Capt. Richard Lydmar Moline Purser . British Army Dorsetshire Regiment from Bosham (d.7th June 1944) Dick Purser was an uncle I never knew, and about whom my father very seldom spoke. Born about 1911, he joined the army and was a captain in Dorset Regiment in Burma - presumably about the time of the battle of Kohima. A jingoistic newspaper report described him as generally 'Bagging a Jap before breakfast' but he was shot from an ambush, and died there.
Dick was raised in an army family; his father, Lydmar Moline Purser was a Surgeon Col. who lost a foot on the Somme - but his boot was found, and returned!. My grandmother received a telegram saying "Col Purser slightly injured." - well, it is all relative. He was permitted to stay in the army with only one leg, as he could still ride a horse!
Dick's elder brother, my father, William Alexander, was a Lt. Col. in the Royal Signals and retired in 1955 to sail for a living, and died in 1993; his much younger brother John Inglis Purser fought in Germany in the Royal Engineers and retired as a brigadier; he died in 2013.
Dick's family home was Bosham, near Chichester, and a family anecdote tells how he was bored one day and dug a 14ft deep hole in the garden for fun (I doubt the veracity of that, unless he dug very quickly, at low tide!). Before going overseas he married, but was divorced shortly afterwards.
Editor's Note: a search on Ancestry and the Internet shows that Dick was 26 when he died on 7th Jun 1944 and that he was actually born on 11 Jan 1918 in Woking, Surrey. He was the husband of Vera Florence Purser.
He enlisted in the Infantry and was in the Dorsetshire Regiment at the time of his death. He died of wounds on the Assam-Burma frontier. He is buried at the Imphal War Cemetery, Imphal, Manipur, India.
A link has been added to the following: "Captain Richard Lydmar Moline Purser, The Dorsetshire Regiment, Hill 1931 to 1936, was wounded in the head while leading a special "tough" guerilla platoon in an attack on Dyer Hill two miles south of Kohima. "He was absurdly brave," wrote the Battalion Chaplain. His Commanding Officer sent these further details. "When his Company Commander was wounded Dick took over, straightened out rather a nasty mess, handled the company magnificently and held this vital ground with a handful for several days."
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Rflmn. George William Pursey . British Army 9th Btn. Rifle Brigade from Mile End, Greater London George Pursey was reported missing on 7th of April 1941 and then reported to be in Italian POW Camp no 102 in Aquila, Italy. At some stage he was transferred to Altengrebow Stalag 11a. I know he was in Paris in November 1945 and eventually died in Richmond, Surrey in 1991. I am George Pursey's daughter born a few months after he was captured, I was adopted in January 1944 and would love to learn more about my father and his life both during and after the war. His POW number was 142570.
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Cpl. Robert Pursey . Royal Air Force 142 Squadron from Berkshire
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F/Sgt G W Purslow. . RAF 12sqd
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AJ Purves . British Army AJ Purves 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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Sigmn. George Edwin Purvey . British Army 280 Sqdn., 19 AFS Royal Signals from Birmingham
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Duncan McIntyre Purvis . Duncan Purvis is my grandfather. He was a Prisoner of War. I don't know much else I'm afraid. Started tracing family tree and got some facts about him. He married his wife Catherine Murphy in Warwickshire in 1947 as he was stationed there.
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Pte. Fred Purvis . British Army 1/5th Btn. Northumberland Fusiliers from Evenwood, County Durham (d.9th Dec 1918) Fred Purvis was my great-granddad. In 1915, he was living in Hull with his foster-brother, Will. Fred sent a postcard to his sister Alice of the Zeppelin attack on Hull in 1915. He wrote on the postcard that he would like Alice to send him some money if she could spare it and to remember him to his pal at Cragwood.
Another postcard is of a sentry in Flanders that Fred sent to his sister Edith after he had gone to war (he was in the army from 1916 to 1918). The Northumberland Fusiliers saw much action in France and Flanders. He went missing on 8th of July 1918, the first day of the 3rd Battle of the Aisne. The family didn't know what had happened to Fred until 29th of July, when they received a Red Cross letter saying that he was in a POW camp in Kassel. Evidently, he was then transferred to a POW camp in Quedlinburg, where, sadly, he died on 9 December 1918 from an unspecified cause.
There is not much more I can say of his short life except that we are proud he served his country.
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James Purvis . British Army from Liverpool My father James Purvis served in Burma and I believe Ceylon, during WW2. He was a driver and spent time in the jungle. He rarely spoke about the War but I do know he once said, that at night, the Japanese would shout out English names and woe betide anyone who responded. He did not claim his medals until many years after the war, saying "All he wanted to do was get home."
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Pte. Joseph Purvis . British Army 6th Btn. King's Own Scottish Borderers (d.18th Nov 1940) Joseph Purvis who died age 21 was born in Jarrow in 1919 to David and Catherine Jane Purvis (nee Botto) of Jarrow.
He is buried in Jarrow Cemetery and is commemorated on the WW2 Roll of Honour Plaque in the entrance of Jarrow Town Hall.
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Sig. Leslie Purvis . British Army Royal Corps of Signals (d.31st Mar 1941) Leslie Purvis who died age 20 was born in Jarrow in 1920 and was the son of Robert and Mary Jane Purvis (nee Lindsay) of Primrose Jarrow.
He is buried in Jarrow Cemetery and is commemorated on the WW2 Roll of Honour Plaque in the entrance of Jarrow Town Hall.
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Pte. Thomas Purvis . British Army 13th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment from County Durham I've been undertaking a spot of research on my Great Granddad, Thomas Purvis, who fought during WW1 with the 13th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment; and I stumbled upon this website so thought I'd provide some information to help you piece together the men who fought in the regiment.
