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Sig. Henry Edward Weeks . Royal Navy My late father, Henry Weeks served from February 1942 until December 1945 as firstly a Convoy Ordinary Signalman and then as a Convoy Signalman.
According to Navy Command his record states that he served on HMS Royal Arthur between 25th of February 1942 and 13th of July 1942. He later served on the Russian Convoys and took the signal that the Scharnhorst had been sighted. The story is that he took copies of the signal and swopped them for jars of coffee. During one of his convoy trips he was reported Missing for six weeks and eventually turned up in Russia. He said that during one of their trips to Russia the cargo had shifted and they were sailing at an acute angle through 60 feet waves and expected the ship to turnover at any moment. The captain got them through safely but sadly had a mental breakdown afterwards. Whilst in Russia he said the cold was unimaginable and being a small man he bought a fur hat to keep his head warm. He could not understand why he was constantly being saluted and eventually realised that the colour of the fur, white, indicated an officer rank hence the salutes.
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John Henry Weeks . British Army 23rd Field Regiment Royal Artillery from Clevedon, Somerset I interviewed Jack Weeks for The Wartime Memories Project on Sunday 23rd May 2010 2pm.
Q. Can you tell me a little bit about your life before the war?
A. I was born in Devon in 1917, I went on a farm and the people there was so good, and that, and they couldn’t do enough for me. When I went on this farm I didn’t have anything, ‘cos as you know back then times were hard and you didn’t have much clothes. I got on this farm and the old farmer said have you got any clothes? I said yes. Well where is it? I said I’m wearing it; I’m standing up in it. So I said if you’re a bit ashamed of me or anything like other, say so, I said, and tell me to go and I’ll go and get a job somewhere else.
Q. Did your parents give you their blessing to finding a job on the farm? A. No. You didn’t get their blessing, no. You’d rather have a kick up the arse! I went to school to 14 and I left and as I say I got this job and they were so good the old man said to me one day when we were having a supper. Oh, I don’t think you would mind looking after the cattle and that for me, we wanner go to Plymouth shopping. There was big shopping centre still there then. I said, well (chuckles), you paying me so I said how can I refuse; I said of course I’ll do it. He said, I know that, have yee got anything? I said such as? Well he said clothes and that and I said no, I’m afraid I hadn’t. I said I come from a poor family. The farmer said what are we going to do? I said well in what way? Well he said, you haven’t got nothing. Well I said I’ve either got to work ee here until I get enough money to buy some clothes or else you can lend me and I can do it that way, so, I went on. There was no other help. The old farmer and his wife had one son, they had more sense. When they came home from this day shopping the old man said (I had the tea all ready because they kept a good table and there were plenty of food) how you come on? I said we can go out and look at the stock, see what the position is. He said I don’t think that’s necessary because I know what you done you done well. And I got three shillings and six pence a week. So went around and I said now if you not satisfied at what I’m doing I’d wish you tell me and then I said I can move on. I was quite content on the farm. I stayed on the farm until I went in the forces at 22.
Q. What did your father do? A. He drove a steam roller and worked for the council.
Q. Did you have a big family? A. We were 8. There was Ron, Harry, Joan, James, Sissy; somewhere about 8 and I was the oldest and stupidest.
Q. Tell me about the work you did on the farm? A. I milked the cows, there was cattle, sheep, a sheepdog; you could say I was a Jack of all trades.
