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8th August 1944On this day:
If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.
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Remembering those who died this day.
- Assous Francois. Pte. (d.8th August 1944)
- Barlow William Thomas. (d.8th Aug 1944)
- Bates Sidney. Cpl. (d.8th August 1944)
- Blaydon Reginald William. Sgt. (d.1944-08-08)
- Brookman John. L/Cpl (d.8th August 1944)
- Crabb Sidney. (d.8th Aug 1944)
- Dube Henri Edouard. P/O. (d.8th Aug 1944)
- Durrant John Chetwynd. P/O (d.8th Aug 1944)
- Emmanuel Frank. Pte. (d.8th August 1944)
- Fortin Albert. Cpl. (d.8th August 1944)
- Graham Thomas. Pte (d.8th Aug 1944)
- Hopper James Henry. Pte. (d.8th August 1944)
- Jones Basil. Sgt. (d.8th Aug 1944)
- Longmore William. (d.8th Aug 1944)
- Longmore William. (d.8th Aug 1944)
- Merrick Peter William. F/Sgt. (d.8th Aug 1944)
- Morin Lucien. Privte
- Robinson Douglas Graham. Pte. (d.8th Aug 1944)
- Schryer J.. W/O (d.8th Aug 1944)
- Stedl Ambrose G.. Sgt. (d.8th Aug 1944)
- Walker Bruce Douglas. F/O (d.8th Aug 1944)
- West John E. WO1. (d.8th Aug 1944)
- Wilson Murray Gray. Flt Lt (d.8th Aug 1944)
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
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Want to know more about the 8th of August 1944? There are:40 items tagged 8th of August 1944 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. |
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Stories from 8th August 1944
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Privte Lucien Morin. Canadian Army, Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal. I visited this web site with great interest. I was specially interested in Cpl Albert Fortin who was killed on 8/8/1944, the same day as my
uncle, Pte Lucien Morin and resting also at the Bretteville-sur-Laize cemetery. It's quite possible that they were killed around the same time and place. I have researched the subject, based on family memories and documented facts. On that day, during the closing of the Falaise Gap (Operation Totalize), off-course US bombers mistakenly dropped their loads which resulted in the death of many Canadian and Polish troops.
I visited the cemetery in 1963 while stationed in Germany with the RCAF, and again on a vacation to Europe in 1998. The town of May-sur-Orne was liberated by the Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal on Aug 8, 1944 and the grateful citizens erected a commemorative plaque. Information is on this web site: www.normandie44lamemoire.com
However, in 1998 we could not find it. No one we spoke to in town was aware of it, not even the town hall staff. We are returning to Europe this summer, and will have a last look for it. John C Seguin
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Pte Thomas Graham. British Army, 6th Btn North Staffordshire Regiment. (d.8th Aug 1944) Its not so much a story but I am writing to find out if any other users of this site have a relative who survived the war and served along side my great uncle as I would like to hear his story, if possible, as my family have no information on him. Thank youDru Lunney
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P/O John Chetwynd Durrant. Royal Canadian Air Force, nav. 419 Sqd.. (d.8th Aug 1944) John Durrant flew with my uncle William Longmore, and I would like to contact any relatives of the crew members. The aircraft Lancaster X KB-755 coded VR-F and the entire crew were lost on the 8th August 1944 on a mission near Caen
The crew were: - F/O B. Walker RCAF
- Sgt. B. Jones RAF
- P/O J. Durrant RCAF
- F/O P. Merrick RCAF
- W/O1 J. Schryer RCAF
- F/Sgt. W. Longmore RAF
- F/Lt M. Wilson RCAF
Bill Longmore
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Sgt. Basil Jones. Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, flt eng. 419 Sqd.. (d.8th Aug 1944) Basil Jones flew with my uncle, William Longmore. The aircraft Lancaster X KB-755 coded VR-F and entire crew were lost on the 8th Aug.1944 on a mission near Caen
The crew were: - F/O B. Walker RCAF
- Sgt. B. Jones RAF
- P/O J. Durrant RCAF
- F/O P. Merrick RCAF
- W/O1 J. Schryer RCAF
- F/Sgt. W. Longmore RAF
- F/Lt M. Wilson RCAF
I am trying to trace a photograph of F/Sgt William Longmore the mid
upper Gunner. Any and all info will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. Bill Longmore
