Johannes Jacobus "Kotje" Coers . Dutch Army from Djakarta, Indonesia My father whom we called pappie had served in the Dutch army and had been imprisoned for four years by the Japanese in Burma. Before his capture but shortly after his deployment his first wife was hospitalized and died due to some illness. Pappie had been called away from his post. He was guarding the waters of a very hot spot for casualty, and was told his wife grew gravely ill and he was needed at home. On his way there the soldier who had taken his place as guard was shot and killed by enemy fire and Pappie's wife died just as he was approaching the steps of the hospital. It was said that Pappie's life was saved by the death of his wife. At that time Pappie had two children that were being taken care of by one of his brothers while he went back to war.
I remember bits and pieces of the life Pappie had shared with me while he had been in the Japanese prison camp. It was while he was there that my grandmother was taken to a Japanese concentration camp in Indonesia. She died while there. The bitterness Pappie had towards the Japanese ran so deep and that bitterness continued to be there for the rest of his life. He had been afflicted with so many different jungle diseases, beriberi, malaria, dysentery, black water fever. He also suffered from tuberculosis while there but miraculously it had scarred over and didn't show up again until over thirty years later. One story he told us many times was when he grew ill from beriberi. The Japanese doctor had given Pappie a tracheotomy and placed a tube to draw out the fluid build up from his intestines. Pappie's stomach and testicles were swollen and only a drop every few minutes came out of that tube. The guards would laugh while relentlessly poking and prodding his testicles with their machetes. The doctor had said that Pappie would be dead by morning. After Pappie heard the diagnosis he called out on the Lord and begged for his life. He reminded the Lord that he had two motherless children back home and that they needed him. Where did that faith come from? Somewhere in the deep recesses of Pappie's heart was a stirring of something he had known and always known all his life. God was there and it was He that could do something to save Pappie from this circumstance. Shortly after that prayer Pappie would muster all the strength he could to get the guards attention by hitting the side of his bed with his hand and asking him for a bowl to urinate into. As Pappie told me this continued all through the night. By morning his stomach and testicles were back to normal size. The doctor said it was a miracle because they had no other explanation for it. The next day he was taken out of the infirmary and placed back to work on the railroads. He was forced to work shoeless the entire four years which caused some rather deep calluses on both his feet. He'd suffered due to those calluses all the rest of his life. Pappie had witnessed first hand the brutality of war. His meals consisted of rice and water and whatever he could find crawling or slithering the jungle floors. He shared with me another time when he'd been sick in the infirmary and the prisoner next to him had died leaving behind an egg next to his bed. Pappie reached over and took it deciding it was better off with him. Another time one of Pappie's fellow prisoners and close friend was tied to a tree and whipped to a pulp then left there for the tree was crawling with red ants. He remembered the man screaming even more fiercely while being eaten alive. Those screams stayed in Pappie's mind forever. I knew this because each time he would relate this story to me his face grew sullen and his eyes would get watery and he'd say, 'oh, God' and he would hang his head as if maybe if just maybe there could have been something that he could have done to save his friend. Pappie knew that it was his believing and his prayers that ultimately gave him the strength to go on. When he spoke of God there was a deep reverence to his tone of voice.
This is just part of the story I'd written about my father. I just wanted to share this little bit. Thank you.
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Pfc. Clarence Eugene Coffelt . United States Marine Corps from Oklahoma
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OJ Coffey . British Army OJ Coffey 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 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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Sqd.Ldr. Robert Ellsworth Coffey DFC & Bar.. Royal Canadian Air Force 440 Squadron. from Greenview, Illinois, U.S.A (d.1st Aug 1945) Squadron Leader Robert Coffey was the Son of Henry J. and Mary Coffey, of Greenview, Illinois, U.S.A. He had studied at Purdue University.
He was aged 30 when he fatally injured in an automobile accident, 1 August 1945 and is buried in the Graasten Cemetery in Denmark.
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Pte. John Coffield . British Army
Seaforth Highlanders
from Fort George
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Pte. George Coffin . British Army 2nd Battalion South Lancashire Regiment from Malpas, Cheshire
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Daniel G. Coggeshall Bronze Stars (5). US Army B Bty. 285th Field Artillery Observation Regiment from USA I am looking for information about my grandfather Daniel G Coggeshall, or his unit Battery `B', 285th Field Artillery Observation Btn. He served in Normandy, Northern France, the Ardennes and central Europe. He won five Bronze Stars.
