Sgt. Percie Lambshead MM.. British Army Duke of Cornwalls Light Infantry from Newquay My father, Percie Lambshead, joined the Territorials in 1938 and was called up in 1939. He served with the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry in WW2. His battalion was sent to guard the beaches in Kent in 1940 being told that they would all die. He then guarded Falmouth Docks.
Dad underwent commando training in Scotland for the invasion of Norway, but this never happened. He was then involved in commando raids from HMS Prince Leopold in the English Channel.
He landed with the 4th Infantry Division with Operation Torch and fought at the Battle of Cactus Farm. Dad was in the chase to Cape Bonn being attacked by spitfires. At the lighthouse, on taking the surrender of Germans, they opened fire causing casualties. The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry battalion was then disbanded forming a Cornish Company in the King's Shropshire Light Infantry.
Dad was in the 1st Division which invaded Panterlera. Following a bout of jaundice, he returned to his unit prior to the invasion of Anzio. His company was the furthest forward at the flyover. Every officer was injured and my father led the company. For this action he was awarded the Military Medal. On the breakout from Anzio, his platoon was hit by a mortar with every man injured.
For the rest of the war he was on courses.
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Sgt. Roy Charles Lamerton . Royal Air Force 21 Squadron (d.6th Dec 1942) Roy Lamerton flew as a Navigator with 21 Squadron.
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ND Lammiman . British Army Royal Armoured Corps ND Lammiman 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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FH Lamming . British Army FH Lamming 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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Lamont . Royal Air Force from Dublin I'm looking for information relating to a pilot from Dublin whose name is Lamont. This is all I have.... Lamont married my grandmother's half-sister who was born in 1924. Her mother was Rebecca Orr but she was raised by the McWilliams family so may possible have carried the names Ann Orr McWilliams. She would have been from the Lismacarol, Londonderry area, Northern Ireland.
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C. E. Lamont . Royal Air Force RAF Upper Heyford C.E. Lamont was stationed at Upper Heyford during 1943.
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D Lamont . British Army D Lamont 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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M Lamont . British Army Royal Armoured Corps M Lamont 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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Gnr. Norman Maclaren "Monty" Lamont . British Army 91 Field Regiment Royal Artillery from 69 Brocks Drive, North Cheam, Surrey Norman Lamont (my father) was 29 years old at the outbreak of WW2. He was a bus conductor with London Transport, married with at that time with one son, my elder brother Roger. My father told me he was offered the trams, but volunteered for service instead.
He trained in the Orkneys for about two years to become a radio operator RA.
Some guys were so frightened of the Pentland Firth that they never took leave. Dad endured the sea sickness on the flat bottomed ferry and always took the Jericho Express, that he recalled "went like the clappers". At one time he was training in Harrogate, was taught to ride a motorcycle one morning, and to his alarm he performed in a public showing of motorcycle skills that same afternoon. At a sharp bend he could see that he wouldn't avoid the crowds who'd come out to watch. He jumped off and managed to cling onto the machine. This brought rapturous applause from the admirers who believed this had been a stunt.
In 1943 dad sailed from Liverpool. They wore arctic gear on boarding but were then re-clothed for the North African desert. His memories recalled of North Africa were non-combat. He had a recruited Arab boy to watch over the mule that carried the wireless. This mule was stubborn but the boy would whisper something in the beast's ears. The words would always work. He also told me that he was re-baptised in the River Jordan. Another tale was reading a newspaper whilst lying on top of the saline Dead Sea.
Near the end of his North African time Dad caught dysentery from eating a water melon, and overheard the medic "don't worry about this one, he'll be dead in 24 hours". " I'm sure I'm not going to bloody die" was dad's thought. However, the illness prevented him leaving with his regiment. To catch up he crossed a desert in a railway train with some Yanks. It was so cold the "mad" Yanks built a fire in the truck. The truck caught fire, the Yanks unhooked the blazing inferno and all ran to catch up with the front of the train. Luckily the speed was only 10 mph.
