Sgt. James Cecil Wrigley . Royal Air Force 260 Squadron from Didsbury, Manchester (d.12 June 1942) My Uncle Jim Wrigley served in the Western Desert flying kitty hawks and was shot down by a German Ace.
He was seen to bale out after his plane was hit. He was found on the ground by a South African soldier but because of heavy fire he had to leave his body and return later. I know that this soldier wrote to my grandparents. He is buried in Knightsbridge Cemetery in Libya we have a photo of his grave but unfortunately nobody has been able to visit. He was the eldest of 8 children. Jim died just 1 month after his 21st birthday.
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JW Wrigley . British Army JW Wrigley 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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Stanley Wrigley . Royal Navy HMS Whimbrel My father, Stanley Wrigley, was serving onboard HMS Whimbrell when the Japenese signed the surrender in 1945. He later went to Australia I think for a refit of some kind. I would love to hear from anyone who knew him
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Bombdr. William Wroe . British Army 57th Heavy Training Regiment Royal Armoured Corps
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RA Wrycraft . British Army RA Wrycraft 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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PFC. John Thomas Wrzos . United States Army Co. I 3rd battalion 104th Timberwolves John Wrzos was my father-in-law and passed away this past fall. I currently teach American History and am trying to get my students to study WWII through the primary sources of the men who served. John never spoke of the War much, the memories were quite painful for him. I am trying to locate any information on him or his unit. It would be great to have my students explore the War through the eyes of John of his fellow Timberwolves. I would appreciate any help I can get.
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W. H. Wurrell . Royal Canadian Air Force rear gunner 419 Sqd.
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Sgt W. H. Wurrell. . 419 Sqd.
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F/O. Guy Herbert Wyand . Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve No. 619 Squadron (d.7th Jun 1944) From January to March 1944, Guy Wyand served as a rear gunner with No. 9 Squadron at RAF Bardney. He then volunteered with No. 619 Squadron on D-Day and was shot down and killed.
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Cpl. Ida Wyartt MID. Royal Air Force Women's Auxiliary Air Force from Flowton, Suffolk My mother Ida Wyartt was stationed at RAF Abingdon for 4 1/2 years in World War II and always said she enjoyed her time there. She was billeted with Mrs. Ainsworth and her daughter Joyce at 51 Boxhill Rd, Abingdon. She remained friends with them and was in contact for many years after the war. She also had a huge array of friends from the RAF she also kept in touch with. In the 1950s we lived on a farm in Suffolk and enjoyed hosting many of her former RAF friends there. She was awarded 'Mentioned in Dispatches' in the New Year's Honours list of 1943. Ida and my father William Prentice (also from Suffolk) were married at nearby Shippon Church on 15 July 1944.
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L/Sea. Arthur Wyatt . Royal Navy HMS Europa from Canning Town, London
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Pte. Bernard Victor Wyatt . British Army Royal Artillery from Birmingham
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CH Wyatt . British Army Royal Armoured Corps CH Wyatt 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. Charles Henry Wyatt . British Army Royal Norfolk Regiment from Streatham, London
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Gnr. George Wilfred Wyatt . British Army 1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery This is the writing of George Wilfred Wyatt, written in the mid 90's about his experience
"Courage and Determination"
In 1939 after working down the mines for four years, I joined the army and served as a gunner in the Royal Horse Artillery. I was posted to France as part of the 51st Highland Division B.E.F. and was taken Prisoner of War at St. Valery in June 1940.
We marched to Holland and then went onto Emerich in Germany by barge. We then travelled by train to Scubin in Poland where we were put into working party camps. Whilst at this camp we were sent to work on farms, in factories and on the railways and roadworks. We were also sent to build camps for P.O.W's.
About two years later in 1942, we were sent to work in the mines in the Katowice mining area. At this mine, a young Polish girl was working in the lamp cabin. Her job was to hand out checks and lamps to the miners working below ground. This was the beginning of my friendship with this young Polish girl named Halinka. As our relationship blossomed daily to eventually corresponding and meeting occasionally whenever possible during the following years. Halinka's father was a Polish Resistance leader who lived throughout the war never knowing whether that dreaded knock at the door would ever come, (i.e. "Gestapo"). Halinka obviously kept her friendship with me a big secret, knowing that any relationship with a P.O.W. would be against her father's wishes.
During the last few months of 1944, we moved to another mine, 20 kilometres north of Halinka's village and later still yet another mine, 15 kilometres south of her village. However, every few days I would see Halinka walking near by the camp. Sometimes, we could have a chat and other times it would be impossible, but she never complained.
