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D Sutton . British Army Royal Armoured Corps D Sutton 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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Edward Sutton DFM. RAF 77 Squadron I am looking for any information on my grandad, Edward Sutton, a Rear Gunner with 77 Squadron, who was awarded the DFM by King George in 1944.
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Lt Cmdr. Eric Cole Sutton . Royal Navy HMS Manchester Account of the sinking of the HMS Manchester and following journey to Laghouat POW camp by Lft Commander Eric Cole Sutton dated from the 13th of August 1942
Thurs August 13th
0013 Torpedoed. Pathfinder came alongside and took off casualties and non essential personnel.
- 00430 Jumped over port side of Quarter deck. Picked up by a whaler and hung on for a while and then got in. Navigator at helm (Gill).
- 0530 Just after it got light an Italian plane let go torpedoes at the whip, but missed.
- 0540 Ship sunk
- 1100 Landed
- Two tribal destroyers arrived and picked up remaining fellows in rafts and Carley-floats. We just missed them.
My father told us that he was ordered to scuttle the ship and on opening the valves to sink the ship faster came back on deck to find that all life rafts had gone. Before this the six ‘scuttlers’ had looked for rum from the stores for ressusification but the cupboard was bare! He said he swam for about ten hours and spent sometime floating on the surface due to torpedoes being fired in the vicinity to avoid being crushed by shock waves in the event of an explosion. On arriving in Tunisia he said that they walked into an aerodrome and at first were not stopped as their uniforms were similar to the German Luftwaffe’s. Hence they gave themselves up.
We were taken to a nearby fort and had some chocolate, Horlicks tablets and biscuits to eat. During the afternoon we were driven to another camp called Bou-Fischa. We were given supper, sardines, tunny fish and brown bread and went to sleep in a wood hut, being supplied with one shee,t sleeping bag plus one blanket. Approximate distance from Tunis 70 kilometers.
Two Italian E boats were anchored inshore, plus two Italian planes were flying around where we landed. We saw one Stukka in a field, probably out of action. The inhabitants of the villages we passed through came out to see us in force and appeared quite friendly. The French troops were definitely anti Italian and German. The troops were obviously frightened that we were all going to make a break for it.
Fri 14th–Sun 16th
Spent in Bou-Fischa. Bathed in the sea twice. American consul took all our names, next of kin and addresses and sent them off to the admiralty. Food consisted of macaroni, soup, one or two hunks of some meat, onions, potatoes, spaghetti, all mixed up and stewed hot. Some tins of sardines and tunny fish. A lot of brown bread, plenty of cheap red wine. Grapes and figs.
Routine- get up around 7.00 AM. Hot black coffee, very sweet. 12.30 lunch as above. 19.00 Supper as above. 22.30 Lights out. Washing from a few jets in a pipe. Heads squat, or preferably in a field, no paper. Only two meals.
I didn’t feel well for two days. Dog is rampant.
Mon 17th
11.30 thanked the American consul and the French for our treatment. Marched to a railway station about two or three miles away, and went to Tunis arriving 14.30 Changed trains. The people were very pro allies, V signs everywhere. American consul had arranged crate fulls of beer, and between that and wine we did very well! The new guards taking over were in far greater force and not as friendly.
Tues 18th
Train journey was terribly hot; dusty, no sleeping room and filthy heads
Weds 19th –Thurs 20th
About twice a day we were given food in one of the stations. Usually consisted of bread , wine in large quantities and salads of onion, tomatoes, Swedes and sometimes soup.
We arrived at Djelfa at about 0800 We were then put into buses and driven to Laghouat after the usual shouting and gesticulating. We arrived here at 1200 and were searched, they found my £4 in the lining of my hat, and also took my French money. After lunch, Malin, Fletcher, Rambart, Cooper and I took over a room at the south west corner of the officers block. At the moment we are sleeping on double tiers of beds.
Fri 21st
Issue of Red Cross stuff.
