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HW Lewis . British Army HW Lewis 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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Able Sea. Idrisyn John James "Taffy" Lewis . Royal Navy from Llanelly
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L/Cpl. Iris Emily Lewis . Auxiliary Territorial Service Military Police My mum, Iris Lewis was a Red Cap during the War and served in Kent, she was from Rudry, Glamorgan, S. Wales.
Does anyone know of her?
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J Lewis . British Army Hampshire Regiment J Lewis served with the Hampshire 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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Pte. Jack L. Lewis . British Army Royal Army Ordnance Corps from Liverpool
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JE Lewis . British Army JE Lewis 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 Jenkin Gildas Lewis . RAF 12Sqd. (d.18th Jun 1943) Flt Eng.Jenkin Lewis was killed on 18th June 1943 in Lancaster I W4374 PH-D of 12 Sqd
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Staff Sgt. John S. Lewis . US Army 3rd Battalion (HQ) 41st Infantry Regiment (d.11th Jun 1944) My great uncle Staff Sgt. John S. Lewis served in the 2nd Armored Division, 41st Infantry Regiment, 3rd Battalion (HQ). I would like to find out more information on their missions June 7th to June 11, 1944. He was killed in action on June 11, 1944. His sister, my grandmother, is now 90 and she has never known what happened to her little brother.
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Sig. John Robert "Jacko" Lewis . British Army Royal Signals from Wybunbury, Woore My father's name was John Robert Lewis or Jacko as I think he was known. He was a Dispatch Rider in the Royal Signals, but he never talked about it. Soon after he joined up he was sent to North Africa, but was sent back to the UK because they discovered he was underage. He had lied to join up, giving a DOB of 8/7/24 it should have been 8/6/26!(I found this on a 1946 discharge paper).
By the time he arrived back he was then 18 & continued in the Signals.
About 2 weeks after the invasion, he was hit by a snipers bullet while on
route with a dispatch, somewhere near Rennes I believe, had it not been for
some G.I's who spotted the burning motorcycle & got him evacuated the story
would have ended there. He woke in a hospital somewhere in the south of
England, didn't know anything about it & eventually made a full recovery.
I think he did some post war service in North Germany before final discharge.
If this story rings a bell with any old comrade I would love to hear from them, although I realise they would be almost 90years old by now.
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Sgt. John Lewis . Royal Air Force 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron from Lampeter (d.25th Jun 1944) Johnny Lewis was a Sergeant Air Gunner, 1445360, with the RAF Volunteer Reserve. He was born in 1921, the son of John & Elizabeth Lewis from Lampeter, Cardiganshire in Wales. He served with 44 Squadron RAF which was equipped with the Avro Lancaster BIII and based at RAF Dunholme Lodge.
The mission took off at 11.35pm in Lancaster ND751 on the 24 June 1944 to destroy a flying bomb site at Pommerval. A total of 739 aircraft had taken part on that night to bomb various flying bomb locations. The mission was carried out on a clear moonlit night and so with help of the effective searchlight units many aircraft were destroyed by night fighters. 22 Lancasters were lost including ND751 and ME628 of 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron.
Johnny was killed when his Lancaster was shot down over France on 25 June 1944. He is buried at Criquetot-Sur-Longueville Churchyard with six other colleagues, Pilot Officer Douglas Earl Aiken RCASF, Sergeant John Hare Sergeant Horace Arnold Lewarne, Flight Sergeant Frank Sidney Rawson, W/O Robert Alexander Riddoch and Pilot Officer Alfred Montague Simmons RCAF. Criquetot-sur-Longueville is a village and commune 17 kilometers south of Dieppe, one kilometer east of the N.27 road from Dieppe-Totes and the crew of ND751 are buried in the north corner of the churchyard.
Johnny left behind both his parents and four siblings.
