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R Cheyne . British Army R Cheyne 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: Unfortunately The Wartime Memories Project has lost touch 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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Henry J. Chiarini . US Army from Boston, MA My father, Hank Chiarini many times spoke of the food provided to Prisoners Of War at Stalag 221, "it was water with rotten vegetables floating in it". Sometimes he would critique my mother's home-cooked meals by saying, "the food was better at Stalag 221." I never forgot that. My dad was captured when the Jeep he was driving overturned in rain and fog, he became disoriented and the Germans caught him. He managed to escape captivity twice, once hiding in an apple tree in an orchard for 3 days, surviving on apples. Another incident was during a POW train transport, my father and several other POWs jumped from the moving train.
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Flt.Sgt. Alcide Joseph Chiasson . Royal Canadian Air Force 408 Squadron Alcide Chaisson was my brother. He served with No.408 Goose Squadron based
at Linton-on-Ouse in 1944. He wrote this a short memento in
1988 for the reunion:
"I was the tail gunner on a Halifax Bomber in 408 Goose Squadron, 6th Canadian Bomber Group, Bomber Command. Out home base was Linton-on-Ouse, Yorkshire, England.
On 24th of December 1944 we were assigned to a bombing mission on a German Air Base at Dusseldorf. Approximatley 250 aircraft were deployed on this raid, only two planes failed to return, ours was one of them. This, incidentally was our first daylight raid, we always flew at night. While over the target we were coned by Germany Ack Ack Fire resulting in several direct hits, setting the plane on fire. Out of a crew of seven, the pilot Bill Dunwoodie and myself were the only two who survived by parachuting out of that airborne inferno."
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Jmdr. Prakash Singh Chib VC.. British Indian Army 4th Btn. 13th Frontier Force Rifles from India (d.17th Feb 1945) Prakash Singh Chib was 31 years old, and a Jemadar in the 4 /13th Frontier Force Rifles, when he was awarded the Victoria Cross.
"On 16th/17th February 1945 at Kanlan Ywathit, Burma, Jemadar Prakash Singh Chib was commanding a platoon which took the main weight of fierce enemy attacks. He was wounded in both ankles and relieved of his command, but when his second-in-command was also wounded, he crawled back and took command of his unit again, directing operations and encouraging his men. He was wounded in both legs a second time but he continued to direct the defense, dragging himself from place to place by his hands. When wounded a third time and final time, he lay shouting the Dogra war-cry as he died, inspiring his company that finally drove off the enemy."
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Tel. Robert Henry Chick . Royal Navy HMS Stonecrop from Cardiff Robert Chick seems to have spent almost his entire war (December 1940 to until discharged February 1946) on the Corvette HMS Stonecrop.
Only other ships mentioned in service record are:
Royal Arthur, Drake, Eaglet, Mercury, Mayina and Lanka which are all shore bases.
He started as a cadet in Merchant Navy 16/02/39 on SS Harberton.
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Mjr. J. G. Chicken . Home Guard D Coy. Workington Btn.
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Spr William Horace Chicken . British Army Royal Engineers from Newport Monmouthshire
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Cpl. Charles Chidwick . British Army
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Cpl. Selemani Chikombene . East African Army Service Corps (d.11th October 1943) Corporal Chikombene was buried in the Lubudi African Cemetery in the Congo, Grave 1.
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Pte. John Mirazi Chilala . British Army East African Army Service Corps (d.13th October 1943) Private Chilala was buried in the Lubudi African Cemetery in the Congo, Grave 5.
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Pte. John Mirazi Chilala . East African Army Service Corps (d.13th October 1943) Private Chilala was buried in the Lubudi African Cemetery in the Congo, Grave 5.
