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Those who Served
Thomas Cabido Cabrera . US Army 821st Tank Destroyer Battalion from Colton, California) My father, Thomas Cabido Cabrera, served with the 821st Tank Destroyer Battalion. He was wounded in the battle of St Lo.
I'd love to get more information about the 821st. There were several men
from his home town of Colton, California who also served with him. |
Sgt. Ted "Lad " Cachart . Royal Air Force 49th Squadron Warrant Officer. E.B. (Ted) Cachart. Wop/Ag, 49th Squadron (Lancaster) RAF Fiskerton, Lincolnshire - otherwise known as 'Ted the Lad' - was UK’s youngest ever Bomber Command crew member. He managed to enlist at the age of fifteen and, by the age of 18, had been promoted to Sgt. Wop/Ag.
In January 1944, Ted and his crew, two of whom were Royal Canadian Air Force, survived a mid-air collision near Berlin, only to become prisoners of war. All crew members of the second Lancaster tragically perished.
At the age of 86, Ted Cachart is on a mission to help other WW2 veterans access lottery funding before the Heroes Return 2 programme ends in January 2012. World War II veterans, their wives, husbands, widows or widowers and, in some cases, accompanying carers are eligible to apply for lottery funding that enables them to visit the countries where they or their loved ones once served. Funds of between £150 and £5,500 are available, depending on the number of people taking part and the destination. There are still many people who are unaware of this programme. It is not just ex-Army, Air Force and Navy personnel who can apply; Merchant Navy, Auxiliary Territorial Service, Navy Wrens and, in some cases, members of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force may also be eligible.
The 'Heroes Return 2' programme was first launched by The Big Lottery Fund in 2004 and has already provided over 50,000 veterans with funding, affording them to travel to places such as France, Holland, Italy, Greece, Malta, India, America, the Far East and North Africa. The scheme was extended by 12 months to allow more veterans to participate, with closing date for applications now being 31st January 2012.
Time is fast running out and Ted Cachart desperately wants to spread the word and help as many people as possible access the funds before it is too late. Having been through the successful application process himself, Ted is offering to help others do likewise. Based on his personal experience, he is offering general advice and free help with the associated form filling.
Ted Cachart knows only too well the bravery shown by the men and women who saw active service during World War II. He experienced the terrors himself, from the exceptionally young age of 15 (he 'embellished' his age in order to enlist), and is now appealing to everyone to spread the word that the 'Heroes Return 2' programme is ending in January 2012. It is hoped that many more people can benefit from this opportunity to travel and pay their final and fitting respects, revisit old battlefields and/or visit the sites where their loved ones fought.
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Greaser Charles Leo Cadden . Naval Auxiliary Personnel HMS Forfar from Bootle, Lancashire) (d.2nd Dec 1940) |
Austin Cain . Royal Navy HMS Nelson from Murton, Co.Durham) |
Henry Cain . Royal Navy from Sunderland) |
Sgt. F. J. Callaghan . Royal Air Force 419 Sqd. |
Margaret Callaghan . Land Army |
Ast Stwd Harry Callan . Merchant Navy SS Africa Star from Londonderry, Northern Ireland) Harry Callan is a WW2 Merchant Navy Vet whose story, with reference to his time as POW, appeared in our MN National mag, it states he was 87 and I wonder if he hasn't crossed the bar as of yet. he was only 17 yrs old when his ship called the SS Africa Star was cptured by an armed German Cruiser.
The Valentine Yard in the port city of Bremen has now being redeleloped for tourists. This place was originaly Called SS Camp Bremen-Farge.
From The Irish Times, 17th May 1945
The experiences of thirty-two citizen of Eire, all merchant seamen, in an S.S. camp in Germany, where five of them died from starvation or typhus, were described yesterday to an "Irish Times" reporter by William English, of Arklow, one of the thirty-two, who has just arrived in Dublin after his liberation.
He said the camp was at Bremen Farge, outside Bremen, and that the camp commandant - named Schaubecker - a month ago shot sixteen prisoners after announcing that he knew he would be shot or hanged by the Allied armies, and he "would take as many as he could with him."