(Perhaps this is a reference to the fact that my father told me that Red Cross parcels used to arrive full only of sand having been pilfered on the way)
Sun 23rd
Display by Spahis (?)
Tues 25th
Pillar of gate broken down and Cooper rung the bell (?)
Mon 24th
Wrote home
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Nov 24th released from Laghouat and arrived home
My father later joined the Birmingham and sailed into Alexandria for repairs. He was in Copenhagen for VE day. His account seems similar to Ray Davies’ account on this site. Ray’s email on his story does not work. Does anyone know if he is still alive and contactable?
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F Sutton . British Army Royal Armoured Corps F Sutton 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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F Sutton . British Army Royal Armoured Corps F Sutton 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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Herbert Frank Sutton . British Army 2nd Btn. South Staffordshire Regiment from Birmingham Herbo Sutton served with the 2nd Btn. South Staffordshire Regiment.
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J Sutton . British Army South Lancashire Regiment J Sutton served with the South 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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Joan Margaret Sutton . Womans Land Army from Beckenham, Kent My sister, Joan Margaret Sutton, joined the Womans Land Army in 1943 when she was 18 years old. Her farm was in New Barn near Longfield in Kent, and she lodged with a local family, I am sure their name was Todd. She came home to us in Beckenham, Kent every weekend, and when she returned back to her farm, after alighting from the train, station unknown, she had to walk through woods to get to her lodgings. I was 12 when she was called up, and I still remember how smart and proud she looked in her uniform. She said she and the other girls used to eat raw vegetables from the fields because they were always hungry! She met her Husband Bill Bailey at a dance. he was in The Buffs stationed near by. After being demobbed she married Bill and went on to have 3 sons, Michael, Graham and Richard. She died at the age of 90, after suffering years of ill health.
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JV Sutton . British Army JV Sutton 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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JW Sutton . British Army Royal Armoured Corps JW Sutton 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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Leonard Arthur Sutton . British Army 12th Royal Lancers from Plumstead My Uncle Leonard Arthur Sutton, was a driver to a Major Palmer (A member of the Huntley & Palmer biscuit family) and served with the Twelfth Royal Lancers in the Libyan desert.
Whilst on a scouting mission, Major Palmer ordered my Uncle to stop and investigate what was on the other side of a ridge they were behind.
As my Uncle approached the top, the Afrika Korps were waiting for him!
As he turned to run, Major Palmer drove off! and left him to the Germans!
Needless to say, us Suttons don't eat Huntley & Palmer Biscuits!
He was treated very well by the Afrika Korps and given Chocolate & Cigarettes, before being transported to first Italy, and then onto Stalag 7A Concentration camp.
After 2 unsuccessful escape attempts, and being threatened with being shot if he tried again, he finally escaped and after many months on the run, made it to Switzerland and to freedom.
He suffered many illnesses whilst escaping, from which he never really recovered.
He passed away aged 43 in 1965.
A true Hero in my eyes.
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Leslie James Sutton . Royal Navy HMS Ranchi from Portsmouth
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R Sutton . British Army R Sutton 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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Robert James Sutton . British Army Royal Engineers from Ewell, Surrey Robert James Sutton is my father. He never spoke about his time in WW2, apart from being in the Royal Engineers. Before the war he was a Borough Surveyor in Surrey. He died in 1981 and I subsequently found out my mother sold his medals at the door! As a former serviceman myself (RAF for 25 years)I would like to find out more about him.
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SC Sutton . British Army SC Sutton 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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WO2 CSM Stanley Charles Sutton . British Army 1st Btn. Royal Berkshire Regiment from Warwickshire (d.16th May 1943)
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Thomas Ernest Sutton . British Army Green Howards (Yorkshire Rgt) My dad served with the Green Howards in North Africa and Egypt during WWII. He was taken POW by the Italians before escaping to Switzerland from where he was helped back to the UK.
