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Annie Roy Colville . Women's Auxiliary Air Force Catering Corps
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Pte. David Colville . British Army 5th Btn. Blackwatch (Royal Highlanders) from Belfast, Northern Ireland (d.26th Jul 1943) We have just found the documents attaining to David Colville's death, aged 30, in Sicily. No-one in the family had ever met him, but all knew of him. We also have his four campaign medals from the 8th Army. He served from 1939 until 1943 when he was killed in action. It is very sad but we do not have a photograph of him and there are no members of the Colville family alive.
We visited his grave in Catania War Cemetery in February this year and it very moving indeed. If by any chance anyone has any photos we would appreciate a copy. We would appreciate any more information about
him or his friends.
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Pfc Joe Leonard Colvin . United States Marine Corps D Co. 1st Bn 4th Marine Regt. from Texas
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Rfmn. James Colwell . British Army 2nd Battalion Cameronians from Consett. Co. Durham
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Pte. Walter Coman . British Army
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William Coman . Merchant Navy S.S. Lancastria (d.17th June 1940) William Coman was and Assistant Steward on board the Lancastria and was killed when the ship sank from German bombing.
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Able Seaman. E. Combden . Royal Navy HMS Forfar AB. Combden was rescued when HMS Forfar was lost.
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Ldg Stoker Stephen Charles Comben . Royal Navy HMS Cairo (d.12th Aug 1942)
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Sgt. Douglas Ralph Comber . Royal Air Force Bomb Aimer 622 Squadon from London (d.16th Aug 1943 ) My Uncle was a crew member shot down in Bussy-Le-Chateau, France in a Stirling EJ 113Q on a return bombing raid. The villagers took the eight bodies from the plane under German instructions and took them to the village Church where they are buried in the Church Grave area. We visted and spoke to a man who was 14 at the time who helped take the crew to the Church. Also he still has part of the propeller to the Stirling in his Farm yard dug up some years later.
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Sgt. Douglas Ralph Comber . Royal Air Force Bomb Aimer 622 Squadron from London (d.19th Nov 1943) My Uncle Douglas Comber was shot down over Bussy-le-Chateau in Nov 1943. The villagers under German instructions were told to take the bodies of the eight crew members to the church. Later all the crew members of the Stirling 622 Squadron were buried in the village churchyard. I have since visted the village in France and made friends with some of the people that saw the event and helped.
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Sgt Maurice Emile Combres. . RCAF 12Sqd. (d.12th Jun 1943) Rear Gnr. Maurice Combres lost his life on 4th July 1943 Lancaster ED820 PH-A) 12sqd
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Earl Combs . United States Army 38th Btn Armored Infantry My father, Earl Combs, 38th AIB, was a prisoner at Stalag 4B. He was taken prisoner at St. Vith on 22nd December 1944.
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Pte. Horace Joseph Comeaux . United States Army Air Corps 16th Bomb Sq. from Rayne, LA
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Cpl. Alonzo Wright Comfort . Canadian Army 1st Battalion Royal Hamilton Light Infantry from 88 Bay St. S., Hamilton, Ont Tenacious in his duty was Corporal Al Comfort. Despite being shot in both legs shortly after the landing and since suffering two chest wounds, Comfort still managed to take care of the wounded. He refused to be looked after himself, but insisted on having as many wounded as possible brought somewhere near so he could attend them, Private Al Oldfield recalled, in Tragedy at Dieppe: Operation Jubilee, 19th of August 1942, By Mark Zuehlke
Names of privates and acting non commissioned officers of a Central Ontario regiment and of a Quebec regiment listed as missing following the action at Dieppe are given below, as released by the national defense department. The names of next of kin are also given:
MISSING Central Ontario Regiment: Comfort, Alonzo Wright, Cpl., Mrs. Jean Comfort (wife), Apt. 4, 88 Bay st, S., Hamilton. The Winnipeg Tribune, Friday, Sept 18, 1942 Men From Ontario And Quebec Listed As Missing Following Dieppe Page 14
After the brutal battle, the prisoners were surprised to be treated with respect, even kindness, by German soldiers, as some recalled in Dancocks In Enemy Hands. “I expected they would kill us,” said Corporal Al Comfort of the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry. “But the Germans were not antagonistic at all. No one was abused.” A German even took his own field dressing and applied it to Comfort’s thigh wound. At hospital in Rouen, France, said Comfort, no anesthetic was used as the German doctor removed shrapnel, then forced forceps through his leg back to front “and drew a gauze bandage through and cut both ends off.” The wound festered. “The infection soaked through my mattress and dropped on the floor. I remember holding the sheets down tight to keep the stench from choking me.”
A hospital train took him to Obermassfeld, Germany, where British prisoner doctors properly dressed the wound.
He was held as POW in Stalag IXC.