Mr English saw a naked Belgian prisoner beaten to death with rubber hose for attempting to escape. A Pole was shot in the thigh while trying to escape, and the S.S. guards rubbed salt into the wound and beat him with electric cable. He walked from the end of the camp to the hospital, but a Russian doctor, also a prisoner, was refused permission to attend him, and gangrene set in. The doctor said it would be more merciful to shoot the man. The guard did so. Next morning a French prisoner who refused information was shot.
A Russian prisoner was thrown into the camp refuse heap and Schaubecker forced some of the muck from the heap into his throat with a wire before throwing him back on the heap. He was struck with a rifle butt on the head and killed. His body was left for three days on the heap.
The five citizens of Eire who died in the camp were:
- W.H. Knox, Dun Laoghaire;
- Owen Corr, of Rush, Co. Dublin;
- Gerald O'Hara, Ballina, Co. Mayo;
- Patrick Breen, Blackwater, Co. Wexford, and
- Thomas Murphy, of Dublin.
Mr. English said that he was a seaman on the Blue Star liner, s.s. Africa Star, and in January, 1941, while they were bound from South America to London, they were intercepted by the German surface raider, Steinmark, which took the liner's crew aboard and then sank her. The men were taken to Bordeaux and sent to Germany to camp Stalag XB, 10B Sandbostel.
The prisoners whose homes were in Eire were segregated and questioned by German intelligence officers and urged to work for Germany. They all refused.
In September, 1941, about fifty Irishmen, all seamen, were taken to Marlag, Nilag Nord, another camp, and thirty-two of them were sent to Bremen Labour Exchange. They were brought to a factory and again refused to work. Their guards suggested to them that, being Irish, they ought to work against Britain in the war. They were taken to Hamburg and asked to work on German ships, but again refused, and they were returned to Bremen Farge. In the camp they worked 12 hours a day, mostly at carrying rail tracks. Russian girls, aged from 16 to 18, were doing the same kind of work. In Bremen Jewish girls of from 15 to 18 worked in demolition squads.
Mr. English said that, apart from the effort to get them to work for German, the prisoners from Eire got no special treatment as citizens of a neutral State. They repeatedly wrote to Mr. Warnock when he was Eire's representative in Berlin, but received no answer and did not know if the letters had reached him. On August 18th last, Mr. C.C. Cremin, the new representative of Eire in Berlin, visited them at the camp, and their treatment improved. He made every effort to get them sent home.
After twenty-six months they were put on a train for Flensburg, but were forced back because Allied planes had destroyed a bridge on the route, and a repatriation ship, which they had expected to meet in a Swedish port, sailed without them. They were sent to the camp at Marlag Nilag Nord, which was captured in April by a Guards armoured regiment.
The names of the 27 men, who came out of the camp alive, are:-
- William English from Arklow
- C. Byrne, Arklow;
- Valentine Harris, Pearse House, Dublin;
- J.J. Moffat, Rosses Point;
- Bernard Goulding, Skibbereen;
- Harry Callan, Derry;
- Noel J. Lacey, Howth;
- Richard Flynn, Tramore;
- Thomas Cooney, Wexford;
- Edward Condon, Passage West, Co. Cork;
- William Kelly, Waterford
- J.J. Ryan, Waterford;
- Patrick Reilly, Wicklow
- Patrick Kavanagh, Wicklow;
- I.C. Ryan, Tramore;
- T.C. Bryce, formerly of Clontarf, Dublin, who lived in Australia before the war broke out;
- Thomas King, formerly of Clifden, now living in Newcastle;
- Peter Lydon, Tralee;
- P.J. O'Brien, Armagh, now of London;
- Michael Lowry, formerly of Galway, domiciled in Scotland;
- J. O'Brien, of Kinsale, living in Wales;
- James Gorman, Clogher Head;
- P.J. O'Connor, Carlingford;
- Michael O'Dwyer, Cork;
- Robert Roseman, Bray;
- James Furlong, Wexford
- William Knott, Ringsend, Dublin.
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Flight Seargeant J Callingham . RCAF 578 Squadron Handley Page Halifax III, NA568 LK-Q, took off 11th September 1944 16.04 hrs, Op: Gelsenkirchen. The aircraft was hit by flak and crashed 18.30 hrs. in Kirchhellen. All crew survived and made POW except Sgt J A Ridley who sadly was killed. Sgt J A Ridley is buried in the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery.
