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Private James N Bumpus . US Army James N. Bumpus, my great-uncle, was a Private in the United States Army during WWII and was captured by the Germans and taken to Stalag IVB. He marched in the infamous Death March.
I was born after his death and was never able to meet him, but I heard many stories from my grandmother, his sister, about his service in the war. I was recently privileged to view many of his letters from the war and the P.O.W. camp.
I would love to hear from anyone who may have known him or of those who served and suffered with him.
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F/O John Shirley Bunbury . Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 50 Squadron from Upper Norwood, London (d.17th Aug 1942) John Bunbury was I believe a member of 50 Squadron. He had been shot down and ended in the Corbett Hospital in Stourbridge, Worcestershire. He was befriended by my parents. He returned to duty when recovered but unfortuately was lost on the 17th of August 1942
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GE Bunce . British Army GE Bunce 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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GE Bunce . British Army Royal Artillery GE Bunce served with the Royal Artillery 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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PA Bunce . British Army Royal Armoured Corps PA Bunce served with the Royal Armoured Corps 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 Ronald Stewart Bunce . RAF 9 Squadron
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SW Bunce . British Army 49th Regiment Reconnaissance Corps SW Bunce served with the 49th Regiment Reconnaissance Corps 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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Lawrence John "Mac" Bundock . Royal Navy HMS Glendower from Northfleet, Kent
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Charles Bundy . from Hina, KY
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Pvt Curtis L. Bundy . US Army
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Vassily Rodionovitch "George" Bunelik . Civilian Crosspark from Lviv My Grandfather, Vassily Bunelik was taken prisoner after escaping from Mauthausen concentration camp (Leibnitz) in April or May 1944. He had no documents but called himself George Platonenko so as not to be returned to Mauthausen. As he believed he'd been found out he escaped from Maribor in June 1944 end fled to Hungary where he was interred yet again until the end of the war, when he returned to Lviv in Ukraine and picked up life again as a teacher. He wrote an account of his escape which I have translated as best as I can and put on his website.
Vasily Rodionovich Bunelik was a Ukrainian educator who was politically active during the second world war and wrote about the horrors of Mauthausen Concentration Camp where he was imprisoned and from where he escaped. The book is in Ukrainian, but he wrote a Russian version in manuscript which has been translated here by his daughter and grandson.... "I and several other prisoners were taken to the railway station to unload boxes of machines for the factory. The boxes were so heavy that they could not even be budged. Enraged, the Fascist beat us, but it did not help. Then he took out a pistol from his holster and began to beat each of us with the handle, at random and I got a blow in the stomach I groaned, but recovered from the blow and asked the beast pleadingly:Believe me, I want to do it, but I don't have the strength. There's no point in beating me, nothing will help, when there is no strength .. Nearby some Germans were working. One of them came up and said something to the SS. He nodded. We went quiet. What was awaiting us? Three metres away from us lay a half-rotten swede. I asked the SS guard permission to take it. Take it! he agreed. I instantly grabbed the swede and began to eat. "Stop! Vek Lassen!" cried suddenly the SS., infection! "He hit my hand and knocked down the swede, but in an instant it was in the hands of another famished prisoner. The SS lashed him with a whip. A third hungry inmate swallowed the remnants of the completely rotten swede. The SS hit him hard with his whip on the head.
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RPO George Herbert Bunker . Royal Navy HMS Formidable from Portsmouth
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C.P.O. James Bunker . Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve HMS Forfar from Abbey Wood, London (d.2nd Dec 1940)
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PFC. Clough Henry "Cough-Cough" Bunn . US Army from Minniapolis, Minnasota My great-grandfather, Clough Bunn, only survived the war because his cunning. His camp was attacked by Japanese fighters, and the men all ran to the trees. All but him. He just stayed in his tent, knowing they would bomb the trees. The survivors came struggling back, wounded or stunned. The next day, Japanese ground forces caught them unprepared. During the fight, he was knocked out by a ricochet. His peer, a huge man, fell over him, strafed by bullets. Only a few survived.