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Sgt. John Lewis . Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 44 Sqdn. from Lampeter (d.25th Jun 1944) Johnny Lewis was a Sergeant Air Gunner, 1445360, RAF Volunteer Reserve. He was the son of John and Elizabeth Lewis from Lampeter, Cardiganshire, Wales. He served with 44 Squadron RAF which was equipped with the Avro Lancaster BIII based at RAF Dunholme Lodge. He was killed when his Lancaster was shot down over France on 25th June 1944. Johnny is buried at Criquetot-Sur-Longueville Churchyard with six other colleagues:
Pilot Officer Douglas Earl Aiken Sunday, 25 June 1944 23 J/85822 Royal Canadian Air Force 44 (Royal Air Force) Squadron British Plot. Grave 2. Joint grave.
Sergeant John Hare Sunday, 25 June 1944 21 1439383 Royal Air Force 44 (Royal Air Force) Squadron British Plot. Grave 4. Joint grave.
Sergeant Horace Arnold Lewarne Sunday, 25 June 1944 Unknown 1279022 Royal Air Force 44 (Royal Air Force) Squadron British Plot. Grave 4. Joint grave.
Sergeant Johnny Lewis Sunday, 25 June 1944 22 1445360 Royal Air Force 44 (Royal Air Force) Squadron British Plot. Grave 1.
Flight Sergeant Frank Sidney Rawson Sunday, 25 June 1944 22 1324690 Royal Air Force 44 (Royal Air Force) Squadron British Plot. Grave 3. Joint grave.
Warrant Officer Class II Robert Alexander Riddoch Sunday, 25 June 1944 23 R/172357 Royal Canadian Air Force 44 (Royal Air Force) Squadron British Plot. Grave 3. Joint grave.
Pilot Officer Alfred Montague Simmons Sunday, 25 June 1944 Unknown J/89960 Royal Canadian Air Force 44 (Royal Air Force) Squadron British Plot. Grave 2. Joint grave.
The crew's missions started in April 1944 until the 24/25th June 1944.
List of missions for June is as follows:
2nd June 1944: Lancaster B1 ND869 KM-M. Attack on Wimereux
5-6th June 1944: Lancaster BIII ND751 KM-J. Attack on La Pernelle
6-7th June 1944: Lancaster BIII ND751 KM-J. Attack on Caen
8-9th June 1944: Lancaster BIII ND751 KM-J. Attack on Pontaubault
9-10th June 1944: Lancaster BIII ND751 KM-J. Attack on Etampes
12-13th June 1944: Lancaster BIII ND751 KM-J. Attack on Caen
24-25th June 1944: Lancaster BIII ND751 KM-J. Attack on Pommereval
Weather was fine but slightly hazy on the evening of 24th June 1944. 15 aircraft were detailed to carry out a bombing attack on Pommereval. P/S Oswald and P/O Aiken crews were reported missing without trace from this operation. All other aircraft reached and bombed the target successfully and returned to base safely.
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John Aaron Lewis . Royal Navy HMS Vulture My father served at HMS Vulture at St Merryn during the war as an armourer.
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T/Sgt Joseph Benjamin Lewis . United States Army 101st Infantry from Sylvia, Kansas, USA This was from the Hutchinson, Kansas newspaper after my dad returned from WWII.
Russian Tanks Led by Woman Liberate Yanks
When Russian tanks, spear-heading an armored column, roared into Stalag III-C, 50 miles east of Berlin, to liberate 4,000 American, Russian, French and Italian prisoners interned there, the Yanks rubbed their eyes in surprise—commander of the lead tank was a woman! T-Sgt. Joe B. Lewis, son of Mr. and Mrs. H.A. Lewis of Sylvia, has this woman patriot and other fighting Red troops to thank for his freedom today. They effected his release after five months internment, his camp being the first for enlisted men to be liberated in Germany. Looking fit as the proverbial fiddle, Sgt. Lewis is home on 60 day furlough. He shows few marks of his experience as enforced guest of the German government. The Nazis fed him little more than soup and bread during his imprisonment, but Red Cross parcels came through with surprising regularity and kept the prisoners alive. The pounds he did lose have been regained since his release, for, as he says, he had been living on “the fat of the land.”
Taken Captive Last September
Lewis was taken captive on September 10, after landing on the “Omaha” beachhead in France, July 5, fighting through the difficult St. Lo campaign and then south with the Third army to Nancy.