Crew:
P/O T S Coram RAAF
Sgt L Blundell
F/S J M Tregoning
F/S J Callingham RCAF
Sgt C Inge
Sgt J A Rix
Sgt J A Ridley
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John Callister . Bevin Boy John Callister was a Bevin boy at Lincoln, does anyone remember him? I'd love to hear any stories.
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Flt. Sgt. Clive Percival Calvert . RAAF w/op 106 Sqd from Mosman, New South Wales, Australia.) (d.16th Dec 1944) My Great Uncle, Flt Sgt Clive Percival Calvert (RAAF)flew with 106 Squadron as Wireless operator of ND682 Avro Lancaster. Below is some information I found on a Danish website
The aircraft belonged to RAF 106 Sqn. Bomber Command and was coded ZN-K.
T/o 00:45 15th Dec 1944 from Metheringham. OP: Gardening
The Lancaster is believed to have been claimed at 03:54 hours while flying at 2300 metres in the southeast part of the sea of Kattegat by a German JU 88 night fighter of 3./NJG 3.
The JU 88 was piloted by Hauptmann Eduard Schröder with the crew of Hessenmüller, Zeinert and Brunsendorf.
The body of Pilot F/O Elgar Barratt was found washed ashore at Kulla Gunnarstorp north of the Swedish town Hälsingborg and was laid to rest in Hälsingborg Municipal Cemetery.
The remains of Flt. Engr. Sgt John F. W. Emerson were retrieved from the sea 8 miles south of Anholt harbour on 6/3-1945. He was laid to rest by the Wehrmacht in Anholt cemetery on 7/3 1945.
W/Op F/S Clive P. Calvert RAAF, Mid Upper Gunner Sgt Raymond E.B. Day, Tail Gunner Sgt Percy E. Green, Navigator F/S Arnold Berry and Bomb Aimer F/S Edward G. Towle have no known grave and are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.
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Sgt. Russell Archibald Cambell . Royal Canadian Air Force flight eng. 419 Sqd. (d.9th Oct 1944) |
Spr. Bernard Charles Cambers . British Army 560 Field Coy Royal Engineers from Bedford) (d.17th Oct 1940) My father's brother Bernard Cambers along with Dennis Cooke, John Pratt were all Royal Engineers killed whilst laying mines at Gt. Yarmouth 1940. Can anyone remember this incident or have any information? |
CPO. William Richard Cambridge . Royal Navy HMS Dorsetshire from Plymouth) I would like you to put my father's name on the list of personel who served on H.M.S.Dorsetshire during the Second Word War He served from 1937 until she was sunk in 1942. He is a survivor.
Thank you. |
W/O Norman Alister "Jock" Cameron MID.. Royal Air Force Air Gunner W/Op 103 Sqd. from Barnard Castle) An extract from "Determination" the biography of 755390 W/0 Norman Alister Cameron
(by his daughter, Dani Miles nee Cameron)
Norman was born in 1917 and raised in Aycliffe Village. He knew that he wanted to fly from the age of 6 and he began to work out his dreams by making excellent model aeroplanes from that early age. Apparently he was inspired by the early aviation pioneers, flying circuses and such names as Owen Cathcart Jones and Alan Cobham. His guardian encouraged him in his ambitions. He did a succession of jobs whilst he made attempts to join the RAF. Meanwhile, until he truly earned his wings, he owned Norton and Brough Superior motorbikes on which he could fly up an down the A1 and A66.
