Pvt Herman C Goelitz . United States Army from Maplewood, NJ My Uncle was captured in Italy on 21 January 1944 and was detained in Stalag 2B, Hammerstein. He was released on April 13, 1945. He seldom spoke of his experiences but mentioned the march in the dead of winter and said that since then he had difficulty breathing in the cold. He worked on farms and said the food was better on the farms than in camp. As he spoke German, he could better communicate with the farmers, but that often made the other prisoners suspicious. The farmers in that northern part of Germany spoke Platt Deutch (Low German) as my uncle once told me. I wish I had asked more, but it is too late.
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A R Goff . British Army West Yorkshire Regiment A Goff served with the West Yorkshire 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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Gnr. F. Goff . British Army Royal Artillery from London
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P.O. Eric Clarence Goffe DSC.. Royal Navy HMS Anthony from Wycombe Marsh, Bucks My Grandfather, Eric Goffe, served on HMS Anthony for a time during WWII.
He was awarded his DSC whilst serving on this ship. The story goes something like this:
HMS Anthony and HMS Wishart were patrolling just off Gibralter, some spotter planes were helping them detect U-boats using a new device called MAD. On the 24th of February 1944 they came across U-761 commanded by OB Horst Geider.
U-761 was at a depth of about 50 meters, proceeding submerged at "Dead Slow", when four explosions were heard. Prisoners later stated that they assumed these explosions to have been caused by aircraft bombs or depth charges as they sounded milder than regular depth charges dropped by surface craft. No appreciable damage was done by these explosions which however served notice on officers and men that their boat had been discovered. Some prisoners spoke of two, some of three depth charge attacks which followed the aircraft bomb explosions. In the confusion no count of the charges dropped on them could be obtained, but the consensus of opinion seemed to be that the last series of depth charges was the most damaging.
After the first depth charge attack, several of the crew stated that U-761 must have broken surface. Shortly before, the boat, for unexplained reasons, was heavy by the bow. The order to trim by blowing was given, but apparently U-761 was closer to the surface than indicated and she surfaced. The mistake was promptly realized and she dived again.
According to prisoners either one or two more series were dropped on U-761. To the slighter damage of the first attacks were added the following which were the compelling reasons for giving up the boat: All electrical installations, including the batteries and the electric motors, were damaged and non-operative; the main switchboard was broken to pieces and thrown on the floor plates; the hydrophones and all radio apparatus were smashed, the former by one of the early depth charge attacks; compressors were wrenched loose from the straps; water entered the boat temporarily through a loose valve in the main drain pump; the clutch between the Diesels and the electric motors were jammed; high pressure air lines were ruptured. Photographs of the sinking show a large air bubble rising near the stern of the U-boat.
Quite apart from these damages, alone sufficient to make evasive action impossible, the air inside the boat had become quite foul, the lights except for the emergency lights were out and one prisoner even said that there was a slight smell of chlorine in the boat. Clearly, the situation was hopeless and after a quick consultation between Geider and Lendle, his engineer officer, the order to surface and to prepare for abandoning ship was given.
About 15 minutes after the first attack, U-761 broke surface and her crew began abandoning ship. None of her deck guns were fired. The engineer officer attached a scuttling charge to a torpedo in the stern compartment. He and the commanding officer were the last to leave the U-boat through the conning tower. Apparently confused, the engineer officer swam towards the submerged stern of U-761 although his commander shouted warnings. When the torpedo exploded, Lendle was injured by the underwater blast and dies in the arms of Geider who had come to his assistance. While the crew was abandoning ship, destroyers nearly opened fire and several planes dropped additional depth charges. Some men were killed and others suffered injuries. U-761 sank about 5 minutes after the crew had started to abandon her.
All I have is a dispatch sent to my grandfather saying "Good show Guns!!"
I think that being mentioned in a dispatch is one of the requirements for being awarded a DSC. In all my trawling through online documents I have never been able to find a mention of my Grandfather during this action or the exact details of his involvement. This seems a bit odd as he was awarded such a high honour.
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Cpl. John Goggin . British Army Somerset Light Infantry (d.20th Feb 1945) I never knew my Grandfather, John Goggins, he was killed in action and is buried at the Reichwald Forest Cemetery with half of my Nana's ashes scattered on his grave. The other half of her ashes are with her second husband who died in the sixties, he was her second husband taken by the war. He suffered and died from lung infections due to smoke inhalation when firefighting during the blitz.
I know John was 6 foot 6 inches and from his picture was a very impressive and handsome man.
He left a son and daughter.
I have the memorial certificate that my Nan had, but would like Grandfathers medals.
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Leading aircraftman Melville Moisha Goldberg . 428 Squadron Royal Canadian Air Force
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Louis "Goldy" Goldbrum . United States Army Signal Corps from United States POW Fukuoka 17
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J Golden . British Army Royal Armoured Corps J Golden served with the Royal Armoured Corps 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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B Golder . British Army B Golder 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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Flt Sgt. Reginald William Golder . Royal Australian Air Force No 15 Squadron from Adelaide, South Australia (d.7-8th April 1942) My uncle Reg, whom I never met, was on Stirling 1, W7448 which took off from Alconbury on 7th April 1942 for Essen and was lost in the North Sea. He was the youngest of five children (24 when he died) and had two older brothers, both of whom returned home from New Guinea.
