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Sgt. Philip Oland Edwin Randell MM.. British Army 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery Philip Randell was captured at the Battle of Sidi Rezegh in North Africa where he had taken part in the VC winning action conducted by Second Lieutenant Gunn (and is mentioned in that citation). He was imprisoned at Campo 53 at Macerata.
When the armistice with Italy was announced British prisoners were ordered not to escape. On 15th of September 1943 the Italian guards had deserted and Randell escaped through the wire with another PW. They travelled south but were recaptured near Campo Di Giorno and were imprisoned there. On 7 October they escaped again, this time by climbing into a building used by the German guards and walking out of the front gate, whistling a popular German tune. They travelled south again and made contact with British forces after crossing the Trigno river, around 300km away from Macerata.
He was awarded the Military Medal for this action.
He survived the war and later joined the RAF Regiment, retiring as a Squadron Leader, having served in Kenya, Aden and Germany.
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T-4. Charles A. Randklev . US Army 4264th Quartermaster Truck Company 8th Infantry Battalion from Clearbrook, MN My grandfather, Charles A. Randklev, served with the HQ 8th Quartermasters Company in WWII. Sadly, his records were destroyed in a 1973 fire in the archives.
I am trying to find any information about his unit. I know he broke his hip at the end of the war and was at Brooke General Hospital at Fort Sam Houston, TX from Dec 1946 to February 1947.
His unit was attached to the 8th Infantry Division so he probably saw at least one concentration camp. He was in the 4264th Quartermaster Truck Company, 8th Battalion if there are any survivors out there.
Please contact me if you know anything.
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AG Randle . British Army Royal Armoured Corps AG Randle 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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Capt. John Niel Randle VC.. British Army 2nd Btn. Royal Norfolk Regiment from Holywell, Oxford (d.6th Mary 1944) John Randle was the son of Dr. Herbert Niel Randle and Edith Randle; husband of Mavis Ellen Randle, of Holywell, Oxford. He qualified in Final Honour School in Law for the degree of B.A. (Oxon). He died on the 6th May 1944, age 26 and is buried in grave 2. C. 8 in the Kohima War Cemetery in India.
The citation for his VC was published in the London Gazette on the 8th of December 1944:- "On the 4th May, 1944, at Kohima in Assam, a battalion of the Norfolk Regiment attacked the Japanese. Captain Randle took over command of the company which was leading the attack. His handling of a difficult situation was masterly, and although wounded himself he continued to inspire his men until the company captured its objective. He then brought in all the wounded men who were lying outside the perimeter. Captain Randle refused to be evacuated, and despite his wound carried out a personal reconnaissance with great daring, prior to a further attack on the new enemy positions. At dawn on 6th May Captain Randle led this attack, and ran into heavy fire from a bunker. Appreciating that the destruction of this enemy post was imperative, if the operation was to succeed, Captain Randle charged the Japanese post single-handed. Although now mortaly wounded, he silenced the gun with a grenade thrown through the bunker slit. He then flung his body across the slit so that the aperture should be completely sealed. The bravery shown by this officer could not have been surpassed, and by his self-sacrifice he saved the lives of many of his men and enabled not only his own company but the whole battalion to gain its objective and win a decisive victory over the enemy."
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Pte Paul John Leonard Randles . South African Army Umvoti Rifles from Pietermaritzburg Paul Randles(19), former Head Boy of Hilton College, volunteered to fight for the Mother country. The Randles family had come from Shropshire and his mother's (Tweedie) from Peebles.
He was sent to Egypt for army training. Fighting in the desert war in North Africa Private Randles was taken prisoner at the fall of Tobruk in July 1942. He was taken to Italy where he was held prisoner in Montalbo (PG41) in September 1942. In March 1943 he was transferred to another camp, Fontanelatto (PG49).