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William Longmore. Royal Canadian Air Force, mid upper gunner 419 Sqd.. (d.8th Aug 1944) I would like to contact any relatives of the crew members who flew with my uncle William Longmore. The aircraft Lancaster X KB-755 coded VR-F and entire crew were lost on the 8th Aug.1944 on a mission near Caen
The crew were: - F/O B. Walker RCAF
- Sgt. B. Jones RAF
- P/O J. Durrant RCAF
- F/O P. Merrick RCAF
- W/O1 J. Schryer RCAF
- F/Sgt. W. Longmore RAF
- F/Lt M. Wilson RCAF
I am trying to trace a photograph of F/Sgt William Longmore the mid
upper Gunner. Any and
all info will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. Bill Longmore
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F/Sgt. Peter William Merrick. Royal Canadian Air Force, bomb aimer 419 Sqd.. (d.8th Aug 1944) Peter Merrick flew with my uncle William Longmore. The aircraft, Lancaster X KB-755 coded VR-F and entire crew were lost on the 8th Aug.1944 on a mission near Caen
The crew were: - F/O B. Walker RCAF
- Sgt. B. Jones RAF
- P/O J. Durrant RCAF
- F/O P. Merrick RCAF
- W/O1 J. Schryer RCAF
- F/Sgt. W. Longmore RAF
- F/Lt M. Wilson RCAF
I would like to contact any relatives of the crew members, any and all info will be greatly appreciated. Bill Longmore
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W/O J. Schryer . Royal Canadian Air Force, 419 Sqd.. (d.8th Aug 1944) J Schryer flew with my Uncle William Longmore on Allen Weston's crew. The aircraft Lancaster X KB-755 coded VR-Fand entire
crew were lost on the 8th Aug.1944 on a mission near Caen
The crew were: - F/O B. Walker RCAF
- Sgt. B. Jones RAF
- P/O J. Durrant RCAF
- F/O P. Merrick RCAF
- W/O1 J. Schryer RCAF
- F/Sgt. W. Longmore RAF
- F/Lt M. Wilson RCAF
I am trying to trace a photograph of F/Sgt William Longmore the mid
upper Gunner. Any and all info will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. Bill Longmore
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P/O. Henri Edouard Dube. Royal Canadian Air Force, 425 Squadron. (d.8th Aug 1944) A distant cousin showed up on our steps Monday and the surprise about all this is that she's traveling across the Maritimes on a "scooter" with two dogs. Apparently, she was on a quest to find out about her grandmother's family (my grandfather's sister). What is amazing about all this is that her grandmother lost her husband during WWII. He was a Canadian pilot that crashed during a bombing mission over NAZI Germany. Through her entire life, she had never found out as to what had happened to him other than he was missing in action. Alexandra’s grandmother lived till 94, ever wondering if he was dead or if he'd ever return home. I didn't have a clue who this cousin was but it turns out that Alexandra is quite inquisitive and had done a lot of research on our family, the Roussel Clan. Anyway, she was curious about finding information about her grandmother’s “love of her life” so was in Edmundston doing research on the subject matter. She couldn't find much on the individual but found out where we lived.
Meanwhile, in 2010, my other great uncle (her grandmother's and my grandfather's brother) had sent me some information about this. Apparently, he was a good friend of this pilot when they were kids and by pure coincidence, in 2004, he was in Olizy, France, on a bus tour where he found a commemorative monument honoring this pilot by the name of Henri Dubé. He and his crew had been shot down and they had to crash land in France. They were rescued by the French Liberation Army but Henri decided to carry on to Paris on his own. He took off, eventually met up with an American pilot and they headed towards the capital. They got caught by Nazi soldiers and sent to a prison camp. They escaped from there and got again captured but this time they were shot to death. They were thrown in a mass grave but eventually the people of Olizy, unearthed the bodies and gave them a proper burial, complete with the story on the monument. My Uncle Ray, who lives in California, knew that I was a military history buff and had sent me a photo of the memorial with the explanation. So you can imagine how Alexandra (the granddaughter) felt when she found out what had happened to her grandfather. – Talk about a series of coincidence and a sense of closure for her. It's just too bad that her grandmother never lived long enough to find out the truth.