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Pte. Henry Hubert Coggin . British Army Rifle Brigade This, unfortunately, is a story told totally from memory. It is my father's story and as he is now deceased I am unable to corroborate any of it.
Having been captured somewhere in Italy after his unit had run out of ammunition in a fire fight with Germans. I believe that this was sometime in 1944. They were reluctantly forced to surrender. Subsequently taken back to Munich and interred at Stalag 7B.
During his time there, my father and his comrades were used as working parties to carry out road repairs in the Munich area. On the return of such a working party one day, my father mentioned to the guards that they had no bread for the men and as there was a shop nearby could he go and buy some bread? It gives the impression that this camp was lightly guarded and the atmosphere must have been somewhat relaxed. The guards gave my father permission to go to the shop unattended. Suddenly, finding himself free from being in captivity he made the most of it and decided to keep going. An extremely risky decision one would imagine. However, not knowing what to do next he decided to try and hide somewhere for the night. This he did by climbing into a roadside salt bin, where he spent a cold and uncomfortable night. The following morning he peeped out of the bin lid and saw some people queuing for a bus. He took a chance and apparently unseen left the bin and joined the bus queue. He was of course immediately recognised as a British soldier, luckily for him it was by a woman who turned out to be French. She helped somehow to disguise him and took him back to her apartment. She at great risk to herself hid him there until the Americans arrived in Munich. I guess this was early 1945?
He then surrendered himself to the Americans who helped him get onto a Dakota bound for England. He was then reunited with his regiment based in Winchester. Soon after this he was posted to Chichester Barracks where he worked in the stores.
This is as much as I can tell you now but I am in possession of many of his letters dating from the time that have much more information. I will try to go through them asap, but I am very busy researching a WW1 project involving my wife's grandfather's war diaries.
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P.O. Ronald Claude Coggins . Royal Navy HMS Cossack (d.23rd Oct 1941) Ronald Coggins was my late mother's first husband. He was killed in the war, and we have just found amongst my father's (mums 2nd husband) wartime memorabilia, a voice record. It is not in the best condition, a bit pitted in places, but we wondered if anyone knows anything about them, as we were hoping to be able to play some of it or get it restored in any way? We also have a two page newspaper article from June 1st 1941 about the captain of the Cossack - Capt Philip Louis Vian.
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Pte. Donald Lindsey Cogman . British Army 2nd Btn. Royal Norfolk Regiment from Norwich, Norfolk Donald Cogman served with the 2nd Royal Norfolk Regiment. He died in 1998.
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Aaron "Arky" Cohen . Auxiliary Fire Service Glasgow from Garrowhill, Glasgow My father, Aaron Cohen, served in the Glasgow AFS during WWII and attended fires during the Glasgow blitz. Any further information about him would be welcome. I have a couple of photos of him with colleagues in his unit.
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P/O Ashton Irving Cohen . RCAF pilot 419 Sqd. from Canada (d.10th Oct 1944) Lancaster KB754 VR-C was lost on operations to Bochum on the 10th of October 1944. The took off at 20:39 on the 9thof October 1944 from Middleton St.George. Shortly after completing the bombing run the Lancaster was attacked by a Ju88 and set on fire. An explosion then occurred which blew F/s McQueen from his turret. His six comrades are buried in the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery.
The crew were:
- P/O A.I.Cohen RCAF
- Sgt R.A.Campbell RCAF
- F/O G.W.Murphy RCAF
- F/S J.H.E.Goldfinch RCAF
- Sgt R.F.Emerson RCAF
- F/S L.F.O'Hara RCAF
- F/S J.F.Mcqueen RCAF
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P/O Ashton Irving Cohen . Royal Canadian Air Force pilot 419 Sqd. (d.9th Oct 1944)
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Pte. Emanuel Cohen . British Army Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment (d.11th Jan 1942) Emanuel Cohen was 23 when he died and is buried in the Beirut Jewish Civil Cemetery in Lebanon.