Q. Did you enlist or were called up? A. Well I was walking up the High Street one morning and an old lady half way down, an she said how gotten you in the army then? Well I said, I don’t know and I ain't bothered by it. Well your Charlie he’s gone. I said, well, to tell you the truth misses, Charlie would lick anybody’s arse for half a crown but I ain't going to and with that I joined up; I had to go up to Exeter. A friend of mine said, I be going up Exeter then? I said I don’t know but I got to go there. Well he said I’m going to Exeter, you can jump on the back of my motorbike. So I said all right then, thanks very much and went up there, the recruiting office. Funny old geezer there, but I didn’t like their attitudes but I thought, well, but I’m joining up and I’m going to get more of it. You didn’t get any choice then to join the army as they were only too glad to get ee in there. The man on the motorbike didn’t join up as he had a private job. Yes! Right then! You’ll have to go up to Blaise Castle. I said where is the heck Blaise Castle? Bristol! I said I don’t know nothing about that. Oh well he said you’ll soon learn. Get fixed up, the clobber, and you have to catch the train to Temple Meads. And from there I had to walk to Blaise Castle where I did my training. I was an artillery bloke.
Q. Do you recall your first days in the service?
A. Got in there and I started training and I said to myself I must pick this up smartish because I don’t want to be here long. Then they wanted a volunteer and to go up to get a cap for somebody and I was the only one to volunteer. I walked from temple Meads with the cap to. I’ll go and buy some fish and chips as I was a little hungry, I went in there and you couldn’t see nothing but fog. So a lady come out and she said excuse me soldier, where you making for tonight? Well I said I don’t know where I’m going to be truthful. She said you’re new here? I said, I, but I’ll expect I’ll find my way about and she said you’ll have a long walk back, I doubt if you’ll catch a train back. Anyway I set off walking, up over the Downs and going down Blackboy hill (by Whiteladies road, Totham). Got on the station just as the train pulled off. I went up to the driver and said when’s the next train? Not ‘til tomorrow morning! Oh, I said, damn me! I said I’m supposed to be in by tonight. Oh well you won’t do it now then. And I said well somebody will have to get in touch with the military police and tell them I’m stuck here. Oh won’t be able to do that. (chuckles) Oh I said, if you can’t do that I must walk on. I was on the train at Corsham and eh, the little cafe was open and I went in. Oh I’m sorry soldier you’re too late. So I said well how there going to get up to camp? I don’t know. I said well this is a bit of how-de-do, I said I got to get up Hudswell camp by midnight; that’s by Corsham. There was old chap there. Soldier, you lie down at there couch, he said and I’ll wake you in the morning so you can catch the first train out and you’ll be up there. And I thought it was ever so good of them, that’s what he done. I got back up there and course when I got up Corsham there was a lot to do but unknown to me whilst I was away they sent me on a farm. What happened see was the old farmer up at Corsham, he was friendly with the commander and he had got in touch with the farmer and he said (this commander used to go in there and have a drink there every morning) farmer, I have a chap here who would suit you; you can have him for so long. And that was when I went out farmer Minties to work and when that finished I went to Warminster. I came home from having inoculations and he were turning the cows out and he said, good God Jack what in.... what have you been up to? I said I don’t know, why? He said ye look as white as a sheet. Oh well I said I will get over that I expect and ee said Win has been looking for you. Oh I said, what he want? Well he wants you to stay ere. And sleep ere. He said you don’t have to go back to Nissen hut. You have your food with wee, that is hee wife and his son and his daughter. I had a good time up there. And I used to do the cooking. I got an old oil barrel, converted ee so I could cook on it. And then the sergeant Major, ee came up one day. He said Jake! Want you! I said how many more want me! I said I’d better cut myself in half. Oh what you want? I want you to do me a favour. I said but everyone wants a favour! Still never mind, tell me what it tis. He said we are short of wheel barrows down in the dump and I want you to come with me this afternoon and we are going to nick some of thee barrows. The red caps were no way in the march then. (you’re aint going to believe it). I said what time are yee going for these wheelbarrows? Two o’clock! I said I’ll be there. So up he comes with a Will’s WD and HO Will’s van then, do you remember driving they about? We were driving they about then. Right he said I’ve got it all mapped out (chuckles). He said we’ll get a load of wheelbarrows, then we got to get some coal and I said what else do we want? Well anything you can think of. I said you’ll want wood. Yea all right, get wood (chuckles) Tell about crooks! Their nothing way near it, but the funniest thing, we enjoyed every minute of it. The army were supplying it!
