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Able Sea. John Clay Archer . Royal Navy HMS Egret (d.27th August 1943)
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Flt.Sgt. John Archer . Royal Air Force I have a letter, with a photo, sent with postmark date of 31 March 1943 to
Flt.Sgt John F Archer, British Prisoner of War, 17896/IVA, Stalag IVA, Germany
Posted in Dulwich SE21. Sender (his father) F.G Archer, 77 Croxted Road, Dulwich SE21.
I'm trying to trace any relatives so that I can pass this letter to them. Can anyone help please?
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Pte. Llewellyne Evan Archer . British Army
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Sea. Maurice "Ginger" Archer . Merchant Navy SS Wendover from South Shields My father, Maurice Archer (or Ginger as he was nicknamed, for his red hair) was 17 when he sailed out of Liverpool on 21st June 1940. His Merchant Navy ship, the SS Wendover, was bound for Bordeaux carrying coal on passage. France had just fallen to Germany, so orders were changed and the ship was diverted to Rio de Janeiro. On 12th July, my father celebrated his 18th birthday. On the 16th July, my father’s ship was captured at sea by a German raider. During the capture, a burly German officer turned to my father and told him "The war is over for you, son". But this was just the start of 4.5 years in captivity and in concentration camps where my father witnessed death, hunger, cold, and disease. He now tells his story:
"On the 16th July 1940, I was on 4-8 watch when according to the 8-12 watch a ship flying Yugoslav colours had opened fire from the port quarter, killing the radio operator and setting fire to the bridge. The ship turned out to be a disguised German raider. During the one-way exchange of fire (the raider kept of range), Able Seaman George Smith was seriously injured and the third engineer, Mr. Gibson, and the steward, Mr. Gernardt, were killed. George Smith died later of his injuries. After four months aboard the raider, we were transferred to a prison ship. Conditions on the raider were passable, but the prison ship was deplorable.
We landed in Bordeaux a few weeks later and were taken to the prison camp Caserne Colonial Bordeaux. This camp bordered on primitive in every sense of the word. Our first night there we had doors for beds. We weren't sorry to leave there in a cattle truck three days later, when we were taken to Drancy Prison in Paris. The less said about our stay at Drancy the better. The only good thing I remember about Drancy was the kindness of the French women who had nothing themselves, but nevertheless threw loaves of bread to us past the guards.
Most of the prisoners, including myself, were sent from Drancy to concentration camps. After five days of normal transportation (i.e., in cattle trucks), we arrived at Bremervorde in northwestern Germany near Bremen, and were then marched several miles to Stalag X-B in Sandbostel, where we were greeted by the stink of death. I was held in Stalag X-B for two years, and I will never forget that smell – it lingered constantly. Many thousands of POWs died there. In early 1945, in the face of advancing British forces, the camp was evacuated, and we were marched to Marlag und Milag Nord, from where I was later repatriated.
There have been times when I've thought about the few months of kindness and friendliness shown by Frau Wilmbrock and her family in the village of Kirch, where I and fellow Stalag X-B prisoner Jock Reid worked their farm.
Little did I know, but back home I was considered missing and presumed dead. My name was and still is on the wall of remembrance in the Mission to Seaman in South Shields."
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Cpl. Richard Thomas Archer . British Army My dad served in the Desert Rats. He was a tank driver.
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LAC. Robert Harry Archer . Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (d.13th Jan 1946) Robert Harry Archer is buried in Jarrow Cemetery.
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Rifleman Stanley Fredrick Archer . British Army 9th Battalion Cameronian Scottish Rifles from Bethnal Green, London (d.30th Apr 1945) Hello
trying to trace any imformation re my husband uncle killed on the river Elbe,would like to know what fighting he would have been engaged in as it was almost the end of the war in europe. Some years ago we did visit his grave in Hamberg Cemetery and there were about eight more graves along side all from the same reg we assumed they may have all died in the same conflict. Stan had only been married ten weeks his wifes name was Jean and lived in Shields.Len my husband was thirteen when Stan died so looked on him like a brother never forgot him and often speaks of him so it would be great if someone maybe remembers him or what really happend him.
regards.
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A/Sgt. Sydney Martin Archer . Royal Air Force 159 Squadron from St. Alban My father, Sid Archer served with 159 Squadron as a cook. As a child I remember many stories of the difficulties he had in feeding the squadron and I wonder if anyone remembers him or has any photos?
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R Archibald . British Army R Archibald served with the 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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F/O Thomas Archibald . RAAF pilot 77 Sqd. (d.13th May 1943) The the 13th of May 1943 at 06:20 on return to Elvington Halifax KN-K (JB 865) crashed at Bishop Wilton killing the Pilot F/O Archibald and the Air Bomber Sgt Scully. The remainder of the crew, Sgt C.Hewitson, Sgt J.Gerry, Sgt G.Marlow, Sgt F.K.Smith and Sgt J.Currie, had only minor injuries.
