet from my head, not a happy memory at all. In May 1943 the Axis forces surrendered and we moved into the city of Tunis, there were lots of enemy Prisoners of War there, the Germans appeared as smart professional soldiers but the Italians looked and behaved like a rabble. In July 1943 the Allies invaded Sicily and of course we followed, we landed at Syracuse and followed the now familiar pattern, transporting the cables and equipment. Sicily was a foul place, it was hot, dry and barren. Most of us came down with malaria for the first time while we were there. I came to hate Sicily with its stony ground and shrivelled olive groves, hot days and cold nights. While we were in Sicily we were reorganised into Number 1 U.G.Cable Company and also got a new Commanding Officer, a Major who had been the Chief Engineer at G.E.C.Ltd the famous British Electrical Engineering company, we also received a lot of fresh reinforcements so it was pretty obvious that our job was still not over. In September we embarked at Palermo and crossed over to Reggio on the Italian mainland in the wake of Montgomery’s famous Eighth Army. The main invasion of Italy had taken place at Salerno near Naples and this had seen some very heavy fighting before the German resistance was overcome. We eventually found ourselves at Salerno where we had a tremendous amount of work to do due to the extensive damage caused during the battle there. Naples was the main supply base at this time and although it had been bombed it was not too badly damaged. The people there though seemed very poor and quite a few appeared to actually live in caves. It was at this time that I became very ill again with Malaria, dysentery and pneumonia and was hospitalised, the hospital I found myself in was Number 58 General Hospital, it was located in a splendid position that allowed a superb view overlooking the bay of Naples with the mighty volcano Vesuvius just across the bay. At this time Vesuvius was getting ready to erupt again and we were entertained every day to a great firework display. In January 1944 I was discharged from the hospital and re-joined my unit and it was while I was on my first trip away that Vesuvius erupted, by the time I returned to Naples it was all over but the signs left behind were impressive, volcanic ash to a depth of six feet by the roadsides gave us some idea of what had happened when the volcano blew. At this time the Allies were held up at Cassino, a mountain village with a Monastery crowning the main hill defying all attempts to take it and seeing some of the heaviest fighting of the Italian campaign In January 1944 the Allies tried to outflank Cassino by landing a force higher up the coast at Anzio, but after some initial success got bogged down there too due to fierce German resistance, meanwhile we carried on with our trips between the front at Cassino and the ports of Southern Italy. At last in March 1944 Cassino fell after being blasted from both Air and Land bombardments, we passed through a couple of days after it had fallen and it was completely flattened except for the remnants of the corner of a building – there must have been only about half a dozen bricks left together, there were still bodies lying around and The smell of death was everywhere. In June 1944 the Allies captured Rome, but we British had to wait until the Americans made a triumphant entry into the Eternal City for propaganda purposes before we were allowed to enter. Rome was virtually untouched by the War , it had been declared an open City so accordingly had not been subjected to any bombardment. We were billeted in what had been the Chilean Embassy just outside the City proper, and while here we received new trucks to replace our worn out Austins, these were brand new American Whites and Macks. As the battle-Front moved North our usual runs now took us past one of Italy's most famous landmarks – The Leaning Tower of Pisa, a sight which never failed to amaze us. In February 1945 we were detailed to undertake a special trip, from Bologna via Rome and on down to Reggio at the Southern tip of Italy. What made this trip special was that before we started we were issued with personal side-arms, revolvers, in addition to our usual rifles. This was because thee South of Italy had become “bandit country” with large groups of deserters – American, British, Italian, German, French and French Colonial- terrorizing the country. During the previous months several supply trucks had been ambushed and their loads stolen and crews murdered. My co-driver, Jimmy Stewart and I decided that we were not going to suffer this fate and took special care to lay up securely each night