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Pte. Jack Lemuel Gurton . British Army 5th Btn. East Kent Regiment from Burnham on Crouch, Essex (d.9th October 1943) Jack Gurton served with the 5th Battalion, The Buffs.
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SSgt Bedelio Florencio "Bill" Gurule . US Army from San Antonio de las Huertas, New Mexico Bill Gurule was a cousin of my mother who wrote a book about his hometown and his time as a POW in Shinjuku Camp #1 "Fleeting Shadows and Faint Echoes of Las Huertas," published in 1955. This book is out of print.
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Hvdr. Bhanbhagta Gurung VC.. British Indian Army 3rd Btn. 2nd Royal Gurkha Rifles from Phalpu, Nepal Bhanbhagta Gurung was born in Phalpu, a small hill village in western Nepal in the district of Gorkha in September 1921. He enlisted in the British Indian Army joining 3rd Battalion, 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles) at the age of eighteen.
Promoted to Lance Naik, he served in the Chindit expedition led by Brigadier Orde Wingate into northern Burma in March 1943. He was serving in Number 4 Column, deep behind Japanese lines across the Chindwin, when the column was ambushed by the Japanese 33rd Division and ordered to disperse. His battalion was withdrawn from the line after the expedition for several months of training and refitting, and redeployed in March 1944 in Arakan in the 25th Indian Division, fighting down the Mayu Range towards Akyab. Bhanbhagta was promoted to Naik.
Shortly before the action that won him the VC, he was reduced to the ranks for neglect of duty after being blamed for taking the wrong hill, to the ire of the battalion commander, it later transpired that he had followed the orders of his platoon commander, who had given him the wrong target.
In February 1945, the 25th Indian Division landed at Ru-ywa, as a diversion from the offensive by General Sir William Slim's 14th Army towards Mandalay, and advanced to the Irrawaddy through the An pass, held by the Japanese 54th Division from a number of hills. The Gurkhas held two hills, code-named "Snowden" and "Snowden East", but were attacked by the Japanese and pushed back. They were ordered to retake the hills
On 5 March 1945 at Snowdon-East, near Tamandu, Burma, Gurung and his unit were approaching Snowdon-East. His company became pinned down by an enemy sniper and were suffering casualties. As the sniper was inflicting casualties on the section, Rifleman Bhanbhagta Gurung, being unable to fire from the lying position, stood up fully exposed to the heavy fire and calmly killed the enemy sniper with his rifle, thus saving his section from suffering further casualties. The section advanced again but came under heavy fire once again. Without waiting for orders, Gurung dashed out to attack the first enemy fox-hole. Throwing two grenades, he killed the two occupants and without any hesitation rushed on to the next enemy fox-hole and killed the Japanese in it with his bayonet. He cleared two further fox-holes with bayonet and grenades. "During his single-handed attacks on these four enemy fox-holes, Rifleman Bhanbhagta Gurung was subjected to almost continuous and point-blank Light Machine Gun fire from a bunker on the North tip of the objective." For the fifth time, Gurung "went forward alone in the face of heavy enemy fire to knock out this position. He doubled forward and leapt on to the roof of the bunker from where, his hand grenades being finished, he flung two No. 77 smoke grenades into the bunker slit." Gurung killed two Japanese soldiers who ran out of the bunker with his Kukri, and then advanced into the cramped bunker and killed the remaining Japanese soldier.
Gurung ordered three others to take up positions in the bunker. "The enemy counter-attack followed soon after, but under Rifleman Bhanbhagta Gurung's command the small party inside the bunker repelled it with heavy loss to the enemy. Rifleman Bhanbhagta Gurung showed outstanding bravery and a complete disregard for his own safety. His courageous clearing of five enemy positions single-handed was in itself decisive in capturing the objective and his inspiring example to the rest of the Company contributed to the speedy consolidation of this success."
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Hvdr. Lachhiman Gurung VC.. British Indian Army 4th Battalion 8th Gurkha Rifles from Dakhani, Nepal Lachhiman Gurung was born in the village of Dakhani, in the Tanahu District of Nepal, the son of Partiman Gurung. He joined the British Indian Army in December 1940, permitted to enlist in wartime although only 4'11" tall and so below the peacetime minimum height. He was 27 years old, and a Rifleman in the 4th Battalion, 8th Gurkha Rifles, when he was awarded the VC.
