Pte. William Charles "Joe" Bedwell . British Army 2nd Btn. Royal Norfiolk Regiment I am trying to find any information on my father, William Bedwell (Joe), who served with the Royal Norfolk Regiment (2nd Btn I think). He was part of the BEF sent to France at the onset of the war. He was susequently captured by the Germans and shipped to a POW camp in Poland, where he stayed until being liberated by the Americans. He was originally from Ipswich. Does anyone remember him?
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CSM John Alfred Bedwin . British Army 5th Battalion Cameron Highlanders from Wandsworth My father joined the Territorial Army in 1938 (24/10/1938) - Royal Engineers and eventually ended up as a Company Sergeant Major in the 5th Battalion Cameron Highlanders being de-mobbed in 1946 (21/01/1946). Whilst with the Cameron Highlanders he took part in many offensives including the Falaise operation, Goodwood, and on into Germany which included a bayonet charge.
He told me that he was taken to Belsen after its liberation but did not talk any more than that about it.
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L/Sgt. James Bee . British Army 3rd Maritime Regiment Royal Artillery
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Sig. William Arthur Bee . Australian Navy HMAS Perth from Australia POW Camp Fukuoka 17 in Japan
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Paul Beebe . Canadian Army 4th Field Ambulance from Canada My father, Paul Beebe, was a Canadian Army medic (4th Field Ambulance) and was taken prisoner in Italy while retrieving wounded. He was a POW at Stalag 7A Mooseburg, Germany. He recalls volunteering for a mission in which 83 emaciated French women were taken from Mauthausen, driven through Switzerland and turned over to the French. He didn't weigh much more than 100 lbs at the time, but he carried one woman to the water pump and he didn't think she weighed half of his weight. He wonders if any of these women survived the horrors of Mauthausen and were able to make any kind of life for themselves.
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Private Bernard "Beechey" Beech . British Army Royal Norfolks from Reading (d.1 Mar 1945)
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P/O Charles Trask Beech . Royal Canadian Air Force 434 Sqdn. (d.17th June 1944) P/O Charles Trask Beech was an airgunner of Halifax bomber LK792. The Halifax was shot down by a nightfighter on 16th/17th June 1944 while raiding Sterkrade. The full crew were:
P/O Philip Alan Kingston, RCAF, Air bomber
F/O William Melvin McQueen, RCAF, Pilot
F/O Douglas Fraser McAllister, RCAF, Navigator
P/O Mike Habiluk, RCAF, Airgunner
P/O Charles Trask Beech, RCAF, Airgunner
P/O Arthur Warrington, RAF, Wop/Airgunner
/O William Gordon Pearcey, RAFVR, Flt. Engineer
Update
There were no survivors and the crew were buried at Ede, 10 miles from where they came down at Otterlo. RCAF crew members were later reburied in Groesbeek Canadian Cemetery.(Dick)
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Flight Lieutenant E W Beech . RAF VR 59 Squadron
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Pte. Ronald George Beech . British Army Northamptonshire Regiment from Northampton My great uncle, Ron Beech, was captured at Ypres around 1940-41 just after finding the body of his 'old mate' 'Ginger' having been shot moments beforehand. I don't know a great deal about his story nor do I have any photos and if anyone has any information etc. on him I would love to hear from you. I know that he was held for around 3 years at Stalag XX-B Malbork in Poland and his prisoner number was 12560. He was of medium height with a stocky build and the only distinguishing feature that I know of was a Bayonet like wound on one hand (the back and the palm). He was born on 8 July 1918 and passed away in Northampton General Hospital in 1981. I never really knew him but have heard bits and bobs about him over the years and wanted to share what little I did know of him as I'm extremely proud of what he and his brothers did for their country back then.
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Pte. Ronald George Beech . British Army Northamptonshire Regiment from Northampton My uncle Ronald Beech was captured in France and eventually taken to Stalag XXB in Malbork. He was involved in the long march and said he ended up in Berlin, wearing Polish cavalry trousers and boots. He said that a member of the Red Cross found him and took him to safety. He didn't speak much about his experiences, but did say they ate a lot of potato peelings and black bread. He also said that before they were marched away the Allies were bombing the area and they had to paint POW on the roof in white paint to avoid being bombed. He returned home in 1946.
