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Pte. B. L. Grosvenor . Barbados Volunteer Force (d.20th November 1944) Private Grosvenor is buried in the Westbury Cemetery, St. Michael, Barbados
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JA Grosvenor . British Army JA Grosvenor 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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Terence Alfred Grosvenor . Royal Air Force (d.13th June 1941) I hope someone may be able to help me? I have been tending the grave of a young flight sergeant called Terence Alfred Grosvenor who died on Friday 13th June 1941. He was a wireless operator and a gunner. His grave is near to my father-in-laws here on the Isle of Wight and is never visited. We have tried to find out what we could about this young man but there is little information about. To my knowledge he did not come from the Isle of Wight as there is no sign that anyone has visited the grave.
Update
Terence was the son of James Alfred Grosvenor and Constance Florence Grosvenor of Katihar, Bihar, India.
He was a member of the crew of a Wellington Bomber (No. R1708) which had been on a mission and was returning to base at Finningley. It was attacked by an enemy nightfighter - a Junkers JU88 - and the Wellington crashed near Misson at about 02.00 hours. The six-man crew were killed. The occurred close to the Nottinghamshire/Yorkshire border.
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Sgt. Joseph Arthur Edmond Groulx . Royal Canadian Air Force (d.20th November 1944) Sgt Groulx was a member of the crew of a Wellington bomber which crashed in Wales in November 1944. The crew were all from the Royal Canadian Air Force and none survived. They are all buried in Chester (Blacon) Cemetery. The full crew were:
Sgt. J.P.E. Burke - wop/airgunner
Sgt. J.A.E. Groulx - airgunner
Sgt. J.L.U. du Sablon - airgunner
F/Lt. W.J. Allison - air bomber
Sgt. J.R.R. Villeneuve - navigator
P/O C. Hamel - pilot
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M Groundland . British Army M Groundland 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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WTB Grounds . British Army Royal Armoured Corps WTB Grounds 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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TEC5. Alva Lee Grout . US Army Troop D, 3rd Platoon 85th Cavalry Reconnaissance Regt. from Kalona, Iowa Alva L. Grout served as a CW Radio Operator with 85th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squad Mechanized, Troop D 3rd Platoon, 5th Armored Division, 3rd Army. The Radio Operator installed and operated tactical field radio transmitting and receiving equipment. Sent and received messages by Morse Code CW ICW and tone signals. Received and transmitted CW, ICW, and tone signals at about 20 five letter random code groups per minute. We also performed 1st echelon maintenance. Troop D consisted of 23 men who worked together as a recon unit using 2 armored M8 cars, 1 light tank, 3 Jeeps and a supply truck. Initially from landing to Battle of the Bulge, we didn’t have a light tank, M8 75 MM howitzer, instead we had 3 Armored M8 cars. In January 1945, 3 new replacements and I were assigned to a new 75mm Howitzer M8 light tank which replaced one of our armored cars. We nicknamed the new tank “DaisyMae”. I had my choice between being a mechanic or a radio operator. I thought the radio operator would be easier.
I served in World War II in Europe with a Reconnaissance Unit of the 5th Armored Division. My specialty was CW Radio Operator and Turret Gunner in an M8 Armored Car across France and then in a 75mm Howitzer M8 light tank across Germany. The CW radio required the use of the Morse code and a telegraph key to send messages. A small cryptograph unit was used to scramble outgoing messages and descramble incoming messages. Our job in recon was mainly to gather information on location and movement of the enemy and check on roads and bridges ahead of the main attack forces.
We trained in May of 1943 at Camp Campbell, Ky. The normal army training period for a radio operator was 6 months. Because of the war, this timeframe and our training was completed in 3 months, or 12 weeks. It was rigorous and we trained into the evening. We later went to the Mojave Desert in California to practice maneuvers. Then we were stationed at Fort Dix in New Jersey in December 1944 near New Brunswick. This was just before going overseas to England. It took 2 weeks to go from New York Harbor to England in the crowded troop ship. We travelled a similar path as the Titanic in the North Atlantic; we were in a “Liberty Ship”. We had daily abandon ship drills. We were supposed to put on life jackets and go to where lifeboats were located, but we never actually loaded anything into the water. We never knew when it was the real thing because of German U-boats in the area. We were stationed 25 or 30 miles west of London and trained around Southhampton.