Dieppe Men Liberated: Taken prisoner in the Dieppe raid of August, 1942, Capt. John McGill Currie, 9 Ravenscliffe Avenue, and Cpl. Alonzo Comfort, 88 Bay Street South, have been liberated by the advancing Allied armies. Both men were members of the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry and enlisted in September 1939, and were seriously wounded at Dieppe.
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Albert Edwin Comley . British Army 2nd Btn. Gloucestershire Regiment My father was Albert Edwin Comley known as Bert. He was called up for the third time, for the Second World War and served in the 2nd Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment. He was captured at Casel, France, on 30th May 1940, when his unit was covering the retreat at Dunkirk.
I have Red Cross paperwork showing that he was held at Stalag 323 on 1st of November 1940 (prisoner no. 11000) and was also held in Stalag 8b. I have some messsage cards from him to my mother from there.
My father was involved in the "Long (or Death) March" when POWs were force-marched from their POW camps in Poland into Germany in the freezing cold of winter. He was made to work in coal mines during his captivity and was repatriated to England in 1945.
I know that there are probably very few survivors of these times, but if you or your father or grandfather were in the Glosters 2nd Battalion, captured at Casel, and/or held in Stalag 8b, please get in touch.
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Pte. Albert Edwin Comley . British Army 2nd Btn. Royal Gloucestershire Regiment from Berkshire My father Albert Comley (Bert) served in Royal Gloucestershire Regiment 2nd Battalion and was captured at Cassel, the rearguard action during the Dunkirk evacuation in May 1940,.
He was held in Stalag 8b and made to join the Long March in the freezing winter at the end of the war.
He was released in 1945.
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P/O P. W. Comley . 87 Squadron (d.15th Aug 1940)
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Telegraphist Henry Edward Commons . Royal Navy HMS Venetia (d.25th May 1940) Henry was my Great Uncle.
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Sgt. Edward James Compton . British Army Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry from Lambeth
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Henry Thomas Compton . British Army 2nd Btn. Traffic Control coy. Royal Army Service Corps My father, Herbert Dawson, served in Malta and Leros. He was taken prisoner on Leros and was transported to prison camp in Germany. He was in Stalag XIA. But he was in an out for station work camp in Elbigerode.
He was able to visit Elbingerode a few years before he passed away.
"Faugh-a-Ballagh" - battle cry of Irish origin, meaning "clear the way".
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Robert Compton . Royal Air Force 460 Sqd. Bob Compton served as a mid upper gunner with 460 Sqd.
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Sgt. Sidney George Compton . British Army 1st Btn. Rifle Brigade from Crosby, Liverpool, formerly London Sidney Compton was my father. Originally he was from 13 Skelbrook St., Earlsfield, London, SW 18. When this was bombed, the family moved to a prefab in Clapham Common.
He served with the 1st Battalion, Rifle Brigade in WW2 and was a Desert Rat in the Middle East from 25th of September 1941 to 9th of September 1943; in North Africa from 10th of September 1943 to 5th of January 1944. Dad returned home (he had been injured) from 6th of January 1944 to 3rd of June 1944, then fought in Northwest Europe from 4th of June 1944 (participated in D-Day landings) to 13th of April 1945.
He was discharged permanently unfit for service on 13th of April 1945 to Dunmail Drive, Carlisle, the home of Mrs. Sylvia Harrison and Mr. Will Harrison, where his wife Peggy and daughter Jeanette were residing.
He was awarded 5 medals, including the Africa Star and Damy Clasp; 1939-45 Italy Star; France and Germany War Medal 1939-45; S.W. Arm (B.C) 19th of July 1944 (NW Europe) (not sure if the latter is a medal).
He was wounded twice, patched up and sent back to the front because, as he said, they were short of sergeants. He said that in the desert they would capture German soldiers and send them back to their lines in the morning because it was too much trouble to keep them. He remembered using water from the jeep's radiator to shave with and then returning it to the jeep.
My father didn’t speak much about the war. I think he was a very troubled man due to his experiences. He never wanted to go abroad for holidays until we, as a family, took him to the Algarve in his late 80s. Up until then he said abroad was dirty. But he really enjoyed the holiday and said it was the best he had ever had.
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F/Sgt. Stanley James Compton . Royal Air Force 83 Squadron (d.25th July 1944)
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Sgt. James Anderson Comrie MID.. British Army Royal Army Medical Corps from Distington, West Cumbria I am trying to establish the war experiences of my father, James Anderson Comrie(born 1917. died 1990.) I know my dad served in the Second World War in the Royal Army Medical Corps. He was posted overseas in 1941 and spent time in India. He was based at Pune and spent time in Kochima.He was in Calcutta in 1943. He was awarded the MID.
He also served ,I believe, in Burma, and was awarded the Burmese Star. He was also mentioned in dispatches during the war. He never spoke of the War and any information I could glean regarding his life in India would be very precious. Photos,documents etc would be priceless.