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W Beech . British Army York and Lancaster Regiment W Beech served with the York and Lancaster 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: Unfortunately The Wartime Memories Project has lost touch 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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Assistant Engineer Ernest Arthur Beecham . Naval Auxiliary Personnel HMS Forfar (d.2nd Dec 1940)
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Sylvia Beecham . Land Army from Sheffield My mother-in-law served with the Land Army in the Sheffield area during Second World War. Mum is now 82 and her memory is not as sharp as it used to be. She as asked if I could try to contact someone, so that is what I am trying to do.
Her name was Sylvia Beecham and I think she served her time in Derbyshire. She lived in Sheffield but left there to join up.
Thanks for your time look I look forward to hearing from anyone who remembers mum as she has never been in contact since the end of the war.
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Cpl. Bernard George Beecher . Royal Navy Portsmouth Div. Co. E Royal Marine Engineers from Croydon My father, Benard Beecher was born in Sheffield in October 1915, where, after completing his schooling, he joined the Rating and Valuation Department at Sheffield Town Hall. In January of 1939 he moved to Croydon where he took up the post as Valuation Officer. His position delayed his call-up until December of 1941. In the meantime, out of work hours, he volunteered with the ARP. He told me of times when on duty he had to lie in the gutter as bombs came down. This was to be closest he came to hostile action.
In December 1941 he reported to Eastney Barracks in Portsmouth, home of the Royal Marines, and given his background, was taken on as a clerk. In June 1942 be became an Acting Corporal, Temporary, and in March 1943 became a Corporal. He was fortunate enough to spend all his service within the British Isles, travelling no further afield than Scotland and Wales.
At one posting, I think Fort William, there were always kippers for breakfast, but as these were so inedible, one of the favourite tricks was to take them out of the canteen, tie two kippers together with a short length of string, throw them onto the roof of a hut and watch the fun when the seagulls took one each.
He was finally returned to his wife and daughter, who had been bombed out of their Croydon flat in the Blitz, when he was released to the Reserve list on the 6th of December 1945.
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Pte. John Beechey . British Army Essex Regiment from Southwark, London John Beechey served in North Africa from 12th November 1943 to 22nd February 1944. He was a POW from 23rd February 1944 to 12th May 1945. John was discharged on 12th November 1945
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Flight Officer W R Beechey . Royal Air Force 640 Squadron (d.4 November 1944) W.R. Beechey was pilot of flight MZ409 Halifax Bomber which was lost with all its crew on 4 November 1944.
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W/O John Benjamin "Curly" Beeching . Royal Air Force 169 Squadron from Hornchurch, Essex I was stationed at Spitalgate being transferred from Cranwell in the early part of 1944. Both of these places were equipped with Blenheim Mark 1 and Mark IV twin enginged aircraft. I was a pilot being trained for night-fighters and these aircraft were considered to be a suitable transition, which, although fairly obsolescent, they were. Pilots stationed there were given a pretty thorough training, including Standard Beam Approach and 'Day-Night', a system using dark goggles simulating night flying. We were subsequently posted to a night-fighter Operational Training Unit, (OTU), either to Cranfield in Bedfordshire or Charter Hall in Scotland, where we did a further transition via Bristol Beauforts, Beaufighters and subsequently on to De Havilland Mosquitoes, before finishing up, generally, on a 100 Group, Bomber Command station somewhere in Norfolk. I was on 169 Squadron at Great Massingham, from where I flew my operations over Germany, but was transferred to Pathfinder Mosquitoes on 627 Squadron at war's end to engage in operations from Okinawa against the Japanese, but the atomic bombs knocked that on the head. Spitalgate was a pretty good station, being built in peacetime with comfortable accommodation and messes; a far cry from most Bomber Command places rapidly established for war-time. About the only dramatic incident at Spitalgate which I can recall was having to land a Blenheim with one wheel fully retracted, due to a hydraulic failure, but apart from a bent propeller the aircraft wasn't very damaged at all. I was twenty years old when that happened and things like that during the war never even made the local paper ! Sic transit and all that. I regret I have no photos.