On March 1st 1936, after numerous attempts, he was accepted into the Auxiliary Air Force; 608 Squadron RAF Thornaby, where he flew in, amongst others, Westland “Wapitis”, Hawker “Harts”, Hawker “Demons” and Avro “Tutors”. As his subsequent flying career was punctuated by at least nine “near-death” recorded accidents, as well as spending hours under fire in various Bombers, his survival can truly be described by that most abused expression - as attributable to having “Nine Lives”. Soon after he started flying, he used up his first two lives with crashes in which he sustained injuries which could killed him. At Muggleswade, Consett, as a passenger with a pilot practicing aerobatics, his ‘plane crashed with engine failure, in fields full of hay and hit a hay-rick, which caused it to turn over. The occupants were left hanging upside down in their straps, and he fell on his head and cut it open. The scar gave his hair an interesting parting. The smell of petrol and fear of fire remained with him for the rest of his days. On 11th July 1937, flying in formation with his Commanding Officer as pilot, the machine’s engine cut, and the ‘plane crashed at RAF Thornaby. He was knocked out and came round in an ambulance, suffering from concussion. Undeterred he transferred to the Volunteer Reserves on 27 June 1936.
When war broke out he was posted to Newton, Notts., where he joined the famous 103 Squadron of Bomber Command and was involved in many hair-raising operations collecting two mentions in despatches. Most notably he survived a crash landing in the mountains in Wales in January 1941 and a month later, a ditching in the North sea in February, where he floated for three days before being picked up by a Danish ship. Whilst he was missing. A wake was held for him and his crew at Newton.
As the result of frost bite and his injuries he was unift to go back to Bomber Command and he was posted to 276 Sqd Air Sea Rescue where he went on to have more spectacular exploits, being shot at in Walruses whilst rescuing others. The state of some of the bodies they pulled out of the sea, gave him nightmares for the rest of his life.
After the war he baled out of a burning Wellington that had been struck by lightening, over Pocklington on 5th November 1949. He was now a member of the Caterpillar Club as well as the Goldfish Club. About this time he gained a PPL at Middleton St. George where he gave his daughter her first flight, aged 2, in an Auster. He went on to serve in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) where he bought his own Tiger moth. He survived a crash in an Anson in the Bush. On his return to England in 1955 he was posted to Watton, Norfolk with 192 Sqn, Central Signals Establishment on Radar Counter-Measures, flying in Lincolns. Its main role was to listen–in and record Warsaw Pact electronic activity.
Eventually his various war injuries caught up with him and he was "grounded" and so opted to leave the RAF in 1959. He spent many months in Roehampton and other hospitals, in great pain for the rest of his life. He became increasingly disabled and was nursed by his devoted wife, Anne, until his death aged 64.
Max Hastings articulates that which my father felt keenly, a considerable degree of bitterness and a perception of an ungrateful nation: “It is one of life’s unfairnesses that the public to this day cherishes the RAF’s war time Fighter Pilots, the defenders, with an uncomplicated enthusiasm that does not extend to the bomber crews, who showed equal courage and suffered far heavier losses. …the boys who were risking everything to frustrate Hitler’s demented ambition.” (Telegraph May 11 2003) “It is understandable that Bomber Command veterans harbour a sense of hurt and injustice. Over half their number, some 55,000 men in their teens and early twenties were killed. It’s a staggering statistic yet it rarely gets a mention. Just taking off with tons of high explosive weapons and fuel on board took incredible bravery, then to cope with memories of the screams of crew members injured or dying, of bodies so shattered they had to be hosed out of turrets, of hours of boredom, cramp and excruciating cold followed by 20 minutes of terror over the target – was superhuman.” (William Ivory, Radio Times Feb 2002). |
W/O R. Cameron . Royal Canadian Air Force 419 Sqd. |
Carpenter's Mate A. Campbell . Naval Auxiliary Personnel HMS Forfar A Campbell was amongst those who survived when HMS Forfar was sunk in December 1940. |
Alexander Campbell . Royal Navy HMS Prunella (d.21st Jun 1940) |
Lt. Cmdr. Archibald Freebairn Campbell . Royal Naval Reserve HMS Forfar from Glasgow) (d.2nd Dec 1940) |
Pilot OFficer Frederick William "Teddy" Campbell . RCAF 582 Squadron from Pembrooke, NS) (d.23rd December 1944) I am desperately searching for any information about Pilot Officer Frederick William Campbell, known as Teddy, of 582 Sqd RCAF, age 29, of Pembrooke, Nova Scotia who died in action December 23, 1944. He is my half brother's father and we know nothing at all about him. My 70 year-old brother was adopted and never met or knew his Dad. Very sad circumstances. I am determined to search until I have answers. He died while serving his country and deserves to be recognized by his son for his bravery.