Gino Roussel
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Sgt. Ambrose G. Stedl. US Army, 743rd Tank Bn.. (d.8th Aug 1944) I am writing this to thank Amby Stedl and the other veterans who served during WWII. I wish I would have known him better, but that is my loss. Any info anyone may have would be great.Bill Baumann
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Sidney Crabb. British Army, 8th Battalion Middlesex Regiment. (d.8th Aug 1944)
Steve Smith
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William Longmore. RAF, 419 Sqd.. (d.8th Aug 1944) I would like to contact any relatives of the crew members who flew with my uncle William Longmore. The aircraft and entire crew were lost on the 8th Aug.1944 on a mission near Caen The aircraft Lancaster X KB-755 coded VR-F The crew - F/O B. Walker RCAF
- Sgt. B. Jones RAF
- P/O J. Durrant RCAF
- F/O P. Merrick RCAF
- W/O1 J. Schryer RCAF
- F/Sgt. W. Longmore RAF
- F/Lt M. Wilson RCAF
I am trying to trace a photograph of F/Sgt William Longmore the mid upper Gunner. Any and all info will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. Bill Longmore.
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L/Cpl John Brookman. British Army, 8th Btn. Middlesex Regiment. (d.8th August 1944) My uncle, John Brookman, came through Dunkirk and then went back on D-day or very soon after. He was killed near Caen, France on 8th August 1944. Does anyone know the history of his battalion in those times? He was in the TA before the war, so presumably he was called up very early in the war. The only information I have about him is from the Commonwealth War Graves website.Brian Edwards
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Cpl. Albert Fortin. Canadian Army, Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal. (d.8th August 1944) Cpl Fortin was killed in action on 8th August 1944 and is buried in the cemetery at Bretteville-sur-Laize.Dianne Nowlan
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William Thomas Barlow. Royal Air Force, 108 Squadron. (d.8th Aug 1944) We have a cup in the Bury Table Tennis League league called the Barlow Cup.
The Barlow Cup is named after a man named William Barlow who died serving the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 108 Squadron in 1944 in Alexandria, Egypt. I was able to find William Thomas's grave and as such learned he had a wife named Vera and he was the son of James & Florence Barlow.
The Barlow Cup was presented to the Bury league by Vernon Peatfield in 1947. The winner of the open singles championships gets presented this cup. Twice throughout the years it has gone missing but we have it back now. We are getting it restored and it will look great when we have done this.
Both Bill & Vernon were National standard table tennis players in the late 1930s and are featured in a few magazine articles from 1938 & 39 but I cannot find them in any other post war magazines.
Vernon & Bill were a formidable doubles team making many finals together.
In addition to being doubles partners they were frequently opponents. Bill won the open singles tournament in Bury in 1937/38 and in the 1938/39 season Vernon & Bill were opponents in the open singles final with Vernon being victorious.
This cup has an engraving on the front of it relating to how Bill passed serving for the RAF on the 8th of August 1944.
We have correspondence (the last) from Vernon from 1959 stating that even though he moved to Northampton he liked to keep in touch how the Bury League was performing.
Does anyone have any knowledge of anything relating to Bill Barlow or Vernon Peatfield within your memory banks or stores of information, Anything at all relating to Bill Barlow or Vernon Peatfield?
Vernon was A Vernon Peatfield. We believe the A stood for Arthur and he possibly married a lady called Marjorie Naylor although this may be incorrect. Bill was W.T Barlow.
Anyway, hoping you can help somehow, would love to hear from you.
Simon King
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Pte. James Henry Hopper. british Army, Seaforth Highlanders. (d.8th August 1944) James Hopper is my mother's brother. My aunt remembers his wife who was from Scotland. He originally came from the Leyton area and was posted to Scotland. I think he was with the Black Watch as well as the Seaforth Highlanders. He was 24 when he was killed in Caen,I believe. He was killed on the 8th August 1944. My aunt kept mentioning 'Tilly La Campagne' or a battle in which he was killed. Cliff Harris
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Pte. Frank Emmanuel. British Army, 6th Battalion Gordon Highlanders . (d.8th August 1944) Frankie Emmanuel was a very charismatic only child, a bit of a clown with a devil may care attitude, good looking and loved teasing people and carrying out pranks. He got into trouble after dressing up as an army captain and going out on the town. It was said when he was caught he tried to make light of it and his punishment was to be sent to the front line. His death was devastating to family and friends.