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George Bunn . United States Navy from Palo Alto, CA In 1945, while serving in the Navy, George Bunn was on a ship bound for Japan when atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki brought an end to World War II
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Gdsm. Reginald Charles Herbert "Bunnie" Bunn . British Army 1st Btn. 14 Coy Coldstream Guards from Handsworth, Birmingham (d.13th May 1940)
My older brother Reginald was killed at Dunkirk in 1940. I am now in Australia and have a few letters that Reginald wrote whilst in training and with BEF. I have no photos of my brother, the only one I have is when he was 12! Would it be posible to trace any squad pitures when he was in Caterham, Pirbright or No 1 Infantry base Depot BEF? I would love these and would be willing to pay for the time spent and cost, can anyone help?
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Pte. William Henry Bunning . British Army Lincolnshire Regiment from Saxilby My maternal grandfather, William Bunning, known as Harry fought with his unit of the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment during W.W.II.
Some of the information I have lacks detail, but indeed this story is a true one.
After fighting in Holland in appalling conditions, my grandfather and his unit buddies faced a long and arduous walk through Holland and into Belgium. Along the way it began to rain... and rain... and rain. The tired and weakened men attempted to march forward through the flood, but conditions were so bad that all except two men were lost.
One of the two men who survived the flood was my grandfather. He and the other survivor were rescued by a Dutchman, who risked his own life in order to save theirs.
Until the mid 1980's the fate of my Grandfather's unit was hidden away in a top secret file in order to ensure that the people back home in England didn't lose faith in England's ability to win the war. Still, the file is not easy to find, but the discovery of this file plays a big part in this story.
My grandfather returned to England a sick man, and in his weakened state succumbed to a blood disease and passed away when my mother was only four years old, and my uncle was seven. My grandmother raised my mother and uncle with the help of family in North Hykeham, but when my uncle displayed academic prowess she knew she had to try and give him the opportunity to make the most of his life.
My grandmother and her children emigrated to Australia in 1961. They were 10 pound Poms. My uncle Ken married in 1964, but that marriage failed. His second marriage to Lynn took place in 1970. Ken and Lynn are still married and living here in Victoria. They're retired now and are great travellers. They are also very interested in family history.
It was on a trip back home to Europe and England that they discovered the once top secret file with the details of what had happened to my grandfather's unit.
Upon reading about the flood in Holland they learned the name of the man who rescued my grandfather. It was my Auntie Lynn's uncle.
My Auntie Lynn's name is Jakoba Rosaliena and she was born in Holland. She emigrated with her family to Australia in 1952. She and her family settled in Melbourne as did my grandmother uncle and mother. Lynn and Ken met and married here... thousands of kilometres from their original homes. If there was ever a marriage that is meant to be, it is theirs.
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Claude "Bunty" Bunt . Royal Air Force The following are extracts from recollections of my father, Claude Bunt of his time at RAF Netheravon, where he met his future wife Eveline Godfrey in 1939.
I had applied to join the Royal Air Force in 1938 and one day in December a letter from the R.A.F. came with instructions and a railway voucher to report to R.A.F. West Drayton, what an experience for a 17 yr; old. The first meal at West Drayton was a meat stew. I knew it was rabbit meat because some of the meat still had the hair on. After being kitted out with all the R.A.F's clothes and further medical checks I was posted to R.A.F. South Cerny Glos; for R.A.F. military training. After six weeks I was posted to R.A.F. Hednesford for training as a flight mechanic. Hednesford was a new unit just opened and I was no; 3 entry.