This aircraft crashed in a field at High Belthorpe farm. I was almost 14 years of age at the time and helped my mother to take care of the surviving members of the crew. F/O Archibald is buried in Barmby-on- the-Moor at St Catherine's Churchyard, he was 32 years old, the son of John and Janet Archibald and husband of Perla Doris Archibald.
Sgt Scully was taken to his home town.
My mother received a letter of thanks from the Commanding Officer of No. 77 Squadron which my brother gave to the Museum at Elvington. There was also a later letter in which he said that the survivors were all flying again, and I would like to know if they survived the rest of the war.
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Sgt. W. Archibald . Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 619 Sqdn. (d.27th November 1943) Lancaster DV381, aircraft code PG-B left Woodhall Spa at 17.22hrs on the evening of 26th November 1943 for Berlin. It is believed to have come down in the sea. Two bodies were recovered - those of F/Lt R.D. Rayment and Sgt M.J. Lynch, who were buried in Becklingen War Cemetery, the rest of the crew are commemorated on the Air Force Memorial at Runnymede (details from BC. Losses (Chorley)). The crew were:
F/Lt R.D. Rayment.
Sgt M.J. Lynch.
F/O J. Kellett.
Sgt W. Archibald.
F/Sgt J.T. Richards.
F/Sgt C.S. Cook.
F/Sgt J.A. Fowler.
You can find commemoration details at www.cwgc.org
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William Bruce "Archie" Archibald . 102 Squadron
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Sgt. William Archibald . Royal Air Force 619 Sqdn. (d.27th November 1943) Lost during the Berlin campaign. DV381 619 Sqdn. PG-B Op. Lancaster BI.
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Pfc. Oliver Ard . United States Army K Btry 60th CA Regt (AA) HDM & SB from Florida, USA POW Camp Fukuoka 17 in Japan
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Capt. Robert Austin Ardill MC. British Army Royal Irish Fusiliers from Northern Ireland
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Pvt. Andrew George "Andy" Arends . United States Army Battalion I 59th CAC from Washington State, USA POW Camp Fukuoka 17 in Japan
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Sgt Teunis Cornelis Arends . Dutch Army from Holland POW Camp Fukuoka 17 in Japan
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S/Lt. Jens Bull Arentz . Royal Air Force No. 333 (Norwegian) Squadron from Stavanger, Norway (d.30th Apr 1944) Jens Arentz was my maternal uncle. I have long wanted to visit Buddon Ness, Angus, where his Mosquito B went down during target shooting. He was a veteran pilot, having being trained at Little Norway in Montreal, Canada after fleeing Norway, traveling via North Africa, Russia, and China. He was very special to my mother and she never quite recovered from the news of his death. She was a refugee in Stockholm at the time, and my father worked for Special Operations Executive in London after having been hurriedly evacuated by a Mosquito flight in Autumn 1943.
On 30th April 1944, my uncle was killed during a training exercise at RAF Leuchars (in Broughty Ferry, Angus), when the Mosquito he was piloting suddenly crashed into the sea next to the airfield. With him died a fellow crew-member named Per Walderhaug Korsnes. Concerning the accident, the RNLI Records of Service (1939-46) state the following:- 30/04/44, 333 Sqn Mosquito II DZ744 Code G Op: Training, RAF Leuchars, Time Up 11:30 S/Lt. Arentz RNorNAS LAC Korsness RNorNAS: The aircraft took off for APC practice and completed the exercise. The range officer, F/Sgt Cowle, reported that the Mosquito made a turn out to sea then returned before diving into sea 1 mile west south west of Buddon Ness, Angus. Salvage of the aircraft was attempted then abandoned on the 9th of May 1944. Only oil and wreckage (1 wheel and 1 fuel tank) were found. A communication I received from Kjetil Korsnes, a relative of Per Korsnes, provides additional details: âIn his diary, Gunnar Helgedagsrud (navigator B-flight) wrote: The 30th April 1944 was a sad day. S/Lt. Arentz dived straight into the sea, close to the airfield. He wasn't flying with his navigator Bjorn¸, but with one of the ground crew named Per Walderhaug Korsnes (flysoldat, born 22.09.21). Arentz was doing shooting practice and seemed to be finished. He was entering his final approach for landing, when the aircraft took a nose-dive for some unexplained reason. Arentz was one of the nicest men we had. I think Lauritz Humlen (navigator B-flight) and Egil D. Johansen (A-flight) are still with us (I met them a few years ago).
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Pilot Officer A C Argent . RAF 59 Squadron
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Pte. Edgar Argent . British Army 12th Btn. Royal Welch Fusiliers from Swansea, Wales Edgar Argent was the grandfather I never knew. He was born in Swansea and somehow ended up in Essex, where he met my nan and married her.