That night his company was detailed to cross a German-held bridge over the Moselle river and to seize high ground on the other side where a beachhead could be established.
“It looked like a dash to death,” the soldier said. “The bridge was covered with machine guns and artillery and had been mined. The first company started over about 9, we followed at 10:30.
“We ran all the way, dodging the mines which we could see by artillery flares and the half-moonlight. One or two men were blown up by mines and some were shot, but all the time I was running the enemy never fired a machine gun.
“Incidentally, they didn’t blow the bridge until 2 o’clock the next morning—why they were so slow we didn’t know, unless they thought they could finish us off after we reached the other side.
Had To Set Up Defense
“The first thing we had to do, when we got across, was to try to get our men together (Sgt. Lewis was weapons platoon sergeant) and set up some kind of defense.
“My group made it about one-third the way up a hill, but the Germans were walking down a road firing at us, and it soon got too hot. We had to retreat back to a little drainage ditch and dig in there.
“By that time, we were pretty disorganized. My machine gun section set up along the ditch and fired down the road at the advancing Germans. We killed some, but they kept coming.
“We finally got them just about stopped, but small patrols of Nazis would try to infiltrate our positions. The fight went on until 3 o’clock in the morning, when they brought up their heavy tanks, the Mark VI.
“We hadn’t been able to bring any tanks or tank destroyers across the bridge before it was blown up, because of the mines, nor could we get any more ammunition or supplies. It looked hopeless.
Bazooka Knocked Out Tank
“We did knock out one tank with bazookas, but the other Marks came up and started firing. They blew some of our men right out of their foxholes.
“A German hand grenade went off about two feet from where I was standing in the ditch. Fragments hit me in the hand and the lip, although that didn’t bother me too much.
“With such odds against us, there wasn’t anything to do but to give up. Some 200 of us were captured. The others were killed, wounded, or drowned while trying to swim back across the river. A few made it. Our bunch never had a chance to try. The Kraut-eaters were between us and the Moselle.
“Our company commander surrendered his men. The Germans told us to throw down our weapons and come out with our hands above our heads. It was still dark then—about 4 o’clock.
“All walking casualties were taken to a German aid station two miles away, but I went on into Nancy with the rest of our bunch.
Sgt. Lewis Questioned
“We were taken to German headquarters and searched, then certain of us were interrogated. I was one. They tried to bribe me with food, cigarettes, coffee and wine, but I never told them anything. However, they already knew our outfit and division.
“Afterwards, I was given first aid at a hospital. That took some time, so I missed being shipped by train to Lemburg, Poland, with the other prisoners. Instead, several of us had to stay two days in a schoolhouse in Nancy.
“About 75 of us were finally assembled and walked from Nancy to Saarbrucken. The first night we stayed in a cow barn and the second at a Brown Shirt headquarters. We weren’t mistreated on the way.
“At Saarbrucken we were put on a train and taken to Lemburg, arriving there on Sept. 18 and staying until the 23rd in the transit camp. Were registered, had our clothing checked and got our German dog tags.
Worked On Railroad
“Some of the fellows had to sleep out in the open—on ‘starvation hill’ we called it—and they nearly froze, but I was lucky and got to sleep in a barracks for that privilege, I had to work on the railroad at Lemburg. We filled in bomb craters, fixed the rails and cleaned up. Worked from 8 to 6, but it wasn’t too hard because we GIs would lean on our shovels whenever the Jerries weren’t looking.
“Sanitary conditions at the camp were very bad, and so was the food. For breakfast we had tea or coffee, for dinner soup. In addition, six men were allotted one loaf of bread a day. No Red Cross packages had arrived, and we nearly starved.
“After five days there, we were moved to Stalag III-C by boxcar. The first Americans ever in that camp had been interned only two weeks before. There were many men from our other Allied armies, but we weren’t allowed to mingle with them. However, we would talk to the Russians through the fence and trade them cigarettes for bread.