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Phyllis Mildred "Philly, Milly or Chilly" Chilcott . Womens Land Army from Woolwich My mother's early atempts to join the Land Army were thwarted, they would'nt take her! she was too young!! But after eventually joining up towards the end of the War and spending many happy times based near Brent Pelham it has to this day shaped and defined her life. With a life long love of nature and cows! On the occasion of her 80th Birthday we had a family gathering at the Pub in the village where she was based, for lunch. During those 'happy times'(aside from the sadness, horror,s and futility of war) she spent many an evening in this pub playing the piano and having her drinks lined up (a small line, it was the war after all!), and having a life long love of Whiskey! (in a responsible moderate drinking sort of way!) She still keeps in contact with a fellow 'girl' Vera, who now lives near Kings Lynn. Having finally been recognised for their efforts by the powers that be, in the form of a Service Medal and after having marched past the Whitehall Cenotaph and now more recently the memorial to all those 'women who served', and with probably being one of the youngest remaining Land girls thankfully surviving, she and I could'nt be more proud of her doing her bit.
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Glen Child . Royal Air Force 460 Sqd. Glen Child was a flight engineer with 460 Squadron
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Cpl. William Clarence Childers . USAAF 18th Fighter Group My Dad William Childers was one of the Greatest Generation, that has and will be the only in my book. He served in the Asiatic-Pacific theater and Philippine liberation.
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Pte Albert George Childs . British Army 2nd Battalion from Newport Pagnall My grandfather, Albert Childs, served in Greece, Africa and Italy during WW2. We have been told that he represented his battalion in the High Jump.
He was awarded the Italy Star, Africa Star, War Medal 1939-1945
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Sgt. Eric Borlase Childs . Royal Air Force 30th Sqd. from Looe, Cornwall (d.15th November 1940) Pilot Eric Borlase Childs was the son of Wing Cdr. H. B. T. Childs, R.A.F., and Enid Mary Childs, of Looe, Cornwall.
He was 22 when he died and is buried in the Tirana Park Memorial Cemetery in Albania
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Cpl. Herbert Childs . United States Army Air Corps 21st Pursuit Sqd. from Texas Herbert Childs was held as a POW in Camp Fukuoka 17, Japan but he was transferred to Kashii Pine Tree Fukuoka 1 camp in 1942 and remained till March 1945 when he was liberated.
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Lilian Morgan "Lea" Childs . Women's Land Army from Garston, Liverpool My grandmother joined the Land Army and I believe was initially based at Queensbridge in Overton. She came to work in Caerwys, North Wales where she met my grandfather and therefore stayed in North Wales rather than returning to Liverpool. She passed away 40 years ago but I would very much like to hear from anyone who knew her and could share some stories.
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Pilot Officer R A Childs . RAF 102 Squadron (d.15th April 1941) I am trying to find out some information about my uncle, Pilot Officer Robert J W Williams who was killed in action on April 15th 1941. I understand that he was shot down over Boulogne on his third mission with 102 Squadron. I presume he would have flown Whilteys at that time, based out of Topcliffe.
I have visited his war grave in Bourthes, France and those of his crew. The Pilot was 741381 Sergeant J A Norris, Gunners 701654 A P Clifford-Reade and 755097 RT Selley, and Pilot Officer R A Childs.
The crew:
Sergeant Robert Thomas Selley, RAF VR 755097. Killed 15/03/1941, age 29 (Bourthes Churchyard)
Sergeant James Arthur Norris, RAF VR 741381. Killed 15/03/1941 (Bourthes Churchyard)
Pilot Officer Robert John Wyndham Williams, RAF VR 87359. Killed 15/03/1941, age 23 (Bourthes Churchyard)
Flight Sergeant Alfred Pearsall Clifford-Reade, RAF VR 701654. Killed 15/03/1941, age 21 (Bourthes Churchyard)
Pilot Officer R A Childs
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Sub Lt. C. B. Chilton . Royal Navy HMS Electra
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Sgt. Kenneth Graham Chilver . Royal Canadian Air Force 428 Sqd. (d.28th May 1943) Kenneth Chilver, is a distant relative who has captured my imagination, probably because information is not easy to come by. He was the son of Benjamin and Lily Chilver, husband of Gwennie Chilver, of Middlesbrough, Yorkshire. He was lost on the 28th of May 1943 whilst flying with 428 (RCAF) Squadron when he was 24 years old. He has no known grave and is remembered on the Runnymede Memorial. The information I have is from the back of a photo and states that he died on the Essue Raid. The Essue is unclear but as far as I can tell this is what it says. Unfortunately this is the only info I have and hope that someone will be able to help me find out more.