I know through Family Tree history that he was with the 12th Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers and then the Pioneer Corps. He was posted to the 4th Company in 1942. Also in 1942, he was at RAF West Malling helping build the aerodrome. Later, in 1944, he was at the Normandy landings on Queen White beach.
After the war, he left my nan, remarried, and lived in Kent in 1979. My mum was only 3 when he left and has never seen a photo of him. My quest now is to try to find one. I have his army papers and his medals but not the elusive photo.
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Drvr. Ernest Argent . British Army Rifle Brigade from Ilford, Essex Ernie Argent was the driver of a Bren Gun Carrier and was injured in North Africa. He was in an ambulance which was stopped by a German patrol and they were captured. The German doctor treated his damaged hand and he was taken to the coast and put on a hospital ship bound for Italy.
The ship was torpedoed by a British submarine. As the ship listed the NCO tried to get the men to line up on deck, but Ernie and friends climbed over the railings and walked down the side and found some wreckage. He spent two nights clinging on until he was rescued by an Italian destroyer. He was taken to Campo 65 before being transported to Campo 63.
When the Italian Army withdrew from the conflict, the guards left the camp gates open and Ernie and his friend Mac walked out into the fields. They spent about 10 months working on a farm helping with the harvest and were hidden from the German patrols. When the Allies advanced into Italy, Ernie and Mac walked back to the lines and were in Naples for debriefing and new uniforms. They had not had boots for a long time and when he was in the showers a whole sole of hard skin fell off his foot! Back in England he was transferred to the RASC and was based at York.
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Sgt. George William Argent . Kings Own Scottish Borders from Leyton, London
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Parm.Mate. James Argo . US Navy LCI489 
I served as Pharmacist Mate 1st class for LCI 489.
I was the ship's "Doc". The Navy prepared us well for war.
As Pharmacist Mate, I received extensive training on wound care,
shock treatment, bullet/shrapnel removal, setting fractures, control
of bleeding, trauma treatment, stitching, treatment of infectious
diseases, dressing and bandaging wounds, chemical warfare first aid,
etc.
Onboard, everybody got immunisations.
I gave typhus fever vaccine every 6 months, typhoid fever every
12 months, tetanus booster as needed, yellow fever every 24 months
and small-pox every 6 months.
I also served as Chemical Warfare Representative,
and Lend-Lease Representative. I completed the required
communicable disease reports and sanitary reports. Our
commanding officer was H. H. Montgomery, Lieutenant USNR.
As I recall, our LCI ship's complement included four officers
and between 25-28 enlisted men.
Around May 1944 we brought on two additional medical
men in preparation for D-Day. These men were Burton H.
Hockel, PhM1/C NR, and Harold Alvin Kadle, Hospital
Apprentice 2/C. I set these men up in the sick bay to give
IVs and plasma.
Approximately two weeks before the Normandy Invasion,
our LCI was quarantined as a precaution.
My recollection is that our LCI and 5 other LCIs among LSTs,
and LCMs pulled up to Omaha Beach just at daybreak on Jun. 6, 1944.
Actually, our LCI didn't land up on the beach, which was the goal of
LCIs. We hit an obstacle in the water and were not able to get right
up on the beach. Chuck Phillips would know the details on that.
There was a sandbar and we could not have made it up on the beach
anyway.
I was on the bridge/conning tower with Lt. Montgomery, Neikerk
and Wilson. Another man was on the bridge, too, but I can't
remember who it was. Lt. Montgomery was surveying where he wanted
to direct fire. Suddenly all hell broke out. Montgomery yelled,
"Get off the bridge" and we abandoned the bridge immediately.
The German bunkers that were supposed to have been blasted out
in an air raid weren't. Fire started coming from everywhere.
To make things worse, the water was very rough. We carried men
from the 1st Division (the Big Red One) to Omaha Beach on June 6,
1944.
Wood timbers/cross ties and barbed wire were attached to mines.
One of the first things I remember seeing just before all hell broke
out was a couple of dead men draped over these obstacles in the shallow
water. Later I learned that these men were sent in to clear and mark
channels for other landing craft and us. The fighting on the beach
seemed to be the most horrendous for the first 5-6 hours.
It eased up a little around what I thought seemed like lunchtime,
but the shelling continued for two days. You should have seen my
helmet. I wish I had saved it for my kids to see.
I was told that the Germans wouldn't aim fire directly at men in
the Red Cross helmets. A few hours into battle, I took my helmet
off because I was certain they were aiming right at that Red Cross.
I guess the German's figured for every hospital corpsman they
took out, the more overall casualties there would be.
Dead corpsmen can't save lives.