Q. What did your family think about you joining up?
A. Not a lot. I never told them. I just wanted to go on and do things my way, I was having just a good time! Parents they wouldn’t have.. whether you were there or..... Things were so hard that they were glad that you were gone.
Q. Did you soon make friends with others?
A. Oh yes, we made lots of friends, quite a few years. Some used to visit now. I will have to look through the pictures for my friends.
Q. What was the food like in the army?
A. We were stationed at Portishead and what we call oil. The food was bloody lousy! And that same Sergeant Major I was telling ee about, he and I used to go round some of the pubs scrounging grub, and they would. I used to know a young lady down Portishead, I know her name. She was good as gold, she always give us stuff to take back with us. I used to go up at ten o’clock every night and take her home and she used to give me a basket of grub. She worked up in there cafe. Poor old Cinders, she used to give me a basket of grub. I shan’t tell you her other name (chuckles).
Q. What was the accommodation like for you and your men?
A. They had a Nissen hut; they couldn’t go on the farm, could em. I used to go in the farm because I got up early mornings. I was in uniform on the farm. The Red caps would have been after me!
Q. How did people entertain themselves?
A. The war was on. You had to make your own; self made.
Q. What did you do when you were on leave?
A. Occasionally go home for a week.
Q. What were you trained on?
A. I trained on big guns then our Captain said to me one day, I’ve been looking for you. Oh what for? You have to learn to drive a van. I said I don’t want to learn. Look he said (he was a nice chap), you’re going to learn, make no mistake about that, he said I’m going to learn you so you can’t get out of that and he said I shan’t do you any favours as all I want is somebody that is trained. So all right then, what’s the perks? There ain't no perks. Why ain't there any perks then, surely I get something in return? (chuckles) He said you will in a minute! I said all right all right then, I’ll not again thee. So I learnt on big lorry first and then I had to go at a Bofors gun. Now he said I want you in ere because you been a good chap and I wanted ee to stay in ere. I said doing what? Well there’s lots of things I want done around here and you capable of doing it. Oh well I said all right if you want to bend your back so much, then I got a job inside. He said to me one day I‘m glad I caught you. I said Oh what do you want? I want you to do me a favour. I said it seem to me I’m doing everybody a favour and I aint getting any back. So what as got to be this one? Well he said would you mind putting the flag up mornings? Putting ee up saving ee coming up. I used to sleep in the shed, in the hut then and the condition was then that I would sleep in the shed providing he never pinned PT on me. All right you got my permission; he said I won’t bother ee again. I said as long as you don’t bother me the flag will be flying at six o’clock. I’d take it down in the night and put it in the shed. I was sort of stores clerk, cooking.
Q. What were some of the pranks you and the others would pull?
A. No, never pulled a prank on any of them but they tried. I wasn’t very big but they come worse off.
Mr Weeks has a photograph marked ‘Ceylon 1943’ on back.
Q. ‘There’s something written on the back’? A.. To one who is very dear to me, my loving wife Doris. 1943! My Pal and I there.
Q. What we have now is your old war time photographs and what we’ll do
is go over them. This photo shows you and your mate
A. My Scotch mate. We were in barracks doing jankers. This is in India.
(Another picture) That’s Nelly (Nan’s Brother in Law’s wife). There’s my father, Cecil, working for the Council. There’s Harry who just died.
That was Gold Face Green in the back ground. I remember going along Gold Face Green and the wheel coming off! We just took it as a joke. I didn’t do much driving the time I was out there. You see, I didn’t want to drive at all and our officer, he said if you don’t learn to drive you won’t be any good. I had to book up and learn and that’s what I done. Well I got more fun then, where as you could only drive a light vehicle, but it turned out as you passed your test you were able to take on the big ones. Mind where we used to drive sometimes, well, it put the wind up ee. The roads were dangerous with everybody on err and see there were all sort of obstacles in the way, animals were always there.
