Desmond Conway Carroll . British Army Royal Army Medical Corps (d.10th Aug 1942) Desmond Carroll is remembered on the Rangoon Memorial.
|
Frank Carroll . Royal Navy HMS Sirius I served on HMS Sirius for most of the war and still have great memories of the convoys to Gibraltar, Malta, etc.
|
John Carroll . Army 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers My father, John Carroll, died in 1977. I recently started to research his WW2 history. He enlisted with the 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers, No. 6978725, on 29/7/37. After training at home he was sent to Malta for a short period before heading off to Palestine. After Palestine he then returned to Malta before the war broke out and remained here for the entire siege. After victory, he then went on to Leros, where he was captured by the Germans, 15th Nov 1943, and taken POW to Stalag IVB at Muhlberg, Germany, POW No. 267891. He was here until its liberation, then returned to Perth, Scotland to Military Hospital for some time, before ceasing his military career on 29/5/46
He died when I was 5 years old so I never got to hear his story first hand. I have spent a great deal of time researching his story, but as yet I have not found one photograph. Does anyone out there have even a Battalion photo that he may be in?
|
Pte John Carroll . British Army Royal Artillery Jack Carroll lived in Bradford, Manchester. He married and had 3 sons and six daughters.
Born in 1905 he emigrated to Australia in 1949
and worked in the building trade
He was located around the UK at Taunton, Barnard Castle, Catterick and other places plus Ostend Belgium, then Mhow in India.
I have some photos of him and others taken in Ostend.
|
Cpl. Junious Geary Carroll . United States Army CAC 31st Inf Regt (US) Phil Div. Coast Artillery Corps POW Camp Fukuoka 17 Japan
|
L Carroll . British Army Duke of Wellingtons West Riding Regiment L Carroll served with the Duke of Wellingtons West Riding 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 are no longer in 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.
|
Luke Carroll . Royal Navy
|
Pvt Patrick John Carroll . Australian Army POW Camp Fukuoka 17 Japan
|
Pvt. Richard Cyril Carroll . Australian Army POW Camp Fukuoka 17 Japan
|
Tim Carroll . My Dad was also a POW and I found out this weekend that he was in Stalag 4B and Stalag 12A. My understanding is that he was liberated by the Russians in May 1945. Like many, he had little to say on the subject. He passed away in 1989.
|
F/O Wilfred John Carroll . Royal Australian Air Force 148 Sqdn. (d.19th January 1942) Wellington W5584 was shot down off Greece whilst on a bombing run to Salamis on 19th January 1942. The crew are commemorated on the Alamein Memorial, they were:
Sgt H.T. McGrath, RCAF
P/O H.R. Merry, RAFVR (served as John Bertram Scard)
S/Ldr M.E. Abbott DFC, RAF
Sgt I.T. James, RAFVR
F/O W.J. Carroll, RAAF
Sgt. J.A. Sellars, RAFVR
|
Sgt. Derek Carrott . Royal Canadian Air Force 405th Squadron from London (d.29th July 1944) My father's cousin, Derek Carrott served as a sergeant and flight engineer, on Lancaster mkIII LQ-M JB707 in 405 squadron.
His Lancaster went down on night of 28th/29th July 1944 after a raid on Hamburg. My Dad adored his older cousin and Derek was just 18 when lost, both of them being pranksters in their youth according to Derek's sister [now 85] and Derek was a family hero. Not the least because my Dad worshipped his cousin and would have tears in his eyes when telling me and my sister about his cousin Derek, some forty years later.
Derek's log book simply states Missing Presumed Killed for the fateful raid. We now know that his Lancaster went down in Ring Kobing Fjord off the Danish coast and although Derek was never found, his crew member Colin Blyth was found on the beach nearby and buried with full military honours by the Germans at Haurvig cemetery in Denmark.
Until her dying day in the nineteen seventies, his mother, my great aunt Jessie hoped and prayed that Derek had baled out, been captured and then escaped to Switzerland perhaps and would eventually return safely. The wishes of thousands of mothers no doubt?
RIP Derek, probably still ling with the wreckage of his Lancaster and still with his crew I expect.You are a hero to us and never forgotten I hope my Dad and you are enjoying your pranks once again?
|
Richard Joseph Carrrington . Bevin Boy from London Memories of a Bevin Boy, Dick Carrrington
In December 1943 Ernie Bevin, Minister of Labour in Churchill's coalition government, (and later a key member of Attlee's post war Labour government) decided that the nation would be better served if 10% of all conscripts were sent into coalmining instead of the Armed Services
The method of selection was to have a weekly draw from a hat containing the ten digits from 0 to 9, and if that digit was the last number on a man's enlistment form then he was to be a miner.
On entering the Labour Exchange to sign up, I stopped to tie up a loose shoelace letting another man go before me. That resulted in me getting the dreaded digit. Fascinating to think that so many aspects of my life were affected by that shoelace. I had wanted to join the Fleet Air Arm and had I done so, there is a fair chance that I would not have survived the war, almost certainly not have married the woman who has so far given me 62 lovely years of married life, and my three children, eight grandchildren and five great grandchildren would not have been born.
