Denis Bankes . I have in my possession a book from Stalag IVB library (it has the camp stamp inside it). It also has the name of Denis Bankes inside it, who I believe was at one stage the Catholic Chaplain for Stalag 4B. He managed, just, to survive the war and many years later (1960s) became the Catholic priest of my small home town in Yorkshire, England. Does anybody remember him or have any other information? I'm not sure if he was at 4B right to the end of the war. Possibly he was, as in the book he wrote 'received 7 Dec 1943.'
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Sgt. A. Banks . Home Guard Signal Sect. Workington Btn.
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Sgt. Darcy Lyndsay Banks . Australian Army 2/40th from Australia POW Camp Fukuoka 17 in Japan
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L/Cpl. Donald Banks . British Army 109th Provost Coy. Corps of Military Police from Bolton, Lancashire  Donald Banks was my late father. He joined the Corps of Military Police no 2nd of January 1942 and was posted to Mychett in Surrey for training.
He became a Lance Corporal with the 109th Provost Company, Corps of Military Police and landed on Sword Beach in Normandy in France on D Day plus 2. He was a skilled motorcyclist and was a motorcycle rider in the CMP.
He was attached to 30 Corps under the command of General Sir Brian Horrocks and went through Holland in the push up towards Arnhem. The 109th Provost Company were headquartered at Eindhoven in Holland at this period.
He continued on through Germany and was injured slightly while a passenger in a Jeep, the driver was shot by a German sniper. The Jeep overturned, but they managed to locate and silence the sniper, who was in a church tower.
When the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials took place, my father was appointed as personal bodyguard to the presiding judge, Lord Justice Lawrence. He lived with the judge throughout the trials and attended the courtroom each day.
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Pte. Edward Horace Banks MID.. British Army 5th Btn. East Yorkshire Regiment from Tottenham, London My father, Edward Banks, served from 1939 to 1946 in 5th Battalion of the East Yorkshire Regiment. He served in Iraq, Palestine, Syria, Middle East(western desert). He was wounded in action in the Western Desert on 1/7/1942 by a gunshot wound to the back.
His story to me was while being attacked he was wounded and could not walk because of wounds to his back and legs, he could hear a "Bren gun carrier" with its engine running and crawled over to it and while trying to get up on the back the driver of the carrier, who had been blinded by a shell blast, not knowing Dad was there tried to run over him. My dad managed to stiffen his wounded legs and was pushed along the sand until he managed to shout to the driver to stop. Dad then, with considerable effort due to his wounds, got himself into the carrier and proceeded to give the blinded driver instructions of where to steer the carrier away from the advancing Germans with shells exploding all around.
He spent some time in 27 General Military Hospital wound list no 295/42. He then served more time in the Middle East,embarked on "H" force for the Sicily landings. He came back to the UK and went over to 32 General Hospital teaching wounded personnel how to paint and draw being an artist in civilian life.
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Elizabeth "Betty" Banks . ATS 11th Caithness Company My Nana, Elizabeth "Betty" Banks, who brought me up, was in the ATS from Feb 1939 until the war ended, Her number was W/9265. She would love to contact anyone who was in her unit or any of the courses she went on as a PT instructor. I'm hoping to get some photos from her that you can put on your website but wondered if anyone could point me in the right direction to get her some information.
The details I have are:
11th Caithness Company,
then sent to Orkney for 3 years,
then Inverness Cameron Barracks,
then Redford Barracks Edinburgh,
then became PT instructor and attended courses in Scotland and Durham, Aldershot and Newton Abbot.
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Spr. Ernest Cowburn Banks . British Army Royal Engineers from Leigh, Lancashire Ernest Banks name is written with Stalag XVIIIA stamp in a Prayer book, given by the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, dated 20th of May 1942.
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Frank "Monty" Banks . Our sweet, kind and much loved dad, Frank (Monty) Banks, was a prisoner of war in Stalag IV B for about 18 months. Sadly, we don't know what regiment he was in - he was from Birkenhead, Cheshire but for some reason we think he was with a Lancashire regiment. He was a medic who never saw the benefit of war (a view we too hold). Like most of his generation he never talked about what he'd seen and / or experienced. My Dad left in August 2004 and not a day goes by we don't miss him - if ever there was a person of perfection - it was our Dad. We're proud to be known as Frankie Banks' kids!!.
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Frank "Monty" Banks . Our sweet, kind and much loved dad, Frank (Monty) Banks, was a prisoner of war in Stalag IV B for about 18 months. Sadly, we don't know what regiment he was in - he was from Birkenhead, Cheshire but for some reason we think he was with a Lancashire regiment. He was a medic who never saw the benefit of war (a view we too hold). Like most of his generation he never talked about what he'd seen and / or experienced. My Dad left in August 2004 and not a day goes by we don't miss him - if ever there was a person of perfection - it was our Dad. We're proud to be known as Frankie Banks' kids!!.
