The Wartime Memories Project
The Second World War - Day by Day.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site you agree to accept cookies. If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation.     Site Home     WW2 Home     Add Stories     WW2 Search     Library     Help & FAQs  WW2 Features     Airfields     Allied Army     Allied Air Forces     Allied Navy     Axis Forces     Home Front     Battles     Prisoners of War     Allied Ships     Women at War     Those Who Served     Day-by-Day     Library     The Great War  Submissions     Add Stories     Time Capsule     TWMP on Facebook     Childrens Bookshop  FAQ's     Help & FAQs     Glossary     Volunteering     Contact us     News     Bookshop     About Advertisements World War 2 Two II WW2 WWII 1939 1945

2nd December 1943 On this day: Devastating attack on Bari  The SS Fort Athabasca was a merchant ship owned by the Canadian Government but registered in Great Britain. She was owned by a crown corporation, Wartime Merchant Shipping Ltd., which chartered them to the British Ministry of War Transport. On 2nd December 1943 the Fort Athabasca was in dock at Bari, ready for departure carrying 76 tons of cargo, mail and 2 captured German 1000 rocket bombs. It was part of a large allied convoy of tankers, ammunition ships and supply vessels at anchor in Bari. Twenty German planes attacked the docks and when one of the ammunition ships was hit and blew up, it started a domino effect, ship after ship caught on fire. The ship next to the Athabasca blew up, and despite the crews heroic efforts, the 2 German bombs exploded killing 46 men out of her complement of fifty six.  Devastating attack on Bari  Orders Cancelled  9 Squadron Lancaster lost  Operations  W Coy moves  CO visits B/99 section and 5 Div.  Mid-air collision  Two Pathfinders lost over Berlin  Aircraft Lost  In Action  Move Order  Instructions  on the Move  Advance  Aircraft Lost  Operations  Ops If you can provide any additional information, please add it here. Remembering those who died this day. Ashman Graham Leslie. F/O. (d.2nd Dec 1943) Blackwood James Lawson. Sgt (d.2nd Dec 1943) Lowle G. P.. WO.2 (d.2nd Dec 1943) Luke. Albert George. Sgt (d.2nd Dec 1943) Mallen John James. Able Sea (d.11th Dec 1943) Street. Leslie Charles John. Sgt (d.2nd Dec 1943) VanHal. Henrui Antonius. Sgt (d.2nd Dec 1943) Warwick K. E.. P/O. (d.2nd Dec 1943) The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed, please Add a Name to this List The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website. Announcements The Wartime Memories Project has been running for 24 years. If you would like to support us, a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting and admin or this site will vanish from the web. 22nd April 2024 - Please note we currently have a huge backlog of submitted material, our volunteers are working through this as quickly as possible and all names, stories and photos will be added to the site. If you have already submitted a story to the site and your UID reference number is higher than 263973 your information is still in the queue, please do not resubmit, we are working through them as quickly as possible. Looking for help with Family History Research?   Please read our Family History FAQ's The free to access section of The Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers and funded by donations from our visitors. If the information here has been helpful or you have enjoyed reaching the stories please conside making a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting or this site will vanish from the web. If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation. Want to find out more about your relative's service? Want to know what life was like during the War? Our Library contains an ever growing number diary entries, personal letters and other documents, most transcribed into plain text. We are now on Facebook. Like this page to receive our updates. If you have a general question please post it on our Facebook page. Wanted: Digital copies of Group photographs, Scrapbooks, Autograph books, photo albums, newspaper clippings, letters, postcards and ephemera relating to WW2. We would like to obtain digital copies of any documents or photographs relating to WW2 you may have at home. If you have any unwanted photographs, documents or items from the First or Second World War, please do not destroy them. The Wartime Memories Project will give them a good home and ensure that they are used for educational purposes. Please get in touch for the postal address, do not sent them to our PO Box as packages are not accepted. World War 1 One ww1 wwII second 1939 1945 battalion Did you know? We also have a section on The Great War. and a Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations. Want to know more about the 2nd of December 1943? There are:17 items tagged 2nd of December 1943 available in our Library   These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War. Stories from 2nd December 1943 Sgt James Lawson Blackwood. Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve , 90 Sqdn. (d.2nd Dec 1943) I believe James Blackwood to be a member of my extended family and his death is commemorated on the War Memorial in Wellington Square, Ayr. However, there is no next of kin details recorded on the CWGR website. Can anyone fill in some of the obvious gaps, eg why is he buried in Esbjerg Cemetery, Denmark, does anyone have any information which might help trace close relatives? Any help, however small will be greatly appreciated. Douglas Blackwood Add to this record. Sgt Albert George Luke.. RAF, 626Sqd.. (d.2nd Dec 1943) Rear Gnr. Albert Lake was killed on 2nd December 1943 flying with 626 sqd. Add to this record. Sgt Leslie Charles John Street. . RAF, 626 Sqd.. (d.2nd Dec 1943) Nav. Leslie Street was killed on 2nd December 1943 with 626 Sqn Add to this record. Sgt Henrui Antonius VanHal. . RAF, 626 Sqd.. (d.2nd Dec 1943) Flt Eng. Henrui Van Hal was killed on 2nd December 1943 flying with 626 Sqn Add to this record. F/O. Graham Leslie Ashman. Royal Air Force, 106 Squadron. (d.2nd Dec 1943) My Uncle Graham Ashman was killed during a bombing operation on Berlin in December 1943. The crew of Lancaster ED874 which left Metheringham at 1640 were:- Pilot: Pilot Officer Ronald Frederick Neil Bomb Aimer: Flying Officer Graham Leslie Ashman Flt.Eng: Sgt. Malcolm James Sheryn Sgt: John Frederick Harmes W.Op. Flt.Sgt Thomas Jack Robertson Air Gunner: Sgt.Raymond Price Prothero Air Gunner: Sgt. George Henry Stubbs All except Sgt Harmes are buried at the Berlin 1939-45 War Cemetery. Sgt Harmes who has no named grave and is remembered at Runnymede. Add to this record. WO.2 G. P. Lowle. Royal Canadian Air Force, 432 Squadron. (d.2nd Dec 1943) G.P. Lowle served as a navigator with 432 Squadron. His aircraft was shot down by an M109 or flak. He is buried in the Berlin War Cemetery. Andre Genest Add to this record. P/O. K. E. Warwick. Royal Air Force, 9 Squadron. (d.2nd Dec 1943) Pilot Officer K.E.Warwick was piloting Lancaster DV334 WS-C of 9 Squadron on Operations to Berlin on 2nd of December 1943. The plane was shot down by a German fighter on 3rd of December 1943 while on the approach to Gamston Airfield, in Nottinghamshire. The crash site is identified as Markham Clayton. Five crew members were killed but two survived. Those who were killed were taken for burial to various parts of the UK. Add to this record. Able Sea John James Mallen. Merchant Navy, SS Fort Athabaska. (d.11th Dec 1943) John James Mallen is my second cousin on my paternal line. I have only just discovered details of his death in WW2 at the age of 22 and have seen a photograph of his grave in Bari Military Cemetery, Italy. I would like his name included with those who perished as a result of the attack on Bari Harbour on 2 December 1943. Patricia Kenny Add to this record.