We entered the war in Normandy on July 24th, 1944 when the front line was 20 miles inland at St. Lo. We were part of General Patton’s 3rd Army. We landed 10 miles from Utah beach, 10 minutes towards Omaha Beach. Our landing was accompanied by a massive air attack on the front line at St. Lo. Over 2,000 planes, mainly B-24’s and B-17’s filled the sky flying in tight formation. The planes were bombing St. Lo. off the map. The planes kept returning to England to refuel. Then they would return and bomb more. The noise and smoke was a sight to see even 30 miles away. Our Division took part in the break-through at St. Lo and then helped to encircle the German forces in Normandy in the action known as the “Falaise Pocket”. One of my best friends was the Lieutenant of our Troop D and rode with me in the M8 Greyhound Armored car. I befriended him while we were in England. He was from South Carolina; 21 years old married with no kids. I was usually in the lead car all the way across France and Germany in a group of 4 men in each car. My 2nd day after landing in Normandy I heard a “whoosh” sound and the lieutenant’s head was gone, blown off by a German Bazooka. The traumatic part was that his head landed right into my lap. I had to clean up the inside of the armored car. Out of these original 4 crewmembers I was the only to make it home. The other 2 member made it all the way through France with me, one died in the Battle of the Bulge, the last guy went AWOL and had a mental breakdown and was sent home. The armored car had a crew of 4 GI’s, it was made by Ford. Another GI in our outfit was also hit as the German snipers targeted officers and he was riding with his hat on. Another close call was when I was in another armored car in Eastern France but close to Belgium. We had crossed into Belgium but I thought we were actually in France. I was in the lead M8 with another guy. I was always in the lead armored car because in artillery testing I was the only one of a few able to shoot some targets at a certain distance. This was even more eventful when you realize I didn’t have the military training that some of the other members of Troop D did. I always have wondered if some of them messed up on purpose to miss being in the lead car. Anyway, this time in France Our Gun on top of the M8 jammed. A replacement Gi was manning our turret gun, I explained to him that the leather pouch on the side of the gun was for the empty shells that would eject from the gun, and if it filled up it would jam the Browning. The replacement was trained as the same facility as I was, at the Mojave Desert in California. This leather pouch must remain clear and emptied every once in a while, otherwise it would jam the gun. The gun became jammed and I asked our Driver to pull over so I could figure out the gun. The armored car that took my place in the lead was blown up just a minute later when we rounded a corner in Ernee, France. A German anti-aircraft gun, 88 mm was horizontal hidden in the town square. The first shell went right through the lead tank killing everybody inside. A second shell hit it again and ignited the shells in the M8. 4 of my friends were killed. I believe that was the time I felt was my closest call in my whole war experience.
I had a guy in my Troop D that was a short thin red-haired guy that was a goof-off. I was always worried that “Skeeics” was his nickname was going to shoot me. Skeeics rode behind me when we were en-route and traveling in the armored cars. I was always telling him to point his gun to the left or right, not to point it in front of him, or right at my rear. We always rode with the safety off. We would get into some really intense discussions about this. One time we were pulling into a French dairy farm to spend the night and Skeeics machine gun went off near me. I really yelled at him and he laughed it off saying he missed me by a lot. Skeeics died at the Battle of the Bulge.
On August 30th, 1944, we were thrilled to be part of the liberation day parade in Paris. The French underground had liberated the city a few days before. Our vehicles were 4 wide going down the Champs-Élysées, and I was in our M8 Armored car, 3 vehicles from the front of the parade. The French people love a parade, and they gave us a tremendous welcome. When the German army came into Paris, the French didn’t fight, but just surrendered because they didn’t want their beautiful city damaged by war.
We would go fishing while in Europe. We would throw a grenade into the water and fish would be stunned and come to the surface.