On 9th September 1943 he was one of the 536 prisoners released by the Camp Commandant. He and his compatriots made their way south through the Apennine Mountains with the aim of joining the Allies. They covered 700km on foot. He was sheltered by a family called Vincenzo in San Donato in Frosinone. He was recaptured by Germans while attempting to cross to the Allied lines. He was entrained to Germany where he saw out the war in POW Camp Stalag VIIa, near Mooseburg northeast of Munich.
Having survived the war Paul studied Law and became senior partner at Randles Davis and Wood in Pietermaritzburg, Natal. Paul played rugby and cricket for Natal and got a trial as wicketkeeper for the Springboks.
While under the protection of the Vincenzo family he was invited to attend the christening of their youngest child. He made too merry after the service and slipped out of the haystack where he had been hiding and landed at the feet of a German officer. Quick thinking Ma Vincenzo took off her belt and scolded him shouting "Off to your room now and sleep it off - the young today just do not know how to behave". The officer roared with laughter and suspected nothing.
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Pte Paul John Leonard Randles . South African Army Umvoti Mounted Rifles from Pietermaritzburg, S.Africa Paul Randles was headboy of his school Hilton College, Natal, S.Africa. He captained the 1st XV and 1st XI Cricket.
In late 1940 he volunteered to join the South African Army (his father had served the Empire in WWI) and was assigned to a local regiment, the Umvoti Mounted Rifles. Following training in South Africa and Botswana the regiment embarked from Durban in July 1941 bound for Egypt.
In 1941, the South African Army was comprised of two infantry divisions. The First Division was held in reserve while the Second Division was deployed to North Africa in support of Allied forces fighting the Desert War. The Second Division comprised 3rd, 4th and 6th Infantry Brigades. The Umvoti Mounted Rifles were part of 4th Infantry Brigade.
After weeks of acclimatisation and training in desert warfare Paul was in action in the battles at Bardia and Sollum. In June 1942 the entire SA Second Division formed part of the Allied forces defending Tobruk. When Rommel attacked and captured Tobruk he handed all Allied POWs to the Italian Army.
Paul was shipped to Italy where he was held in a number of POW camps. When Italy declared an Armistice on 8th September 1943 Commandants in many of the camps in Italy released their captives. Paul and three others were freed from Campo PG49, Fontanellato near Parma. They headed South on foot along the Apennine Mountains relying on peasant farmers (contadini) for shelter and food. They had reached Frosinone, south of Rome by early December.
Unable to cross the Gustav Line, heavily fortified as it had become, they sheltered in a stone hut on a mountainside near San Donato Val di Comino. They were fed and clothed by a local family. They left the hut in January as they felt they were putting the family at too great a risk. Some days later their location was given away and they were recaptured by the Germans.
Paul and his pals were trucked to Bolzano and then entrained to Germany. Paul spent the remainder of the war as a POW first in Stalag VIIA Moosberg, near Munich and Stalag IVG Oschatz, a work camp near Leipzig. There they were witness to the Allied bombing raids on Chemnitz and Dresden. In April 1945 their German guards forced the prisoners to march away from the camp. During the march they encountered groups of prisoners from concentration camps in Poland and Czechoslovakia. They finally met American patrols and were free.
They commandeered a military ambulance and drove West through Germany and Holland. They crossed to England by ferry.
Paul spent 4 months in England. He visited his aunt in Bexhill-on-Sea and spent a while in London taking part in the victory celebrations. He returned to South Africa late in 1945 where he was demobilised,
Paul joined his father's legal practice in Pietermaritzburg and married Diane Tweedie. Paul went on to become senior partner at Randles Davis & Wood. He played provincial rugby and cricket representing Natal. He and Diane had 5 children: four daughters and a son. Paul died in 1978 aged 56.
