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P/O. Aidan Aiston . Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 192 Squadron
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Charles Aitchison . British Army Gordon Highlanders from Dundee Street, Edinburgh My grandfather, Charlie Aitchison, Gordon Highlanders, was captured at St Valery 1940 and consigned to Stalag VIIIb until the end of the war. He was 6' 2" tall and was 32 years old when captured. He never spoke a word about his time in the camp, but the family believes he worked in a salt mine.
The only story I heard about his wartime experiences was told to me by my mother. It seems that he had been demobbed and had arrived home only a few days earlier. He took mother out for a walk (she was 11 at the time) and as they were walking along the street, they came across some German POWs working on the roads. My grandfather stopped and spoke to them in fluent German. After speaking to them for a few minutes, he walked off and went into a shop and came back with four pies and twenty cigarettes which he gave to the Germans.
My mother asked him why he gave them to the POWs. "They're just Jerries," he said. My grandfather told her that they were just working men like him, who had been captured, fighting for their country.
It was my privilege to know this man until he died in 1968 when he was only 60 and I was 14. Any knowledge of him would be gratefully received.
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Robert Scott Aitchison . Royal Air Force I am looking for information on my dad Bob Aitchison who was a cook in the Royal Air Force where he met my mom, Mary Govan, also in Air Force during WWII. They are both gone and I know nothing about their Air Force time.
My mom's service time was 8/1/43 to 12/12/46 from what I have been told my dad was there before her. If you can help me out I would truly appreciate anything you can provide. Thank you.
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Pte. Robert Aitchison . British Army 1st Btn. Border Regiment from Wooler My grandad, Robert Aitchison served with the 1st Border Regiment during WW2. I don't know much, as he never spoke of the war. All I know is that he was captured just outside Dunkirk, then made to walk 1000 miles to a prisoner of war camp, where he lived till the end of the war.
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Sgt G. Aitken . Royal Canadian Air Force 419 Sqd.
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F/Sgt. J. W. Aitken . Royal Canadian Air Force 419 (Moose) Squadron from Canada J W Aitken served as a Mid Upper Gunner with 419 (Moose) Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force.
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Assistant Steward James Aitken . Naval Auxiliary Personnel HMS Forfar from Helensburgh, Dunbartonshire, Scotland. (d.2nd Dec 1940) Aitken was the Pipe Major in the band of HMS Forfar.
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L/Cpl. John Murray Aitken . British Army 2nd Sqd Lothian and Border Horse from Midlothian L/Cpl.John Aitken served with the 2nd Sqd Lothian and Border Horse 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. John Aitken . British Army 7th Btn. Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders from Bonnybridge, Stirlingshire, Scotland John Aitken was a POW in Stalag 9C, Muhlhausen, from June 1940 to the end of the war.
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Squadron Leader L Aitken . RAF 59 Squadron
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Robert James Aitken . Royal Australian Air Force from Gunnedah, NSW, Australia (d.1st June 1942) Robert Aitken trained in Melbourne, Victoria in 1939. He joined the British Air Force and was flying over Egypt, I do not know the squadron no.
All I know he was killed over Bardia, North Africa, (it was an accident)
on 1st of June 1942.
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W Aitken . British Army W Aitken 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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W Aitken . British Army Royal Welsh Fusiliers W Aitken served with the Royal Welsh 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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Leading Coder Mathew Aitkin . Royal Navy HMS Aurora
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RW Aitkin . British Army Royal Tank Regiment RW Aitkin served with the Royal Tank Regiment 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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Bmbdr. Thomas Howell Ajax . British Army Royal Artillery
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Bude Mile Ajdukovic . Yugoslav Army from Bunic, Yugoslavia On 1st November 1937 I was called for two years of military service in Novi Sad airbase. It was pretty late, because many of the fellows of my age had already served their time in the military. I don't know why I had to wait for three years to be called.
Not long after I finished my service in 1939 I was called, in February 1940, to participate in drill at an airbase in Rajlovac and I stayed there until the end of November 1940 - nine months. The reason is known, Hitler set out to conquer Europe. I couldn't stay at home any more, I was afraid that I'd be called again, so I left for Slovenia to work on constructing border fortifications. But the winter of 1940/1941 was so cold that work had to be stopped and I was at home in January. War was on the horizon and I was mobilized again. On 1st April I wore a uniform again and was sent to II airbase in Rajlovac (12 kilometers north-east of Sarajevo, today Bosnia and Herzegovina).