Update:
P/O Campbell was with 582 Squadron at the time of his death; the squadron lost 5 aircraft on 23/12/44 whilst on operations to Cologne.
Lancaster PB523, took off from Little Stoughton at 10.29hrs. Crew were
F/Lt Peter Alfred Thomas, DFC, RAF 172593, killed, age 22.
F/Sgt Vivian George Hobbs, RAF 1816098, killed age 20
F/O W.E.Vaughan, RCAF, POW
F/Lt A.R.Whittaker, POW
W/O H.Fuller, POW
Sgt G.Fallon, POW
W/O2 Frederick William Campbell, RCAF J/94493, killed, age 29
The Lancaster is believed to have crashed at Oppiter (Limburg), 4km SE of Bree in Belgium, though it is likely some of the crew baled out over Germany.
F/O Hobbs lies in the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, his death being attributed to a collapsed parachute canopy. F/L Thomas was originally buried at Oppiter but his grave is now at Heverlee War Cemetery, while WO2 Campbell RCAF, who was laid to rest alongside his skipper, has been taken to Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery, Holland.
—From Bomber Command War Diaries - Martin Middlebrook & Chris Everitt
Lancaster PB523 was one of 27 Lancasters and 3 Mosquitoes of 8 Group to attack the Gremberg railway yards.
The raid went very badly. The force was split into 3 formations, each led by an Oboe-equipped Lancaster with an Oboe Mosquito as reserve leader. During the outward flight, 2 Lancasters of 35 Squadron collided over the French coast and their crews were all killed. On approaching the target, it was found that the cloud which had been forecast had cleared and it was decided to allow the bombers to break formation and bomb visually; this move was made because the formations would have been very vulnerable to Cologne's flak defences during the long, straight Oboe approach. Unfortunately the order to abandon the Oboe run did not reach the leading Lancaster, a 582 Squadron aircraft piloted by Squadron Leader R A M Palmer DFC (on loan from 109 Squadron), who continued on with his designated role, even though his aircraft was already damaged by flak. German fighters, who were being directed to intercept an American bomber force, also appeared and attacked. The bombs from Squadron Leader Palmer's aircraft were eventually released and hit the target but his plane went down out of control and only the tail gunner escaped, by parachute. Squadron Leader Palmer, on his 110th operation, was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross, the only Oboe VC of the war; his body is buried in the Rheinberg War Cemetery with the other men who died in the Lancaster.
The formation suffered further losses when another Lancaster and a Mosquito were shot down by Flak ANF fighters and a further Lancaster was abandoned by its crew over Belgium. The losses were thus 6 aircraft out of the 30 dispatched.
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Sgt. George Arthur Campbell . British Army 30th Btn. The Buffs from Tottenham) (d.19th Apr 1942) I am looking for any information about my Grandad George Campbell and any photos, as there aren't any in the family. He died when my mum was just three months old, demonstrating how to throw a hand grenade which exploded. My mum doesn't know what he looked like, so any Batallion photos would be brilliant. |
Henry Campbell . Royal Corps of Signals from Glasgow) (d.24th August 1946) Henry Campbell from Glasgow served with Fitzroy McLean in the Royal Corps of Signals and died in Naples 24th August 1946. I am looking for information about him as a gift for my uncle's mother's 94th birthday (Campbell's sister). She is interested in why he was mentioned in dispatches. |
Hugh Campbell . Bevin Boy from Scotland) My father who will be 90 on June 2nd was a Bevin Boy. This article was published in our community newspaper "The Oakville Beaver" on May 17/08.
A Bevin Boy finally gets his war medal
He heeded his country's call and toiled in the darkest depths of the earth for years facing fires, floods and cave-ins. When it was all over he did not even get a thank you, until now. Oakville resident Hugh Campbell, 89, has finally been recognized for the role he played for England during the Second World War. He did not fire a rifle, pilot a plane or drive a tank, but what he did was just as important to the war effort and, at times, just as dangerous.
Campbell, a native of Scotland, was conscripted by England to mine coal.
"I was underground for more than two years," he said. "We were stationed in a place north of England near the ocean on the east coast. So, I worked under the sea."
