Those who Served
P/O R. Henderson R. . RCAF 149 Sqd. P/O Henderson was taken POW when his Wellington was shot down by a night fighter whilst on Ops to Duisburg, it crashed at Haelen in Holland. |
Able Seaman. Alexander Rae . Royal Navy HMS Prunella (d.21st Jun 1940) |
F/O F. S. Raferty . Royal Canadian Air Force 419 Sqd. (d.25th Oct 1944) |
Trimmer H. Rainey . Naval Auxiliary Personnel HMS Forfar H. Rainey was amongst the survivors of HMS Forfar. |
3rd Radio Offr. Harry Rainford . Royal Navy HMS Prunella (d.21st Jun 1940) |
Pte. John Ralfe . British Army The Buffs |
2nd Lt. George Klindt Ramsey . USAAF nav. from ) (d. ) My uncle, George Klindt Ramsey is in the back row of the photo of Raymond C Houghtby's crew. Does anyone have a clearer copy of the photo for my genealogy files? My was my mother's brother and an important part of my life. |
Richard J. Ramsey . My grandfather, Richard J Ramsey of Indiana, was a POW at the Stalag 9B Bad Orb Hessen-Nassau, Prussia 50-09. I do not have additional information. He never spoke of his experience to his children. He died in a car accident in 1975. If there is anyone who remembers him there, I would appreciate any information. Thank you.
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Sgt. Randall . British Army Royal Welch Fusiliers |
Trooper Thomas Randall . British Army Royal Tank Reginment from London) Just received my father's prisoner of war record from the Red Cross.He never spoke about his imprisonment much,so this is our first record of his war years...
Thomas Randall was in the Royal Tank Regiment, taken in Tobruk in August 1942, to Italy then moved to a few camps in Italy, until he was moved to Stalag IV/B in April 1943.
He was then moved to Stalag IV/C in October 1943 until 1945.
Loved reading all the stories of the brave men from this camp, anyone who knew of my dad or any other details,I would love to hear from them.
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J. Rankin . British Army Royal Corps of Signals |
Pte. William Ranner . Royal Marines HMS Manchester My Grandfather served on HMS Manchester. His name was William (Bill Ranner) Private Royal Marines. His service docs show that he was interned after the sinking of the Manchester. I can only assume he made it ashore and was captured and held as a POW.
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Matt Ransom . US Army Air Force tail gunner 452nd Bomb Group |
P/O J. V. Ranson . Royal Canadian Air Force 419 Sqd. |
William "Bill" Raper . Navy HMS Penelope My grandfather William Raper (known as Bill) served on the HMS Penelope during WW2. He was one of the survivors when she sank in 1944. Unfortunately I don't know what his rank or number was at this point. |
P/O D. Rasmussen . Royal Air Force navigator 76 Sqd. |
Marine Kenneth Leslie Ratcliff . Royal Marines (d.5th February 1945) During the second World War the Allied and German soldiers, who were killed in Goirle, Noord Brabant, the Netherlands and in the neighbourhood, were buried at the Roman Catholic cemetery from the parish St. Jan in Goirle.
After the war the remains of the German soldiers were reburied in Ysselsteijn (near Venray) and most of the allied soldiers were reburied in Bergen op Zoom (War Cemetery and Canadian War Cemetery) and in Leopoldsburg (Belgium, War Cemetery).
At this moment there are 27 Allied graves in Goirle. Every year we commemorate the victims of World War II, both soldiers and civilians. We know their names, but who were the persons behind the names? What were their lives before they died? Where did they come from? How did they die? Under what circumstances?
It is my intention to give the victims a face, to write and keep the story behind the gravestones because we always will remember the soldier who died for our liberty. We can forget names, but not faces. I will try to write down all their stories for the next generation so they will know who was commemorated.
Maybe someone can help me with Marine Kenneth Leslie Ratcliff, Royal Marines PLY/X 103381, who died on the 5th February 1945, age 22.
Send me a letter or an e-mail with additional information, a photograph or a copy of any personal document, which I can use for The Memory Book or a website. Thank you in advance for your help. |
Flight Lieutenant Philip P Ratel DFC. RAF123052 59 Squadron |
Flight Sergeant Alexander "Sandy" Rattray . RAF 139 Squadron I am looking for history of pilot Alexander "Sandy" Rattray, Flight Sergeant 1571518.