Anyway, I was now a coalminer together with 45,000 other lads, including Jimmy Saville, Eric Morecambe and Lofthouse the footballer, all of them born in 1926, my year of birth. There was no appeal against this unless supported by two doctors.
So I found myself issued with a helmet (which I still have) and some steel tipped boots, and sent to Askhern pit in Yorkshire for six weeks training before being assigned to Hickleton Main Colliery in Thurnscoe, near Doncaster.
There I made brief acquaintance with the local hero, a promising boxer, Billy Thomson who from 1947 to 1950 was British lightweight champion
Shifts worked were "days" 6.0 am to 2.0p.m and alternate weeks "afters" 2.0p.m to 10 p.m. The night shift was reserved for "ripping" (repairs). I always thought it quite a beautiful sight to see the night shift coming off work while it was still quite dark, with their lamps all bobbing like hundreds of fairy lights.
The first two weeks were spent above ground on the screens. Tubs of coal were tipped over onto a metal conveyor belt which carried it 80 yards to railway trucks. The job was to pull off anything that was not coal. The noise was so intense that conversation was impossible and the dust was so thick that breathing was uncomfortable. All much worse than anything I later experienced underground
Then down in the "cage" dropping like a stone to the pit bottom, with my ears popping like mad. Bevin boys worked mostly on haulage but I did do a couple of jobs on the coalface. One was drilling holes for the shotfirer to place his explosives. The other was "on the plough" which meant shovelling back all the coal which had spilled off the belt which carried coal from the face to the loader.
I was a keen member of the Hickleton St.John team and we competed against teams from other collieries and the police force and fire brigade. There were no fatal accidents at Hickleton while I was there. But one chap died of natural causes (I think it was a heart attack) and I had to give him artificial respiration for some time. I afterwards asked the rescue man in charge why did I do this to a man obviously dead. He explained that a while back when taking a corpse to the pit top the change in pressure caused a sort of sigh or groan. Rumours then went around that he had been alive and we had done nothing for him. Since then he said everyone has artificial respiration.
I met a lot of interesting characters. One was a man who drew pictures and cartoons in chalk on the sides of the tubs. He was brilliant. Another was a man whio invited you to give him the names of any twenty numbered items and then whatever number you gave he knew what it was. And this he could still do a week later if asked again. I was told that the trick was to make the items in the right sequence into a story but I still thought it quite impressive. One other character was my pony "Nobby" who was one of the last ones to be used in coal mines. He would willingly pull two loaded tubs but if he heard a third one being connected he wouldn't budge.
I had two quite dramatic incidents. One was when my job was to be on my own, a hundred yards from the loader and give them warning that empty tubs would soon be with them. My light went out (a most unheard of thing) and I was left in such blackness that I could not see my finger in front of my eyes. I decided that I must face the oncoming tubs with my arm outstretched to meet them and as soon as I felt contact I must jump on the front clamp and ride down to the loader. The plan worked until I received a terrific blow in the face which I think must have been from a join in the pipe carrying compressed air. I could feel liquid streaming down my cheeks which I thought must be blood but when I at last reached lights I was relieved to find was only tears.
The second incident was when my job was to uncouple the empty tubs as they came down a slope to the loader where two others had to wrestle them one by one on big metal plates (sheets) to get them under the loader. I jumped on the track ready to deal with the empties approaching me at about four miles an hour when the metal cap on my boot became very firmly trapped by some part of the track. I had no time to get my foot out of the boot but I still thought I would be O,K, if I could release the clamp and free the tubs from the metal rope which was moving them. The clamp stuck I was about to go under when my last desperate heave worked. I was dragged out and the gaffer (foreman) asked if I was O.K. I assured him that I was, but suddenly ten minutes later was having a shivering fit and my legs had turned to jelly. No lasting damage though I still have marks on my knees to remind me.
When the war ended the scheme more or less collapsed and the government didn't know what action to take. Should they prosecute absentee Bevin Boys or let them legally take other employment? They ended up by calling us all up but taking into account our time in the mines. So I had two very happy years in a peacetime army, ending with a commission, but that's another story!
As a postscript. In 2007 Tony Blair said that the Bevin Boys contribution to the war effort should be recognised and we all received a veterans badge, and were allowed to contribute a contingent to the Remembrance Day procession. Sixty five years to receive recognition, though I don't think anyone was much bothered.
I am now aged 91
|
Pte. Andy Carruthers . British Army 6th Btn. Seaforth Highlanders Andy Carruthers and the 17th Infantry Brigade including 6th Seaforth crossed the straits of Messina and landed in Italy on September 3rd 1943. By 2nd January 1944 they had returned to the west of Italy to take part in the operations to cross the Garigliano River. Unfortunately, Andy was captured in Minturno on January 18th and ended up bound for Germany on a POW train. It was on this journey that the Allerona tragedy took place.