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Surgeon Lieut. (D) Harold Bernard Concanon . Royal Navy HMS Dorsetshire from Ireland (d.5th Apr 1942) My father's cousin, Harold Concanon was the dentist on HMS Dorsetshire when she was sunk in 1942. He and my father were about the same age and effectively grew up together in Ireland. My Father qualified as a doctor in 1941 at the National University of Ireland. Harold qualified as a dentist a year earlier. Both joined the Royal Navy (even though Ireland was neutral). Harold was initially posted to Liverpool but then joined Dorsetshire. My Father went to Portsmouth, initially as a civilian, but then joined the Navy after Harold's death.
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Surgeon Lt. (D) Harold Bernard Concanon . Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve (d.5th Apr 1942) Harold Bernard Concanon, my mother's first husband, was killed when HMS Dorsetshire was sunk during WWII. He was a South African who had trained as a dentist at Liverpool University. While he was at Liverpool University I understand he was President of the Students Guild. His dental practice was at 60 Rodney Street, Liverpool and my mother lived there during the war. He was a commissioned officer and was the ships dentist.
I know that my mother still thought of him until the day she died, although she happily re-married and had me. 'Uncle Bernard', as she referred to him when she talked of him to me, would not consider having a family whilst the
war was on, so he has no direct descendants. I suspect that his
nephews know little about him as his brother died at an early age as
well.
There must be very few survivors still living now, but, I am glad
that the internet helps to keep alive the memory of those brave men and
women who battled to keep us free.
Update: Harold Bernard Concanon is remembered on the Plymouth Naval Memorial, Panel 76 Column 3 according to CWGC.
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1st Lt. John Russell Condit . United States Army 74th Signal Corps Special from Newark, N.J. USA. John R. Condit initially joined the 102nd Calvary Regiment, Essex Troop, N.J. National Guard in 1937 at the age of 17 because of a love for horses. On January 6th, 1942 one month after Pearl Harbor, this unit was Federalized and sent to Ft. Jackson South Carolina. In August of 1942 he is sent to Ft. Devens, Mass. for Telephone Officer Supply training. His trip includes a flight from N.Y.C. to Boston on American Airlines, for the cost of $11.95!
In October of 1942 he is sent to Ft. Monmouth N.J. for training as a Signal Corps Officer. He graduated with the 9th class. In December of 1942 he is commissioned a 2nd Lt. He is then sent to the 74th Signal Corp, Camp Bradford, VA. This unit then undergoes special amphibious landing training in Florida, after completion of which it is designated the 74th Signal Corps Special. The responsibility of this Corp was to establish ship to shore and shore to shore communications for the assault troops. On May 1st 1943 he is promoted to 1st. Lt.
The 74th Signal Corps Special is attached to various divisions through out the war and participates in the amphibious landings and assaults of Sicily, Salerno, Anzio, and Southern France. By October of 1944 there is no longer a need for amphibious signal corp units in Europe, and Lt. Condit is transferred to the 94th Signal Battalion, US 3rd Army, Martelange, France. In February 1945, the 94th is transferred to 1st Army. He crosses the Rhine into Germany via the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen where he earns a Bronze Star for maintaining communications across the bridge under a continuous blanket of air and artillary fire.
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Pte. James Condon MID.. British Army 8th (Irish) Btn. Kings Regiment (Liverpool) from 51 Francis St, Chester (d.12th September 1916) James died of wounds received while in trenches just east of Delville Wood during the fighting for the village of Ginchy. Died same day at No. 21 Casualty Clearing Station, Corbie. Buried La Neuville British Cemetery, Corbie.
He was one of the 44 volunteers of the 55th West Lancashire Division who took part in the famous trench raid at Blairville, south of Arras, on the night of 17th of April 1916. James Condon was one of the trench raiders. The officer leading the raid, 2Lt Edmund Felix Baxter, was a posthumous VC for the raid. The raid was held to be an example of a classic, and successful, trench raid and an official war photograph was taken of the men after the raid. James Condon front row extreme left (above the three officers) wearing a balaclava and holding a trench club.
He served also 164th Trench Mortar Battery.
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Flt Sgt Leslie Francis Condon DFM. Royal Air Force 101 Sqn from Mudgee NSW Les Condon, my Uncle, served with 101 Sqn from Nov 1943 until June 1944 where he completed 27 missions with the same pilot and much of the same crew. Their first mission was on 22 Nov 1943 when their Lancaster crashed on take-off, and the entire crew escaped unhurt. They went on to complete their tour and flew on many of the huge night raids into Germany. Les was awarded the DFM in September 1944. He died in Sydney in October 1992 aged 69.
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Pte. Alan Peter Condron . British Army South Lancashire Regiment from Widnes Alan Condron was my father. I would like any information about him that may be available.
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