After six months of training as a flight mechanic, war rumours came about and training was speeded up and I passed out as a fully qualified mechanic and posted to no; 1 R.A.F. Flying training school Netheravon, Salisbury plain, Wiltshire. I was posted to A flight, daily servicing air testing and weather reports. On September 3rd 1939 war was declared. All A B & C flights to be dispersed from the aircraft hangers to the edge of the airfield. Hell of a way to walk to work and very cold working on aircraft outside. After which I had shower in the billet and off to the N.A.F.F.I. for a wad and a cup of tea. Then one evening a smashing girl was serving behind the counter and I said to my pals Johny Lear and Charles Jolly I would like to be introduced to that girl. So Johny who was friendly with Kathleen, another N.A.F.F.I. girl, called this smasher over and said, Claude, this is Eveline, Eveline, this is Claude, and that is how I met my future wife. [bless her ]. We were married on June 30th 1941 at St Clement's Church, Higher Openshaw, Manchester. A few day's honeymoon then back to Netheravon. Eveline stopped in Manchester and then in September 1941 joined the W.A.A.F'S. After training she was posted to R.A.F. Andover as account's clerk, whilst at Andover the station was badly bombed and she was posted to Cranwell to train as a teleprinter operator eventually posted to R.A.F. Madley Hereford.
At times at Netheravon our flight was sent to Shrewton a relief landing ground a few miles away where we trained fleet air arm pilots to land on dummy decks marked out on the airfield at night time. During the day we air tested 12 Harvard aircraft and made them serviceable for the evening and night time. Then one day, after we had tested four aircraft, we were just about to take off for the fifth time when one of the office staff came running out waving his arms and indicated that I was wanted on the phone. So I got out of the aircraft and the pilot said put some ballast weights in for Bunty, the aircraft took off without me. When it was about 2000 ft the tail of the aircraft broke off and it came spinning down and crashed on the main road of Shrewton village, the pilot had no chance. It was Eveline that saved me that day because it was her on the phone to tell me that she was being posted to Cranwell and could I arrange a time and day to see her before she went.
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Eveline Bunt . WAAF My Mum, Eveline Bunt joined the Women's Royal Air Force in September 1941 not long after she had married my Dad, Claude, who was serving in the RAF, they had met at RAF Netheravon where she had been working in the NAAFI. After training she was posted to RAF Andover as account's clerk, whilst at Andover the station was badly bombed and she was posted to Cranwell to train as a teleprinter operator eventually posted to RAF Madley, Hereford.
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Richard John Bunt . Royal Naval Reserve HMS Rawalpindi from (d. ) My dad’s brother, Richard John Bunt, served on the ‘Rawalpindi.’
Both brothers, from their S-459 Certificate of Service, were in the RNR. My dad joined 24 November 1923 and my uncle joined on 26 October 1925.
From what I recall, both brothers said they would stand side by side and were always on the same team. Due to being in the RNR they were both called up on the 26 August 1939 and as usual they stood together. This time however, their orders were my dad the ‘Hector’ and Uncle Richard the ‘Rawalpindi.’ My dad went south to Australia and my uncle headed up to Scapa Flow. As one of the few survivors of the attack he was captured by the Germans and sent to a PoW camp.
I remember my Uncle Richard talking about a camp next to the camp where he was and how the lorries would go out with bodies on the back, some of the limbs still moving. We as a family thought he was in Germany but with this new publishing release of the PoW details we found his name listed under Stalag XXB in Poland.
As I read the pages of ‘A Defiant Slaughter’ (By Ian Johnson, posted on www.worldnavalships.com) it was so well written, I could actually picture the attack on the Rawalpindi in my mind, as if I was watching a film.
Richard Bunt was a prisoner of war from 24 November 1939 until 26 April 1945.
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Richard John Bunt . Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve HMS Rawalpindi My dad’s brother, Richard John Bunt, served on HMS Rawalpindi. Both brothers, from their S-459 Certificate of Service, were in the RNR. My dad joined 24 November 1923 and my uncle joined on 26 October 1925.