In January 1945 along with a friend, we escaped from the camp and made our way with the help of Polish friends to the village some 15 kilometres away. Knowing the Russians were advancing to the area, local people hid us until we were liberated. We then decided to get married. So we travelled to Krakow airport where the R.A.F. had a base travelling on top of a cattle truck 80 kilometres to receive permission from an officer, which he granted and signed my pay book, escorting me out of the base, against the will of the Russians. We made our way to the city of Krakow 5 kilometres away and found a church with a friendly priest who willingly agreed to marry us and also kindly found us accommodation for our wedding night. We returned to my wife's home in Niwka and after the initial shock, her family accepted us with open arms and gave us their blessing although with a little doubt. (Was I true or false).
Our happiness did not last long, as the Russians put out an order that all P.O.W's must report to military headquarters within a week or be treated as spies and shot. A party of eight reported to Krakow where we were given hard rations, mostly dried vegetables, for 4 days journey by train to Odessa. They would not allow girls to travel, however, between us we managed to smuggle my wife Halinka with us, hiding her under top coats in our sleeping compartments. On arrival at Odessa, the British Military Mission, who had to escort her back home, held my wife. I was sent home by merchant ship, via Italy, Gibraltar and Scotland. On my arrival, I informed my unit and the British Red Cross of my marriage and received only acknowledgement. Later my wife came home from Odessa with a British Military escort and was told to wait until later and to get in touch with the British Embassy, which at this time did not exist. However, Halinka being very impatient decided to make her own way to Prague in Czechoslovakia with papers or passport. At the British Embassy, her good luck still held out. After being checked, she finished up in the office of a Major Wyatt whom was delighted at meeting a namesake and looked after her the time she spent in Prague. Halinka arrived in London on VJ Day, unable to contact anyone owing to a public holiday. However, the police found me and informed me that Halinka was on her way to Nottingham by train and that I should meet her when she arrives. Courage and determination played a big part in our romance throughout.
George Wilfred Wyatt
I hope that I have done the right thing for my uncle Wilf. He was a kind man and did tell me one or two anecdotes about life in the camp. If I remember rightly, he told me how they used to make fish soup by tying the fish onto a piece of string and passing it across the top of the boiling water. They didn't eat very much as the rations the Germans gave them were very meagre indeed. I suspect probably just enough to keep them going. He also told me of the time when he was out with some of his POW mates. I think he worked nearby in a mine or a farm. They had been given some eggs and they were looking forward to having something more substantial to put into their stomachs. One of the guards stopped them and when he went to search the knapsack, uncle Wilf gave the bag a huge clap and smashed all the eggs, so then the Germans couldn't take the eggs either. He had a very dry sense of humour and was a genuine good man.
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GFJ Wyatt . British Army GFJ Wyatt 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/O Henry Wyatt . Royal Air Force 76 Squadron from Consett, Co. Durham (d.22nd Jan 1944) Harry Wyatt was my dad's older brother, who was killed on a raid on Magdeburg on the evening of January 21/22 1944. He was 21 years old. He trained as a navigator in Moncton, New Brunswick and also Winnipeg, Manitoba in Canada.
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L/Cpl. LJ Wyatt . British Army Staffordshire Yeomanry L/Cpl.LJ Wyatt served with the Staffordshire Yeomanry 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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QMS. R. S. Wyatt . British Army
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Claude Wyatt-Mair . British Army British 8th Army My Dad, Claude Wyatt-Mair wrote a memoir of his time between 1939 and 1945. He was captured in Tobruk and ended up in Stalag 8c and 8b lamsdorf 344. I am trying to locate anyone who knew him.
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Sgt. Laurence Wybrow . British Army 85th HAA Regiment Royal Artillery from Coneysthorpe, Yorkshire Laurence Wybrow was my great uncle. He worked in the estate office of Castle Howard before the war and he returned there after the war. I have only found out the information of his regiment recently when I came across an envelope addressed to him in Dec 1944. I believe he served in Italy and N. Africa. He was 32 years old at the outbreak of the war.
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W/O Frank Wyche . Royal Air Force 269 Squadron from Liverpool My Father, Frank Wyche was in the RAF and based in Wick and Reykjavik during 1941 to 1944. He was an Air Observer and Navigator. He developed TB in Iceland and was sent back to England. He died in 1946, when I was less than 2 years old. There are no family left to tell me anything about his time in the war, so I am hoping that someone will read this and be able to tell me what the RAF were doing there at this time.
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Pte. James Wyeth . British Army 7th Btn. Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry from Windsor
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DAG Wylde . British Army DAG Wylde 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. Alfred Gregory Wyles . British Army 1st Battalion, Anti-Tank Platoon Oxford & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry from 67 Barclay Street, Leicester, My paternal grandfather, Alfred Wyles served with the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry.
he served in an Anti-Tank Platoon of the 1st Battalion. His record states that he carried-out his Basic Training in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment of the Territorial Army, before being permanently posted in the 1st Ox & Bucks Light Infantry of the Regular Army on 16th of May 1940.