Editors Note: The raid on the 28th of May 1943 was to Essen.
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Pte Leslie Christopher Chilvers . British Army East Surrey Regiment from Fulham, London Leslie Chilvers, the son of Herbert George Chilvers and Anne Elizabeth Chilvers (nee Tindall), was born at Fulham, London, on 4th December 1918. He was baptised into the Roman Catholic faith, but did not follow it. His paternal grandparents came from Essex and his maternal grandfather was an Irish soldier. Leslie was the youngest of four children born at about five year intervals. The children were Herbert, Reginald, Ivy and Leslie.
Leslie was called up for military service in 1940 and was drafted into the East Surrey Regiment. After only three weeks training he was sent to France. Following the complete abandonment of a large area by French troops Leslie was almost immediately involved in fighting a rearguard action in company with a number of other young similarly semi-trained and poorly armed raw recruits from his regiment. Together with men of the 51st Highland Division these young soldiers with only their rifles, a few Bren guns and very little ammunition were ordered to hold the mighty German Army Group B.
Spearheaded by General Kleist’s Panzar Division, the German Army struck from the World War I battleground of the Somme. Smashing through the Tenth French Army the Germans reached the Seine River west of Paris on June 9 and then turned westward to pin the IX French Corps, the British 51st Highland Division and the men of the East Surreys against the sea at Valery-en-Caux. These two groups of soldiers constituted one of the few British Expeditionary Force elements still fighting in France. An attempt was made to evacuate them by sea from the port of St. Valery-en-Caux in a similar manner to the evacuation at Dunkirk only 12 days earlier. Unfortunately, this proved to be a very difficult task although 3000 men were taken off. After some very fierce fighting, the small remaining group of 251 men from the East Surreys were taken prisoner on the 12th June, 1940, together with over 5000 men from the 51st Highland Division.
It is interesting to note that in September 1944, the town of St. Valery where Leslie was taken prisoner, was liberated by members of the 51st Highland Division and years later a pipe band tune called “The Heroes of St. Valery” was written for the 51st Division Pipe Band to commemorate the stand taken by the soldiers in that area in June 1940. However, it is very doubtful whether Leslie was aware of this piece of music and even if he did know about it, he would not have considered himself a hero; although this may very well have been the case.
Following his capture at St. Valery Leslie spent the next four years in a prisoner of war camp (Stalag 21a) in Poland, but in 1944/45 he was force-marched ahead of the advancing allied forces over a mountain range for about one thousand miles. Many of Leslie’s comrades died during this march. Those who survived grubbed around in frozen fields for remnants of root crops and Leslie recalled eating a dog’s dinner found outside a farmhouse door because of starvation. For the rest of his life Leslie had scars on his fingers where tubes were inserted to draw off the fluid created by malnutrition in the prisoner of war camps.
Before being conscripted into the army Leslie had been employed as a trainee French Polisher with Lyons (the famous teashop company) but the position was not held open for him. Therefore, after his demobilisation he became a house painter and decorator. Due to the privations that he suffered during his period as a prisoner of war, Leslie had a very retiring personality and suffered from a considerable inferiority complex; both of which made it very difficult for him to mix with people. His wartime experiences also made it hard for Leslie to settle in one place for very long and it was only when he and his wife Penny moved to Poole that he became more contented. However, Leslie was quite a talented artist, both in oil paints and with pencil and during his period as a prisoner of war he earned extra cigarettes, etc., by producing illustrated cards for the other prisoners to send home. From about 1970, Leslie suffered a number of health problems including; coronary conditions, angina, vertigo and phlebitis and was eventually forced to retire from paid employment because of ill health. Although he was able to fill his first years of retirement with gardening, walking in the Dorset countryside etc, Leslie was later forced to curtail these pastimes because of his declining health. When a form of dementia was added to his problems causing him to become quite childlike and to become incontinent Leslie was admitted to Wareham Hospital where he passed away on 14th July 1995.