Thomas and my family are from County Durham, and the family, including Thomas, were coal miners. His mother and father were from Yorkshire, and he married a lady, Lydia Johns, of Cornish stock. Thomas lived all of his life in the East Durham coalfields.
He enlisted at Sunderland on the 22nd March 1915. I believe his mother bore witness to his enlistment, as opposed to his wife, which may suggest Lydia wasn't too happy with him joining up! He was 36 years and 9 months when he enlisted, making him born 1878/1879, which I would have thought was quite old for an enlisting soldier at the time.
He survived the war, which is useful otherwise I wouldn't be here! He was certainly wounded in the leg and used a walking stick for the rest of his life upon discharge which was in 1919. Family tradition has it that he was wounded on The Somme, but I am yet to verify that.
After the war, Thomas returned to his pre-war occupation of coal miner and had more children. He had 6 children in total: 3 daughters and 3 sons; with my Granddad (Thomas's son) born in the year of his enlistment in 1915.
Thomas died in 1941 but from what I can gather from family stories, Thomas was a bad tempered man, but that said I think fighting in such conditions would have tested the patience of a saint and left a mark on most people. Unfortunately, I don't know a great deal more about Thomas as a person because my mother (Thomas's granddaughter) was born in 1940 so didn't know Thomas and her dad (Thomas's son) didn't pass much information down to the family.
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E Pusey . British Army 2nd Btn Sherwood Foresters E Pusey served with the 2nd Btn Sherwood Foresters 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. Ernest Alfred Pusey . British Army 2/6th Btn. Queens West Surrey Regiment from Slough
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HE Pusey . British Army HE Pusey 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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Sig. Gilbert Hector Putland . British Army Royal Corps of Signals
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PO. Silvester Joseph Putman . Royal Navy HMS Acheron from Portsmouth (d.17th Dec 1940) Silvester Putman was my maternal grandfather, he was 32 when he died, leaving a pregnant wife, and a 20 month old daughter. My Nan never re-married.
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RE Putt . British Army RE Putt 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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Lt. H. A. Puttock . South African Air Force 28th Sqd. from Cape Province, South Africa (d.15th April 1944) Lieutenant Puttock was the Son of Horace A. and May D. Puttock, of East London, Cape Province, South Africa; husband of Joy Puttock.
He was 25 when he died and is buried in the Rabat Europen Cemetery in Morocco.
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NA Puttock . British Army NA Puttock 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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Pte. Sidney William Puzey . British Army 4th Battalion Green Howards from Isleworth My father was captured in 1942 on the Gazala line. He spent time as a POW in PG 73 in Northern Italy - then at a work camp (GW/107)associted with Stalag XVIIIA. I have over 100 letters from him to my mother during his period as a POW.
I am particualry interested in finding out about a fello POW called George Allen who put on many of the camp plays and musicals at PG 73.
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Sgt. R. G. Pyatt . 97 Squadron
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A/QMS. Eric Norman Pye . British Army 829th Tank Workshop Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers My father Eric Pye was apprenticed as a locksmith. He joined the RAOC in Sept 1940 and transferred to REME on its formation in 1942.
He worked on a variety of Hobarts Funnies.
He was at Vauxhalls at Luton for some time and nearly drowned in their test tank whilst testing a DD tank.
He was mixed up with the Canadians and we frequently had a small convoy outside our house in North London.
Immediately before D Day he was in charge of the gang armouring the Caterpillar Bulldozers ready for the beaches. He went ashore with the Canadians on D Day plus 2.
Back in London we had a near miss from a V2 rocket about 10 doors away.
Apart from being at Belsen when it was burnt down by Crocodiles he seems to have had a reasonable time. He always said the only Europeans he got on with were the Germans!
On his return to civvy street he resumed a career in Ironmongery, He joined the AER, which meant that both of us were in REME as I did my National Service. The tradition continued as my son Robert joined Royal Signals as a boy soldier, retiring last year as a Lieutenant Colonel. His daughter is in the OCC at Liverpool. Dad passed away in September 1996 aged 84.
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Lt Frederick Leslie Pye . Royal Marines from Norwich
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L/Sgt. George Pye . British Army 2nd Btn. Seaforth Highlanders (d.23rd Sep 1943) George Pye was my Grandfather's brother, who originated from Blyth, Northumberland.
I understand that George was a Lance Serjeant in the Seaforth Highlanders and was killed in action on the island of Sicily on 23rd of September 1943. He is buried at Catania Cemetery in Sicily.
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QMS. John Gerard Pye . British Army Pioneer Corps John Pye was my uncle and the person to whom I was closest growing up in the post-war years. Before and after the war he worked for the Co-op, first as a 'bread-lad', later a shop manager and then a senior manager.
He was born in 1909 and died in 1985. From time to time he talked about his wartime experiences in the Pioneers. His first overseas posting was to Iceland. Then he trained for D Day. He assembled at Haywards Heath and left, I think, from Shoreham. He described how each man had to learn a map off by heart for a distance of, I think, about two miles behind the beach. One of his friends jumped into the water with a bicycle around his neck. They had to put up signposts. They were bogged down before Caen - the fighting there was the worst of the lot.
Eventually, he found himself at Fallingbostel which appeared, from his account, to have been a POW camp for German troops.
He was quartermaster sergeant and this clearly enabled him to 'barter' with the prisoners. He have me a small wristwatch with a black face and strap which he obtained from a female SS officer. He brought home another watch and a large and beautiful lute.
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WR Pye . British Army WR Pye 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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Stoker 1st Class Edward Pykett . Royal Navy HMS Manchester
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