His Battalion was part of the 89th Indian Infantry Brigade of 7th Indian Infantry Division, which was ordered to cross the Irrawaddy River and attack Japanese forces to the north of the road from Prome to Taungup. The Japanese withdrew towards Taungdaw, where Gurung was part of the two companies of the 4th Battalion, 8th Gurkha Rifles waiting, when the Japanese attacked in force in the early morning.
"On 12/13 May 1945 at Taungdaw, Burma, Rifleman Lachhiman Gurung was manning the most forward post of his platoon which bore the brunt of an attack by at least 200 of the Japanese enemy. Twice he hurled back grenades which had fallen on his trench, but the third exploded in his right hand, blowing off his fingers, shattering his arm and severely wounding him in the face, body and right leg. His two comrades were also badly wounded but the rifleman, now alone and disregarding his wounds, loaded and fired his rifle with his left hand for four hours, calmly waiting for each attack which he met with fire at point blank range. Afterwards, when the casualties were counted, it is reported that there were 31 dead Japanese around his position which he had killed, with only one arm."
He received his Victoria Cross from the Viceroy of India, Field Marshal Lord Wavell at the Red Fort in Delhi on 19 December 1945. Gurung was hospitalised for the wounds he received during the above action and subsequently lost his right eye and the use of his right hand, but he continued to serve with the 8th Gurkhas, choosing to remain with them when they were transferred to the newly-independent Indian Army in 1947.
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Sub.Mjr. Pahalman Gurung MBE, OBI. British Indian Army 1st Btn. 6th Gurkha Rifles I have a Gurkha Knife with the following inscription: Gurkha Rifles 6. To the American Field Service From Sub.Major Pahalman Gurung Bahadur M.B.E O.B.I & the men of the 1st Bn. 6th Gurkha Rifles With appreciation & Thanks Burma 1944 - 45.
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Rfm. Thaman Gurung VC.. British Indian Army 5th Royal Gurkha Rifles from Nepal (d.10 Nov 1944) Thaman Gurung was 20 years old, and a Rifleman in the 1st Battalion, 5th Royal Gurkha Rifles, when he was awarded the VC.
The citation in the London Gazette reads: "On 10th November 1944 at Monte San Bartolo, Italy, Rifleman Thaman Gurung was acting as one of two scouts to a fighting patrol. By skillful stalking both scouts succeeded in reaching the base of the position undetected. Rifleman Thaman Gurung then started to work his way to the summit; the second scout attracted his attention to Germans in a slit trench just below the crest, who were preparing to fire with a machine gun at the leading section. Realizing that if the enemy succeeded in opening fire, the section would certainly sustain heavy casualties, Rifleman Thaman Gurung leapt to his feet and charged them. Completely taken by surprise, the Germans surrendered without opening fire.
Rifleman Thaman Gurung then crept forward to the summit of the position, from which he saw a party of Germans, well dug in on reverse slopes, preparing to throw grenades over the crest at the leading section. Although the sky-line was devoid of cover and under accurate machine gun fire at close range, Rifleman Thaman Gurung immediately crossed it, firing on the German position with his Tommy gun, thus allowing the forward section to reach the summit, but due to heavy fire from the enemy machine guns, the platoon was ordered to withdraw.
Rifleman Thaman Gurung then again crossed the sky-line alone and although in full view of the enemy and constantly exposed to heavy fire at short range, he methodically put burst after burst of Tommy gun fire into the German slit trenches, until his ammunition ran out. He then threw two grenades he had with him and rejoining his section, collected two more grenades and again doubled over the bullet-swept crest of the hill top and hurled them at the remaining Germans. This diversion enabled both rear sections to withdraw without further loss. Meanwhile, the leading section, which had remained behind to assist the withdrawal of the remainder of the platoon, was still on the summit, so Rifleman Thaman Gurung, shouting to the section to withdraw, seized a Bren gun and a number of magazines. He then, yet again, ran to the top of the hill and, although he well knew that his action meant almost certain death, stood up on the bullet-swept summit, in full view of the enemy, and opened fire at the nearest enemy positions. It was not until he had emptied two complete magazines, and the remaining section was well on its way to safety, that Rifleman Thaman Gurung was killed.
It was undoubtedly due to his superb gallantry that his platoon was able to withdraw from an extremely difficult position without many more casualties than were in fact incurred and that some very valuable information was obtained which resulted in the capture of the feature three days later. The rifleman's bravery cost him his life."
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Able.Sea. Thomas Edward Guselli . Royal Navy HMS Nelson My dad, Thomas Guselli, served on HMS Nelson and remembers being in Singapore when the bomb was dropped. He is nearly 91 and keeping well. He remembers a few names and I hope someone remembers him.