On 6th April I experienced an enormous bombardment in Rajlovac airbase. At 06.15am six platoons were lined up on a runway waiting for an order for that day, when a group of Stukas came from Bulgaria and, in a hedgehop, dropped a load of bombs on us - the hangars, barracks and airstrip. Unfortunately, a platoon of machine gunners on horses were on the airstrip and then chaos started, broken hangar glass, dust of demolished buildings, smoke, wounded soldiers screaming, upset soldiers who couldn't see each other because of the dust. Groups of Stukas returned over and over again until the evening of that day. Those who survived had escaped over the railroad into the woods and roamed around in it. A few of the fellows who had returned to the graveyard of the airbase reported 30--35 killed soldiers. Next day, all the dead soldiers were buried in temporary graves. All of us who had survived the bombardment stayed hidden in the woods near the airbase for the next 5-6 days, but when we saw German tanks unimpeded passing by the roads near Rajlovac and soldiers fleeing, we realized that the fight was over and capitulation was unavoidable.
A few of us who were neighbours continued toward home. We reached the town of Kakanj by foot, and spent the night there and kept going, on foot again, to Slavonski Brod and then by train to Zagreb. When we arrived in Zagreb, immediately after the train stopped, Ustashe (Independent State of Croatia soldiers who collaborated with the Nazis) surrounded our train, got us out, lined us up and took us through the city to a cantonment where we saw about hundred POWs. While we stood on a road lined up we experienced such humiliation by several Ustashe in civilian clothes, with derogatory words and spitting in our faces.
We stayed in the cantonment till they separated us from the Croats and Muslims by different checkups, then sent them home. About 120 of us, Serbs and Slovenians, had been taken over by the Germans and around 27th April the Germans put us in G train wagons and took us to a concentration camp in Maribor (Slovenia). After we arrived in Maribor we were stationed in a horse barracks where they kept hay for horses, and we stayed there for four nights without food and water. Then they let us into a compound where the Germans had gathered 600-700 POWs already. Along with the Serbs and Slovenians there were a few American, British and Greek soldiers. The Americans and British were mainly airmen and the Greeks were soldiers.
Living conditions in the camp were desperate. Only once per day we had fodder beet in the water and 100g of bread - if you were lucky. We slept one on the other, but everybody had to be under the roof at night. Somewhere around 15th or 16th June one of the Ustashe generals showed up in Maribor and wanted to take us over to Croatia. But we, Serbs, had been transferred to a train station warehouse and when Germany attacked the USSR on 22th June they returned us to the concentration camp and from there to Germany to a POW camp. Firstly, the Germans transferred us to Jenbach and then sent us deep into the Tirol by train to Zell am Ziller for construction of a hydroelectric power plant. There we replaced French POWs. Life conditions in this camp were much better. Bread (not so much) but of some potato porridge and barley seeds we had enough. The most important thing was a full stomach. For people in our position accommodation in barracks was bearable. Here we got prisoner numbers, mine was 2727 and was hanged on my neck. After that I became a number instead of a person for the next years of my imprisonment.
For duties we were assigned according to our professions, craftsmen had been sent to shops to help chief craftsmen and workers. Farmers, of which there were the most, were sent to outside jobs.
In the Tirol, the winter of 1941/1942 was harsh and unbearable. The men were poorly dressed, the snow was 70cm high, and the temperature 25 degrees C below zero. Men who worked outside hardly endured the cold. It was hardest of all for those who worked on reinforcing and pouring concrete. The Germans did this, even though the temperature was much below freezing point. I had been assigned to a warehouse, so I could help to handout tools and supplies for the building site, but on 3rd January 1942 an accident had happened. The chief craftsmen sent me for sawdust and while I was filling the bucket with sawdust the circular saw didn't work. The next moment, one Nazi came in, who hasn't worked there and turned on the circular saw. He pushed me onto the machine and it cut off four fingers of my right hand to the palm. After that, I became a disabled person with 60% of disability. The same thing happened to my friend Mile Knezević while he was pushing a small industrial wagon. The engineer ran into him a small industrial locomotive that cut off his right leg up to the knee. Immediately after surgery I was sent, escorted by guards, into a camp's main infirmary for Yugoslavian POWs (Stalag XVII C) in Markt Pongau, Austria. This was a main camp where there were 100 to 150 POWs at any time. Ill prisoners were sent here - healthy prisoners had been sent to working stations over the Europe.