Can you help us to add to our records? Add a record to our website. The names and stories on this website have been submitted by their relatives and friends. If your relations are not listed please add their names so that others can read about them Did you or your relatives live through the Second World War? Do you have any photos, newspaper clippings, postcards or letters from that period? Have you researched the names on your local or war memorial? Were you or your relative evacuated? Did an air raid affect your area? If so please let us know. Help us to build a database of information on those who served both at home and abroad so that future generations may learn of their sacrifice. Contact us. Celebrate your own Family History Celebrate by honouring members of your family who served in the Secomd World War both in the forces and at home. We love to hear about the soldiers, but also remember the many who served in support roles, nurses, doctors, land army, muntions workers etc. Please use our Family History resources to find out more about your relatives. Then please send in a short article, with a photo if possible, so that they can be remembered on these pages.

The free section of the Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers. We have been helping people find out more about their relatives wartime experiences since 1999 by recording and preserving recollections, documents, photographs and small items. The website is paid for out of our own pockets, library subscriptions and from donations made by visitors. The popularity of the site means that it is far exceeding available resources and we currently have a huge backlog of submissions. If you are enjoying the site, please consider making a donation, however small to help with the costs of keeping the site running. Hosted by: The Wartime Memories Project Website is archived for preservation by the British Library Copyright MCMXCIX - MMXXIV - All Rights Reserved We do not permit the use of any content from this website for the training of LLMs or for use in Generative AI, it also may not be scraped for the purpose of creating other websites.