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Sgt. Reginald Albert Beeching . British Army 29th Searchlight Regiment, 468th Bty. Royal Artillery (d.29th September 1945) Reginald Beeching died on 29th of September 1945 and is buried in a War Grave in New Romney, Kent.
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Stoker. Sydney George Beeching . Royal Navy HMS Kittywake My father and mother both served in the Second World War. Both enlisting in England. My father Sydney Beeching, enlisted in the Navy and after spending some time at Royal Arthur served at Pembroke and on the Kittywake from 20 December 1940 to 2 July 1943 according to his papers. Then he served on Pembroke 4 Steadfast from 3 July 1943 to January 1946. He also went to America on the Queen Mary when she went over for refitting as a troop carrier.
My mother was a telephonist in the Air Force but I don't know much about her postings or anything other than she was stationed at different airfields around Kent. Her name was Barbara Edna Bayly.
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Pte. Kenneth Wallace Beeden . British Army 2nd Btn. Durham Light Infantry (d.27th Apr 1944) Kenneth Beeden died in Burma during the Battle of Kohima.
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Fus. William Henry Beeden . British Army 2nd Btn. Royal Scots Fusiliers from Penrith Road, Peckham, London
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Fus. William Henry Beeden . British Army 4/5th Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers from London
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AB. Ernest William Beedham . Royal Navy HMS Dorsetshire from 31, Cochrane Street, Selby, Yorkshire Ernest Beedham joined the Royal Navy in March 1934 and served on HMS Dorsetshire as LTO from June 1937 to July 1941 when he was injured in action. He was discharged as physically unfit for naval service in Sept 1942
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Cpl. Herbert Beedham . British Army 1st Btn. Gordon Highlanders from Sheffield, England (d.5th June 1940) Herbert Beedham was my grandmother's brother. The Beedham family is from Sheffield, England. I am interested to find out the location of his headstone in a cemetery in France and on his parents' headstone in Sheffield.
Update: Herbert is buried in Franlau Churchyard, Somme, France.
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Sgt. Bert Andra Beedie . British Army Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry from Barking, Essex Bert Beedie was wounded January 1944 and reported as a casualty.
He was reported as missing on the 9th of February and then as a POW on the 15th of April 1944. He had been addmitted to
Mantova Hospital on the 28th of January 1944,
and transferred to Camp Lazarette 744 (POW Hospital) on 29th of February 1944. He was held in
Stalag 4A from 2nd of March 1944 to 23rd April 1945.
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Arthur Beedle . My grandfather Arthur Beedle was at Stalag 13C in Hammelburg. He died in December, 1989. If anyone has any information or knew him, please get in touch.
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Sgt. Stanley Beedle . RAF 101 Sqd. (d.3rd Nov 1943) My uncle, Stanley Beedle, aged 23 was shot down in a Lancaster over Germany in 1943, his date of death is 03/11/1943. He was based at Holme on Spalding Moor, 101 bomber squadron. He is now at rest in the Rheinberg war cemetary. Any infomation about him, his plane ,anything ,would be greatfully received.
Update:
Lancaster LM635 SR-H took off at 17:11 on the 3rd of Nov 1943 from Ludford Magna en-route to Dusseldoft. The aircraft was shot down and crashed in the vicinity of Manchengladbach, where all the crew were buried on the 6th of November 43. Subsequently they were re-interred in the Rheinberg War cemetery.
- Sgt J.M.Cummings
- Sgt S.Beedle
- Sgt E.G.Wall
- Sgt N.J.Shakespeare
- Sgt J.H.Harper
- Sgt G.F.S Maunders (ABC operator)
- Sgt C.J.Poulton
- Sgt J.Parsons
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William Beekman . British Army Seaforth Highlanders My Grandad, William Beekman, served in the Seaforth Highlanders, this is all I have. I'd like to find out more.
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Sgt.Art. Hendrikus Wilhelmus Bernardus Beekwilder . Royal Dutch Indies Army from Holland POW Camp Fukuoka 17 in japan
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Pilot Officer J C E Beelearts-Von Blokland . RAF 59 Squadron
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