Capt. Richard Wallace Annand VC.. Army 2nd Btn. Durham Light Infantry from South Shields, Co Durham, England Richard Annand was the first soldier of the Second World War to be awarded the Victoria Cross, in Belgium in May 1940.
His obituary was published in the Times in December 2004:-
The Action in which Dick Annand fought on May 15, 1940, was the first to result in the award of the Victoria Cross to a soldier in the Second World War. As a second lieutenant with no previous operational experience he displayed resolution and personal courage of the highest order. When the battle was over, his first thought was to get his wounded batman to safety.
Belgian neutrality in the early months of the war left the British Expeditionary Force and the French Army with an open flank from the northern end of the Maginot Line to the Channel coast. But, forewarned of a German attack through the Low Countries by a Wehrmacht plan which had fallen into Belgian hands and been handed over to the French, the Allied armies were ready to cross the frontier and occupy a defensive line along the River Dyle, east of Brussels, as soon as Belgian neutrality was breached. Germany launched her attack on May 10, 1940.
Annand was a platoon commander with 2nd Battalion The Durham Light Infantry in the 2nd Division sent to man positions on the Dyle, near the village of La Tombe. The ground on the west bank could hardly have been less suitable; trees and undergrowth made observation of the approaches to the opposite bank difficult and, to the rear, open ground rose steeply to the village. Annand was with D Company covering the road bridge over the Dyle, across which another company of the Durhams had been forced to withdraw before the advancing German Army on the afternoon of May 14, when the bridge was blown.
At 11.00 the next day the enemy launched a violent attack to cover the move of a bridging party into the sunken riverbed. Annand led a group of men from his platoon in a counterattack and, when their small-arms ammunition was exhausted, went forward alone to throw grenades from the edge of the ruined bridge on to the enemy bridging party working below, inflicting some 20 casualties. The enemy was thus prevented from crossing the river in continued fighting, but the situation remained grave, and the company commander had been badly wounded. During the evening of the same day, the enemy launched another attack under cover of intense mortar and machinegun fire. Annand again went forward armed with all the grenades he could carry and attacked the German troops attempting to repair the bridge.
Reporting on the action afterwards, the company sergeant-major said: “They came with a vengeance and were socked with a vengeance. They seemed determined to get that bridge but Jerry could not move old D Company. For two hours it was hell let loose, then they gave up and withdrew.”
But elsewhere the Allied line had broken and at 23.00 the Durhams’ commanding officer gave the order to withdraw as part of the general move back to the line of the River Scheldt. As Annand led the survivors of his platoon away from the bridge in the early hours of May 16, he discovered that his batman, Private Joseph Hunter, from Sunderland, had been wounded in the head and legs and was unable to walk.
Despite his own wounds sustained in the day’s fighting, he found a wheelbarrow, lifted Hunter into it and wheeled him to the rear until their way was barred by a fallen tree. Leaving Hunter in an empty trench he set out to find help but collapsed from exhaustion and loss of blood shortly after finding his company HQ position abandoned.
Hunter was captured by the advancing Germans and sent to a Dutch hospital, but he died of his wounds a month later. The award of the Victoria Cross to Second Lieutenant Annand was gazetted on August 23, 1940. This followed the announcement of the same award to another officer and a Guardsman, but for actions later in the withdrawal of the BEF to Dunkirk.
Richard “Dickie” Wallace Annand was born in South Shields in 1914, the son of Lieutenant-Commander Wallace Moir Annand, who was killed with the Collingwood Battalion of the Royal Naval Division at Gallipoli in June 1915. He was educated at Pocklington School in the East Riding of Yorkshire. He joined the National Provincial Bank in 1933 and became a midshipman in the Tyne Division of the RNVR in the same year.
He applied for a commission in the Royal Navy but was told he was over the age limit for application, so he joined the Army. After a period with the Supplementary Reserve he joined the 2nd Durham Light Infantry.
Although he recovered from wounds received at La Tombe, he was severely deafened in the action and was never again fit for active service. He was invalided out of the army in 1948 and thereafter devoted his life to helping the disabled, taking particular interest in the welfare of the deaf.
He was personnel officer of the Finchdale Abbey Training Centre for the Disabled near Durham until his retirement at the age of 65. The Borough of South Shields had made him an honorary freeman in 1940, and he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Co Durham in 1956. He was president of the Durham branch of the Light Infantry Club until 1998.
He married Shirley Sefton Brittain Osborne in November 1940 and had cause to rescue her from drowning almost 40 years later, in 1979. The couple had attended dinner aboard the frigate HMS Bacchante anchored in the Tyne as guests of her captain. Turning from the foot of the gang plank on leaving to admire the ship, Mrs Annand fell off the quayside into the river. Without hesitation, Captain Annand plunged in and supported her until both were hauled to safety by the ship’s crew. Neither was much the worse for the incident, although Mrs Annand said her fur coat would never be quite the same.
His wife survives him. There were no children. His death leaves only 13 surviving VC holders.