In the infirmary I found frightening conditions - of about 25 to 30 patients every second one was suffering from typhus. Two doctors who treated us were from Yugoslavia and both of them had the rank of major. There was one German doctor who was a captain. A successful cure or drugs did not exist at that time except, so I've heard, the German doctor got an injection and cured us without fear. He really did his best to save as many of us he could. People died and a few of those who survived were so weak and skinny they couldn't walk by themselves without help from others. They lost hair, eyebrows, teeth and they looked like bread crumbs.
One day in our room a Yugoslav doctor came in, I think his last name was Maksimović and he was scared and upset and told us: I'm going to die in 3 or 4 days, this morning in the laundry I find a louse and it's my death. And indeed after 10 days our major doctor, a young man, died even though the German doctor visited him through the night and did everything he could to save him from death.
I was destroyed psychologically. I was full of despair because of my injured hand and much more because of the position I was in and my misgivings that I would not survive if an illness attacked me, because only a few lucky ones survived. Every day I prayed that the German doctor would let me out of the infirmary and, after some time on half of my treatment, he let me go.
After I left hospital in mid January 1942 I saw that between the Yugoslav prisoners there were many British, a few Americans and a lot of Frenchmen, Poles and other European nationalities which Hitler had conquered. We all shared the camp but were placed in different barracks. The food in the camp was terrible at a starvation rate. Tea and 150 grams of pumpernickel bread in the morning; only one ladle, about 400 grams of fodder beets mixed with cabbage, boiled potatoes, browned flour, margarine at noon; dinner we had rarely, never on Sunday.
In mid 1943 Americans started to send packages via the Red Cross from Geneva and the situation became much more bearable. We were given two packages of 4 kg for three men twice a month.
Right beside our camp, approximately 600-700 metres away was a camp with Russian prisoners who had been captured in massive numbers in 1941/1942. That compound was a story in itself. Scaffold, rarely seen anguish. Men died there mostly of starvation, cold, bad conditions or beatings. They were in a camp with four rows of barbed wire, without any rights, human dignity, or international protection because the USSR before war wasn't a member of the International Red Cross. Every day 10 to 15 unlucky ones had died but there were always new guys who replaced unluckiest, already prepared for dying - even before they left the train wagon. I've seen a man of regular height, while Germans weighed him with help of two Poles, he was still alive and he weighed 29.5 kg.
The worst were those who watched men in barracks when they ate their dead comrades. Usually the Poles were charged to bury the dead and sometimes some of our men. Firstly they would dig a trench, typically 20 metres long, a bit deeper and then a car with a cargo of dead people would come in escorted by two guards, and then they would put the dead along the row. If some of them showed signs of life, one of the guards would immediately jump in the trench and, with a boot, finish him off right away. Then a layer of chlorinated lime would be put over them and after that they would lay down another layer of men and chlorinated lime again until they reached the surface. Then they would put dirt over the top - day after day. Near to the Russians others were buried in separate graves. It is estimated that around 800 to 900 Russian (some say more) prisoners were buried there. A few dozens of other prisoners are buried there.
After I left hospital I made a group of friends and with them I met the end of war when the American Army under General Patton liberated us.
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Pte. Kenneth Arthur Akehurst . British Army 5th Btn. Seaforth Highlanders from 67 Camden Road, Royal Tunbridge Wells (d.20th Apr 1945) Kenneth Akehurst is a member of the Hellingly branch of the Akehurst family.
Proudly remembered by the Akehurst Family History Society and this entry is made on the 75th anniversary of his death.
Lest We Forget
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L/Cpl. Leslie Earnest William Akerman . British Army North Staffordshire from Exening, Newmarket
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Irene "Rene" Akeroyd . Auxiliary Territorial Service Y Group Royal Signals Anybody still alive out there from the eight individuals/personalities in Garats Hey, Woodhouse Eaves in 1944/45?
Billie Brown, Sara, Lexie, Muriel, Kay and others. I have diaries from my six years in uniform.
