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Pte. Billy Colkin . British Army 7th (Airborne) Btn. Kings Own Scottish Borderers from Hinckley, Leicestershire My uncle Billy Colkin was a member of the 7th King's Own Scottish Borderers and after volunteering for the airborne training went to the south of England for glider training.
I also heard that when they retreated which was over some water, he could not swim so stayed to protect the wounded, he was captured and I believe he was kept in a detention camp.
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Sgt R. B. Coll . RAF 12sqd
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Lt. G. A. Collard . South African Air Force 31 Sqdn. from Cape Province (d.12th October 1944) Liberator KH158H, with eight crew, disappeared on a supply dropping mission to Italian partisans on 12th/13th October 1944 and was never found. The full crew were:
F/O T.R. Millar, RAAF, Navigator
Mjr S.S. Urry, SAAF, 1st Pilot
Lt. G.A. Collard, SAAF, Navigator
2/Lt. P.J. Lordan, SAAF
WO(2) G.E. Hudspith, RAF, 2nd Pilot
Sgt. R.C. Fitzerald, RAFVR, Airgunner
WO(1) L.B. Bloch, SAAF, Airgunner
Lt. N.W. Armstrong, SAAF, Airgunner
All are commemorated on the Malta Memorial.
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F/Lt. H. N. Collard . Royal Canadian Air Force 419 (Moose) Squadron F/L H.W Collard was a pilot with 419 Squadron based at Middleton St George near Darlington.
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WN Collerenshaw . British Army WN Collerenshaw 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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Sgt J. W. L. Colles. . RAF 626 Sqn
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Capt. Douglas John Collet . British Army 177th Light Anti Aircraft Regiment Royal Artillery from Aberdeen Captain Douglas Collet is my father who died before I could establish his war service.
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Lt. William P.G. Collet . British Army Dorset Regiment from Shipston on Stour, Warwickshire. I found a metal footlocker which has the name W P G Collet Dorset Reg, Service number 189390 and an address: The Rectory, Tredington, Shipston on Stour, Warwickshire on it. I Googled his name and an article in the London Gazette lists this person and service number to match the footlocker as a newly commissioned officer 2nd lieutenant. Can anyone help me with any info.?
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Sgt. Dennis Malcom "Yorkie" Collett . Royal Australian Air Force 460 Squadron Dennis Collectt was navigator on the Lancaster of PO Arthur Whitmarsh 460 squadron. He flew 31 sorties in 1944 and 1945. On the 7th of January 1945 their aircraft suffered severe damage in collision over target, but they managed to land safely in UK.
The men he flew with on various missions were, flight engineer, A Sheppard, bomb aimer P Turnbull, W/op's J G Wilson, A L Wingett and R G White, air gunners, D G Fellowes, H R Hendrie, F J Cornwall, K De Lamare, C G Matthews, G Crosby, A Hutchison, R Smith, H M Young, D L Hanes and R G Taylor.
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L/Sgt. Leslie Collett . British Army 560th Field Coy. Royal Engineers from Smethwick Leslie Collett was my grandad. He served with the 560th Field Coy, Royal Engineers in Singapore where he was captured and spent the war as a PoW.
All I know is that he was certainly at Changi jail.
He was one of the lucky ones that came home.
He weighed I believe 6 stone and never spoke much about it.
He died when I was young so I never got to talk to him about it but my mom said he never spoke at all about his experiences
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Pte. Albert Colley . British Army 2nd Btn. Royal Leicestershire Regiment from Long Eaton Albert Colley served with the 2nd Royal Leicestershire Regiment, he earned the Africa Star, Burma Star, Palestine, War and Victory Medals.
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FA Colley . British Army Duke of Wellingtons West Riding Regiment FA Colley served with the Duke of Wellingtons West Riding 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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Francis Joseph Colley . Royal Marines
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Pfc. James F. Colley . United States Army 3rd Battalion, HQ Coy. 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment from West Virginia, USA. James Colley joined the 82nd because they promised free cigarettes. He was in the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, HQ Coy, 3rd Battalion. He jumped on D-Day and was captured shortly after and sent to Stalag 4B. He was there until he and some buddies decided to make a break when there would be few guards per prisoner. They eventually came home after the war was over. There are several things I don't understand. Like how he got his Purple Heart and when exactly he was captured. If anyone has any information on him or knew somebody that may know him, you can contact me directly.
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Sgt. Ronald Jack Colley . Royal Air Force 51 Squadron from London (d.24th Feb 1944)
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Pte. Stanley Alexander Colley . British Army 1st Btn. King's Own Scottish Borderers from Edinburgh, Scotland (d.19th July 1944)
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Flight Lieutenant Collie . 59 Squadron
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WO. Alexander Petrie Collie DFM.. Royal Air Force 58 Squadron from 43 Osborne Place, Aberdeen My father, Alexander Collie did not disclose a lot of information to us about his time in the RAF. He had several crash landings returning from bombing raids, one landing crashed into a hen house, he had a photograph of the crew standing beside the plane with feathers everywhere, unfortunately we do not now have the photograph.