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Sgt. Herbert Cyril Cohen . Royal Air Force No. 76 Squadron from London (d.20th Dec 1943) Herbert Cohen was flying in a Halifax MkV on a bombing mission when he was killed.
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Mst.Sgt. Irving R. Cohen . United States Army 99th Infantry Division Irving R. Cohen received the Combat Infantryman Badge, Purple Heart and a Bronze Star. As a Master Sergeant in the 99th Infantry Division, he fought in the Battle of the Bulge, The Remagen Bridge and the Battle of the Ruhr Pocket.
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Sergeant Isadore Cohen . US Army 15th Engineer Battalion Isadore Cohen, Sergeant(then Private)15th Engineer Battalion, distinguished himself by gallantry in action against the enemy on 8 September 1944 in the vicinity of Ahnee, Belgium. Constructing a bridge across the Meuse River, Sgt. Cohen's company was subjected to intense fire from an enemy patrol which had infiltrated to a position of vantage on the other side of the river.
With complete disregard for personal safety, Sgt. cCohen exposed himself to the heavy enemy fire to man his light machine gun and engaged the enemy in a fire fight. He repeatedly exposed himself to direct enemy observation to draw fire in order to locate more targets to shoot.
Sgt. Cohen's aggressive initiative, devotion to duty, and courageous actions contributed materially to the successful repelling of the enemy forces and were a credit to himself and to the Armed Forces of the United States.
J.R. Hutchinson
Lt/Col, AGD
adjutant general
Isadore Cohen died of natural causes in 1998 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
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Isadore "Bobby" Cohen . British Army Black Watch My Dads brother Bob, we believe enlisted as Isadore Cohen, but possibly changed his name to join, first name maybe Robert, nickname Bobby.
We are looking for his army number but dont have it at the moment, can anyone confirm the Black Watch uniform from the photograph and any tips where to go from here. He lived in east end of London and would have joined from there. He was born in Whitechapel and after the war lived in Hamilton hill Austrailia. Thank you in advace for any help you may be able to give.
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Sgt. Leonard Cohen . Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 100 Sqdn. from East Ham (d.20th October 1943) A 100 Sqdn Lancaster, ED555 HW-A, took off from Grimsby at 17.46 on 20th October 1943 for ops to Leipzig, was shot down by a nightfighter and crashed at 22.25hrs at Eelderwolde, 5km NNW of Eelde, Holland (from, BC Losses 1943). The crew were:
Warrant Officer D.G. Storey, Air Gunner
Sergeant L. Cohen, Wireless Operator/Air Gunner
Sergeant P.R. Cowling, Air Bomber
Sergeant C.W. Gibb, Air Gunner
Sergeant G.J. Godseff, Navigator
Sergeant A.W.N. Lower, Flight Engineer
Pilot Officer T.L. Simpson, Pilot
They were laid to rest at Eelde General Cemetery, Gronigen, Netherlands. All were RAFVR with the exception of the Warrant Officer who was RCAF.
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2nd Lt. Louis Victor Cohen . Indian Army 9th Jat Regiment from Calcutta, India (d.9th Oct 1941) Second Lieutenant Cohen was the Son of Sassoon Jacob and Seemah Cohen, of Calcutta, India.
He was 22 when he died and is buried in the Penang (Jahudi Road) Jewish Cemetery in Malaysia.
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Sgl. Norman Wilfred Cohen . British Army Second Army TAC HQ Royal Signals from Leamington Spa
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Phyllis Cohen . Womens Land Army My mother, Phyllis Cohen joined the Women's Land Army on 29th of April 1942. She said she worked at Highclere Castle Farm and her war record showed she took a train to Hampshire on 27th of June 1943. She resigned on medical grounds. She enjoyed her time in the Land Army. I have been unable to find confirmation of where she was stationed. If anyone has any information I would be grateful.
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Pilot Officer George Cojocar . RCAF 59 Squadron
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Flt.Lt Frederick Hugh Coker . Royal Air Force Fred Coker, my father, deceased was a Navigator in Lancaster Bombers during the World War not sure what squadron. He also served in Burma has the Burma Star. He was born in 1925 and emigrated with his then wife, Sheila Coker, to Fremantle, Australia about 1947-1953 not sure of the date.