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Pte. James Akister . British Army 9th Btn. Kings Own Scottish Borderers from Lancaster My grandfather, James Akister, was born in 1921 and died in 1998 in Lancaster UK. He was a professional boxer known as Jimmy ‘Kid’ Akister before he joined the army. He was captured in Burma and sent to a POW camp, Rangoon Central Jail, Group E, where he remained until the end of the war.
His father, Thomas, served with the army in India starting in 1905. During WW1, he then served with the King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment (regimental number 8652) until 1915, when he was injured and lost a leg and a finger.
Respect to my grandfather and great-grandfather. Thank you both, and we will remember you - sleep well!
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Gnr. Thomas Willis Akitt . British Army 51st Field Regiment Royal Artillery from Cumbria Thomas Akitt was wounded in North Africa on 3rd of January 1942.
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Pvt. Phillip Albert . United States Marines from Illinois, United States POW Camp Fukuoka 17 in Japan
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Ernest Albiston . British Army from Stockport, Cheshire, England Ernest Albiston was on the HMS Lancastria when it was sunk, he survived. I have a booklet written by a soilder that survived the tragedy.
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P/O V. M. Albrecht . 102 Squadron
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Patricia Mary Albrow . Land Army from 13 Mattison Rd, Harringay, London. I was 17 yrs when called into the Land Army and had to go into the dairy division,
imagine this londoner seeing her first cow up front and personal and being told to milk it!
That was more scary than the air raids I had been through. We worked hard but it was good out in the country
and we ate better than most and our dress uniforms looked good. I often had to work the dung detail
along with some Italians pows, I was at the bottom of the hea, slinging it up to the pow at the top.
He liked opera, so he used to sing while we worked. The day the war ended, my boss came to the shed
and told me "Go pack your things and go home" He knewIi had just married a month befor. I am 81 yrs now,
living in the states. To all who are still here god bless.
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PW Albrow . British Army PW Albrow 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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PFC. Max L. Alcantar . US Army 415th Inf, Co. "K" 104th Inf Div. from Fresno, CA (d.25th Feb 1945) 104th Inf Div, APO 104
Order number: General 20
Date of Orders: 1 Dec 44
"For gallantry in action in *** (Stolberg, Germany) on 18th November 1944.
During mid-afternoon of 18th of November 1944 Private Alcantar's company was ordered to withdraw from a small heavily wooded park. Enemy observation was very good and their mortar and artillery fire was very heavy. The plan was to withdraw in waves with leap-frog protection on the right flank. An active enemy machine gun was located to the rear of the company. Private Alcantar was in the first wave, and as they came abreast of the enemy machine gun position, it opened fire on them. Private Alcantar, who was an automatic rifleman, immediately engaged the enemy machine gunner by return fire.
This action required him to stand in an exposed position, both to the machine gunner and the heavy enemy mortar barrage which was being placed on them. Private Alcantar forced the silence of the enemy machine gun by this action and though wounded by shrapnel, maintained his position until his comrades had successfully withdrawn to an area of safety, after which he joined them. This heroic act in the face of heavy enemy fire from a fully exposed position greatly reflects the finest spirit of the American soldier."
As PFC Alcantar continued with the Timberwolves, often fighting at night across Germany as part of the First Army in the drive toward the Rhine, it is presumed that he was with other members of the 415th, Company K as they entered Ellen, Germany on 24 Feb 1945. During a night engagement on 25 Feb 1945, Company K entered a town on a hill, a very important place in the drive. They had nearly reached the town when the enemy opened fire. They fought their way into the town, and PFC Alcantar was just entering a house when he was struck by rifle fire. When he fell his comrades went to him and an aid-man came to his side. There was nothing they could do. Death was merciful in this, it came instantly and he did not suffer.
The above account of PFC Alcantar's death was provided by a personal letter to the Alcantar family by Gerald A. Quinn, Chaplain for Company K. The closing of the letter reads, "Max was certainly a brave boy and a good boy. During the past few weeks I used to say mass in the evening at his company command post and Max always attended. His men all looked up to him as courageous and dependable. I hope that even in your sorrow you can have a feeling of pride. May God comfort and console you and may He grant that out of such sacrifice as this, true and lasting peace may come to a suffering world."