About 2 weeks after leaving Paris and traveling through a corner of Belgium and across the tiny country of Luxembourg, we reached the German border. A few days later on September 14th, 1944, we were part of a small combat unit that crossed the German border from Luxembourg. I believe this action made world headlines a few days later. Also Patton ordered this penetration as a diversionary tactic. We entered Germany and camped on a hill and we could view German troops and Tank’s covered in camouflage. There were around 100 American Soldiers. One of my friends in our jeep “Tex” Donald Rosson from Kerrville, Tx was a Rambo type of guy and volunteered to sneak into town and check it out. He was really gutsy; he said “I’ll find out”. He was with 2 other soldiers. They simply drove into a small town, Small town west of Trier. I remember most of the town’s people had left but a few stayed behind and were waving white stuff, sheets and such to surrender. Tex and 2 other Soldiers drove over a bridge, into town and grabbed a soldier off the street and threw him over the hood of the Jeep and drove back to camp. The German soldier who looked about 16 years old didn’t talk at first. He was beaten and kicked, then started talking and told them that the concrete bunkers were not armed because the soldiers had been diverted to Russia. I guess they had no idea that Americans were that close to them. We stayed 2 days, and were pushed back to our lines I had a lot of concern for getting my tent. Each pup-tent was shared by 2 soldiers with each soldier having been issued a side. I had wrangled 2 halves so I had a tent all to myself. When the Germans countered after 2 days, we left in such a hurry that we basically left most of our supplies at that camp site on the hill, and I was upset I had to leave my tent behind. I hastily rolled it up and tied to the back of our Jeep. That night I set it up I could see bullet holes through the tent. Our border crossing was a 3 mile penetration through lightly manned concrete bunkers of the Siegfried Line. This was when another war-time close call happened. This was the 3rd time was when I was in a Jeep on a reconnaissance trip that earned his group of no more than 100 men world fame by being the first group of American soldiers that entered into Germany. This close call involves them leaving Germany on that episode we were being chased by the Germans when we retreated back into Luxembourg. We were only 1/8 of a mile behind us and shells were whizzing about us. At some point General Patton has issued direct orders to attack the town. Our commander at the time knew it would have been suicide and Patton was doing it for political reasons. It was a political move to divert attention from the facts that lead up to the movie “A Bridge Too Far”; Attention was diverted from the bridges to Allied action at German borders. Our commander Captain Carlson was defied orders and wouldn’t take his men in because they were so outnumbered, we were recon and had no infantry with us. Carlson saved all of our lives; he was later demoted to a tank driver after refusing to obey orders. He wasn’t sure if the German line was armed and by what force. Americans would not be in Germany until February 1945.
I remember thinking when we got into France from Omaha Beach that the war would probably be over in a matter of weeks. We were advancing at such a great pace but what happened is our supply lines were so stretched, we couldn’t get food and gas to the front lines fast enough, at least as fast as the soldiers were moving. Another difficulty was the black market of goods at that time. When the transportation trucks carrying gas for vehicles on the front lines, by the time they arrived they were mostly only half full of gas. It was thought that the negro drivers were selling gas to the French or Belgium people for a high price along the way, but I think all the drivers were doing it, black and white. The French people had not had gas for 4 or 5 years since the beginning of the war. Also Patton and Montgomery were feuding; the British Commander Montgomery hadn’t completed the conquest that had been expected of them. The British in general were more conservative in their troop advances. All of the supplies were coming in on ships but there were not really any good ports to enter, the best being Antwerp, Belgium as about the main and only port. The ports around Holland were still controlled by the Germans. I believe Germany made a mistake invading Russia because the Russians were ruthless. Sending Troops into Russia spread German troops thinner, thus contributing to them losing the war. The Germans were also at a disadvantage because they didn’t have the winter survival skills the Russians had. The Germans still had horses in their army due to the lack of gas.
Our 5th Armored Division was then sent North into Belgium to join the 1st Army. The “Battle of the Bulge” followed in mid-December. Our Division was on the North edge of the bulge in Belgium near the German border. The Battle of the Bulge started at 5:30 on December 16, 1944 when a lightening counterattack by 3 German Armies under the command of Field Marshal Gerd Von Rundstedt swept across the northern half of The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg into Belgium, with Antwerp as the objective. The assault, under cover of fog and rain, was initially very successful; opening a 45 mile-wide front, penetrating 60 miles at its farthest point. To stem this onslaught the U.S. 3rd Army, under the command of Lieutenant General George S. Patton Jr., was diverted from the Saar region of France. Swinging north his troops re-liberated northern Luxembourg and relieved, on December 26th 1944, the forces at Bastogne, Belgium. The U.S. 1st Army, of which we were attached now, fighting to the North, met with Patton’s 3rd Army on January 16th 1945 at Houffalize, Belgium. The weather, the enemy artillery and the casualties on both sides were unbelievable. This was Hitler’s last push even though they were losing the war. It was a large awful battle, fought in deep snow and record cold weather. I remember seeing dead soldiers being stacked up like cords of wood. I was in Troop/ Company D, our Troop A or Company A suffered %50 casualties in this battle. I spend a lot of time in a fox hold that I had dug. One time an officer came by and woke me up, there was so much artillery that there I counted 132 rounds going off per minute. The battle lasted 2 weeks. That was some of the coldest night I have ever experienced.