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Capt. Richard Wallace "Dicky" Annand VC. British Army 2nd Btn The Durham Light Infantry from London
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WO. David Boyne Annesley . Royal New Zealand Air Force Observer 15 Squadron from Shannon NZ David Annesley was shot down in Stirling N6016 on the 29th of June 1941 and became a PoW.
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F/O H. C. Annett MiD.. 97 Squadron
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L/Bmbdr. Frank Henry Anning . British Army 135th Field Regiment Royal Artillery from Southwick, Sussex
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Pte. W. R.H Anning . British Army 2nd Battalion East Kent Regiment W Anning is a friend's father.
He joined The Buffs in 1936, went to France with the BEF. He was listed as missing, but was then reported as a POW captured and interned in Stalag 344 Lamsdorf as POW Number 11810.
Although listed as a Pte, he was actually a Drummer.
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WO. Gordon Roland "Andy" Annison . Royal Air Force from London My late grandfather, Gordon Annison, was a Bomb-Aimer in a Wellington. He flew bombing operations from Foggia during WWII. In the crew photo, left to right are, Gordon Annison bomb aimer, Pady Renicks navigator, Don Saville pilot, Bill Ough w/op, Norman Stokes rear gunner
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Martin Ansbacher . Air Raid Warden Martin Ansbacher received a Civil Defence Medal at the end of WW2
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F/Sgt. Geoffrey R.A. Ansdell . Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve RAF 57 Squadron (d.22nd June 1944) Flt. Sgt. Geoffrey Ansdell was the Mid-Upper Air Gunner of Lancaster Mk.1, (NN 696) DX - H This plane took off in the first slot, at 2300 hrs. June 21, 1944, from East Kirkby on the Wesseling Oil Refinery raid. This plane was attacked and shot down by a German JU-88 Night Fighter flown by Uffz. Johann Werthner of 7./NJ2, crashing west of Geilenkirchen with the loss of all 7 crew members.
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Sgt. Albert Victor "Alf" Ansell . Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 57 Squadron from West Ham (d.1st May 1943) Lancaster ED 706 was shot down over Holland, Alf Ansell was the navigator and was on his third raid. The remains of two crew were put into coffins and listed as unknown in the War Cemetery (where most of those lost at Arnham are buried). A couple of graves across is the grave of Flt Lt Lord VC and his crew.
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Sgt. Frederick Neale Ansell . Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 514 Sqdn. from Tottenham (d.16th June 1944) 514 Sqdn Lancaster II LL690 JI-J took off at 2314 from RAF Waterbeach. Believed to have fallen victim to a night-fighter, coming down between Iwuy (Nord) and Rieux-en-Cambresis two small villages 9km NE and ENE respectively of Cambrai. Five lie in Rieux Communal Cemetery while F/S Hutt rests at Iwuy Communal Cemetery. Sgt Bloom is commemorated on panel 235 of Runnymede Memorial. The crew:
F/O E.A. Kingham
Sgt J. Black
F/S F.A. Spencer
Sgt B. Bloom
Sgt F.N. Ansell
Sgt D.G. Davis RCAF
Also lost from 514 Squadron on this raid was Lancaster II DS816-JI-O. Crew:F/S C.F. Prowles, Sgt H.A. Osborn, F/O A.H.Morrison, F/S R.B. Spenser, Sgt R. Surtees, Sgt. J. Porelli and Sgt. A.A.Holmes.
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Flt.Sgt. Henry Thomas Ansell DFM. Royal Air Force 61 Squadron from West Ham Henry Ansell was awarded the DFM, announced in the supplement to the London Gazette on the 26th October 1945.
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Clifford Harold Anslow . New Zealand Army R.M.T.Coy N.Z. Clifford Harold Anslow (New Zealand) R.M.T.Coy N.Z. ASO 2nd NZ E.F. Maadi Camp Egypt. I'm trying to get together the history of my mother's brother who appears on your pages in photos of Kiwi's belonging to Ernest van Telle. His name is Clifford Harold Anslow, he was in the NZ Army R.M.T.Coy N.Z. ASO 2nd NZ E.F. and he was in the POW camp Stalag 8B and worked in the coal mines. prisoner there for three years and eleven months and was in the Great March after he was captured on Crete. Before that he was in Maadi Camp, Egypt.
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Pte. Stanley Frederick Anslow . British Army 7th Btn. Hampshire Regiment from Portsmouth
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Ralph "Hugo" Anstruther MC.. British Army Coldstream Guards
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Mjr. William John St Clair Anstruther-Gray MC. British Army Coldstream Guards
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Sgt. William Fishwick Antell . Royal Air Force 99 Squadron from Varteg Road, Ystalyfera, Wales (d.14th Dec 1939) Sgt William Fishwick Antell was killed whilst flying in Wellington IA, N2886 of No 99 Sqn. He took off at 1143 from Newmarket on a reconnaissance mission over the North Sea, tasked with attacking Helgoland and Wilhelmshaven. The aircraft was shot down near Wangerooge and crashed into the sea. All of the crew were killed and are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.