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Pte. Frederick Charles Banks . British Army 1/5th Btn. Sherwood Foresters from Edmonton, London (d.2nd May 1943) Frederick Banks was the husband of Louisa Violet Banks, nee Alberry. Before the war, he was in the retail industry.
On 15th of February 1942, he was captured at the fall of Singapore. At age 27, he died in a camp in Thailand, camp name not known, and is buried in Kanchanaburi War Cemetery.
He had one child, Evelyn Sheila Banks (1936-1945). In 1950, his wife remarried to Thomas Edward Cleal, there were no children from this marriage.
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Lt-Col George Banks OBE .. British Army Royal Army Service Corps My step brother, George Banks, served with the RASC during WW2.
He was present during the liberation of Belsen Concentration Camp in April 1945. He was in charge of feeding former inmates and was awarded the OBE
for his work. Can anyone fill in more details of his Army service?
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Sergeant George Leslie "Les" Banks . Royal Air Force 218 (Gold Coast) Squadron from Northenden (d.27th Jan 1943) The Crew of N3721 were as follows:-
- Pilot Officer A.E.Gough age 20 Pilot and Captain
- Pilot Officer K.A. Taylor age 23 2nd Pilot 1st Trip
- Pilot Officer G C Layley age 23 Navigator
- Sergeant N W Whithead age 20 Bomb-Aimer
- Sergeant G L Banks age 31 Wirless Operator
- Sergeant L C Ehrhart 22 Mid-Upper Gunner
- Sergeant E J Forward age 24 Flight Engineer
- Sergeant W E Jackson 22 Rear Gunner( Later Warrant Officer) Survivor
Their last flight, No 19, was mine-laying in the Baltic. On their return journey they crashed into the forest near the village of Grassborn at Dassel. They were not in their usual aircraft N3721 'P' for Peter as it was being repaired. They were in N6077. The crew are all buried at Limmer Military Cemetry Hannover.
Bill Jackson was the only survivor and he ended up in a POW Camp.
He wrote a book called Three Stripes and Four Brownings which details all their Missions.
G C Layley's brother was killed 12 months later and is also buried jut behind him in Hanover.
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Pte. Gordon Cyril Banks . British Army Durham Light Infantry from London My father had been conscripted late, and made up the losses of the 8th Army in North Africa in 1943. Then he was in Sicily, before going to Normandy. Two years ago, whilst researching my father's history at Gold beach, on D-Day, I came across a book with a photo of troops taken on June 7, 1944, in Normandy. To my surprise I recognised one of the soldiers, as my father. I have since been able to get a copy of the picture from the Imperial War Museum. I have never found out if he was in the 6th or 8th Battalion, and would like to know if anyone recognises the troops in the picture. My Dad is the man with the spectacles holding onto both straps in the centre of the troops.
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Harold Banks . British Army 44th Btn. Reconnaissance Corps from Disley, Cheshire (d.11th September 1944) Harold Banks was my great granddad. He died when he was 38 during the 2nd World War, he served with 7th Btn. Royal West Kent Regiment and the Reconnaissance Corps. His wife, my great gran, told us about him. She had a little card he had made from a bit of leather with a feather stuck in it. She passed away in 1989.
I did a search and found that Harold is buried in Italy in Coriani Ridge Cemetery. I don't know if my great gran ever got over there. They had two daughters Joyce and Greta. Grandma Joyce has passed away but Greta is still with us.
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Jack Banks . British Army 8th Btn. Durham Light Infantry (d.21st Jul 1944) I found the headstone of 16year old Jack Banks at the Jerusalem War Cemetery in Normandy about 5 years ago. There is quite a lot of information about the young man near his grave. I think he enlisted without his family knowing about it and the authorities were searching for him but they were too late.
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Jack Banks . British Army 8th Btn. Durham Light Infantry (d.21st Jul 1944) I found the headstone of 16year old Jack Banks at the Jerusalem War Cemetery in Normandy about 5 years ago. There is quite a lot of information about the young man near his grave. I think he enlisted without his family knowing about it and the authorities were searching for him but they were too late.
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Flt Sgt. James Henry "Monty" Banks MID.. Royal Air Force 212 Squadron from Heston My father, James Banks was evacuated from Orleans airport, France, Tuesday 18th June 1940. A Dakota landed to pick him up, in his words "a lady". They landed at Heston and he was given immediate leave and returned to RAF Feltwell and given sedative to calm uncontroled shakes. This is all I have discovered written in the margins of The Daily Sketch dated Tuesday June 18th.