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Sgt L F Range . RAF 12sqd
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AJ Ranger . British Army AJ Ranger 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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P/O. David Alexander Rankin . Royal Air Force 115 Squadron from Wellington City, New Zealand (d.12th Apr 1940) On 12th April 1940 115 Squadron were operating out of RAF Marham, Norfolk. David Rankin took part in a raid on Stavanger, Norway. The aircraft was the lead aircraft of 2nd section. It was shot down over Stavanger and crashed on top of a bakery. The full crew of the aircraft, a Vickers Wellington Mk1C, P9284, KO-J, were killed, they are all buried in the Stavanger (Eiganes) Churchyard:
- Pilot Officer 36223 Frederick Edward Barber, 26 years
- Pilot Officer 36180 David Alexander Rankin, (New Zealand) 25 years
- Sgt 580805 Alan Sydney Pearce, 20 years
- Sgt 514904 Geoffrey William James Juby, 28 years
- Leading Aircraftman 545537 Lionel Allen Westcott, 21 years
- Pilot Officer 76004(RAFVR) Peter Edward Tucker Bull, 26 years.
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Lt.Col F. L. "Frank" Rankin . British Army Intelligence Corps from London Lt.Col. Rankin was my grandfather and he passed away in 1972. He served as OC Troops on "Monarch of Bermuda" on a return trip and I have a letter from the Captain of the ship (whose signature I sadly can not read) to him dated 16th June 1946.
Grandad fought in WW1 and lost both his brothers in that war, so by the time WW2 came around he was a middle aged retired officer. He volunteered and was re comissioned as a Major, serving with the Intelligence Corps in Northern Scotland and later as a Lt Col on Troop transports. I suppose his height 6Ft 6inc and age leant him an air of authority among several thousand bored, nervous, and homesick young men.
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J. Rankin . British Army Royal Corps of Signals
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JA Rankin . British Army Royal Armoured Corps JA Rankin 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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Cpl. John "Jock" Rankin . British Army Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders from Glasgow, Scotland Sadly my dad, John Rankin passed away without me ever finding out a lot about his time as a POW. All he ever referred to was the good times and the laughs they had as comrades. I am sure it was not like that in reality.
I have a home made Menu Card from Stalag 357 from December 1944. Jock was the Compare, I can just see him, he was a character. If anyone has relatives who were there at that time I would love to hear from you.
The card refers to a Ben Muddle.
There are autographs on the back
Robert Jackson of Ashington, McNaught of Jordanhill, A R Noble and Dave Cirota.
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JR Rankin . British Army Durham Light Infantry JR Rankin served with the Durham Light Infantry 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. George Ferguson Rankine . British Army 19 Port Workshop Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers from Alloa My Grandfather George Rankine sered with REME and the Royal Army Ordnance Corps,I'm looking to find out more about his unit's time during the war and his experiences in Africa, Italy and Croatia. His unit was 19 Port Workshop and it was in Bone Algeria for 15 months before shipping to Italy in the latter part of '44. They were stationed at Cassino, Taranto & Salerno in Italy just to name a couple and spent 6 weeks in Zadar, Croatia. I'm looking to further my research and hope someone can help?
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Richard David John Rankine . Royal Air Force My father, Dick Rankine served in Evanton, Allness in the Royal Air Force as a Technician around 1938 to 1946, I have no other information on his service.
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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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Thomas "Ran" Ransley-Lightfoot . British Army 2nd Btn. Grenadier Guards from Didcot My great uncle, Thomas Ransley-Lightfoot (Ran), was interned in Stalag IXC. He was with the 2nd Btn Grenadier Guards and was captured in France in 1940.
There is a photo of him on this site. I think it must have been taken early on as he lost the tops of two fingers in the salt mines when he grabbed the chains of a railway cart that had broken loose. I believe he used to take part in the plays performed in the camp. Does anyone have more information about him - he never talked about his camp experiences.