Q. When you left this country, how did you get to Ceylon?
A. Boat. The biggest laugh of all was when we moved up to Scotland, Tidwell, the joke was the boat weren’t ready. Little did we know the boat was out err waiting. I remember when I came back, a lady up there from the shops, we were talking one day, she said how did you get out there, she said there was no boat. I said there is transport, the Malogen. She said my husband has a book on that; I’ll let ee have it. Mrs Gardner wouldn’t have it; I said I know I did. I discovered it was a merchantman. I boarded at Greenock. We got on the boat and we went to first trip was South Africa. We had a stop at Freetown, then we went down to Durban, that was a lovely place. We waited for another boat and this other boat was a bit long coming so we had to put up on the playing field in Durban. And there they said we don’t want these troops going short for anything; they’re our guests. Cor we did have some lash ups too. Like all things they come to an end. We went from Freetown to Bombay. That was a dirty * place. Language uh. We went to Calcutta. Then we went down to Ceylon in a smaller boat. (later in the war) Then we got off the boat at Rangoon; I was always volunteering, I volunteered to bring the prisoners of war home.( Jack thinks he went from India to Ceylon and back to India and then Burma)
(He Looks at another photo from India 1944.
and reads) from your dearest husband Jack. There was me by my tent.
Q. What did you do in Ceylon? A. I used to write forms out. I was so interested in Ceylon. When I found out I was going to Ceylon I made up my mind what I was going to do. I was going to be sociable, I was going to mix in with them learn as much as I could about the people, the country and everything, and that I accomplished
Q. Did you enjoy yourself in Ceylon?
A. I had a wonderful time. One part of Gold Face Green was curry and the other part Singhalese. We had an opportunity. One Singhalese said what are you having tonight. Came with me and taste curry and rice. I said I would only be too happy to oblige. We got into the canteen there, he put up a * big plateful. I said what’s that for. He said get it down. I got that down and then this other chap came along and he said you are coming to tea tonight, I said ar I don’t know. He said he spoke to his mother and father and they want ee to come and have tea with them. I said all right and they were a lovely family: Mother, father and the son and daughter. And when I went in and seen what was on the table and she said don’t be afraid and eat want you can and leave what you can. And didn’t I tuck in to rice and curry, I thought I was going to bust. And we went for a stroll after and that was what we done. Ceylon was a beautiful place, fruit, you didn’t want for anything.
Q Did you keep any correspondence
A. Only the photos these kept. She didn’t keep any photos.
Q. Did you receive any Medals?
A. I never bothered but there were several times I wish I had put in for them. I haven’t got much time; you could stick em on your hat.
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MG Weeks . British Army Duke of Wellingtons West Riding Regiment MG Weeks served with the Duke of Wellingtons West Riding 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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Gdsm. William John Arnold "Lofty" Weeks . British Army 2nd Battalion Coldstream Guards from Watford My father, William Weeks, was in Stalag 4b when the Russians liberated the camp. All I know is he worked in the cookhouse and a story about his friend Jack Harris who was dying and he carried him to the gates and thought he and Jack were going to get shot. My father does not talk about it much.
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F/O D G Weeks. . RAF 12sqd
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DRL Weetch . British Army DRL Weetch 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. Florian Wegrzyn . Polish Army from Boryslaw, Poland Florian Wegrzyn joined the Polish Home Army when Nazi Germany invaded Poland. He and his compatriots fought primarily in the ever dwindling circle that was prewar Warsaw. They transported their wounded and moved troops and ammunition through the bombarded streets of the city. They fought the Nazis with heroic ferocity. When the streets were no longer passable they used the city sewer system to move about as necessary.
The Allies tried to supply them with airdrops, but they were often taken by the Germans instead when the winds blew the parachutes off course. The Russians were given the task to airdrop food by the Allies. When they did, they simply threw sacks off their airplanes without parachutes so they would burst on impact with the ground rendering them useless. The Red Army stood by on the banks of the Wisla river and watched the massacre of the city.