From what I recall, both brothers said they would stand side by side and were always on the same team. Due to being in the RNR they were both called up on the 26 August 1939 and as usual they stood together. This time however, their orders were my dad to HMS Hector and Uncle Richard to HMS Rawalpindi. My dad went south to Australia and my uncle headed up to Scapa Flow. As one of the few survivors of the attack Richard was captured by the Germans and sent to a POW camp. I remember my Uncle Richard talking about a camp next to the camp where he was and how the lorries would go out with bodies on the back, some of the limbs still moving. We as a family thought he was in Germany but with this new publishing release of the POW details we found his name listed under Stalag XXB in Poland. Richard Bunt was a prisoner of war from 24 November 1939 until 26 April 1945.
As I read the pages of ‘A Defiant Slaughter’ (By Ian Johnson, posted on www.worldnavalships.com) it was so well written, I could actually picture the attack on the Rawalpindi in my mind, as if I was watching a film.
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Sgt. William Earnest Buntin . British Army 4th Btn. Welch Regiment from Madeley, Shropshire (d.3rd Aug 1944) William Buntin lost his life in August 1944. I have recently had reason to pass his war grave regularly and sadly it has no flowers or commemoration. This year I will remember him.
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H Bunting . British Army Royal Pioneer Corps H Bunting served with the Royal Pioneer Corps 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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Spr. David Anthony Bunton MM.. British Army 1st Field Squadron Royal Engineers from Drumchapel, Glasgow Davie Bunton was a very unassuming man who rarely spoke about his war days until he realised if he did not pass on any details to anyone it would have passed without ever really knowing much about his service record after being awarded the Military Medal in August 1943. Davie rarely spoke about things about the war, Davie was a proud family man and mad Celtic FC fan who was the oldest season ticket holder right up to his death at the age of 97 and 11 months, having travelled to all Celtic games on the Oliver Celtic bus in Drumchapel, Glasgow. A large group of the fans who went on the two Oliver's buses were totally taken aback when he was 90 and they eventually found out about his service record as he was always aware of the sacrifices made by many of his fellow comrades, who never came back. After the war he was a legend and hero to almost everyone who new him even before knowing about his service record. I have always been proud of the man. I was extremely proud to have known him since I was around 11 years of age. I'm now 52 and been married to one of his daughters for 30 years and would love to hear from any living members of the Royal Engineers 1st Field Squadron or family members who may have known Davie through a relative. Our thoughts are always with Davie and those who served with him, proud of you all always.
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Lt. Dennis Jenkin Bunyan . Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm
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Terrance Bunyan . Navy HMS Bedouin My grandfather, Terrance Bunyan, served on HMS Bedouin. He was taken as a POW and held until the end of the war.
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Lt. Samuel Raymond Evelynn Richard Burbidge . British Army Royal Sussex Regiment from Brighton (d.31st March 1945) Samuel Burbidge was serving attached to the 1st (Airborne) Battalion, Royal Ulster Rifles when he lost his life.
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WH Burbidge . British Army WH Burbidge 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/Sgt. Dennis Frederick Burbridge . Royal Air Force No. 31 Air Navigation School from London My father, Dennis Burbridge, served in the RAF in WWII and from 30th June 1947 until 18th January 1967. He enlisted as an MT Driver / Mechanic. He reached the rank of Flight Sergeant. He did not talk very much about his war service, the only things I found out was that he was in Canada and Italy at the end of the war. He was at Monte Cassino, in the next valley down during the bombing of the Abbey. I have some photos taken in July 1942. On the backs of the photos there is some writing. One says "Pops, Goderich, Canada 1942". On another there is the name Bill. I also have found my father's confirmation certificate from St Paul's Cathedral, London, Ontario dated Thursday 30th of April 1942.
I would dearly love to know anything about his time in Canada. I am intrigued as to why he was attending the Air Navigation School, as he had told me that he wanted to fly but failed his medical because he had perforated eardrums. Any reply to my enquiry would be greatly appreciated.
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