As part of 5th Division reserve he sailed for Naples. But it wasn't long before he saw serious action. The 56th Division had been wiped out at Anzio, and the 5th were to replace it. Vesuvius erupted as the troop carrier sailed forth. It was a terrible portent of what would become hell on Earth in the following 3 months.
On arrival at Anzio, dad and his pal John Panton (famous Scots golfer) ripped up tram lines to reinforce their bunker near to the beach at the front line. It was well to prepare. There would be days and nights of enemy bombardment. One Dunkirk veteran was "bomb crazy" and the lads had to take turns to sit on him. Up top the surrounds were a wilderness, although, strangely, skylarks would sing when there was a lull.
Every day was greeted with "I'm still alive". But for some it was too much. Dad noticed those who would stop shaving and abandon their personal hygiene. They would soon pass away.
Dad had a few tales about action here.
They drove behind enemy lines to get a range on enemy targets. One day one of the trucks failed to re-start. Stuka dive bombers came to visit. It made getting the truck re-started a little urgent!
Another story was reporting enemy 4th paras swimming in the sea. The OC instructed the battery to fire 200 yards over their heads, then a 100 yards. The Tommies had a good laugh at all the naked Germans fleeing for their lives.
One time dad was told to get "his head down for four hours". He was awoken an hour and a half later with the order "destroy the equipment and run for the sea". With some little pleasure (the set was new but was difficult to tune) dad put his foot through it. Unable to extricate himself he had to run with the set dangling around his boot.
Dad recalled that "the infantry (Wiltshires, Northern Irish Inniskillings and the Scots Cameronians) had a "rough time of it". The wadis (I found out after he died in 1991 that these were three deep in un-recovered dead) he would merely describe with an "ugh!"
In late May came the breakthrough. He and his buddies of the 13th infantry brigade quickly came to a halt at the gates of Rome, having been ordered to let the Yanks in first.
From Italy it was up through France then onto Belgium, Holland and Germany in Monty's charge. One riverbank was bombarded heavily (the Elbe?). But the enemy had already fled. Dad found himself in the forefront, relieving captured allied soldiers who had been force-marched to Lubeck. He recalled "I don't care what has been said, but we were the first ceremonial parade at the end of the war. The Irish and Scottish pipers rattled off such a quick march that it was hardly possible to keep up. The German townspeople came out in their thousands to cheer us." Oddly, of all the nationalities, dad trusted the Germans more than any other. He had had to accept surrender from German officers fleeing from the Russians. He also became a "parlez" picking up the language quickly. As a reward he had many a pleasant evening, dining with officers and Germans in country houses, and was even offered a farm in Lower Saxony. Cigarettes were the currency and dad had a good supply!
The biggest danger at the end was drunken Russians at the border between 30 Corps 5th Division and the Russian sector. The Ruskies would let off their weapons indiscriminately.
Norman Lamont was given release leave 14th January 1946, Velpke, Helmstedt. His military conduct was recorded as "Exemplary". The citation reads:
"This soldier is one of the best wireless operators in his battery and has performed efficiently and cheerfully under bad conditions and for long spells. He has been a popular and valuable member of his unit football team. Extremely honest and trustworthy."
And this is one of the downsides of military service. Once home, his son (my brother) didn't have clue who dad was.
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EHT Lampard . British Army EHT Lampard 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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SC Lampard . British Army SC Lampard 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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Asst.Cook Albert Edward Lamper . Royal Navy HMS Prunella (d.21st Jun 1940)
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Alfred Louis Lancaster . British Army 9 Commando 2 Commando My father, Alfred Louis Lancaster was in 2 and 9 Commando. Does anyone remember him?