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Lt. Philip H. "Toggle" Goldfarb . US Air Force 701 Bomb Squadron
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Pte. George Kitchener Lewis Goldfinch . British Army Queens own Royal West Kent Regiment from Tonbridge My grandfather George Goldfinch served with the Queens own Royal West Kents. I have very patchy stories from him about how they were dropped off by boat somewhere in North Africa but were dropped in the wrong location and were soon engaged with the Germans and captured.
He always said that they were laughing at his helmet when he was taken prisoner as it had a bullet hole right through it.
He was taken to P.O.W Camp 70 in Monturano Italy and then later moved to
Stalag 4c in Wistritz, Czechoslovakia. He thought it was funny that his first trip in a plane was in a Junkers88
When he did speak about his experiences he told us how. they had been put to work in mines and a lot of men had just broken down with the physical and mental stress of it all.
Among the other things that he would talk about was a dislike for Americans as they only ever managed to bomb the latrines of a camp, and how some soldiers would try to make coffee from acorns.
He was very ill when he returned to the UK, but recovered to work in a print factory.
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P/O John Henry Eaton Goldfinch . RCAF bomb aimer 419 Sqd. from Peace River, Alberta, Canada (d.10th Oct 1944)
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P/O John Henry Eaton Goldfinch . Royal Canadian Air Force bomb aimer 419 Sqd. from Peace River, Alberta, Canada. (d.9th Oct 1944)
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F/Lt. John Howard Goldfinch . Royal Air Force 84 Sqdn. from Sydney, Australia My father, John Goldfinch, trained in Australia but was posted to the RAF in 84 Squadron in which he served through the war. He did not speak much of his experience, but experienced depression issues towards the end and was hospitalised with his problems. He met his wife in the hospital who was nursing there.
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RF Goldfinch . British Army 4th Battalion Royal Tank Regiment RF Goldfinch served with the 4th Battalion Royal Tank 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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Lt. Alexander John St.Clair Goldie . Royal Navy Reserve Paymaster HMS Forfar from Glasgow Alex Goldie was my uncle, he was one of the three officers who survived the sinking of HMS Forfar. In 1941 Alex was promoted to Lieutenant Commander coincidentally, the same year the Commander of U99 who sunk Forfar was captured.
Alex went on to serve on HMS Searcher and survived the war. He married an American girl and lived the rest of his life in New York working as a purchasing agent.
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GC Goldie . British Army GC Goldie 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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OH Goldie . British Army Royal Armoured Corps OH Goldie served with the Royal Armoured Corps 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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Wing Cmdr. Albert Golding DFC . Royal Air Force 12 Squadron (d.26th Mar 1942) The crew of a Vickers Wellngton, which was shot down near Andijk (The Netherlands) at the evening of 26th of March 1942 were:
- RAF Wg Cdr Golding, A DFC and Bar Captain (Pilot)
- RAAF 403431 Sgt F D McLeod, (2nd Pilot)
- RCAF Flt Sgt B A Doe, (Observer)
- RCAF Flt Sgt M Duncan, (Wireless Air Gunner)
- RAF Sgt W S Makin, (Wireless Air Gunner)
- RAF Flt Sgt P G Thorpe, (Rear Gunner)
It took off from Binbrook and was heading to Essen (Germany) to bomb the Krupp steel factories. The bomber was shot down by Egmont Prinze zur Lippe Weissenfeld of the German night fighters. We are investigating this in order to erect a monument at the place they crashed to honor and remember them. We are looking for all kind of information and specially pictures of the crew.
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EH Golding . British Army EH Golding 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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Sgt. F. Golding . 102 Squadron
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Able Seaman. H. Golding . Royal Navy HMS Forfar Able Seaman Golding was one of the surviors of HMS Forfar.
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J Golding . British Army 44th Btn. Royal Tank Regiment J Golding served with the 44th Btn. Royal Tank 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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R Golding . British Army R Golding 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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Sgt. Richard Golding . Royal Air Force 97 Squadron from Greenwich (d.4th July 1943)
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Sgt W. Golding . 102 Squadron
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F/O William Ronald Golding . Royal Air Force 76 Squadron (d.3rd/4th Mar 1943 )
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Sgt. Leslie Dennis Goldingay . RAFVR 9 Squadron (d.26th April 1944) Leslie Goldingay aged 23 was an Observer in Wellington bombers and was based at Honington in Suffolk. And on the night of 11th January 1941 as part of a 6 member of the 6 man crew took off for a bombing mission to Turin.
Aircraft WS- R1224 was forced to land near Miserieux in France and all crew were uninjured however they were all interned. Five of the crew managed to escape and eventually returned to the UK and took place in further operations.
After being promoted to Flight Lieutenant he was killed in action on the 26th April 1944
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Michael John Dalrymple Goldingham . British Army My Father, Michael Goldingham, was the official forger at Oflag 79, therefore he could never escape. I have quiet a few drawings of other prisoners done by my father and these photos taken at Oflag 79. My father is on the far left on the first photo.
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