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Flt.Sgt. Thomas Andrew Sutton . Royal Air Force 16 Ferry Unit, RAF Transport Command from Scarborough My father, Andy Sutton, was stationed here for training prior to being sent to the Far East for operations against Japan. He mentioned the drop off at the end of the runway and how this important to practice ready for short runways. In the end he did not need to go the Far East as VJ Day arrived. However, in his free time, he went to Exeter and there he met the love of his life, my mother, and they married in January 1948.
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Pte. Thomas Ernest Sutton . British Army 4th Btn. Green Howards from Ripon My Dad, Thomas Sutton was taken as a P.O.W. to Italy. At some point, he escaped and walked over the Alps into Switzerland from where he was returned to the UK.
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Pte. Thomas Ernest Sutton . British Army 4th Battalion Green Howards from Ripon My dad. Tommy Sutton, never spoke of the War so not much known other than he was taken POW. He managed to escape and reach Switzerland. He was repatriated to the UK.
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SPO. William J. Sutton . Royal Navy HMS Drake IV from Portsmouth William Sutton was on HMS Drake between 7th of January 1941 and 23rd of May 1941.
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Svenn Svennson . Icelandic Merchant Navy SS Skallagrimur My husband & I have recently returned from a holiday staying with friends in Iceland. Whilst there, our host, Gudmundur, told us that his grandfather Svenn Svennson was the skipper of an Icelandic trawler who had received a British award for gallantry during WW2.(We think that this must have been the British Empire Medal for Gallantry, although the medal has now been lost.) The act of gallantry involved the rescue of over 300 men from a British boat sunk by a U-boat. Gudmundur showed us a silver cigarette case made by Mappin & Webb which is inscribed with the following words:
"From the ships company of HMS Forfar to the crew of SS Skallagrimur in recognition of a gallant deed 15.6.40"
Since returning to the UK we have researched HMS Forfar & the SS Skallagrimur on the web. Surprisingly, we have found that HMS Forfar was not the boat involved in the rescue by the Skallagrimur. Instead, the boat involved was HMS Andania. This was sunk by U-boat UA in the early hours of 16th June (not 15th as in the inscription on the cigarette case)in the North Atlantic off the Faroe Islands. All members of the crew of HMS Andania (300+) were rescued and taken on board by the Skallagrimur which must have been seriously overloaded as a result. The Skallagrimur was on its way to Hull with its catch of fish.
Gudmundur would like to find out more about this act of bravery as his father, who was a boy of 10 at the time of the rescue, is still alive and can remember his father's award. So, can anyone throw any further light on this? Why did the ship's company of HMS Forfar present a cigarette case to the Icelandic skipper and crew? Were some members of the rescued crew of the Andania transferred to service on HMS Forfar? Was it something that the crew of the Forfar heard about (the ships were involved in the same mission in the North Atlantic)and wanted to recognise? Is there another explanation?
Any further information would be gratefully received and will be passed on to Gudmundur and his family.
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Mike Swabb . United States Army 29th Infantry Div from PA, USA
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P Swaby . British Army Royal Armoured Corps P Swaby 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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Pte. Earle George Swaffer . Canadian Army Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia Earle George Swaffer was my father and he died at 36 years of age in 1957. The only wartime information I have is that he was a private in the Canadian Black Watch and he was a prisoner of war held in Stalag 11B. He was born in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. I would like to have any information on him that may be available.
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Pte. Albert Morrill Swain . British Army Gordon Highlanders from Hull (d.19th October 1944)
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Norman A. R. Swain . British Army Norman Swain 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. W. Swain . 102 Squadron
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Sgt Rex Swain. . RAF 12Sqd. (d.17th Jun 1943) Rear Gnr Rex Swain died on 17th June 1943 in Lancaster ED629 PH-K of 12sqd
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AG Swaine . British Army Queens Bays AG Swaine served with the Queens Bays 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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