with one of us on guard while the other slept. In southern Italy many of the villages tended to be on hill tops and I can well recall one morning on this run when we awoke to find everything shrouded in mist, after a quick breakfast we started off and climbed out of the mist, what a sight, for miles around all we could see was white mist with hill tops like islands, each crowned with a little village. On reaching Reggio safely we should have crossed over to Sicily to collect our load but due to civil unrest and rioting we had to wait until the stores we had come to collect were ferried across to us. Then using the same careful system that had seen us safely down to Reggio we returned back to our base, it was this trip that earned me a Mention in Dispatches. On the whole I liked Italy, it was a lovely Country with some great monuments to the past. For the most part though my war was just driving a truck on what seemed endless journeys back and forth carrying equipment needed to keep the communication lines open. As the war in Europe came to an end we were slowly wound down and in June 1945 we drove all across Europe to the English Channel and the over to England and back home. Bruce Lander Add to this record. L/Cpl. Robert William Bennett MM & Bar. Long Range Desert Group Robert Bennett was awarded a Military Medal while serving in the North African campaign for carrying messages over an unchecked minefield. He was awarded the Bar to his Military Medal for landing his HQ vehicle on D-Day, while under fire from mortars and machine guns. He managed to manoeuvre it over the beach and, when another communications vehicle failed to make it to sure, used the spare radio set to maintain communications for the whole of 30th Corps. He served with the LRDG, Royal Signals, 30th Corps and several others, including helping the French resistance, being awarded two medals for it. He was dropped into France posing as a Major and a lieutenant, yet was never actually these ranks. I am currently attempting to find out more about him as part of my Extended Project Qualification for A-Level. If anyone knows any more information about my Great Grandfather, I would appreciate you getting in touch to discuss him. Tom Tugulu Add to this record. L/Cpl. Donald Charles South Royal Corps of Signals My dad, Donald South told me on his death bed that he was a sniper in the war. He was captured after Dunkirk somewhere odd - it didn't make sense where he was so I wonder if he had some mission or other. He was tall and blonde and in Stalag Lamsdorf he became one of the Camp Interpreters as he got so good at German. He was chosen for an escape bid as his German was good and he looked German. Zig-zagging his way under a hail of bullets during the escape bid he got creased on the cheek by a bullet. Re-captured and taken to the camp medico he complained bitterly how much his cheek hurt. The medico was, meanwhile, bending down and peering at his stomach. 'Never mind your cheek, man' he said 'I can see right through you.' He had been shot clean through the stomach and it was a miracle it hadn't hit his spine. Unfortunately, the SS thought he was a spy (was he?) and they took him off for torture which made him pretty unstable after the war. As a little girl I have many memories of his night terrors shouting German and wrestling imaginery German soldiers. I shall be getting his War Record soon and it might be interesting. He was marched off on a Death March at the end of the war when Allied Troops advanced on the Camp but this time managed to get away and was picked up by the Americans. He was 6 foot 3 inches tall and weighed 9 stone. He had found a sack of brown sugar from somewhere and refused to give it to anyone - he ended up back in Britain with it and promptly nearly died from Yellow Jaundice. They said he could be a Chelsea Pensioner but (typical of him) he wasn't impressed by the accommodation (this was in the 1980's)and turned them down. The Camp got him in the end, though. He died of stomach cancer in 1986 and it started at the site of that bullet wound. I'm very proud of him. Lynne Ash Add to this record. Sgt. Donald Field Royal Signals Donald Field was my uncle. For some reason he came south to the Godalming, Surrey area and married my mother's sister. I understand he spent some time in Signals with the 4th Indian Division, 8th Army. David Reid Add to this record. Pte. Harold Lightfoot Royal Signals My father, Harold Lightfoot was a prisoner in this Stalag. He emigrated to Australia at the end of the war. He passed away in 2006 aged 92, I found amongst his papers photos and a few pages of a notebook with poems written by other prisoners