On 28th January 1944 at the Orvieto North railway bridge at Allerona, Italy, a train full of Allied prisoners, most of whom had come from Camp P.G. 54, Fara in Sabina, north of Rome, was hit by friendly fire from the American 320th Bombardment Group. U.S. Army member Richard Morris was on the train and wrote that the journey was stopped on the bridge over the river, and that the German guards fled as soon as the bombs struck. The prisoners were left locked inside the carriages. Many, including Andy Carruthers, managed to escape through holes in the boxcars caused by the bombing, and jumped into the river below. It was a great tragedy of the war resulting in the deaths of hundreds of men.
He survived the wreck with bruising to his left leg. Once recovered he was sent to Stalag 344 in Lamsdorf, Poland.
|
C. W. Carruthers . Royal Canadian Air Force air gunner. 419 Sqd. (d.13th Jun 1944)
|
Sgt. John Robert Carruthers . Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve flight eng. 419 Sqd. (d.13th May 1944)
|
Flt.Sgt. John Carruthers . Royal Air Force 1651 H.C.U from Dumfries, Scotland My father John Carruthers passed away in October 2000. He did not talk about the war much. I have only found out more when tidying up my mother's estate. She passed away last Fall and this is when I found my father's Flying Log Book.
I am very proud of what my father and all the young men and women did during WW2, if not for them the world would be a much different place.
|
Bdmn. Joseph William "Ginge" Carruthers . Royal Marines Band HMS Phoebe from Portsmouth My Father joined as a bandboy in 1936 aged 14.
He served on HMS Phoebe, HMS Sussex, HMS Gosling and HMS Queen Elizabeth during the war.
After the war he served on HMS Indefatigable, Implacable, Ceylon, Newfoundland, Triumph, Vernon and Wolfe.
We lived in Singapore at HMS Terror between 1962 and 1967.
|
Sgt. K. E. Carruthers . 102 Squadron
|
WO. Orne Ross Carruthers . Royal Canadian Air Force 432 Squadron from Hargrave, Manitoba, Canada Orne Carruthers was a tail gunner and served with the RCAF 432 Squadron at Skipton-on-Swale. He survived the war and married a British war bride, Mary Crowe of Birmingham, England. His crew flew several missions over France and Germany near the end of the war. He was part of the last flight that left England in battle as the war ended. He passed away August 1999 and is buried in the Virden Cemetery, Virden Manitoba Canada. All members of his crew survived the war, all but one are all now deceased, the pilot "Bud" Raymond is still living and resides in Toronto Ontario.
More information on his wartime ops
|
W.O. Orne Ross Carruthers . Royal Canadian Air Force 432 Squadron from Hargrave Manitoba, Canada W.O. Orne Ross Carruthers, served with the 432 Squadron as a rear gunner based out of East Moor North Yorkshire. His crew flew several missions near the end of the war in the spring of 1945. There is evidence from the ORB's for the 432 that their aircraft was the last 432 Halifax bomber to lift off the runway at East Moor in anger to Wangerooge. This was the last mission of World War II.
|
Gnr. William Raymond Carruthers . Royal Artillery 190th (6th Btn Royal Warwickshire) Bty. 10th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment from Manchester, Lancs (d.7th April 1942 ) Raymond Carruthers was my cousin 1x removed. He was the son of my aunt Florrie and William Francis Carruthers.
Raymond died age 20 as a gunner defending Malta. My dad's cousin Marjorie Claybourne b.1925 nee Brown (also my cousin 1x removed) is still alive and has planned to visit his gravesite in Pieta later this year (summer 2017).
|
Joe R Carry . British Army Royal Signals Joe Carry served with the Royal Signals.
|
Gp/Capt H M Carscallan . RCAF. Station Commander RAF Leeming Apr to Jun 1943
|
Cpl. Andrew D. Carson . United States Army Coast Artillery Corps from California POW Camp Fukuoka 17 in Japan
|
Pvt. Christopher T. Carson . United States Army Air Corps 24th Pursuit Gr. V Bomb Cmd AC 34th Bomb Sq. (d.09 July 1945) Died in POW Camp Fukuoka 17 in Japan
|
G Carson . British Army G Carson 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: Unfortunately The Wartime Memories Project are no longer in 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.
|
Jim Carson . New Zealand Army 4th R M T This is the first time I have been in this site & to my amusement I found a reference to my father, Jim Carson 4th R M T N.Z. Unfortunately, he died in 1966 at the age of 55, a year younger than I am now.
He never spoke much about his experiences during his time overseas, what I do know is he was captured in Crete & spent the rest of the war as a P O W in Stalag 8B Lamsdorf. It is only now that I am interested in his experiences during the war but at the time he died I had very little interest in that side of his life. If anyone who was with him during that time reads this I would be very interested to hear from them.
|
Trimmer William Carson . Naval Auxiliary Personnel HMS Forfar from Liverpool (d.2nd Dec 1940) William Carson died on the 2 December 1940, Aged 19. When HMS Forfar was sunk. He was the son of Thomas and Sarah Carson, husband of Louisa Carson, of Liverpool. He is remembered on an inscription on Naval Memorial, Pierhead, Liverpool.
William was my father-in-law's cousin, John Swanson who as a stoker in the RN survived the Russian Convoys, Sicilian Landings & 'D' Day to die peacefully aged 80 at home in Liverpool.
We owe them a great debt and should always remember them.
Thank you
|
|