Later in January 1945, what was left of our Recon Unit was privileged to spend about 10 days with a farm family in Holland to recuperate and reorganize. We slept in the hay-mow next to the dairy cows. This was heaven compared to where we had been recently. The farmer’s three teen-aged daughters were also a welcome sight for all of us.
In Holland, our Division joined the 9th Army and headed East across North-Central Germany. When we entered Germany in the Spring we came up on an abandoned concentration camp at Bergen Belzen. I wanted to stop and get a fresh ½ side of a tent. I put my ½ tent up against the armored car, and it had gotten sprayed with bullet holes previously. The tires on the armored car were hit, but tires during war were made to seal over. We came across the recently liberated concentration camp at Bergen-Belzen. The fighting was about over once we crossed the Rhine River. We could run into German soldiers who wanted to surrender to the Americans instead of the Russians because the Russians would just shoot them. Unfortunately the Americans because they had no way to getting prisoners from the front lines back, would have to go ahead and shoot them, I myself never did. The officers in charge would always ask for volunteers for this. There were always some idiots who would volunteer.
We were stopped at the Elbe River about 45 miles west of Berlin on orders from 9th Army and told to wait for the Russians coming West. This was about 3 weeks before the war ended. The Elbe River had been agreed on by Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin as the meeting line of the 2 armies. The Elbe river bridge was blown up anyway so we couldn’t cross easily. From here I went to see the Buchenwald Camp. I wasn’t present when it was liberated, but I was there recently afterwards. I took 3 rolls of pictures of Jews, building, etc. I took the film to a town in Germany to be developed but the shop told me the film didn’t turn out, but he did give me a couple pictures of buildings. I’m sure this was done because he didn’t want the pictures going to the U.S. and being circulated. I have a stack of horrible concentration camp pictures that I bought along with a German Luger. I had another gun, but I sold it. From Buchenwald, I traveled to Paris and other places and eventually left to New York via Antwerp, Belgium in December. I was in Europe 2 years almost exactly.
About 7 months after the war ended, we were on our way home. One of the most welcome sights of my 3 years in service occurred on a cold, foggy morning on December 12th 1945 when the troop ship we were on sailed into New York Harbor and the Statue of Liberty came into view. It had been 2 years to the day since we had left the same harbor. The Harbor tug boats pulled us in and anytime troop ships arrived all the tug boats welcomed the troop boats with long continued blasts of their fog horns. It was incredibly loud! In summary, I feel very fortunate to have survived this conflict and to be here with you tonight 49 years later.
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EA Grout . British Army EA Grout 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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Ord. Seaman Geoffrey Donald Grout . Royal Navy HMS Forfar from Holt, Norfolk (d.2nd Dec 1940)
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Sgt. Alexander Norman Walter Grove . British Army Royal Army Service Corps from 149 Green Lane, New Eltham Alex Grove served with the Royal Army Service Corps and the Army Pay Corps.
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LSto. Alfred John Grove . Royal Navy HMS Aurora from Walthamstow One new years eve, I was on duty in the officer's mess when Lt. Moore brought me a massive glass of rum which he pressed on me as I was not allowed to drink on duty. He wished me happy new year. He later went on to become the famous actor Kenneth Moore. I would like it known that HMS Aurora was a happy ship.
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Drvr. Alfred Henry Grover . British Army 13 (TP Carrying) Coy. Royal Army Sevice Corps from Emmbrook, Wokingham (d.7th Sep 1944) My uncle, Alf Grover, enlisted on 6th of August 1942. He served in Europe from 15th June 1944 and was killed in an action with SS troops who were retreating from Lille. He was awarded war medals: 1939/45, 1939/43 Star and France and Germany Star.