Mining coal was not what Campbell had intended for his wartime experience and even today does not like to talk about it for fear listeners will find his stories boring. With the outbreak of war in September of 1939, Campbell, then 21, was initially drafted into the Highland Light Infantry where he was trained as a soldier.
"We were trained to do everything," said Campbell. "To fight and shoot and kill."
While he was never deployed to a battlefield, Campbell saw plenty of the enemy with Glasgow becoming a regular target for German bombers during the Battle of Britain.
"When an air raid broke out, we reported for duty and we went out with our guns," said Campbell. "You could see the German bombers at night time because our guns were firing and lighting up everything."
Campbell's regiment was also stationed in the English community of Chelston, which it was ordered to defend against a possible German land invasion or parachute drop. All this soldiering came to an end in 1943 when Campbell and around 48,000 other men were ordered to the mines.
This strange shift in professions was the result of a terrible mistake made by the British government at the start of the war when thousands of experienced coal miners were conscripted to fight with the armed forces.
This decision eventually had devastating consequences. As the war dragged on, England became desperate for coal, not only for the war effort, but to heat homes during the winter. The solution to this problem was a lottery in which soldiers whose service numbers ended in a particular digit were sent to replace the miners. These new mining recruits were called Bevin Boys after Ernest Bevin, the Minister of Labour and National Service, who invented the conscription program. For Campbell, having to move from being a soldier to a miner was a terrible shock.
"I was mad the whole war and it was because I was a Bevin Boy," he said. "I was trained as a soldier and I thought I was going to finish the war as a soldier and I wasn't." Despite his objections, Campbell knew he had no choice in the matter and went to work. With no uniform or badge for this job, Campbell would arrive at the mine every day in the oldest clothes he had and descend by elevator around 1,000 feet underground before reaching his station level. From there, Campbell said he had to walk another 1,000 feet to get to his work area.
"It was hot as hell in there," he said. "The only light was from our helmets." As much as Campbell and many of the other Bevin Boys wanted out of the mines, there were those who wanted them out even more. Not all of the experienced miners had been sent to war, and those who remained did not appreciate their mine being flooded with amateurs.
"There was one man who really didn't like me," said Campbell. "He was a real miner from that part of the country and he didn't want me there in case I did something stupid that would cost him his life." The man's name was John Graham. As it turned out, having Campbell around actually saved Graham's life one day during one of the mine's all too frequent cave-ins.
"The ceiling came down and I had to do a bit of digging to get him out," said Campbell. "After that I was invited to his house and I met his wife and his family, and they all acted like I did something heroic. It meant a lot to them." For the remainder of his time in the mine, Campbell and Graham worked together and even survived other cave-ins together.
During one particularly bad cave-in, both Campbell and Graham became trapped underground and with all lights going out there was nothing for them to do, but wait in the pitch-blackness for either rescue or death.
"John said, 'Do you remember when I told you that you would get to like this place so much you wouldn't want to leave it? Well, now you're not going to leave the bloody thing,'" said Campbell.
"I told him to shut his big mouth." Fortunately, a safety crew broke through moments later and took Campbell and Graham to safety. Other Bevin Boys would not be so lucky.
"One day I was talking to this guy in the cage (elevator) named Jimmy Edwards and halfway through the day I heard there'd been a fall-in and people had been killed and he was one of them," said Campbell. "I don't know how many Bevin Boys lost it."
Besides cave-ins, fire was another an ever-present danger in the mine, however, Graham taught Campbell an unusual way to escape with the help of the small ponies that were used to carry materials throughout the subterranean labyrinth. On one terrifying occasion, Campbell had to put this theory into practice.
"We were down there one day, and there was smoke and fire and we were choking and coughing," said Campbell. With little air and unable to find their way out due to the blinding smoke, both men could have perished had it not been for two nearby ponies.
"I had no idea what I was doing," said Campbell.
"I turned to John and said, 'What the hell do we do now,' and he said, 'The ponies will get us out. Grab it by the tail and give it a whack in the ass.'" Campbell said the ponies ran all the way to their stables at the foot of the surface elevator with the two men in tow. Campbell reported the fire and the situation was brought under control.