with a list of names and addresses of approximately 20 other prisoners. Russell Lightfoot Add to this record. Pte. Charles William Dowle Royal Corps of Signals My father, Charles Dowle, joined up in the 1930's at Brecon, having lied about his age. He was sent to Catterick for training as a signalman and then went on to the North-West frontier (now the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan). Soon after the start of WW2, he went to North Africa and served at El Alamein. He went on to Cyprus and did a spell on ships in the Atlantic, sending out 'dummy' messages to confuse the Germans. He ended the war at Sandringham, Norfolk, where he met my mum, a NAAFI girl, and they were married soon after. I have my Dad's war medals and a great collection of photographs from India, North Africa and Cyprus, but would love to hear from anyone who may have knowledge of him or his role as a signalman. Thanks. Adrian Dowle Add to this record. Sgm. Valiant Bond Royal Corps of Signals sflynn Add to this record. L/Cpl. Oswald Chipchase Royal Signal Corps Add to this record. Sig. Hugh Carville Royal Corps of Signals (d.17th May 1940) Hugh Carville died aged 23 whilst serving with the Royal Signals. The son of James and Margaret Carville (nee McCusker), he was born in Jarrow. High is buried in St. Hilaire Cemetery, Frevent. Vin Mullen Add to this record. Drv. George Elliot Errington Royal Corps of Signals (d.17th April 1942) George Errington died aged 31. Born in Jarrow in 1911, he was the son of of George Elliot and Alice Errington (nee Smith) of Jarrow. Groge is buried in Jarrow Cemetery and is commemorated on the WW2 Roll of Honour Plaque in the entrance of Jarrow Town Hall. Vin Mullen Add to this record. Sig. Leslie Purvis Royal Corps of Signals (d.31st Mar 1941) Leslie Purvis who died age 20 was born in Jarrow in 1920 and was the son of Robert and Mary Jane Purvis (nee Lindsay) of Primrose Jarrow. He is buried in Jarrow Cemetery and is commemorated on the WW2 Roll of Honour Plaque in the entrance of Jarrow Town Hall. Vin Mullen Add to this record. Joe R Carry Royal Signals Joe Carry served with the Royal Signals. Add to this record. Dick Ellis Royal Signals Dick Ellis served with the Royal Signals. Add to this record. Jimmy Guy Royal Signals Jimmy Guy served with the Royal Signals Add to this record. Dennis Victor Why Royal Signals My father, Dennis Why, rarely talked about his service in WW2. I have photographs identifying the fact that he trained at Signals Section, Piedmont. He served in Alamein, Salerno, and Casino and he had two mates, Frank and Jack. However, I don't know their surnames. I have photos of them. I have tried to get his war service records but they are not available online and I am waiting for a copy of his death certificate so I can apply for a copy from the War Office records as my father's records are only available to close family and on production of death certificate. Any information would be greatly appreciated and I am sure there is someone out there who would appreciate copies of the photos I have which are from 1943/44 and 45. Mary Why Add to this record. John Willis Hogg Royal Corps of Signals Jack Hogg served in the York and Lancaster Regiment and the Royal Corps of Signals in WW2. He was at Catterick before going to India. He was in Puna in 1942 and mentioned being in Agra, Darjeeling, Calcutta and Chittagong. He suffered from malaria whilst in India. He was my father and I cannot find any mention of him on the records I have been able to access. I do have some photos from his army life and will try to update this story with them as soon as I can. Does anyone know of him? I have his medals and Royal Corps of Signals hat badge also a Y & L clip. I would like to find out more about his army life, he spoke of it rarely and only briefly. Add to this record. Ron Edwards Royal Signals I joined the Army (Royal Signals) in July 1940 for training as a wireless engineer. I was stationed at Colchester, Walthamstow, Huddersfield, Kirkburton, India and Neheim (Germany 1946). I experienced the blitz while stationed at Walthamstow. I took convoy passage to India in 1941-2, via Freetown and Durban and returned to the UK in 1945, via the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean. Ron Edwards Add to this record. Ron Edwards Royal Warwickshire Rgt. I joined the Army in August 1940 with service in the Royal Warwicks, then with the Royal Signals. I did my initial training at Colchester during the bombing raids of the Battle of Britain. My technical training was at Walthamstow during the Blitz and then I went to Huddersfield. There were postings to Kirkburton, Catterick. Overseas