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Flt.Sgt. Donald Robert Chinery LH.. Royal Air Force 61 Squadron from Upper Sherringham Donald Robert Chinery served in 61 Sqd in 1943/45
He was awarded the Rank of Chevalier in the Ordre National de la Legion d`Honneur by the French President & it was presented by Sir Peter Squire GCB DFC DL DSs FRAeS at IWM Duxford last week. A reception was provided by IWM Duxford after.
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Drvr. Macmillan Phiri Chingota . East African Army Service Corps (d.13th October 1943) Driver Chingota was buried in the Lubudi African Cemetery in the Congo, Grave 4.
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HJ Chinn . British Army HJ Chinn 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: Unfortunately The Wartime Memories Project has lost touch 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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Marine Richard Chinner . Royal Marines HMS Galatea from St. Just, Cornwall (d.15th Dec 1941) Richard Chinner served with the Royal Marines during WW2 and was
killed in action on the 15th December 1941, aged 18. He is commemorated on the Plymouth Naval Memorial in Plymouth.
He was the son of Samuel James Chinner and Florence Ellen Chinner, of St. Just, Cornwall.
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Able Sea. Leonard Arthur Chinnery . Royal Navy HMS Salopian My father, Leonard Chinnery died in 1966. Amongst some old photographs I found is one of Dad in his naval uniform and his hatband clearly states HMS Collingwood. Presumably, he was on this ship for training before being posted to HMS Salopian to do his bit for the war. He went on to serve on HMS Crane
The Salopian was hit by torpedoes on 13 May 1941 and later sunk - virtually all those on board were saved and I have a note written by Dad, on the back of a Senior Service cigarette pack, which clearly states - in his handwriting: "Torpedoed 13th May 1941 at 3.25am and sighted Impulsive at 6.45am on 15th May and were picked up by her at 10.30am. 55 house in open boat".
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Able Sea. Leonard Arthur Chinnery . Royal Navy HMS Pembroke Dad, Leonard Chinnery, was on HMS Pembroke on and off from October 1940 to April 1943. In that time he also served on HMS Salopian, HMS Paragon, HMS Marlborough and HMS Crane. Don't know why he moved from ship to ship during the war, perhaps it was for security or something?
Dad was on HMS Crane when it was torpedoed and sunk on 13th May 1941. I still have a note that he wrote home to my Mum, on the back of a Senior Service cigarette pack, which states "Torpedoes 13th May 1941 at 3.25am and sighted Impulsive at 6.45am on 15th May and were picked up by her at 10.30am 55 hours in open boat". I'm glad to say Dad survived because one month later he and Mum married.
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Gnr. Frederick Jellicoe Chinnick . Royal Navy HMS President III from Cardiff My Dad, Frederick Chinnick served on HMS Glendower in 1942 and transferred to HMS President III also in 1942. I would like to acquire a copy of the photograph taken of the crew aboard HMS President III during 1945.
I would also be very interested if anybody has a summary of this ship's log between 1942-46, or more specifically Feb-April 1944.
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S/Sgt. Philip L. Chiofilo . United States Air Force 327th Bomb Squadron 92nd Bomb Group from Cleveland, Ohio (d.3rd Oct 1944) S/Sgt. Philip L. Chiofilo was a ball turret gunner with the 92nd Bomb Group, 327th Bomb Squadron. He lost his life over Germany on 3rd October 1944 when his aircraft was involved in a mid-air collision after the target had been successfully destroyed.
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