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PO. Frederick Thomas Grover . Royal Navy Signals HMS Victory from Portslade, Sussex
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LV Grover . British Army LV Grover 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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Gnr. Alfred George Groves . British Army Royal Artillery from Pershore
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T/Sgt. Earl B. Groves . United States Army Air Force 703rd Bomb Squadron from Falls Creek,PA (d.7th Sep 1944 ) T/Sgt. Earl B. Groves was a radio operator on the crew of Hot Rock. Piloted by 1st Lt. William J. Mowat, flying a B24-J, Serial #42-51532. This plane crashed north of Honeback, Germany.
Earl, aged 24 is listed along with the 118 Americans killed that day on the 703rd Squadron plaque upon the memorial Monument in the Hess State Forrest near Bard Hersfersfeld. Earl was in the 445th Bomb Group with James Stewart.
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Sgt. Eric Charles Groves . Royal Air Force 142 Sqn from Ilford (d.26th March 1942)
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RSM Frederick Stanley Groves . British Army Northampton Regiment
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GF Groves . British Army 3rd Btn Royal Tank Regiment GF Groves served with the 3rd Btn 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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Harold Arthur Groves . RAF 51 Squadron I am trying to trace any information about my father, Harold Arthur Groves, who was based at Snaith with 51 Squadron during the 39-45 conflict. I would be most grateful if anyone could furnish me with information as I seem to be drawing a blank. My father never spoke to me about what he did in the war as most airmen did, so it is very difficult to gain such information. Do any of you have any history or photos of Snaith or any records of raids etc? He once told me he was based in the Faroe islands for a short time with the Short Sunderland flying boats, that is all I know of his exploits.
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Harold Arthur Groves . RAF 51 Squadron I am trying to trace any information about my father, Harold Arthur Groves, who was based at Snaith with 51 Squadron during the 39-45 conflict. I would be most grateful if anyone could furnish me with information as I seem to be drawing a blank. My father never spoke to me about what he did in the war as most airmen did, so it is very difficult to gain such information. Do any of you have any history or photos of Snaith or any records of raids etc? He once told me he was based in the Faroe islands for a short time with the Short Sunderland flying boats, that is all I know of his exploits.
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J Groves . British Army 4th Queens Own Hussars J Groves served with the 4th Queens Own Hussars 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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LW Groves . British Army LW Groves 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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Cpl. Peter Macdonald Groves . British Army Middlesex Regiment from Hounslow My Dad, Peter Groves, joined The Territorial Army in 1938. He added two years on to his age to get in. Then, when WW2 broke out, he was sent to take part in the North African campaign.
He was there for the 3 years of fighting and then chased the Axis forces across the sea to Salerno in 1943. He was in the Battle of Cassino. He came back home to England 1946 almost a year after the war ended.
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F/Lt. Anthony Edward Grubb . Royal Air Force 57 Squadron from 20A Portland Street, Leamington Spa (d.5th July 1944) RAF Pilot Flight Lieutenant Anthony Edward Grubb, of No. 57 Squadron at East Kirkby during WW2, was father to both myself David Michael Grubb Born Nov 12th 1941,and Edward John Grubb Born Sept 11th 1939, married to our mother Joan Rollason Grubb. Tony Grubb was a Bakers Clerk at his father's Bakery in Coventry. He was the only child to Edward Hugh Grubb and Laura Grubb of Coventry Warwickshire.
He was killed at only twenty four years old. Battle Casualty Lancaster Mk 111 - JB.486 was reported missing from operations on the night of July 4th/July 5th 1944, and the following details of the Crew are published for information,sent by Officer Commander, No. 57 Squadron, RAF signed by Wing Commander Commanding No.57 Squadron, RAF.
The Lancaster and all her Crew were shot down by a German Night-fighter on a bombing raid to the VI Flying Bomb Stores at St. Leu-d'Esserent, and crashed in a wood close to Cormielles St.Poix and where the Crew of seven, were laid to rest in the village chapel.
When my cousin Steven Gascoigne and I visited East Kirkby we also found the actual crash site. We were directed to the site by a couple of very senior French villagers that told us that two planes came down that night within sight of the village. There was nothing to see except a depression in the ground and smaller trees surrounding it. It was very emotional to see where it had crashed.
After the war, the Graves Commission moved all the crew remains to the war graves section of the church (which is heavily pock marked from gunfire) in St Croix just outside Amiens, where they now rest. We visited the graves and were very impressed that they were so lovingly maintained. A vote of thanks to the French for being so respectful.