With all ammunition and supplies expended the Polish Army staff approved the surrender of Polish troops to the Nazis. The troops laid down their arms and marched in rank to the train stations where they were dispersed to various prison camps.
My father was taken to Stalag18 C in Austria. His German POW number was 223513. He told me they were forced to labor on a tunnel in the Alps that was often strafed by allied airplanes while the workers were forced to remain at work under threat of death from their prison guards.
Upon camp liberation he was inducted into the British Army for the short duration and was discharged from the service in England where he married and emigrated to the United States.
He was awarded the Polish Army Cross
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P/O. Christopher Joseph Weight . Royal Air Force 103 Sqn from London (d.4th Jan 1945) I have been researching the loss of a Lancaster from 103 Sqn at Elsham Wolds which came down in the Humber on 4 Jan 1945. The aircraft was ND862 PM-H and was captained by my wife's uncle, Plt Off Chris Weight.
The aircraft is believed to have iced up and crashed into the River Humber "near the fishing port of Hull." it was seen crashing from Salt End jetty and a rescue boat was sent out which grounded on Foul Holme Spit.
I am keen to find out anything I can about the aircraft and crew and would very much like to hear from anyone who can help, including family or descendants, of the other crew members.
The crew were;
- P/O Christopher Weight RAFVR
- P/O George Widdicombe RAFVR
- F/O Maurice Pickersgill RAFVR
- Sgt Henry Backway RAFVR
- Sgt Clifford Hillier RAFVR
- Sgt Cyril Lloyd RAFVR
The sharp ones amongst you will see only six crew, we believe that one of the Air Gunners had a cold that day and so did not fly.
I wonder if anyone can help me please? Any information would be gratefully received. Many thanks.
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Gnr. Edward Gordon Weight . New Zealand Army from Wellington This picture of a group from Stalag 8B was in a wartime picture magazine in New Zealand. It comments on the New Zealander in the photo. He was Gunner Edward Gordon Weight from Wellington. He died in April 2004, following an accident, aged 85.
He told me a little of his experiences at the camp, he was a boot maker and repaired prisoner's boots with wooden nails. He first made a hole with an awl and then tapped them through to the steel lath until they broke off. He referred to it as being on a "racket".
He said only the air force chaps did the escaping. He said he was often let out on work parties. On his day of liberation he was in hospital, he said. However, he was unable to recall the day, other than being in hospital. He was captured in Crete. A few days after he told me about the camp, I asked him how he was feeling today and he said, "At least I'm not having any more nightmares now."
I hope somebody might remember him. He was a very young chap in the photo group though. The others looked definitely older. His widow, Ruby, is 60 and so able to take an interest in his camp background, although his war experiences were evidently too hard to bring into his family life. Therefore, what he told me was unknown to his wife of 35 years.
Like me, Edward "Gordon" Weight was known by his middle name, Gordon, which is how the photo is captioned. It's a bit tatty because it was kept in Gordon's tin of treasures and lent to me by Ruby after he passed away. It was very sad that the accident also put an abrupt end to any more wartime recollections from Gordon.
The stories he told me, were not easy, at first, for him to tell me. He remembered the events leading up to capture with ease and enthusiasm. However, after capture in Crete, he would tell me a few recollections per visit and then say, "Well, that will be enough for today", and I knew he meant it, since he was sensitive and intelligent. However, unlike the "war-time thriller stories", he calmly told it as if just another day at the supermarket. I printed him a good picture, from the internet, of the Aquitania, the troopship he went over on. Since I am a friend of the family.
EdwardGordonWeight.jpg
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Sgt. S. Weight . Royal Canadian Air Force 419 Sqd.
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L/Bmbdr. Thomas Archibald Weight . Royal Artillery from Croydon, Surrey My father, Tom Weight, served on many ships during WW2 as a Royal Artillery gunner. I remember him saying that were it not for the war, he would not have had the opportunity to see all the far flung places that he visited while he was protecting merchant ships.