He was sent to France with the 1st Ox & Bucks to reinforce the Gordon Highlanders, according to a ˜Discharge Memorandum. He officially enlisted on the 16th of May 1940 for the ˜Duration of Emergency. This note appears which suggests a period or rest after intense combat and frontline duties
Posted No.1 Rest Camp, Gordon Highlanders 10th of October 1944. He was discharged (A1) from service on the 12th of June 1945, being placed in the Army Reserve. He transferred to D Company, 1st Battalion of the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry and was eventually posted to Colchester at the Goojerat Barracks.
A Memorandum dated the 1st of March 1946 is entitled ˜Release Character, written by a Captain J Flemming and describes my grandfather as being "sober, honest and smart in his appearance, as well as being of ˜good character". By that time, he had been at that barracks for 2 months.
He was awarded the Defence Medal and War Medal 1939-1945. An added note states ˜Stars & Clasps, 23rd of November 1948. This War Record omits any direct mention of war activities, presumably for security reasons.
However, my grandfather saw action and once recalled the death of his friend (who was shot in the head) whilst his body continued to ˜run for a short distance.
I am assuming that my grandfather was sent with the 1st Ox & Bucks to reinforce the 1st Battalion Gordon Highlanders after the latter landed on D-Day. The 1st Ox and Bucks landed in Normandy on the 24th of June 1944, and I suspect my grandfather entered France (and combat) through that deployment. Whatever the case, his record suggests that he ended-up in Germany by the end of the war.
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Sgt. Frank Raymond Wyles . British Army Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers from Langley Mill, Derbyshire Ray Wyles enlisted at Derby Recruiting Office to General Service Corps embodied Territorial Army 21st of January 1943. He was then posted to 7th Holding Company on 03/03/1943. The next move was to No 25 (Preston) Technical Training Group. The Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers laid claim to him on the 4th of March 1943. The trade he carried was as an armourer.
155 Infantry Brigade had the pleasure of his company from 18th of December 1943. (A typical posting order just in time to catch Christmas Duties. I wonder if he checked the small arms on Santas sleigh.)
He must have been popular there because on the 19th of January 1944 he was posted to Static Workshops REME. The next posting was on 1st of December 1945 to 3 Command Workshops. From there he was attached to 3 (WA) PTC on 28th of Feb 1946, he was posted to 163 (Inf) OCTU and then discharged on 11th of June 1947.
The tales I can remember from his REME career are as follows.
He was in front of the magistrates at Aldershot or Farnham. The charge was driving a motorcycle at 120 mph on Farnham by-pass. His defending officer got him off that charge with a right rollicking from the bench. The police men in the patrol car had an even bigger rollicking, in private, with magistrate. The police were asked about the calibration of the speedometer by the defending officer.
They said the speedo had been calibrated on the start of their duty and confirmed the speedometer read up to 100mph. Then crunch came when asked if the speedometer read up to 100mph how did they know the bike was doing 120mph.
The time spent in West Africa produced a few more oh dear events. He was charged by the Provost Marshall of WA but he never said what he did. The result was in front of his CO and reduced in rank from Sgt to Cfn. This resulted in a rapid posting to somewhere out the way. He duly got his clearance chit signed and reported to the Orderly Room. He mentioned that the slot was for a Sgt and he was a Cfn. He was told just go and behave yourself. Six weeks later three tapes back on his sleeve.
He was in a syndicate playing Monopoly for a penny a point. At one stage he owed the Bank of Monopoly £250,000 but he did manage to get the balance back in the black.
He said he had been flown back from West Africa to go to a unit in France. He got there on D Day +6. The telegram he sent a very confused wife which read "You are now in my thoughts more than ever Ray".
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Pilot Officer Clive R Wylie . RAF VR 59 Squadron
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Cpl. Ernest Wylie . British Army Durham Light Infantry My father Ernest Wylie was called out at 3am on the 3rd of September 1939. After a short time his Battalion joined the BEF in France.
I believe the DLI and the rest of the Northumbrian Division was part of the rearguard as the Army struggled back to Dunkirk. On the way my dad was severely wounded by a mortar splinter which damaged the flesh of his leg and smashed his ankle. Friends carried him to Dunkirk and left him on the beach. Fortunately, two sailors found him and carried him back to their ship a destroyer. As far as we were concerned, we thought he was gone but amazingly, we received a letter from him from Shotley Bridge Hospital.
I still remember it was packed with little room between the beds. After some time it was determined that his wounds rendered him unfit for service. Nevertheless, he joined the Home Guard and was a fire watcher for our area. They were hard times.
As I grew older, I got he sense that, because of his experiences, he always believed he was living on borrowed time. My mother said his service altered his character totally.
Lest we forget.
I was immensely proud of him.
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J Wylie . British Army Royal Armoured Corps J Wylie 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/O John McDonald Scott Wylie. . RAF 224 Sqd (d.11th Jan 1941 )
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