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Frank Gushwa . Merchant Marine Held as a Prisoner in Fukuoka 3b.
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Sgt. Philip Eugene "Bob" Guter . United States Army 102 Cavalry Regiment from Maple wood, N.J. My father, Philip Guter, was a POW in Stalag 5B, after having been captured on Sicily. He earned the Silver Star.
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DA Guthero . British Army DA Guthero 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.
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Mary Elma Guthrie Smith . Land Army I have found several photographs of women who served in the Land Army with my Mother. Their names, as far as I can gather are, B MacMurray (1941), Suzanne Buchanan, (Kippen, 1941), Anne Geddes, (Blairhill, 1946), Jean Galt & Agnes Day (1945, Taken in Dunoon), Mo McPherson (1945, Taken in Dunoon).
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ACG Gutteridge . British Army Northamptonshire Regiment ACG Gutteridge served with the Northamptonshire 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.
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Pte. Dennis William Gutteridge . British Army 4th Btn, B Company Ox & Bucks Light Infantry from Kidmore End Sadly, my father Dennis Gutteridge was no different to many others who found they couldn't talk about what happened to them during the war with those who hadn't gone through the experience. And now I have useful questions to ask, he's long gone.
I have some notebooks and various other memories of what he told me - enough to piece together a rough outline of his wartime story:
He enlisted at Kidmore End into 4th OBLI on 24th April 1939, just 6 days after his 24th birthday and his engagement to my mother, who also shared the same birth date (she was 18). They married in November 1939, and in January 1940 he was sent to France. He served as batman to a Lieutenant 'Whinney' (?sp) in Belgium and was notorious for riding his bicycle everywhere even on route marches. After a brief sojourn back in UK, he returned to France and took part in the rearguard action to hinder the German advance on Dunkirk - one of the forgotten army which was sacrificed. As a member of B commpany he defended Cassel, and retreated through the woods at Watou (Wateau St Jean), where the Germans encircled them and took them prisoner on May 30th 1940. He was lucky not to have been captured by one of the units/commanders who massacred British POWS after surrender/capture, and was transported to Lamsdorf, where he arrived on June 25th 1940 - so this journey took a month!
He never spoke about this part of the war, and the next I know was he was assigned to a work camp - E114, in a stone quarry.
Not unusually, his notesbooks are not a chronicle of how hard conditions were, but a collection of stories, songs, jokes, poems, articles, thoughts, comments, memoirs of pre-war days, and a list of POWs in camp E114. He demonstrated a trenchant wit which got him in a bit of hot water with his fellow POWs from time to time, and at every turn you can see his wry humour. There is one rather sad story about his early life, and another regaling the reader with his encounters as a young man with women.
The final story is his description of being on a German farm in Bavaria and his thoughts and comments about the life of the small German farmer.
He left Germany for home in 1945 and that is all he says.....whether he took part on one of the Death or Long Marches I can only guess, but as he was in Bavaria, he must have. Not a word did he write about this.
The only stories I can remember from when I was a child is how he was hiding in a wood and the Germans were calling to the British soldiers in English, to give themselves up. Fellow POWs who I know he kept in touch with after the war were 2 sappers serving in the Royal Engineers: Douglas (Duggie) Lawrence, and Rupert Sugden, who kept an offlicence after the war in Henley on Thames and was married to Molly Sugden the TV actress.
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LE Gutteridge . British Army Reconnaissance Corps LE Gutteridge served with the Reconnaissance 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 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.
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2nd Lt. Robert Norman Gutteridge MC.. British Army 31st Field Regiment, 105/119 Field Battery Royal Artillery from Dunstable Second Lieutenant Robert Gutteridge was serving with 105/119 Field Battery, part of 31st Field Regiment, Royal Artillery as a part of 6th Indian Division in Libya. On 3rd of December 1941, at Sidi Ariez, he took charge of his Troop after his Troop Commander and Second-in-Command had become casualties. In the actions that followed, up to and including on the 15th of December 1941, he showed great personal courage and leadership, resulting in the award of the Military Cross.
On 15th December, he was wounded and captured, and was initially transferred to a Military Hospital in Italy.
Following the Italian surrender, he was taken by the Germans to Oflag 79 at Brunswick in Germany where he spent the rest of the war until the American 9th Army liberated the Camp in 1945.
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S Gutteridge . British Army Royal Armoured Corps S Gutteridge 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 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.