All I know is he was in 139 squadron and flew Mosquitos.
Any information, or where I should look, would be of great assistance.
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Veronica Constance Mary "Vera" Rattray . Women's Land Army from Lancashire) My Nanna, Vera Rattray, wrote her story and had it published. It's an excellent recounting of her time serving as part of the Land Girls.
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Veronica Constance Rattray . Women's Land Army Trough of Bowland from Liverpool) "We were a lively and energetic bunch of girls from all over Lancashire, and while some of us had a farming background, the majority did not . . . We were to get on well together." From 1939 to 1948, Veronica Rattray worked on farms in Lancashire as a Land Girl, and she faithfully recorded these crucial years of her life in her revealing memoir, "My Land Girl Years, 1939-1948", published prior to her death in 2009. The war years - a period of hardship for people in a nation under threat - was a time, for these Land Girls, of effort, self-sacrifice and hard work for low wages. They got on with their tasks, milking cows, herding sheep in the Pennines, and tending the huge shire horses that worked on the farms, and they got on well with each other. Vera's reward was to make new friends and to meet Queen Elizabeth in London, a moment she treasures. You can read her recollections of a happy time, when people had fewer choices and made the best of what they had. |
Beryl Rawlings . Women's Land Army |
Flt Sgt John Rawson . Royal Air Force 44 Squadron Flt Sgt John Rawson was shot down on the 2/3rd September 1941 on a mission to Frankfurt, he was the only crew member to survive. He was held prisoner in eastern Poland and spent some time in Auschwitz, a punishment for repeated escape attempts he arrived back in this country in late 1945 or early 1946 weighing only 7st. He left the RAF and joined the colonial service and worked in Nigeria for 11years. He later went on to work for Burmah oil. He sadly passed away on in June 2009 age 87. He was my uncle and Ii am proud to have known him
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Pte S. Ray . Home Guard Signal Sect. Workington Btn. |
Pte. Thomas Wilfred Ray . British Army 1st Btn. Duke of Corwall's Light Infantry from Birmingham) My father, Thomas Ray, joined the DCLI in 1935 and was stationed in India when the war broke out. He volunteered as a signaler for detached duty in Eritrea during 1940 and rejoined his unit in time to be stationed in Iraq. In 1942 the 1st Battalion joined with the forces defending Egypt and my father was captured in June 1942. As a POW he was sent t0 Italy where he escaped and was on the run for six months. By that time he spoke fluent Italian but was picked up by the Germans who thought he was an Italian deserter. He was sent to Germany where he was put into a straffe lager, or punishment camp. Eventually he was imprisoned in Stalag 11B and was liberated by American forces in April 1945. |
P Rayment . Navy HMS Nigeria I have a photo of H.M.S. Nigeria with lots of signatures on the back. It says Torpedo Division 1945 and is dated 19th September 1945.
The names are:
R G Stocker Geordie BurnsRonald J HarrisG KentP RaymentW WheatleyD ChapmanH J FisherD P Sweeney A ?? WhitheadH LockearBlimp PalmerG. KentJ Arnold ~(Sussex) A ChapmanJames Robertson(Jock)R E FisherD MercerR E RileyW L GilbertF J Fulcher (Wind Bo'sun 1st class)D Hughes TGMG L BowersE TicehurstF C WelchG W Downes |
Ord. Seaman T. Rayment . Royal Navy HMS Forfar T. Rayment was one of the survivors when HMS Forfar was lost in 1940. |
Henry "Ray" Rayner . British Army Royal Fusiliers from London) |
Sgt. Jack Read . RAF(VR) flight eng. 207 Sqd |
Lt. Leslie Gustave Read . Royal Navy HMS Manchester from Southend-on-Sea, Essex) My Grandfather Leslie Gustave Read was held as a POW in Laghouat, Tunisia after he fortunately survived the sinking of the ship on which he proudly served, HMS Manchester.
We have numerous photos if him and several of his friends whilst still at the camp.
Upon being liberated from the camp my grandfather served as Commanding Officer on HM LCT 644 and was mentioned in dispatches after his ship and his crew assisted in the rescue of survivers of HMCS Regina sunk by torpedo in the Plymouth area 08/08/1944. |
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