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Pte. Francois Assous. British Army, 364 Coy. Pioneer Corps. (d.8th August 1944) Private Assous was the Son of Mikael and Camouna Assous; husband of Mathilde Assous, of Tunis.
He is buried in the Tunis (Borgel) Jewish Cemetery, Plot 1, Grave 31, in Tunisia
S Flynn
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Sgt. Reginald William Blaydon. DFM. RAFVR, 9 Squadron. (d.1944-08-08) Reginald Blaydon was an Air Gunner in Wellington bombers and was based at RAF Honington in Suffolk. And on the night of 11th January 1941 as part of a 6 member crew took off for a bombing mission to Turin.
Aircraft WS- R1224 was forced to land near Miserieux in France and all crew were uninjured however they were all interned. Five of the grew managed to escape and eventually returned to the UK and took place in further operations.
He was promoted to Flying Officer awarded the DFM and was killed whilst flying a mission on the night of 8th of August 1944.
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Pte. Douglas Graham Robinson. British Army, 7th Btn. Black Watch Royal Highlanders. (d.8th Aug 1944) Douglas Robinson was tragically only 21 years old at the time of his death. He had served for two years in the Army. He died on 8th of August 1944 during Operation Totalise, in Garcelles. My family always spoke of him and I was fascinated to learn more about him. Firstly in 2010, I visited Edinburgh Castle and found his name in the Roll of Honour there. I then visited the Wroughton War Memorial in Wiltshire, and his name is inscribed on there.
In 2015, I had the privilege to travel to Normandy on a staff ride with the Royal Air Force. (I am current serving RAF). We visited all of the Normandy Landing beaches, and I was able to ask them to take me to Douglas's Cemetery. I found it on find a grave.com, and details of his exact plot number. I was overwhelmed to see a family headstone in a random foreign cemetery. None of my family had ever visited his grave before, and to follow in his footsteps as current serving military myself, looking down on his grave was very emotional. My RAF Officer took a photograph of me crouching beside the headstone.
I felt a sense of guilt that he had been in that cemetery for 71 years with no family visit. My grandparents couldn't get there when they were alive. I'll never forget my visit to Normandy, it was life changing. I still think about Douglas and I need to take my dad and brother across to see it for themselves to see it.
My brother found a book in Swindon Library this week called 'Reflections of Wroughton', and we were overjoyed to finally see a decent photograph of Douglas. He looks very alike to me, and four of his service number digits are identical to mine, which is a bit bizarre. This has re sparked my interest in finding out more about him. I have applied for a copy of his death certificate from the GRO, and hope to apply for his Service Records. Unfortunately, I heard his brother sold off his medals in the 1980's in the Devizes area. I would love to try and track them down somehow and get them back. The whole story is pretty strange, I believe Douglas ran away from home from Wiltshire to join the Black Watch in Scotland, for reasons unknown.
The Black Watch Museum emailed me back in 2015 and told me:
"The 7th Battalion Black Watch landed on D-Day +4, ie 10th June, as part of the reinforcing wave of troops. By this point the identities of the initial landing beaches have become merged to become the Normandy beachheads, as opposed to Sword, Gold, Juno etc. Operation Totalise was the closing of the Falaise Gap. Basically the advances of the Americans and Anglo Canadian forces had created a pocket containing the remaining elements of Germany Army Group B, the 7th Army and the 5th Panzer Army. Between the 12th and 21st of August Operation totalise was launched to close this gap.
The 7th Battalion Black Watch were given as their target the strategically important town of Garcelles. Suspecting little resistance the whole 51st Highland Division, of which the 7th was part, launched their operation 24 hours early and had almost complete success.
Only C Company encountered any resistance with three enemy machine gun nests. Following the attack on the town the Germans shelled it heavily, and whether your great uncle was killed in the initial attack with C Company, or later when the town was bombarded, I do not know. The Falaise Gap was eventually closed, and cost the Germans over 100,000 soldiers killed, wounded and/or captured, along with most of their armies equipment."
Any extra information, photographs, records, stories etc relating to Douglas would be most appreciated. I would also love to try and track his medals down and get them back, and perhaps purchase a replica or similar SD cap to what he is wearing in the photograph.
Neil Robinson
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