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Sea. Wilhelm Louis Guttormsen . US Navy USS Boise from Canby, Oregon, USA My dad, Wilhelm Guttormsen served with the US Navy in the Pacific, first on the light cruiser USS Boise and then, after Guadalcanal, on the submarine USS Toro.
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L/Cpl. Thomas Reginald Guttridge . British Army 1st Battalion Rifle Brigade from Dulwich, London I persuaded my father Tom Guttridge to write a detailed account of his war memories. These have been published as a book Behind the Wire: Everyday Life as a PoW and also includes pre-war army memories and many of the photographs that my father brought home from the war including pictures of his seven pre-war years in the Rifle Brigade, the battle wreckage at Calais in 1940 when he was captured, the journey to Poland and life in the three camps in which he was a PoW in Stalag VIII B and Delbruick mine shaft camp in Poland, 1940 to 1942 and Stalag 383 from 1942 to 1945.
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Brian Guy . British Army 3rd Inf. Div. I served with Monty's old divsion, the 3rd British Infantry Divsion, also known as Monty's Ironsides or the Iron Division. I served from Sword Beach to Northern Holland, and was wounded twice.
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Sgt. Charles Mathieson Guy . Royal Air Force flight eng. 514 Sqd. from Glasgow, Scotland (d.30th Jul 1944) Charles Mathieson Guy stationed at Waterbeach from 1943
to mid Summer 1944 along with twin brother Robert Calder Guy. Both were killed in action during June and July '44.
Charles was lost when his aircraft went down returning from
Caen over the English Channel on the 30th July 1944. Robert went down at La Celle Le Bordes France on the 8th of June 44 and is buried in the village. Charles had survived a serious crash on return from Nuremburg on the 31st March 1944.
On return to Waterbeach they were baulked on finals by another Squadron aircraft and crash-landed while attempting
to go around. The crew were:
- P/O W.E.Chitty
- Sgt C.M.Guy
- Sgt L.A.Ive
- Sgt R.Fox
- Sgt A.B.Pattison
- Sgt C.Pratt
- Sgt J.Shepherd
Charles' second crew were lost without trace and are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.
- F/L W.E.Chitty
- Sgt C.M.Guy
- W/O L.A.Ding
- F/O W.S.Bonell
- F/S J.E.Richardson
- F/S E.W.Jenner
- F/S G.C.Wells
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GG Guy . British Army 17/21st Lancers GG Guy served with the 17/21st Lancers 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.
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P/O Guilyn Penry "Ginger" Guy . 57 Sqdn. Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve from Penclawdd, Glamorgan. Our Welsh hero, P/O Penry Guy and his crew took off on 21st June 1944 from East-Kirkby with his Lancaster LM580 DX-L to bomb the Wesseling synthetic oil refinery.
On his way to Wesseling in Germany his Lancaster was hit above Eindhoven in the Netherlands and crashed a few hundred yards from our railway station in As, Belgium.
In 2014, 70 years to the day, we unveiled a beautiful monument with parts of the Lancaster incorporated into it honouring the crew of Lancaster LM580 DX-L, especially P/O Penry Guy who saved his crew and was killed. He is buried in our community cemetery.
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H Guy . British Army H Guy 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.
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Pte. James Lawson Guy . British Army Gordon Highlanders My father, Private James Lawson Guy of the Gordon Highlanders, was captured at St. Valerie in France in (my mother thinks) May, 1940. In total he escaped on five occasions – mostly for short periods. He was, however, ‘on the run’ between his first escape in 1940 and his recapture in 1943. It is thought he escaped somewhere on the route between St Valerie and Thorn in Poland (where he was eventually held in Stalag XXA (6)).). He stayed with Polish families and worked with them during this period. I have in my possession 21 letters and postcards he sent to his family between 1943 and 1944. All are written in pencil but most are remarkably clear. During the ‘transcription’ of these letters in January 2009, I spoke with ‘wee brother George’ (who is referred to in the letters and who is now about 80 years old) and he told me that my dad was with the Polish Underground between 1940 and 43. (My mother states that he spoke Polish fluently.) There are clear indications in two of his letters that he escaped twice during the period when these letters were written (1943/44). On his second recapture he was moved to Stalag XXA (156).
He was awarded the British Empire Medal on his return home and I have a copy of a letter from King George VI making this award. When he and my mother were married on 21 June 1946, the Glasgow Eastern Standard Newspaper ran an article headed ‘Captured for Life’. The eleven letters and ten postcards, dating from 29 August, 1943 until 24 May, 1944 were kept for years by his sister Agnes and eventually handed over to my brother Ron. He gave them to be and I have had copies bound and treated in a manner which will preserve them forever. I also still have the originals.