He was awarded the DFM for cutting loose a bomb stuck in the bomb release bay, the aircraft had been damaged by anti aircraft fire and had been in collision with a night fighter, the plane could not gain height because of the weight of the bomb and the damage to the tail fin. Once the bomb was cut free the aircraft managed to climb from 500 feet to 1000 feet and crawl home to the nearest airfield.
His squadron was later posted to the middle East.
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Tel Ian Robertson Collie . Royal Navy HMS Spartan from Dunblair, Blairgowrie, Perthshire (d.29th January 1944) Telegraphist Ian Robertson Collie was born on 31st March, 1925 at "The Cottage", Keay Street, Blairgowrie, Perthshire, Scotland. He was the son of Ronald Alexander Collie (Watchmaker) and Mary Elizabeth Davidson. He died on 29th January 1944 when HMS Spartan was hit and sunk in Anzio Bay by a single radio controlled bomb during a glide bomb attack on ships anchored in the Bay.
The following is extracted from the local newspaper, The Blairgowrie Advertiser 12/05/1944 and is reproduced from the book "Blairgowrie & Rattray War Memorial - Behind the Names" Edited and Compiled by Mark Duffy (Printed by William Culross & Son Ltd, Queen Street, Coupar Angus, Perthshire PH13 9DF).
"Mr Ronald A Collie, Dunblair, Blairgowrie received official intimation on Saturday that his elder son, Telegraphist Ian Collie, Royal Navy, who was previously reported missing, is now presumed to have lost his life by the sinking of HM Cruiser "Spartan" in January of this year. Early in February Mr Collie was informed by the Naval Authorities that his son was missing. Later in the month the Admiralty announced the loss of HMS Spartan and the Prime Minister stated in Parliament that the sinking occurred at the Nettuno beachhead. Telegraphist Collie would have been 19 years of age in March. He joined the Boys' Service of the Royal Navy about 2 years and 3 months ago shortly after completing his education at Blairgowrie High School. His training extended over 18 months and he had been at sea for about 6 months when he made the supreme sacrifice. Telegraphist Collie was a member of the local troop of Boy Scouts. He was for a short time in the Home Guard and afterwards in the Air Training Corps (Strathmore Squadron) before enlisting in the Navy. Telegraphist Collie was a very promising youth with most likeable qualities and his untimely death will be deeply regretted by many friends. In their sad bereavement his father and the other relatives will have the sincere sympathy of the community."
Ian Collie is commemorated on Panel 88 Column 3 of the Plymouth Naval Memorial, England. He is also commemorated on both the Blairgowrie High School Memorial Board and St Andrew's Church Memorial Plaque.
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Tech.5 Ambrose Thomas "Brose" Collier . US Army 1st Btn. 422nd Infantry Regiment from Olyphant, PA
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A/L/Bdr. Bernard Henry Collier . British Army 104th (Essex Yeomanry) Regiment Royal Horse Artillery from Colchester, Essex
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Pte. Charles Alfred "Chuck" Collier . British Army Royal Lincolnshire Regiment from Grimsby, Lincs I don't know what Battalion Charles Collier served with. He did serve in Italy Sicily and North Africa.
Can anyone please tell me what campaign medals he had as he never got them?
He survived the war.
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G Collier . British Army Reconnaissance Corps G Collier served with the 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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Sgt Geoff T Collier . RAF 12sqd
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Irene "Mickey" Collier . Land Army from Grange Park Rd,Thornton Heath, London Some reminiscences of my days in the Land Army.(1943-1947)
I joined the Land army when I was only 15 (well nearly 16) and was first sent to a hostel at Compton Dundon, in Herefordshire. We found the work very hard at first and ached in every limb, especially the first two months. None of us had done this type of manual labour before!
As I lived in London we used to try to get home most weekends - often by thumbing lifts as our pay did not go very far. We used to be taken by lorry first thing each morning and dropped off at a farm for the day. We seldom knew in advance where we were going to be.
Another thing I remember is being hungry a lot of the time, for if late down for breakfast there often wouldn’t be any left as it was on a first come first served basis. (I was never very good at getting up in the morning) Although packed lunches were provided for us to take with us, if you were late down and the lorry had arrived you could miss out on these also.
Sometimes, fortunately, the farmers wives would bring tea and a snack out to us during the long days in the fields.
A number of times when we were working in the fields, German planes came over and dived down low and we had to jump in the nearest ditch to avoid being machine gunned.