While the war ended in 1945, Campbell was not discharged from the mine until 1946, at which point he discovered that his entire underground experience was the result of a clerical error -- his serial number did not contain the proper digits to designate him as a Bevin Boy. "That really bugged my bum," he said. Although Campbell was able to return to his prewar job, many Bevin Boys found that their old positions had been given away.
They also received no medals or any other form of recognition until 2007 when the British government issued the Bevin Boy Veterans Badge, which Campbell received in the mail recently.
"I don't know whether I like it or whether I don't," said Campbell. "I survived and that's all I can say. I don't really need a medal."
Recognition of a different sort took place shortly before he was released from the mine when Campbell was invited to march in a parade during a professional miner's convention.
"A union guy came to me and asked me if I would carry their banner," said Campbell. "I was overwhelmed."
Campbell would later immigrate to Canada where he practiced real estate for many years in Oakville. He married, fathered three children and is now a grandfather of five.
Article by David Lea, The Oakville Beaver on May 17/08 |
F/O Ian Melville Campbell . RNZAF 61 Squadron (d.23rd September 1944) My great uncle flew a Lancaster with 61 Squadron and was killed on the 23rd of September 1944. I'm trying to find information on the only survivor, Sgt H.Lea who was put into Stalag Luft 7. I'd like to know if he is still alive.
>
> The crew were:
F/O Ian Melville Campbell RNZAF 426213
Sgt John Norman Hoad 1175274 23/09/1944
Sgt R.D.Cole
F/S M.J.Milne RNZAF
Sgt John McCabe 1348047 RAF Volunteer Reserve
Flt/Sgt Samuel Vernon Wickland 640170
Sgt H.Lea
>
> Lancaster ED470 took off at 19:07 23rd Sep 1944 to bomb the Dortmund-Ems Canal at Ladbergen near Munster. It crashed at 23:30 at Wechte, 3km from Tecklenburg. Those killed are now buried in the Reichswald Forest War cemetery. |
F/O. Ian Melville "Kiwi " Campbell . Royal Air Force 61 Squadron (d.23rd Sep 1944) My great uncle, Ian Melville Campbell flew a Lancaster with 61 Squadron and was killed on the 23rd of September 1944. I'm trying to find information on the only survivor, Sgt H.Lea who was put into Stalag Luft 7. I'd like to know if he is still alive. The crew were:
- F/O Ian Melville Campbell RNZAF 426213
- Sgt John Norman Hoad 1175274 23/09/1944
- Sgt R.D.Cole
- F/S M.J.Milne RNZAF
- Sgt John McCabe 1348047 RAF Volunteer Reserve
- Flt/Sgt Samuel Vernon Wickland 640170
- Sgt H.Lea
Lancaster ED470 took off at 19:07 on 23rd of Septemeber 1944 to bomb the Dortmund-Ems Canal at Ladbergen near Munster. It crashed at 23:30 at Wechte, 3km from Tecklenburg. Those killed are now buried in the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery.
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Flt Lt James Reith Campbell . RAF(VR) observer 78 Sqd. from Aberdeen, Scotland) (d.2nd Nov 1941) Flt Lt Campbell flew with my Uncle, James Mercer, I would love to hear from anyone who knew him.
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John E. "Johnnie" Campbell . My father-In-law, John Campbell, was captured in Salerno and was put in Stalag 2B. I was reading some of the entries and there was one by Jeff Baker that said his grandfather, J.D Akin, was captured in Salerno and was sent to Stalag 2B. My father-in-law talked about a man named J.D a lot, said they called him Possum. I would like to be able to get in touch with Jeff Baker to compare notes. They called my father-in-law Booger Red because of his red hair. John said that there were only two men that survived in Salerno, J.D and himself. They hid behind tomato vines while the Germans looked for them. Also is there a drawing or something that shows what Stalag 2B looked like?
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Neil Campbell MM.. Army 4th Btn. The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders |
Patrick " " Campbell . from Londonderry ) |
F/O Robert Roy Campbell . Royal Canadian Air Force nav. 419 Sqd. from Montreal, Province of Quebec, Canada.) (d.13th May 1944) |
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