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FA Lancaster . British Army FA Lancaster 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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FWG Lancaster . British Army Royal Warwickshire Regiment FWG Lancaster served with the Royal Warwickshire 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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Cpl. George Carlyle Lancaster . British Army 2nd Btn. Grenadier Guards from Penrith As far as I am aware my father, George Lancaster, was part of the OTC joining the Grenadier Guards in June 1936. He was part of the BEF, commissioned in the field joining O.C.T.U. July 1940, joining the King's Own Royal Lancastrian Regiment then the commandos. He was an instructor, then combined ops taking part in several raids. In 1943 he was attached to the South Lancashire Regiment with 29 combined ops. He suffered a GSW to left thigh in November 1943 and was eventually repatriated medical category Em in March 1944, he left the army due to being cashiered in 1946, for what I don't know and only found this out after his death in 2004.
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Pte. James Lancaster . British Army 5th Btn. Essex Regiment from Bradford (d.19th December 1943)
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LO Lancaster . British Army LO Lancaster 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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N Lancaster . British Army 12th Lancers N Lancaster served with the 12th Lancers 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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R Lancaster . British Army R Lancaster 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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P/O. R. Lancaster DFC. . RAF 12sqd
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Ron F. Lancaster . British Army Royal Artillery My grandfather, Ron F Lancaster 1520782 Royal Artillery, was captured on 26th May 1940 at Dunkirk. He was marched to Stalag XXB in Poland where he remained a POW until 9th May 1945, a short stocky Welshman who may have worked as a blacksmith in nearby farms whist at the camp. Escaped at some point and received 9 inch bayonet wound on his back when recaptured, this only healed by guards giving him salt to clean the wound. He was discharged on 15th February 1946 at the Savoy hotel in Bournemouth. If this jogs any memories I would be very grateful to hear from you.
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Gnr. Ronald Frank Lancaster . British Army Royal Artillery I am researching my grand father who was captured defending Dunkirk on the 26th of May 1940. He was then marched to Poland and was a P.O.W until 9th of May 1945. He was a Gnr with A coy Royal Artillery and was a prisoner at camp Stalag XXB in Poland. My grand father's name was Ronald Frank Lancaster. He was welsh and was born 15 Jan '39. He was a short (5ft 4") stocky man with blue eyes and fair hair. I think he may have worked as a blacksmith in nearby farms as a POW.
He didn't talk much about the war but when I asked him how he got a 9" scar on his back, he told me that he and a mate escaped at some point when they had stopped next to a a tree to get some rest. On awakening he tried to rouse his mate but he had been shot. He tried to get away and that was when he was stabbed with a bayonet by the guards.
Ron was discharged on 15th of Feb 1946 at the Savoy Hotel in Bournemouth. He sadly passed away from cancer in 1990 just before I passed out from the Navy, something I wished he could have seen.
I would be grateful if any one remembers my grandfather or if this jogs anyone's memory would they get in touch.
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WO2. William Edgar Lancaster . Royal Engineers 663rd Artisan Works Company from Birmingham Ted Lancaster joined the Royal Engineers and served with 663rd Artisan Works Company.
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Marine Ronald Vivian Lancefield . Royal Marines HMS Phoebe (d.23rd October 1942) Marine Ronald Lancefield was 23 when he died and is buried in the Pointe Noire European Cemetery in the Congo.
p>On the 23rd October 1942, H.M.S. Phoebe was on her way to take part in operations off North Africa, when she was torpedoed off the coast of French Equatorial Africa. 46 men lost their lives in this engagement and 29 of them were buried in Pointe Noire European Cemetery in a large collective grave. This grave was later marked by a screen wall memorial, which carries details of all 46 casualties.
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JT Lancett . British Army JT Lancett served with the British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: The Wartime Memories Project is no longer in contact with Dan , his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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F/Sgt. D. H. Lanclot . Royal Canadian Air Force air gunner. 419 Sqd.
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C Land . British Army C Land 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. G. Land . 102 Squadron
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A/A.B. Magnus Thompson Land . Royal Navy S.S. Hartlebury (London) from Pallion Sunderland (d.7th Jul 1942)
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