Max was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, and he was buried in Henri-Chapelle Cemetery in Belgium. The cemetery is located approximately 7 miles southwest of Aachen, Germany, and was under the care and supervision of military personnel during the war. PFC Alcantar was buried in plot UUU, row 1, grave 10.
On 14 April, 1947, Max's father, John Alcantar, requested that Max be brought home to his family in Fresno, CA. The Fresno Funeral Chapel on A Street would be responsible for accepting the body of PFC Alcanter before he was interred at the Fresno Liberty Cemetery. Almost 5 months after the initial request was made, PFC Max L Alcantar was disinterred from Henri-Chapelle Cemetery on 12 September 1947, and transported via truck to Antwerp Port, Pier 140, under the supervision of Sgt. Lupe J. Valenzuela. Sgt. James Blackmon received PFC Alcantar at the Port of Antwerp on 15 September 1947.
Captain Paul McGee of the USAT Joseph V Connolly left Antwerp Port with PFC Alcantar on 4 October 1947, and brought him home to the United States at the New York Port of Embarkation on 25 October 1947. The USAT Joseph V Connolly was a Liberty ship, used for cargo transport during the war, and converted after the war to be the first funeral ship to bring back the war dead from the European theater. In January 1948, the USAT Joseph V Connolly caught fire, was abandoned, and sank in the North Atlantic. On 27 October 1947, PFC Alcantar was brought to American soil, and awaited a train transport home. 3 November 1947, Max began the cross country journey home via train. He arrived in San Francisco, CA one week later on 10 November 1947.
On 12 November 1947, SSgt Ray H. Lowden of the 36th Engineer Combat Group, Temporary Duty, 6th Army Escort Detachment, Oakland Army Base, received his orders to escort Max home. Included in his orders, “mourning band furnished will be work at all times while performing (temporary duty) at places designated above.” Additional orders to all concerned were provided with the subject: “Request for immediate shipment over other cases” as the son-in-law of Juan and Lupe Alcantar, brother in law of Max, provided the following request: “Mrs. Juan Alcantar, mother of deceased in highly emotional state regarding her son’s death, and her condition has reached the point where even the mention of the boy’s name in the household is taboo. Upon doctor’s orders, Mr. Juan Alcantar, legal next of kin of deceased, has sent mother to LA and hopes to keep her there until body of son is returned to Fresno for final burial.” The letter continues on to state, “Because of critical condition of mother and possible fatal results occurring if she is involved with funeral, brother in law (Mr. Matt Rivera) has requested that we no longer contact family home regarding plans. It has been explained to him that next contact will be between this center and funeral home involved.”
The tragic death of Max was too much for his beloved mother to bear. Her grief overcame her at the mention of his name, and the family was required to make special accommodations just to return him home. Because of this secrecy, even his brother, Sgt. Ernest L. Alcantar, did not know many of the details as his brother was brought home. Sgt. Ernest L. Alcantar died in June of 1996, not fully knowing the details of his brother’s death and return home due to the levels of secrecy maintained in concern for the family matriarch’s health. On 14 November 1947, Staff Sergeant Ray H. Lowden accompanied PFC Max L Alcantar on his final journey home on Train #2 AT & SF, leaving Oakland at 9:55 AM and due to arrive in Fresno, CA at 3:30 PM railroad time on 14 November, 1947. On 20 November 1947, Juan Alcantar submitted an Application for Headstone or Marker for PFC Max L. Alcantar to be buried in Liberty Cemetery 1831 W. Belmont Ave., Fresno, CA 93728.
PFC Max L. Alcantar is honored in remembrance by his family, and the War Dad’s Auxiliary of Fresno, CA has included his name on a monument at Kearney Park. Next to the monument stands a grove of trees where other fallen heroes are memorialized. PFC Max L. Alcantar has a tree dedicated in his honor near 36°43'35.04"N, 119°54'45.29"W. His name is also inscribed in the walls under Silver Star and Purple Heart at the Legion of Valor Museum in Fresno, CA. His last surviving sibling, Raymond L. Alcantar, proudly displays his photo and medals at family reunions and gatherings.
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Pvt. Meryvn Alchin . Australian Army from Australia POW Camp Fukuoka 17 in Japan
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Pte Bertram Victor Alcock . British Army 7th Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment
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