postings were to India via Durban, at Mhow, Sialkot, Poona, Abbotobad and Bangalore. I attended a special training course at Agra. There were leave periods in Bombay, Kashmir and Kodaicanal. I was a mechanic in radio and instrumental maintenance. Later, I served six months with the Army of Occupation in Neheim in the Rhur Valley, Germany. Does anyone have any memories of these places at that time? Ron Edwards Add to this record. Wilfred Roy Manning Royal Signals I am looking for information about my grandfather, Wilfred Roy Manning, born in 1906/7. He served with Royal Signals. Julie Webster Add to this record. Jimmy Turner Royal Signals I am trying to find out what happened to my mother's cousin - Jimmy Turner. He was a soldier in the Signals and served in Greece and South Africa. He was from Birmingham. His mother was Mary Ann Turner, father was Billy Turner. Only brother was Freddy. Shirley Add to this record. Cyril Ernest Andre Royal Corps of Signals My grandfather was at Catterick Camp in August 1940 in Squad 378. He was in the RCS and went to Africa in December 1943. Andre Add to this record. Blease Royal Signals Corps My father was in Royal Corps of Signals during WWII with the 8th Army. David Blease Add to this record. RSM Ernest Ratcliffe Royal Signals Corps My grandfather served in the Royal Corps of Signals during the war. Ernie was an RSM and was on despatch at El Alamein when his motorbike was hit by a mortar. He was found in a field many hours later by men who thought he was dead. He was lamed in one leg and lost a lung but survived. Add to this record. Lt. T. D. Brown 12 L of C Royal Corps of Singals My grandpa was Lt T.D. Brown, Royal Signals, and he served with 12 L. of C. which I am led to believe means Line of Communications. I would like to find any information about this unit ie, where it went in Northern Europe and what it did. I would very much like to hear from anybody who served with or knew my grandpa. I was only 7 when he passed away in 1973. Dave Brown Add to this record. Sig. Horace Barnet 1st Air Formation Royal Signals Horace Barnet recorded his recollections which can be heard on the IWM website Add to this record. Betsy Vickers Attch. Royal Corps of Signals I have many memories of my days in the ATS from 1942 to 1945. I was stationed in London for my last three months, attached to the Royal Corps of Signals. I was a despatch rider. I am ashamed to say I cannot remember the unit number but we were at St John's Wood Barracks. I was only there a short time and the war was all but over when I went there. I was stationed in Manchester, Kent and Merseyside, attached to the Royal Artillery. Betsy Vickers Add to this record. Capt. Thomas George Baker Royal Corps Signals I have every letter my Dad, Tom Baker wrote to my mother during WW11. I am archiving them. He was a brilliant writer, very observant. Tom served in France, Dunkirk, Middle East, a Desert Rat, then Malta and finally Italy. Alison Nunez Add to this record. Sgt. Charles William Fells MiD. 30 Corps Royal Signals My father, Charles Fells, was a sergeant in the Royal Signals. As with all old soldiers at that time, the information he imparted in his life time was, to say the least, sketchy. Most of what I gleaned was from my mother. He was with 30 Corps in the 8th Army and served time in Palestine before taking part in the desert campaign in North Africa, including the 2nd Battle of El Alamein October 1942. Then it was onward to Tunisia and from there to the Sicily Landings, before he came back to England to prepare for the D-Day invasion of Europe. He landed on Gold Beach on the 6th day. Then he was involved in the battle for Caen and Operation Bluecoat. At the Falaise Gap he told me that he had never seen so many dead horses in one place. After this, it was on to Nijmegen and the crossing of the Rhine. His name was cited in the London Gazette in March 1944, being Mentioned in Dispatches. I never knew for what this honour was bestowed. My father died at his home in December 1997. Richard Fells Add to this record. L/Cpl. Eric Gordon Maynard Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment Eric Maynard was captured by the Germans at Dunkirk, having been left behind with a small group of men, charged with the task of blowing up bridges. A Panzer division overran his group and they were taken across Europe to a POW camp in Poland, where he spent four years. They were finally liberated from the camp when the German guards abandoned it, caught in the corridor between the Russians advancing from the East and the Americans from the West. Eric made his way on foot across Europe before eventually returning to England, joining