In spite of his stated intentions to the contrary in one of his letters, my father did become a coal miner on his return from the war, which contributed to his early death aged just 42.
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Jimmy Guy . British Army Royal Signals Jimmy Guy served with the Royal Signals
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Fireman Randolph Basil Cyril Guy . National Fire Service from Dursley, Gloucestershire My father Randolph Cyril Guy was a fireman stationed somewhere in London and was billeted on a ship on the River Thames the name of which I believe could have been RRS Discovery.
His NFS number is on my birth certificate.
I have no other details of him about his service days in the NFS
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Flight Sargeant Robert Calder Guy . RAFVR Air Rear Gunner 514 Sqdn from Glasgow, Scotland (d.8th Jun 1944) Robert Calder Guy who along with twin brother Charles Mathieson Guy stationed at Waterbeach from 1943
to mid Summer 1944 when both were killed in action during June and July '44.
Robert went down at La Celle Le Bordes France on the 8th of June 44 and is buried in the village
along with two colleagues, his twin brother was lost when his aircraft went down returning from
Caen over the English Channel, I am trying to trace P/O W.L. Mc Gowan from Glasgow who evdaded capture
when Robert's aircraft came down or any person who was on the operation to bomb rail facilities in
tactial support at Massy Palaiseau.
Robert's crew was:
- P/O W.L.McGown
- Sgt J.Clarke
- W/O A.N.Durham RAAF
- P/O L.W.C.Lewis
- W/O K.E.Bryan RAAF
- F/S J.G.S.Boanson
- F/S R.C.Guy KIA
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F/S Robert Calder Guy . Royal Air Force 514 Squadron from Glasgow (d.8th June 1944) I have been tracing my wife's late cousin F/S Robert C Guy and have come across the story of Sgt. J. Clarke who was in the same Lancaster Bomber that crashed landed at Le Celle Les Bordes on that fateful evening 8th June 1944, I have traced all the colleagues of Robert's plane, also traced Sgt J Clarke through Buchenwald C.Camp to Stalag 111. I would like to know if J Clarke is still alive or any relatives that has any knowledge of the crash, as we have visited the cemetery in France and the graves of the 3 colleagues who did not survive plus the 4th unknown person who died that night mentioned on the memorial put up by the French villagers in their memory. I would like to hear if P/O L.W.C Lewis is still alive or where he was taken when captured in Paris during Aug 1944 POW no. 86489 in Camp 12A/L1.
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W Guy . British Army Royal Armoured Corps W Guy 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 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.
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Walter John Guy . British Army 1st Btn. Parachute Regiment from Birmingham Walter was in the Royal Army Medical Corps until 1941. He was at Dunkirk after been diverted on his way to Panama and narrowly escaped capture but was saved by one of the many small boats that sailed to France under heavy fire.
In 1941 he joined the 1st Parachute Regiment and was caught at Arnhem and made a POW the last six months of the war. My brother thinks my dad was at Monte Cassino and I know he went to Italy, North Africa, Greece, Egypt & Arnhem not sure where else.
He also had his name in the Golden Book in Paris. He belonged to the Dunkirk Veterans and when he died they came to his funeral with the flags and I know he would have liked that. A very proud moment for us all.
My brother sent £20.00 several years ago to the Army Service Records to find out about dad's service but we never knew his service number and never heard back from them. He finally forgot all about it. Dad did not talk about what happened in the War but he suffered poor health when returning home from the War in a Lancaster bomber. We can only go by his medals. A friend described what he thought they were the 1st being the Africa star. That meant he served in Africa between 10th June 1940-12th May 1943. He said it would say either 1st or 8th Army on it. If 1st Army, he served in Tunisia or Algeria between 8th Nov-31st Dec 1942. If it is 8th Army, then he served in Egypt and Libya from 23rd Oct 1942-12th May 1943. The next medal is the Italy Star,for service in Italy and the Med between 11th June 1943-8th May 1945. The next one is the 1939-45 Star. He got this for service overseas. The one below is the 1939-45 War Medal, which he got for serving in uniform for more than 28 days. The medal with the green-orange-green ribbon is the Defence Medal. It was awarded for defence of Britain during a time of threatened enemy invasion and who served 3 years at home. The next two are foreign medals, the first is the Dunkirk Assoc Medal the other I don't know. All I can tell you is that its a Belgian Medal, but I've never seen one before. Can anyone help me find out more please. My dad Walter John Guy was born 1919 he joined the army in 1936.
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