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Sgt. Charles Edgar "Clarke" Ransom . Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 214 Sqdn. from Yorkshire (d.15th January 1943) Stirling W7637 was lost on a bombing run on Lorient on 15th/16th January 1943. T/o 1826 Chedburgh and lost without trace. All the crew members are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. They were:
S/L P.W.M. Carlyon DFC
Sgt C.E.C. Ransom
F/O D.K. O'Donnell RNZAF
Sgt J.L. Kemp
Sgt L. Carr
F/S J.N. Peck RCAF
P/O P.F. Pinder RCAF
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S/Sgt. Eric Shelbourne Ransom . British Army from South Africa Eric Ransom was my father's brother. They were born early 1900s in London surrounds. Both volunteered from South Africa where their mother had taken them. Their father was involved in an affair and ended up in a suicide pact in 1916 in the Curzon Hotel in Brighton.
My father seems to have served as a flight training officer in South Africa.
I have never been able to find any details of any foreign service for him.
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Matt Ransom . US Army Air Force tail gunner 452nd Bomb Group
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Commander Ransome . Royal Navy HMS Nelson (d.12th Aug 1942) Second in Command
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Jack Ransome . British Army Royal Artillery We soldiers didn't want to surrender; we wanted to keep on fighting. You can imagine how surprised the Japanese were at the surrender. When we surrendered the Japanese troops came up behind us and we had to destroy our guns, then we were marched to Changi prison.
I was given several jobs; one was growing vegetables in terraced fields. I was put in charge of counting out the tools and counting them back in again. If they weren't all there they kept us on until we found them.
I also had to work stripping parts out of car engines; you see the Japanese were desperate for parts. One day we had to take a convoy of trucks down to the harbour, and as fuel was in very short supply the lead truck was the only one that had any fuel and pulled the rest of the trucks that had been lashed together. There was a soldier in each truck to steer.
When we got into town an Indian policeman stopped the lead truck to let a Japanese officer and his driver through. As you can imagine, each truck ran into the truck in front and all you could hear was the breaking of glass headlights. We all got out, laughing as we could see the funny side, but the Japanese soldier got out of his car, drew his sword and made us all kneel down at the roadside and lay our heads on the pavement. All we could do was wait for his sword to come down on us, but he suddenly started to laugh and ordered us to stand and get back in the trucks. He then turned to the very tall Indian policeman and stretched all of his 5' 2" stature to whack him over the head. He sent him flying, the scene was very funny.
I was then put to work on building the Thai-Burma Railway.
We were transported there in cattle wagons for five days and there was no sanitary provision. The only food was rice with weevils in it, so at least we had our meat ration!
The conditions were brutal, we would have to turn out for a parade and then work from dawn to dusk, and if we didn't complete our tasks for the day we were given a whacking. All this on just two bowls of rice per day. Our legs were leaden by the end of the day, we had no machinery. We worked in groups of four, two with bamboo pools suspending sacking, one filling the sacking with earth and stones from the bottom and the fourth stamping down the mounds on the top; that was the easy job, even without boots!
We also ad to fill an area 5 yds x 3 yds with small stones which we chiselled out from the quarry. We worked in teams of 10-12 men, us and the Australians. Again it was from dawn til dusk in searing heat. We were given set targets and given more whackings if we didn't make them.
I was lucky as I had run with the Hernehill Harriers before the war so I had strong legs. That helped me a lot. I was determined to survive and the thought that my Scottish fiancee was waiting for me kept me going. We used to try and get one over on the Japanese guards but when we got caught out we got a whacking!"
By 1943 the railway line was completed and the POWs were then divided into two groups, half being sent to Japan to work in the mines and half sent to Singapore to build defences. Those going to Japan were sent in unmarked boats with no Red Cross markings, a lot of the boats were torpedoed and sank. Then the survivors worked in horrendous conditions in the mines.
I was lucky, I was sent to Singapore to build defence tunnels.
The one day the guards didn't show up, so we just thought, great, a day off! We thought that was strange as we only had one day a year off, on the Emperor's birthday. It happened again the next day and we heard a weapon ad been dropped."