the Signals Corp in Yorkshire. Chris Maynar Add to this record. John Leslie Harris Royal Corp of Signals My now deceased father, John Harris, dictated his memoirs to me in 2004 and which I have made into a booklet for my family. This memoir is titled Diary of a 'D Day' Soldier. This memoir states that following regular training when he was conscripted in to the British Army on the 12th February 1942, he and a small number of selected soldiers travelled to Hevant to undertake an Advanced Training Course. This was situated near Arundel Castle in Sussex. At the completion of this training he travelled by train from Sussex to Catterick. On the 7th July 1942 he joined The Royal Corps of Signals and completed full training as a Despatch Rider, which lasted about 12 weeks. My father, at the completion of this training then journeyed to Stockton in Yorkshire where he and other soldiers lived under canvas, until October 1942. His next journey was north to Glasgow, boarding ship for overseas duty. This ship in non war time, was called the Empress of Scotland. He detailed his overseas duties in his memoir and then at the end of duty reported he was again billeted at the Catterick Air Base in 1945 whilst awaiting his demob from the British Army. So he came full circle. Whist at Catterick in 1946 he met my mother Joan Grainger at a dance organised for the soldiers and which local young women were invited. They married in 1948 at Christ Church, High Harrogate in Yorkshire. They commenced their married life in Cheltenham, Glos until 1958 when our family emigrated to Sydney, New South Wales in Australia. He built our family home (from bricks he made himself) in Smithfield. Here my parents remained until 2005 when they relocated to Bellbowrie, Qld to be nearer family. 2010 saw my parents move to an aged care facilty at 139 Gold Creek Road, Brookfield, Qld which was close by. Dad died at this facility on the 8th May 2014 and Mum later passed away here in March 2015. The end of a generation and a gallant D Day Soldier! Geraldine Farbrother Add to this record. Dvr. Lawrence Flanaghan Royal Corps of Signals (d.1st October 1945) Driver Flanaghan was the Son of Peter and Tess Flanagan (nee Elliot) of Ballyshannon. He was 39 when he died and is buried in the Ballyshannon (St. Joseph) Catholic Churchyard, Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal, Ireland. s flynn Add to this record. Albert Vernon Briggs My Father, Albert Briggs, often spoke about the time he spent in Medicine Hat, Canada during the war when he was training pilots. He loved this place and I think he was sent there as a break from active service flying Lancaster and other bombers and had taken part in many missions and narrowly escaped death several times. He had a medal from that time in Canada but all his medals were lost in later years. Towards the end of the war he became a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Signals Corps and was posted to Italy where he worked with a team establishing communications at airfields as the retreating Germans were abandoning them. Barbara Lagunas Add to this record. Sgt. Frank William Hill Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry Dad, Frank Hill, never talked about his experiences during WW2. When he died in 2003 he left me all his army records. He enlisted at Tottenham on 26th of July 1940 and was posted to the Yorkshire Light Infantry where he stayed until 9th of March 1943 when he joined the Royal Signals. He was demobbed at Reading on 26th September 1946. I know he was in Burma, Hong Kong and Bombay at some stage as I've found photographs of all three. I'd love to know more about where he was posted and what he faced. The only story he would tell was being home on leave at Alexander Palace in North London watching the skyline "the night they bombed the docks". Peter Hill Add to this record. W/Sgt. Osborne Ronald Allan 27th Field Regiment My father, Ron Allan, served in the Royal Artillery and the Royal Signals. We have only found out recently that he was in India and Burma during 1945 and my cousin informed me that my father had told his brother he was in Changi but never told his own family (wife and children). We are not sure if he was a POW or part of the relief personnel that liberated POW's. We are also not sure if he encountered fighting while in Burma. We have his army records but there is minimum information on them and it has so much code it is difficult to make sense of. We have only just started to look at the history so we are unaware of most avenues of information. My father went to India, being at Bombay on the 2nd of April 1945 and transferred to India Command. On 