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Corporal Fredrick Wyman . Royal Army Service Corps Fredrick Wyman was my grandfather. I am trying to find some information on him as our family has so little. We know that he was a driver in the Royal Army Service Corps and that he drove some quite influential people around but that is it, we would love to know more.
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Elsie Maud Wymer . Auxiliary Territorial Service from Moulton St Mary, Acle, Norfolk My Mum, Elsie, was very proud to have served in the ATS. She told me how she loved her uniform and marching. She was in the Officer's Mess and was trained by a French chef.
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RS Wymer . British Army RS Wymer 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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Mjr. Willliam Wynn-Werninck . British Army 19 MT Company Royal Army Service Corps  I sailed over to Arromanches from Tilbury with my unit, 19 Company RASC (MT) of some 250 vehicles, aboard the
Canadian built Liberty ship
Fort Brandon.
We anchored about 2 miles off Arromanches on the east side of the Mulberry Harbour.
That evening about 1000 pm a German bomber flew over us. There was some sp
eculation about what th
e plane was up to, the
feeling being that she was dropping acoustic mines. That night, fro
m a flat calm evening, it blew
up Force 5-6, causing the
Captain concern that
Fort Brandons
anchor chain could set off a nearby mine.
Next morning I watched our vehicles being unloaded onto the big Rhino barges run by the Sappers and went back to my cabin for
a wash and brush up before breakfast. I was just doing this when
there was a heck of a bang. I shot
out on deck where I was
appalled to see, 2 cables away, a corvette type of ship with her bows blown off to the 4.7 gun mounting. She was blowing off
clouds of steam but slowly got
under way, having eased the surv
ivors away, and started heading fo
r the beach adjoining the
Mulberry caissons. We were all saddened on deck as no lifeboat was lowered to help those in the water and, in particular, one
sailor who was manfully swimming
towards the beach a long way ah
ead. Lifeboats were not lowered
for fear of mines. I then
hurried back to my cabin and did three small
water-colour sketches of what I had seen.
In July 1994 I found these sketches and
wrote to Navy News to ask if anyone could identify the ship. To my delight the next
Navy News had several letters in it whic
h gave her name as HMS Orchis (K76).
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Sgt. Margaret Alfreda Wynne MiD.. Womens Auxiliary Air Force from London Peggy Wynne served as a WAAF, most notably at Elvington Airfield.
She met her husband, Flight Lt. Glyn Burchill whilst at Elvington, a meeting that was not so much a romantic one, but a stark reminder of the time.
Glyn was manning the control tower, trying his best to land a Lancaster Bomber on a very foggy night. His instructions to the bomber were to keep flying around the base until the fog cleared enough for them to see the runway. Meanwhile he got to work setting fire to oil drums along the landing strip in an attempt to make it more visible.
Unfortunately, this was no help and the bomber radioed in that they were very low on fuel and had to land. As a last ditch attempt to guide them in as safely as he could, he went out onto the balcony of the control room and waved flares. All of a sudden the bomber emerged from the fog dead ahead of Glyn and meters from him, he could see into the cockpit and the expressions on the men's faces, the bomber was headed straight for him and Tower. On seeing him the bomber quickly diverted, up and over the back of the tower, tragically, crashing on the other side.
Glyn quickly ran down the stairs and out to the back, only to find a truly gruesome sight. None of the men had survived, leaving limbs scattered through trees and around the crash site. He slowly walked back into the tower in a state of shock and disbelief, Peggy caught a glimpse of him and sat him down and got him a cup of tea. She recounted later, that she had never seen someone turn green with nausea, and thought it a myth, until that day.
Peggy went on to be mentioned in dispatches and receive a medal that was personally awarded to her by the president of France, the following is an article written in the Daily Mail 2nd Oct 1947 about this achievement:
France offers award to former WAAF interpreter
The French Government have been in touch with the British Air Ministry with a view to offering a high decoration to a former WAAF, Mrs Burchill, of Wood Green, London, for her work as liaison officer at a French bomber group airfield in Elvington, Yorkshire, during the war.
Because she could speak French, she was asked to stay on at the airfield when it was handed over by the RAF to the French. It was her job to translate the messages that came through from RAF HQ to the bomber pilots.
A great deal depended on her accurate translations, questions of bombing routes and targets, rendezvous with escorts, bomb and petrol loads and all the detailed work passed through her hands. She often was given very little time to convey the information to the French. Mrs Burchill told me yesterday that she treasured many memories of the French pilots who were under the command of Colonel Bailley.
Casualties were heavy and the squadrons were occasionally being replaced by other French pilots from an RAF feeding centre. All together she spent 18 months with them. Before the RAF handed over, however, she had met her future husband. Flight-Lieut Glyn Burchill, who was stationed on the airfield. They are married and have one child.
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SM Wyrill . British Army Royal Armoured Corps SM Wyrill 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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