I know he saw some dreadful things and had some horrible experiences, including being torpedoed, I believe twice, and sunk on different ships. I know one of them was The City of Singapore.
I remember stories of rough seas with 50 foot waves and sailing around Cape Horn (or maybe it was the Cape of Good Hope) where the seas were wild and dangerous. Dad loved a rough sea and apparently he was one of the very few on board who didn't get seasick. His love of the sea never diminished and my parents eventually moved from London in the 60s to live on the South West coast.
I remember him telling of a ship's cat that used to disappear as soon as they docked and they would all be convinced they would never see the cat again. Then somehow miraculously, just before they were due to depart, the cat would appear on the dock and board the ship. They never worked out how the cat knew or how it survived it's time on shore.
He told me once of being on shore and finding a man with a small monkey making it cruelly dance. It had a rope around its waist that was embedded in it's flesh. My father and some friends gave the owner some money and took the monkey back on board. One of his friends removed the rope, and nursed it back to health and it lived on board with them. He said that at meal times, the monkey used to take great delight in sitting on a rail above their heads, just outside of where they got their food and would try to pee on their plates as they walked underneath.
I wish I had asked more about his time during the war. I regret that now, as there's nobody else to tell me as both my parents have passed away along with Dad's 5 brothers and a sister. Who all served during WW2 and all of whom miraculously survived.
In his later years, my father was a member of the RA Association and became an active committee member and welfare officer of his local branch in Poole, Dorset. When my father passed away from emphysema in 1999 the branch of the RA association closest to where he died sent a standard bearer along with some of their members to his funeral and his coffin was draped with the Union Jack flag. I found it an unbearably poignant moment and I felt so very proud of my much beloved father who taught me the meaning as I grew up, of integrity and kindness to others.
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Sig. Tom Albert Weight . Royal Navy HMS St Angelo My father-in-law, Tom Weight was in the Royal Navy from June 1940 to 25th of June 1945.
He was at HMS Royal Arthur in June 1940, he served in HMS Termagent and also HMS St Angelo and was in Naples in 1944.
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Pilot Officer P D Weight-Vowden . RAF 59 Squadron
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Gnr. Edward Weightman . British Army 51 (Westmorland & Cumberland Yeomanry) Field Regt Royal Artillery from Jarrow, County Durham (d.22nd Apr 1941) Edward Weightman, son of George and Mary Weightman and husband of Eva Gwendoline Weightman of Jarrow, County Durham, died aged 25 during the Siege of Tobruk. He is buried at Tobruk War Cemetery, Libya and is commemorated on the WW2 Roll of Honour Plaque in the entrance to Jarrow Town Hall.
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Sgt. W. Weightman . 102 Squadron
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Gnr. Leon Weill . Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps 2nd Bty. from Clifton, Bristol (d.27th April 1945) Gunner Weil was 39 when he died. He was the husband of V. Weill, of Clifton, Bristol.
He is buried in the Hong Kong (Happy Valley) Jewish Cemetery in Hong Kong, Grave 203.
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Sgt. Cyril Weinberg . British Army 13th Btn. Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders from 16 Hanover Gardens, Salford Cyril Weinberg enlisted on 16th of May 1940. Somewhere between 1940 and 1943, he served as a small arms instructor at rank of Sgt. for the 12th and 13th Battalions of his regiment.
His only war injury was being run over by a bus in Glasgow, damaging his right knee. He spent first 3.5 years in Scotland in Campbeltown, Strabane, Stirling, Carnoustie, and Edinburgh. In 1943, he joined the British North Africa Force.
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L/Cpl. Colin McNab Weir . British Area 1st Btn. Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders from Bonnybridge, Stirlingshire (d.10th Dec 1940) Colin Weir is buried in the Halfaya Sollum War Cemetery (Marsah Matruh).