Never Had To Work
“At this camp, we didn’t have to do any work. We sat around and talked—mostly about food. It got rather cold, and we didn’t have enough fuel, but a Red Cross representative from Geneva and a YMCA man from Berlin visited us and found out the conditions. After that, things were better. We got clothing, equipment, toilet articles, etc., from the Red Cross.
“The Germans allowed us to shower once a month. We had to wash our clothes at a pump. As for the food—it was about the same as before, but the Red Cross parcels began coming rather regularly.
“When Christmas finally rolled around, we decorated our barracks with crepe paper, made icicles out of tin cans and fixed up a Christmas tree. We had special programs and sang carols at the hospital. For dinner that day, there was a treat—potatoes, compliments of the mess sergeant and his gang who had snitched them from the Germans.
Russians 12 Miles Away
“On the thirtieth of January, we learned that the Russians were only 12 miles away. The following day the Germans tried to evacuate the camp.
“At 10:30 that morning, we were made to walk about six miles, but the Russians fired on our troops, thinking we were the enemy. They killed 27 Americans, I heard, and wounded twice that many. Our column turned around and headed back to camp. A few of our men, however, broke away and ran to the Reds to tell them who we were.
“Again at 1 o’clock that afternoon, the Germans tried once more to move us. The Reds turned us back again, but this time no one was hurt.
“After that, there wasn’t anything to do but stay in the air raid shelters at the camp. It was hot around there—German planes were in the sky, and artillery was pounding.
Camp Not Defended
“The Germans had no defenses set up at the camp, so there was no opposition when the Russian tank column came rolling up. Several German guards at Stalag III-C had surrendered to the Americans that morning in order to escape the Russians but the next day the Reds took them out and shot them.
“The Red spearhead went driving on. We stayed in camp three days until the mail body of their troops came up. On Feb. 3, the Russians moved us to a town about five miles away, and from then on we were on our own.
“We lived off the fat of the land. Ransacked deserted German houses for food. There were few natives around.
“In small groups, we rode bicycles, walked, hitch-hiked and even rode in wagons until we reached Lublin, Poland. There we came across some Yank officers who had been liberated, and we were given some semblance of order.
Polish People Helped
“The Russians provided us with a building to sleep in, and the Polish people divided what little they had with us. We were visited by Red Cross workers, who helped a lot.
“We stayed in Lublin for five days and then were taken by train to Odessa, Russia. After that the Reds took pretty good care of us. We were in Odessa about a week, before we boarded a British transport for Port Said, Egypt. There we lived like kings, drew three men’s rations, had ice cream and attended shows. Then we were taken by boat to Naples, where we joined our own forces.
Source: The Hutchinson News Herald
Hutchinson, Kansas
Sunday, May 6, 1945
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L/Cpl Joseph Henry Lewis . British Army 57 Coy. Royal Army Service Corps
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JW Lewis . British Army JW Lewis 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. K. G. Lewis . 102 Squadron
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W/O L. W. C. Lewis . Royal Air Force 514 Sqd. W/O Lewis survived the loss of Lancaster DS822 JI-T when it came down at La Celle Le Bordes France on the 8th of June 1944 whilst on a bombing raid to Massy Palaiseau. He evaded capture until the 16th of August and was then taken to Stalag 12a and later to Stalag Luft 1.
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Maida Jane Lewis . Land Army from Pembrokeshire, Wales My mum, Maida Jane Lewis, was in the Land Army. She worked for Mrs Bennion at Home Farm, Stackpole in Pembrokeshire.
It seems to me that those who lived through such times should be able to share whatever are their feelings, no matter how insignificant they may think they are, to benefit those who still survive and those wanting to remember.
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Pte. Martin Albert Henry Lewis . British Army Welch Regiment from Newport, Mon. My father, Martin Lewis was captured outside Bengazi on 29th of January 1942 and arrived at Weinsburg on 9th October the following year. Leaving the North African port of Tripoli on 23rd of February 1942 he reached Naples four days later and eventually found himself at an Italian POW camp in Capua. When this camp was taken over by German forces he was moved in July 1943 and travelled via Rome, Foggia, Padua, Bologna and Moderna eventually, after several months travelling, reaching Weinsburg on the 9th October. En route to Oflag VA in Germany my father spent time in Strasburg as well as a transit camp near Munich, Stalag VIIA, Moosberg before finally reaching Weinsberg.