99 Squadron lost 6 aircraft and 33 airmen on this mission.
The full list of crew is:-
- Flt Sgt James Ernest Kirby Healey
- Sgt William Fishwick Antell
- Sgt Brian Thomas Boram
- AC2 Wilfred Henry Pountain
- LAC Howard Eric Beaumont
- LAC Robert Forsyth
Sgt Antell had joined the RAF pre war as an apprentice in 1933. Thank you to Andy Ingham for this information.
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Gnr. David Penry Anthony . British Army 1st Btn. Lancashire Fusiliers from Llwynarel, Dryslwyn, Carms All I have heard is that David Antony served in bomb alley, Dover and in India. His Territorial Army record shows he was posted to 11th AA Driver Training Regiment AA. Hoping to find out more.
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G Anthony . British Army Royal Scots G Anthony served with the Royal Scots British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: The Wartime Memories Project is no longer in contact with Dan , his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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Sgt. Joseph John Anthony . British Army 3rd Btn. South Wales Borderers from Yestradgynlais Joseph Anthony joined up in October 1939 and served until February 1949. I am tracing the service footsteps of my father (or trying to!). He was posted to the 3rd Monmouthshire Regiment, South Wales Borderers but seemed to spend most of his service with HQ, 159th Infantry Brigade.
He was wounded on 14th of September 1944 in northwest Europe but remained with his unit until he was wounded again (GSW to right ankle) on 23rd of September 1944 and medically evacuated to the UK. In May 1945, he was posted to the British Army of the Rhine and later served with 80 Graves Concentration Unit from November 1946. Any additional information or details about his service will be appreciated.
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Leonard Anthony . British Army Highland Light Infantry from Hull I never met my uncle Len Anothony. He was from Hull in Yorkshire and joined the Highland Light Infantry. I know that he was blown up by a mine at the Battle of Cassino and no remains were found. We have a letter he sent to his sister saying where he was and how he was hoping to meet his brother (my father) Sgt Albert Anthony of the Royal Signals who was also at Cassino. Sadly they never met there.
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Private Robert Cummings Anthony . RASC (d.17th June 1940) My uncle was on the Lancastria although I don't know too much about him. He was only 21, just a boy as were so many others. His name was Robert Anthony, and was a baker with the Royal Army Service Corps. He was on deck when the ship was bombed, but was terrified of the water, and wouldn't jump when his pals did. They shouted for him to jump, but he was too frightened. Some of his friends survived, and it was they who came and told his mother what had happened.
Although he was an only son, and just a boy, his name was never put on the war memorial here in Ayr, which his mother never understood. But after many letters and these long years his name is now on a small plate, under the memorial, too late for his mother.
Robert Anthony is buried in the Normoutier-en-L'Ile Communal Cemetery.
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Frank J. Antkowski . USAAF If anyone has information about my grandfather Frank J. Antkowski, who served 1942-43 with US Air Corps, I would like to hear from them.
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Pte. John Thomas Antrobus . British Army 2nd Battalion Kings Own Royal (Lancaster) Regiment My grandfather Tom Antrobus served with 2nd battalion KORR from March 1940 until the end of the second Chindit Campaign (Operation Thursday) when he returned to England sick with dysentry and malaria. Any info would be great to piece together his time in the forces.
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Lt. Robert A. Antrobus . Royal Naval Reserve HMS Forfar from Watford, Hertfordshire (d.2nd Dec 1940) My father had written below this photo:
another grand old seadog although a bit of a "rough diamond" and possessed a natural sailors tendancy to "spin a line". He served his time in sail and was serving on the "Montrose" (The Forfar before she was commandeered) at the outbreak of the war. He was famous for his devotion to his budgerigars whom whom he was continually exhorting to "Lay egg, you" and for his perculiar but ctachy expressions e.g. "Ger sailing"
I know nothing of how he died, although suspect he stayed with the Captain. He was 46 years old and the husband of Kate Margaret Antrobus, of Watford, Hertfordshire.
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Padre Tony Antrobus . British Army from Liverpool Father Anthony Antrobus was the Catholic Army chaplain at Oflag VIIB
and after the war returned to his native Liverpool and life as a parish
priest. He was great friends with my father.
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BV Apew . British Army Royal Fusiliers BV Apew served with the Royal Fusiliers British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: The Wartime Memories Project is no longer in contact with Dan , his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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Pte. Ansel Al Apfelbaum . United States Army Infantry My Uncle, Ansel "Al" Apfelbaum was held in Stalag 13C. He never spoke about this to any of the family, so no other specific stories are available.
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Flight Sergeant K J N Apitz . RAF 59 Squadron
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Flt.Sgt. Kenneth John Nielsen Apitz . Royal Australian Air Force 59 Squadron (d.19th June 1944) Kenneth Apitz's place of rest is the Tamlaght Finlagan Church of Ireland Churchyard in Ballykelly, Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
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