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Signalman. David Hutton Weir . British Army Royal Signals from Kirkcaldy My father David Weir served during the Second World War with the Royal Signals and was in Egypt December 1942 then Sicily 1943 and continued in Italy 1943 to 1946.
On reading his records he was awarded the Africa Star Pt II 56/29.1.44 15 R of C Sigs BNAF, 1939/1945 Star & Italy Star 5525/28.7.46/IILOFCSIGSCMF, War Medal, Defence Medal.
This has a Stamp STARS CLASPS dated 15 Nov 1948 with a number 158.
I have struggled to find any more information as he died in an accident in 1955 when I was only 9 months old.
I feel as if I will never know his real history as my mother was unable to discuss him with me and clammed up if I mentioned him and his war record. I do not know what happened to his medals either and wondered if anyone could let me know if there is anything extra he would have had on them.
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Flt.Sgt. Harrison Weir . Royal New Zealand Air Force 608 Squadron from Dunedin, New Zealand (d.4th June 1943) Harrison Weir was killed along with his crew, including wireless operator/rear gunner Flight Sergeant John Gordon, when their plane crashed to the ground shortly after take off from an airfield in Algeria in the early morning of 4th June 1943. They are buried at Bone War Cemetery, Algeria.
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Plt Off J C Weir . RAF 97 Sqd (d.27th June 1942) While researching the family name I came across an entry for F/O A W
Friend of 97 Sqdn which took me to your 97 Sqdn site. F/O Friend's name
and those of his crew are missing from your list of squadron members.
The aircraft either crashed or was shot down in Norway as F/O Friend is
buried in Bergen cemetary.
The following was culled from 97 Sqdn associations website.
27th June 1942 *Ten aircraft detailed to attack Bremen. None of the aircraft
were able to identify target and all bombed on TR, results believed to
be good, although 10/10ths cloud. F/O Friend (Rhodesian) and crew failed
to return – no news received after take off.
F/O A.W.Friend, Sgt E.E.Hayward, F/S H.Shrybman, Sgts
N.Nicoll, S.J.Allen, P/O J.C.Weir, Sgt F.E.McKenzie. Missing
from this operation.
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J Weir . British Army Cameronians J Weir served with the Cameronians 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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L/Cpl. JA Weir . British Army 4/7th Dragoon Guards L/Cpl.JA Weir served with the 4/7th Dragoon Guards 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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Bmbdr. James Weir . British Army 35 L.A.A. Regiment, 144 Bty. Royal Artillery from Hucknall, Nottinghamshire (d.5th March 1943 ) James Weir is my uncle who was in 144th Battery, 35th L.A.A. Regiment, Royal Artillery. He died as a POW. I would love to know any more history about him in the regiment.
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Rfmn. John George Weir . British Army 2nd Btn. Royal Ulster Rifles from Belfast My grandfather, John Weir served in WW2. All I have is a marriage certificate that states 2nd Battalion Royal Ulster Rifles in 1934. He was 20.
We also believe he was injured in Italy during the war and hospitalised for 48 hours. I am currently trying to find more information.
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Pte. S. F. Weir . Army Pte Weir exchanged identities with 'Smoky' Hibbens of the RAAF so that the airman could spend time outside the camp with the working party in the hope that he could make an escape.
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Gnr. Stanley Weir . British Army 133rd Field Regiment Royal Artillery from St Helens (d.5th Aug 1944)
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William R. Weir . RCAF 433 Sqd.
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Pte. William Smellie Weir . British Army 4th Bn. Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders from 132 Back Street, Renton, Scotland. (d.23rd Dec 1945) Weir William Smellie, a soldier of the British Army, died in the Soviet Union in a military hospital Number 2860 on the 21st of December 1945. He was buried in the Nizhny Novgorod region, Volodarsky area in the village Golyshevo. His Mothers name was Mary Dunn Weir. His name is on column N128 in Dunkirk Memorial, but his grave is in Russia. His relatives still do not know anything about him. Can anyone help establish his fate!
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