Strangely he was placed in a camp for officers for his rank was a private, however he was a gents' hairdresser so perhaps this was the reason he was placed in an Oflag rather than a Stalag POW camp, the latter being for enlisted men as opposed to officers.
His war diaries articulate the routine and events of life within a German POW camp which he stated was far tougher than in his previous two camps run by the Italians. There were obviously difficulties he and Other Ranks faced, this being a camp for officers, one example being given just 15 marks per month for working almost daily cutting hair in the camp salon.
Sadly, my father suffered psychologically as time went on in the Weinsberg camp, so much so that on being released in 1945 he had a complete nervous breakdown and never really recovered full mental health during the rest of his life. He died at an early age in 1973 when he took his own life.
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Sgt. Montague Lewis . Royal Air Force 150 Squadron (d.14th Dec 1941) Sergeant Lewis was my aunt's first husband. He crash landed at Snaith in a Wellington on 14th of December 1941 during an air test.
My mother tells me he had to be cut from the wreckage and died of his injuries about a week later. The family story is that he was towing a target when he was shot down, a job given to him and his crew because they had flown so many sorties and were about to go on leave. I'm hoping to clarify this from his service record but if anybody has further detail I would be most grateful.
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Cpl. Norman Edgar Lewis . British Army Royal Welch Fusiliers from Whixall, Shropshire My father, Norman Lewis, was a regular soldier before World War Two but after serving was a civilian clerk with the War Office. When war broke out he was called up. Dad was in the Royal Welch Fusiliers, but I think he originally enlisted in the Cheshire Regiment.
My eldest sister, Valerie, was born in January 1940, and my father saw her before embarking for France. At the beginning of June he was captured as a member of the rearguard forces near Dunkirk. He did not see my sister again until she was 5 years old.
He was eventually taken to Stalag XXA in Thorn, Poland and spent the rest of war there until the camp was evacuated in January 1945.
During his time in captivity Dad worked on farms and did other work in the area.
When the camp was evacuated the prisoners were forced to march more than 800 miles in one of the coldest winters on record. During this march Dad became ill with bronchitis and frostbite. If prisoners couldn't march they were often shot or left by the roadside. A Russian prisoner on the march made a sledge and pulled Dad along, and also built bivouacs in the snow at night to keep warm. Dad shared his meagre Red Cross rations with this man. His family still has a cigarette case made from a tin can which the Russian made for Dad.
Dad died in 1991 and in common with many veterans, he spoke very little about his experiences. We all feel very sad that we didn't ask Dad more when he was still here with us. We have no one left now who can fill in the gaps.
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NR Lewis . British Army NR Lewis 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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OB Lewis . British Army Royal Armoured Corps OB Lewis 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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P Lewis . British Army Royal Armoured Corps P Lewis 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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Peter John Lewis . Bevin Boy from Watford My Dad, Peter Lewis was a Bevin Boy and worked at Kibblesworth Colliery from June 1944 until November 1947. He would love to hear about any other Bevin Boys from that time.
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Lt. Pugh Davies "PD" Lewis DSC.. Royal Navy HMS Foresight Lieutenant Pugh Lewis was an engineer officer on H.M.S. Foresight in 1942 when the ship was hit by Italian bombs and on Russian patrols.
He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross during the incident when he saved a life at sea and keeping the destroyer going when the engine room was hit by a torpedo.
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Sgt R Lewis . (d.25th May 1943) Sgt Lewis was killed on 25th May 1943 on Ops to Düsseldorf.
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R Lewis . British Army Highland Light Infantry R Lewis served with the Highland Light Infantry 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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Randolph D Lewis . Royal Navy from Trent, Sherborne
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Pte. Reginald Lewis . British Army 7th Btn. Ox and Bucks Light Infantry from Wayford, Somerset Reginald Lewis transferred into 7th Ox and Bucks from Somerset Light Infantry, 6 months service after joining as a volunteer, he had been exempt as a farmer.
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