During the invasion itself, the sick bay expanded to include the mess
hall and the deck. The shipmates on our LCI were lucky. We did not
have one single casualty. The mess hall and deck were filled with
men from the Big Red One whom our LCI had carried and soldiers who
had come in on other landing craft along side us.
Travis Wilton Allen (Al), seaman 2/c NR, is the name of the man who
secured the lifeline rope that Karl Bischoff mentioned in his story.
Al Allen brought wounded men to me all day on the 6th and 7th of
June. He never stopped even though he injured his knee.
I think he took a surface shot across the knee. He was a good
young man. He probably saved more lives than we can count in
those two days, literally hundreds and hundreds. I don't know
how he maintained the stamina to keep bringing the injured from
the beach onto the LCI.
I patched these men up the best I could and got the really
injured ones transferred to hospital ships. When Allen couldn't
get the injured to me, I went to them on the beach.
It was so loud with strafing, shelling, and mortar fire.
I'd yell, look out behind you Allen. Allen would yell, hit
the deck, Doc. We looked out for each other. It seems a
miracle now that we did not lose one crewmember on our LCI
on D-day. Sometimes the air was so full of fire that is seems
impossible that any of us survived. By the afternoon of June
7, disabled boats/ships that were beyond repair had been sunk
out away from the beach to make a makeshift harbour/blockade.
Other less disabled ships had been pulled up alongside the
sunken ships. This reduced the waves a bit and made things a
little easier.
I remember when we rescued men from the Susan B. Anthony. When the
waves would swell, our ship would rise up and the men on the Anthony
had to judge it just right to get the timing right for their jump
across. I remember one young man who just couldn't make himself jump.
He finally tried and had both legs crushed badly. However,
he managed to hang onto the Anthony. I climbed up the cargo rope
and slung the young man over my shoulders. I brought him onto our
LCI and treated him. I had him transferred to a hospital ship.
I never caught his name. I have wondered over the years if he
made it home safely.
By this time I was 23 years old, in fact, I turned 23 on
Jun. 7 1944, the day the Anthony hit a mine. Twenty-three
seems young now, but at the time I was one of the senior men
on board and these 18 year old fellows seemed terribly young
to be fighting. My heart really went out to them.
Around 2 days out from D-Day a group of men from our LCI set out
on the beach. I treated men from Omaha and Utah Beach.
I believe it was an LST that brought in Ernie Pyle, a war
correspondent. I think we were actually on Utah Beach when we met
Ernie. We talked to him about what we had seen. We were deactivating
German bombs that had not detonated and were checking for any
survivors. By this time the fighting had moved inland a couple of
miles. But we still got occasional shells.
It was about three days out that I was authorised to give each man
2 ounces of Brandy. It was prescribed to help settle their nerves.
That was a common prescription in wartime for shell shock.
James Roland Argo.
Post Note: My Dad, James Argo, wrote this story.
He reunited with two of his shipmates, Karl Bischoff and Chuck
Phillips in November 2000. At the time of the email, snail mail
and telephonic reunion, he was suffering from lung cancer.
He died on Dec. 8, 2000.
This seems to have been a final mission for LCI 489 as far
as my Dad was concerned. All the old anxieties of war were passed
away and my Dad experienced a sense of healing by this reunion/
There is no doubt that he lived in the greatest generation.
I salute my Dad and the many other men who fought for our freedom,
cleared minefields, steered craft, patched up the wounded,
cleaned out bilge pumps, radioed, signalled, gunned and died.
Your parts were all significant and it is why we are here and free
today.
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Able Sea. Stanley Ronald Argust . Royal Navy HMS Egret from Treherbert, Rhondda (d.7th Nov 1940)
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L/Sgt. Thomas John Argust . British Army 77th H A A Regiment, 241st Bty. Royal Artillery from Treherbert, Rhondda (d.29th Nov 1943) Thomas John Argust died on the Suez Maru.
He was a POW captured on the 9th of March 1942 and held in Thailand and Malai 1.
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Ord. Tel. John G Aris . Royal Navy HMS Nigeria (d.12th Aug 1942) John G Adis served as an Ordinary Telegraphist on board HMS Nigeria during ww2 and died on the 12th August 1942. This was probably as a result of a torpedo attack on that day by the Italian submarine Axum.
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Ord.Tel. John G. Aris . Royal Navy HMS Nelson (d.12th Aug 1942)
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Stuart Meir Arkle . Royal Navy from Stoke-on-Trent
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Pte. John Edward Arkley . British Army 1st Btn. West Yorkshire Regiment from Wallsend John Arkley served from 9th of June 1944 until 10 June 1952. He spent time stationed in Austria. At one point 3 Arkley brothers were in Austria at the same time. John, Tommy and either Arthur or Raymond. John and Tommy met their wives in Austria and brought them back to England. John passed away just 2 weeks before his 90th Birthday. I have his regiment certificate of service.
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