1st of June 1945 he came under ALFSEA (Allied Land Forces South East Asia) at this point he was granted the War Sevice rank of Sergeant with immediate effect. On 13th of October he was posted to 34 Battery of 27th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, from 31 Battery. On 27th of October 1945 he was granted aaa pay as A1 ?ligo @ RO W/o pm ?? (not sure that is what is written or what it means). On 25th of January 1946 he was granted add pay at Rs 6 shillings per measum for the period 29th Dec to 25th Jan 46 to no 4 Brit transit camp for 28 days. On 21st of Feb 46 he was recorded SOSX/8A on Embarkment from Rangoon for UK. Add to this record. Alan Everard Terry Royal Signals Alan Terry was taken prisoner during the Seige of Calais in 1940. He was reported missing on 5th of June 1940 and was subsequently recorded as a Prisoner of War. He was held at Stalag XXB in Marienburg for the remainder of the War. Jane Smith Add to this record. Sig. James Marples Royal Corps of Signals Not much is known about Jim Marples's personal story during the war, but he was a signalman and operated a vehicle with radio equipment on it in the desert of North Africa. He served under general Montgomery in the Eighth Army. He had enlisted in Sheffield on the 25th January 1928 and dedicated many years to the Army. Joe Dillon Add to this record. Sgt. Arthur John Pickering Stamper 7 Squadron My father, John Stamper was a navigator. Having trained in Florida, USA and at RAF Waterbeach on Wellingtons, he moved on 19th of Februaru 1943 to 1651 Conversion Unit at Waterbeach on Stirlings Mk1, and to new satellite aerodrome at Turweston. Training included night flying. It would appear, that this was training for Pathfinder duties, not standard bombing. The original crew were Sgt Petrie Pilot from New Zealand, Sgt Stamper Navigator, Sgt Rose Bomb Aimer, Sgt Edmonds Wireless Operator, Sgt Seery Rear Gunner from Australia Sgt Hartshorne Flight Engineer and name not remembered of the Mid-upper Gunner. Total day flying at Waterbeach etc 11 hrs 50 mins, night 1.30 [I think these figures by dad way off as total flying hours in training 194 hr 45 mins. Above it says he did 97 hrs 30 mins at Chipping Norton. This leaves almost 100 hours unaccounted for, which seems a more likely total for training on Stirlings at Waterbeach. Apparently dad told mum that they were lined up to convert to Lancasters in the near future, presumably with 7 Squadron, this transfer happened in May 1943. Stirlings were generally withdrawn from front-line duties in late 1943. At some stage in his training dad was involved in testing one of the versions of the Gee radar system, which was upgraded and refined after its introduction in 1941 or 42. Dad told me that on one occasion with some high-level observer(s) on board he had to locate the chapel of King's College very precisely. On 26th of March 1943, apparently the last day before operational flying was due to start with the Stirlings, the undercarriage collapsed on take off on a dummy bombing run on Hull. Cross-country runs typically preceded operational flying. Dad banged his head badly, and ended up with his feet tangled in the wiring. He performed a difficult, panicked exit from the plane, with the danger of fire. He suffered headaches and with no flying for six weeks, he was working in the navigation office and saw some sort of personnel file where he'd been recommended for promotion to Pilot Officer. But he had been ticked off by the station Commander for nosing around in his paperwork. It is not known what happened to the recommendation. The log book suggests he left Waterbeach on 25th of May 1943. In all (according to his maths), he had flown 194 hours 45 mins while training in England. Then he spent three months in Northfield Military Hospital, Birmingham. Mum remembers him saying that after the crash he was too shaken even to get on a bus as that involved leaving the ground. Northfield was famous for its pioneering psychiatric work on RAF patients in Second World War. Then there was a stint at the War Office Officer Assessment at Catterick, involving assault courses etc. He didn't feel he had any aptitude for leadership, as he was too young and green, and was still dicky from the crash. He was transferred to Royal Signals and served in the War Rooms under Whitehall, and later at Droitwich, on wireless signalling. Sgt Petrie, and others from dad's crew, were shot down and killed flying a Pathfinder Lancaster six months later, on night of 16th/17th of December 1943. Paul Stamper Add to this record. Recomended Reading. Available at discounted prices.

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