One week I was 2 days late back and as a "punishment" was sent away to a hostel in North Petherton in Somerset. Actually this proved to be blessing, for although getting home proved to be a non starter from here, I enjoyed working in this area very much, we got on well with the farmers and the countryside was lovely.
I look forward very much to receiving my badge as I have always thought we were very much the forgotten service.
Irene Sayer (nee Collier) 80
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John Albert Collier . Canadian Army I am trying to get more information on the Neys POW camp in Ontario. My grandfather was a guard at the camp, and seemingly had a good rapport with many of the POW's.
He had been given a couple of ships in a bottle - some very interesting artefacts that were apparently made by the POW's (complete with German decoration).
I had been searching for any reference, when I happend accross a very similar one by accident in a friend of a friend's house...
Could I ask for any historical reference, tracking, awareness...or anyone that could be contacted regarding an awareness?
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L/Cpl. John Collier . British Army 18th Divn Royal Corps Signals from Oldham Lancashire (d.21st Sep 1944) John was a Territorial - had, I think, served on the Norway raid early in the war. I don't have much family detail - he would have been an uncle to me.
30 October 1941, Orient Line’s SS Orcades and seven other transports sailed in convoy (WS12X) from Liverpool’s Princess Jetty. The 18th Division regiments, totaling 20,800 officers and men were en route to the Middle East via Halifax. This was the first convoy secretly manned and protected by US Navy and Coastguard personnel with orders to sink any opposing craft - this was before Pearl Harbour and the US formal entry to WW2.
10 November 1941 TF 14 sailed from Halifax in 6 American transports via Cape Town for Suez. US Navy manned USS Mount Vernon (AP22), USS West Point (AP23) and USS Orizaba (AP24); US Coast Guardsmen manned USS Wakefield (AP21), USS Joseph T Dickman (AP26) and USS Leonard Wood (AP25). 7 December 1941 Pearl Harbor.
13 December 1941 convoy (WS12X) left Cape Town with revised orders for Bombay now renamed convoy TF-14.2. Subsequent splitting and reroutes saw transports arrive at Singapore between 13 January and 5 February 1942. John was then POW on the Burma railway. Another POW tried to track him down through his wife at the end of the war, saying John's actions had kept him alive as a POW - but it was later found out that John had perished but when and how?
4 July 1944 convoy SHIMI-05 left Singapore, 10 ships (5 carrying about 5000 POWs in total) being the largest group of POWs shipped at one time during the war. John along with 1286 POWs were put aboard the Hofuku Maru (nb: this ship was also known as the Fuku Maru, the Toyofuku Maru and the Fuji Maru) a 5825 ton cargo ship. Convoy made for Miri, Borneo which it reached on July 8. Hofuku Maru and another ship (not carrying POWs), dropped out to wait for another convoy.
19 July 1944 Hofuku Maru made it to the Philippines but lay in Manila harbour until mid-September while its engines were repaired. The POWs on board suffered terribly from disease, hunger and thirst and finally a number were removed to the Bilibid Prison hospital in Manila being replaced by a similar number from the Philippines making a total of 1289 POWs then on board.
20 September 20, Convoy MATA-27 sailed from Manila (11 ships including the Hofuku Maru now the only one carrying POWs) anchoring at Subic Bay for the night.
21 September 1944 convoy sailed for Takao (Formosa) but aircraft from the 17 carriers in Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher’s Task Force 38 attacked about 80 miles north of Corregidor. 10:35 am planes attacked the Hofuku Maru and then the entire convoy had been sunk by more than 100 American planes. About 200 of the POWs either swam to shore or were picked up by the Japanese and taken back to the Philippines. John was listed as dead.
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1Lt. Joseph William Collier . United States Army Air Corps 401st Fighter Squadron 370th Fighter Group from Olyphant, Pennsylvania, USA My Uncle, Joseph Collier, was the Intelligence Officer for the 401st Fighter Squadron, 370th Fighter Group. They occupied the former German Airfield at Florennes, Belgium near the end of September 1944.
My father, Sgt. Ambrose Collier, was a member of the 106th Infantry Division, 422 Regiment, Company L. The 106th moved into the front line east of Schoenburg/ St. Vith, Belgium to relieve the 2nd Division around the 12th of December, 1944.
Uncle Joseph and a driver and left Florennes on 15th December to visit my father. After the visit my Uncle spent the night near Schoenburg. At 6:30 am on 16th December the Battle of the Bulge began. Both men were captured on 19th December in different locations. My father was interned in Stalag 4B, Muhlberg Sachsen. My Uncle was moved from Stalag 9B, Bad Orb to Oflag 8B, Hammelberg. The day after Gen. Patton's raid at the Hammelberg POW Camp my Uncle was moved to Stalag 7A, Moosburg. Each man survived the war and returned home.
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