There was an order to shoot all POWs if the Japanese had to surrender, but this never happened as the guards had been withdrawn. The Commander in Singapore then took a week to surrender, despite being told to do so immediately by the Emperor.
The first person I saw was an Airborne Paras RAF man walking down the road; we just said hello, good weather today! Then within no time at all Lady Mountbatten came to visit us, shortly followed by Lord Mountbatten. It was amazing! You have never seen such a rag bag lot of a Guard of Honour! We raided the place and found old bits of uniform and brightly coloured t-shirts.
We had a motley collection of uniforms and there was Lord Mountbatten in a gleaming white suit complete with medals and sashes. As for us, we were all underweight and covered in scabs, sores and bandages around our legs to hide our tropical ulcers.
I'll never forget it, there were three rows of 30; 30 Brits,30 Aussies and 30 Dutch, that was all that could actually stand up at the time. Lord Mountbatten inspected us as if we were guards outside Buckingham Palace!
Within a month Jack had gone from an emaciated 6 stones in weight to 11 stones and was on a Polish ship bound for Britain.
He and his fellow POWs docked at Liverpool and caught the train down to London, where they were quickly despatched to their homes by the WRVS.
When I went home I knocked on the door and said hello to my Dad. Mum was over the road at a neighbour's house, so I went there straight away. The neighbour just let out a scream and then I saw my Mum. I think I inherited my Mum's personality and that got me through it too. She was quite a character.
Jack went on to marry his fiancee who, despite only receiving two letters from him whilst he was in a prisoner of war camp, waited for his return. He moved to Peebles and worked for Standard Life Insurance in Edinburgh before moving to Birmingham to set up a new office for the company. Sadly, his wife died soon afterwards and Jack was left a widow. Jack was lucky enough to meet and marry his second wife, they lived in Weston-Super-Mer. But tragedy hit Jack again and his wife passed away.
On his own once more, Jack wanted to return to Peebles, but there was nowhere suitable for him to live, so a nephew suggested Largs as an alternative. It was in Largs that Jack met his third wife Maddie, now 84. Romance blossomed and the couple have been married for 5 years.
Jack shows no bitterness towards his captors in Japan.
"You see, they are different from us. They used to beat their own soldiers too, not just us. If we had done that we would have been court-martialled. And they weren't all bad."
But behind those twinkling eyes unwanted memories appear and he changes the subject with a smile.
Article published in the Largs & Millport Weekly News.
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PFC. James Earl Ransome . US Army 415th Infantry Regiment from Duplin County, NC (d.24th Feb 1945)
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TA Ransome . British Army Royal Tank Regiment TA Ransome served with the 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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P/O J. V. Ranson . Royal Canadian Air Force 419 Sqd.
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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.
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F/Sgt. Nelson John Rapere . Royal Air Force 35 Sqd. (d.21st Jan 1944) My mother was married to Nelson John Rapere, an RAF F/Sgt who died on the bombing run to Magdeberg. He along with three other crew members, were killed after their aircraft was intercepted by a night fighter. It was Halifax Mk.III HX324. Three other crew members became POW's and survived the war. Two went to Australia.
I am searching for information about Nelson Rapere: photos, family members, anything. We only have the marriage certificate and his death announcement. I also am interested in any information about that fateful day.
Thanks for any help you can give.
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Pte Ernest John Rapley . British Army 2/7th Btn. Queen's Royal (West Surrey) Regiment from Sussex (d.21st March 1945) Was anyone a POW at Stalag XIA in March 1945? My father died there on 21st March 1945 and has no known grave. He was Pte E J Rapley (known as John) of the Queens Royal Regt. Does anyone know where the POWs who died were buried? Were they transferred to the Berlin War Cemetery? I have contacted Red Cross, CWGC and National Ex-POW Assn.
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WV Rapley . British Army Royal Armoured Corps WV Rapley 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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