The lost RAF Crew were:
- Anthony Edward Grubb F/O(A/F/L)(Pilot) Service 151259 of Warwickshire
- Sgt. Harry Lees F/ENGINEER Service 2216226 of Lancashire
- W.O. James William Weyers (Navigator) Service R.171682 of Alberta,Canada
- Jack Paull Hodges F/O (A/Bomber) Service A.413768 of N.S.W.,Australia
- Sgt. George Thomas Osborne (W/Op.Air) Service 1210239 of Staffordshire
- Sgt. Clifford Neil Stalker(A/G) Service 1893122 of Kent
- Sgt. Joseph Terance Nixon (A/G) Service 1682465 of Manchester
I was not yet three years old when my father died and my brother John only four at the time, so I have grown up with photographs, and stories about my father from family and friends who knew him well. I am still deeply emotional by his tragic loss, as was the family. My paternal grandparents never recovered after Tony was killed.
I emigrated to Canada at eighteen.
Growing up in Warwickshire my mother remarried a wonderful man Peter Wormell, now 95 yrs old, a survivor of a Japanese Prisoner of War in Burma. He survived two and a half years before being liberated in 1945.He is still living in Kenilworth, Warwickshire after my Mother's death in 2009. We chat on the phone every week to this day.
I visited my mother Joan and stepfather Peter and on many occasions I was able to ask her to recount personal details about my father. He loved to travel to the continent with friends, enjoyed music, dancing, driving, and was an Artist, mostly Watercolors. I have his Art Box, and some sketches, his riding boots,and his RAF Wings & Medals.
My father most certainly took on his duty seriously,flying with the RAF. He was sent to Moose Jaw, Canada in 1942 where he had pilot and aircraft flight training. He loved his King, his country, and of course his family and friends. We can all say "Thank You" to all the lost during WW2. May they all rest in eternal peace.
In 2001 I was joyfully surprised by my cousin Steven Gascoigne, and my Mother, who had arranged for me to visit East Kirkby. They arranged with a pilot friend of my cousin named Bob, to fly myself from Coventry to East Kirkby in his four seater Cherokee. We landed on the same main runway that my father had used all those years ago. There are no words that can describe the feelings that rose up and my eyes swelled with tears at that moment. Looking down at the runway was surreal, time stopped as I felt the souls of those very, very brave men and women who had served there.
The Panton brothers, who I believe still own the air field at East Kirkby, drove us around and showed us the parking pads of the Lancaster's, the Air Tower and Museum. In the East Kirkby Chapel, there is a commemorative wall with the names of all the RAF Flight Crews that were lost. To see the lovingly restored Lancaster Bomber "Just Jane" up close, I climbed the stairs to look in the cockpit where my father would have sat, was unbelievably emotional thinking of them flying off into the night one of many a bombing missions, not knowing if they would ever see those landing lights on the runway again. Alas, A.E.Grubb, my father, along with the Crew, did not return from that fateful bombing mission to France,on the night of July 4th/5th 1944. It was his 27th bombing mission. We spent most of the day there,and took off from the same runway he would have, flying back to Coventry.
East Kirkby is now a living museum thanks to the Panton brothers, who also lost a brother in Bomber Command. Thank you Bob (Pilot) Steve and Mother, for the trip of a lifetime -- I shall never forget that day or all those who were stationed there of whom many gave the ultimate sacrifice.
If anyone has any information or photos of 57 Squadron during those years, I would so appreciate if you would share them on this site for my family.
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Cpl. Joseph William Grubb . British Army from Shoreditch, London My Dad, Joseph Grubb said he was a sniper serving in Egypt and other places. He was captured and sent to Stalag 8A. He also told a story of how he saved the lives of some newspaper men who were sightseeing at the front, by shooting down a Messerschmit. I used to have a news clipping of it, he had glued to an old piece of card, but it was lost when I moved and would like to replace it if possible. I think he also did some guard duty at Buckingham Palace. I would love to know more about his exploits if anyone can help.
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AC Grundon . British Army AC Grundon 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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EJ Grundy . British Army EJ Grundy 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. Elson Holland Grundy . Royal Air Force 426 Squadron from Manchester (d.2nd Nov 1944)
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H Grundy . British Army Loyal North Lancashire Regiment H Grundy served with the Loyal North Lancashire 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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