His bomber crash landed a few times on returning from ops back in UK.
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Lt. Harold Emery Coker . U.S. Army I Co. 3rd Battalion 8th Infantry Regiment from Georgia
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Ted Coker . Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve HMS Collingwood I am trying to find out more about my grandfather, Ted Coker. He entered the RNVR in 1940 as an enlisted man and was wounded in 1942. He was admitted to Great Yarmouth General Hospital. After he recovered, he trained to be an officer at HMS Collingwood. He was a beach master at the Sicily landings and ended the war in Naval Intelligence. He also served with coastal forces, I think around 1940-42. He may also have served aboard HMS Nelson. I know that post-war there was a cup named after him `The Coker Cup' which I think may have been something to do with coastal forces.
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Sgt. Thomas S. Colbect . Royal Canadian Air Force 514 Squadron from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Sergeant Thomas S Colbeck was the bomb aimer for the crew of Lancaster PB178 Jl-P of 514 Squadron, Waterbeach Station, RAF.
Other crew members were:
- Flight Sergeant J.E.K. Hannesson RCAF, pilot
- Flight Sergeant B. G. Lee RAAF, navigator
- Sergeant B.A. Brown, WOP/Air
- Sergeant A.L. George, MU Gunner
- Sergeant H.J. Morgan, rear gunner
- Sergeant K.E.A. Fox, flight engineer
On 30th June 1944 Lancaster PB178 Jl-P was returning from a mission over Villers Bocage in Normandy when it collided with a Lancaster from 15 Squadron and crashed at Pittsham Farm, near Midhurst, Sussex. The other aircraft apparently landed safely.
Only Sergeant Colbeck and Sergeant Brown were able to bail out before the crash, they were the only survivors.
On 5th July 1944, His Majesty King George VI accompanied Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and Her Highness Princess Elizabeth, met bomber crews at RAF Waterbeach at an informal parade.
As Tom Colbeck remembers the event: "I was there at that date. They wouldn't let me go on parade as I had just bailed out and was on sick. Rats I wanted to meet the Princess. She was wearing a light robin egg blue ensemble. She was cute. I watched it all from a window."
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Harry Colburn . Royal Navy HMS Slinger My Aunt Mabel met Harry Colburn when he visited Sydney on the HMS Slinger in 1945. They were infatuated with one another and spent as much time together as they could. Unfortunately, like many wartime romances it was destined to end. Harry sailed on his ship and eventually settled back home in England. Aunt Mabel was left with nothing more than a few photographs, Harry was never heard from again and Mabel never married.
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Dvr. Harry Colclough . British Army H.Q. 6 Assault Sqn. Royal Engineers (d.26th Sep 1944) Harry Colclough was my grandfather and died near Calais in action around 26th of September 1944. This coincides with the Canadian assault on Calais My mother was only aged 8 when he died and spent her life wondering what happened to him. I have been looking at what might have occurred and I wonder if he was involved in the assault on Calais This was operation Undergo. Any information would be invaluable.
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Pte. James Reginald Colclough . British Army 4th Battalion Norfolk Regiment from London James was in the following camps:
- 1. Changi - the POW Camp.
- 2. Ban Pong - first transit camp on the Railway.
- 3. Chungkai - Group 2 main base camp and Hospital
- 4. Jungle Springs - possibly Tonchan Springs
- 5. Tha Khannun
- 6. Nakhon Pathom - main Hospital in Thailand.
- 7. Harbour Camp - Bangkok Docks
POW Numbers
- 4257 - his number in Singapore.
- 3890 - his original number in Thailand.
- 4697 - a new number given to him in Thailand.
He left Changi, Singapore on 31/10/42. This would have been as part of R Party (18th Div) under the command of Lt-Col. A.A.Johnson, 4th Suffolk Regt.
He arrived at the Work Group 2 Camp on 7/11/42, which would have been via Ban Pong.
He was transferred to the second annex of the POW Camp in Thailand.
He was handed over to the Allied Powers in Bangkok, Lt-Col.C.A.McEachern, Royal Australian Artillery, he was the Australian Senior Officer on the Thai-Burma Railway.
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