Any additional info would be wonderful.
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F/Lt. John Francis Banks . Royal Air Force 192 Squadron from Shrewsbury John Banks qualified as an air bomber on 19th of June 1943.
He studied Navigation and map reading in Anson planes at AFU Wigtown to 6th of January 1944, the transferred to No 84 OTU at Harrington where he was flying Wellington bombers with pilot F/O Clarkson.
No 84 OTU moved to Desborough on 3rd of March 1944
John and his crewmates joined 192 Squadron at Foulsham on the 7th of April 1944, they flew sorties to Bay of Biscay Channel, the Western Approaches, over the North Sea, Dutch coast, French coast and the Frisians in a Wellington Bomber.
He completed one operational tour of 40 sorties.
John transferred to 221 Group on the 1st of June 1945 flying Dakotas from Rangoon over Burma.
In October he joined 47 Squadron flying Mosquitos as a navigator and was demobbed in 1946.
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Lillian Rose Banks . Land Army
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Sgt. Robert Glen Banks . United States Army 508th Parachute Regiment from Rockford,IL My Dad, Robert Banks, volunteered as a paratrooper because the pay was more! Little did he know that one day he would jump into a historic day. 6th of June 1944 was his first and only combat jump.
He was captured by the Germans and spent the remainder of the war as a prisoner. Watered down soup and bread were the main staples. Prison life was not short of hunger, cold, lice, and dysentery. He experienced it all. He volunteered to work at the hospital at the camp so he could steal food. Even so, by the end of the war my six foot father weighed about 90 lbs. Shortly after being captured prisoners were held at St. Ok, many reference this place as Hungry Hill because they went days without eating and were so desperate they were forced to eat grass.
Before his liberation in January 1945 he was at Alt Drewitz Brandenburg Stalag 3C. After making his way to Port Sail Egypt he arrived home 9th of April 1945.
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Sgt Robert Arthur Banks . RAFVR 9 Squadron (d.8th Sep 1941) Sgt Robert Banks RAFVR aged 21 and whilst serving as 2nd Pilot with 9 Squadron based at Honington in Suffolk, was crew on Wellington bomber WS Z 8845 on a mission to Berlin on the night of 7th September 1941. The aircraft was reported to have been shot down by 4/NJG1 in Holland at 0050 hours on the 8th September and all crew were killed.
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Sgt. Thomas William Banks . British Army 5th Btn. Queens Own Cameron Highlanders from Wednesfield (d.16th Dec 1944)
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Pvt. William Bannattyne . British Army from England POW Camp Fukuoka 17 in Japan
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ACMM. John Bannen . US Navy from New York John Bannen was assigned to ground crew. Shortly after he was promoted to CPO and transferred to Washington DC.
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Sgt Major Gordon Bannerman . Canadian Army 60th Field Battery Royal Canadian Artillery
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QM Bannerman . British Army QM Bannerman 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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Francis Bannister . Royal Navy HMS Norfolk My uncle, Francis Bannister, served on the cruiser HMS Norfolk during its chase of the Bismark, and later on the destroyer HMS Milne when escorting convoys to Russia.
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Pte. James Matthew Bannister . British Army 1/6th Btn. Royal West Surrey (Queens) Regiment from Colne, Lancashire (d.21st Oct 1944) James Bannister was from Colne. He was my uncle and was killed in action during WW2. Lots of varying stories as to where he served and how he eventually passed away. Nothing really adding up. Would like to know more about him and where he served.
I do recall seeing a Burma Star in a medal collection and my gran told me he served in Dunkirk. Any help would be gratefully received. I also have a picture of him.
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Cpl. Robert Benjamin Bannister . British Army Green Howards My father, Robert Bannister who was in the T.A. was captured at Dunkirk and marched most of the way to Stalag383 where he spent most of the war until he, with 4000 others was force marched in the depths of winter to a camp in Bavaria as the Russians were approaching Poland.
Whilst in the camp he employed his artistic skills in painting scenery for the theatre productions. He also used the regulation issue post cards to paint the entire front as greetings cards and those are still in my possession as are a number of photos including one of a fellow POW using an illicit radio and ones of him painting scenery. I have also got a battered copy Of "Barbed Wire Memories"
I intend to ensure that my family pass all the items to the Green Howards Museum at Richmond in due course
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Sherrard "Shed" Bannister . British Army Sherwood Foresters from Chesterfield I was wondering if anyone knew my grandfather, Sherrard Bannister, (known as Shed). He served in the Sherwood Foresters and REME. I am interested in knowing where he went and what he did during WW2 or if anyone remembers him.
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