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Jan David Van_Niekerk . Royal Navy HMS Nigeria My father Jan Van Niekerk told us about serving in the Navy on HMS Nigeria. He told us about the ship being shot at and the crew ending up in life rafts.
He also mentioned being held captive with other crew members in a
concentration camp in Singapore. He had varies tattoos on his body which
were all done while in the Navy. One particular one was an anchor on his chest. Can anyone shed some light on these stories? Thank you.
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Sgt. Horace Victor Vardy . British Army 2nd Btn. Sherwood Foresters from Nottinghamshire During his time at war, in June 1940 Horace Vardy was put aboard the Lancastria which was packed full in an emergency evacuation from France. While evacuating from St Nazaire, a German bomb had hit the ship and killed hundreds of soldiers instantly.
To survive the Lancastria disaster Vardy had to fight for his place on a piece of wreckage, while comrades lost their lives. He felt guilt and sorrow later for this. Troops in the water were being machine-gunned as Vardy paddled away from the ship, covered in oil. As he was in the sea he could hear the men trapped below decks in the ship singing Roll out the Barrel, a song that brought tears to his eyes whenever he heard it, until the day he died in 1963. He spent many hours in the water praying and singing until a fishing boat picked him up. This was the 17th June, the day before his birthday. He would be 22 years old the next day; it was the best birthday present he could wish for. He served in Bees Squad, 2nd Battalion Sherwood Foresters.
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RK Vardy . British Army RK Vardy 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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AA Varley . British Army AA Varley 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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Sigmn. Arnold Varley . British Army 97 Tele-Ops Coy. Royal Signals from Ashton-under-Lyne My father, Arnold Varley, served in the Royal Signals for most of the war as a teleprinter operator. He spent most of the war in England, and he spent long periods in the SW of England, outside Bristol. He actually played football for Bath Football Club. He also spent some time at Wilton House, Wilton. Eventually, his unit went to France on D-Day +Six. He was so sea-sick that he was left on the beach in France for two days and a truck was sent to pick him up.
After the break-out he moved north into Belgium where he and his friends were befriended by a Belgian family, whose daughter, Odette Croisier, was a well known singer for many years after the war. Eventually, his unit moved into Germany but I do not have much knowledge of detail. My father made life-lasting friends whom he met up with fairly often after the war, a couple I remember are Bill Porter (from Folkestone) and Bert Frost.
For a little time the actor, Anthony Sharpe, was with his unit, although he moved on quite quickly.
I have a copy of menu card for a re-union held in 1947 for 97 Teleops
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Sgt. Cecil William Varley . British Army 2nd Btn. Dorset Regiment (d.1st May 1944)
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E Varley . British Army Royal Army Ordnance Corps E Varley served with the Royal Army Ordnance 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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Rowland Michael Gough Varley . (d.25th Jul 1943)
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JFS Varnam . British Army Northamptonshire Regiment JFS Varnam 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 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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L/Cpl. Frank Ernest Varney . British Army 10 Troop 11th Commando from Nottingham My Dad, Frank Varney, served with 11th commando 10 troop in the raid to capture Rommel in November 1941, Operation Flipper. He also spent a period of time at a POW camp PG65 in Italy. I would love to hear from any of his mates.
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Gnr. Herbert Varney . British Army Royal Artillery My Grandfather, Gunner Herbert Varney, was captured in June 1940 somewhere near Calais. He was transported to Stalag XXB where I think he spent the remainder of the war. I would be grateful if anyone has any information/ photographs which mention or show him. His POW number was 8406. Unfortunately my Grandfather passed away in June 1977, but my Grandmother is very interested in any mention of him.
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Leslie Varney . Royal Marines from 130 Coleridge St, Derby Leslie Varney served with the Royal Marines.
Photographs exist and we have anecdotal evidence regarding his service in the Royal Marines.
We know he was off the south coast of Spain in June 1936 evacuating British nationals from Barcelona on either HMS London or HMS Shropshire.
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S/Sgt Arthur L. Varrichio . United States Army Air Force from New York, NY My Father, Arthur L Varrichio, was a pow at St Wendel #4272 and served with the following, according to his diary, with their signatures and the few stories he shared,
Friends & Prisoners at St.Wendel
- T/Sgt AL Vance- D. Col
- S/Sgt "Hub" Campney E.lo
- S/Sgt Phil Homan - c.Wy
- S/Sgt "Les" Gausin AF. NY
- "Rex" Knapp - Iowa
- S/Sgt "Freaches" Montiel - KC. Kan
- S/Sgt E. Thomas- T Arz
- S/Sgt AL "Vic" Varicchio - N.Y.Ny
Quinn-
- A. Vannel -Conn
- "Hank" Sytnix - C.Ill
- Adam Straciewsi - Jer
- Tex Squpres - L. Texas
The names are too many to list these are just a few. The crew he flew and was shot down with are as follows.
- Pilot F/O W.J.. Stiles, Cleveland Ohio
- T/Sgt T.J Walker ,Los Angles CA
- Navigator Ltd John P Madefra (Spelling)
- (Engineer)
Co Pilot P/o J. Lowjuski
- * Ball Gunner S/Sgt H.P Campney-Emmetsburg , Iowa
- Ltd Charles Keck -
- W.G Ford PA waist gunner
- L.W Gaulin Tail Gunner
- R.Monteil Waist Gunner
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Bmbdr. William Vincent Vasey . British Army 81st Light Anti Aircraft Regiment, 261st Bty. Royal Artillery from Newcastle
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Pvt Raymond Vasquez . United States Army 36th Infantry Division from San Antonio Raymond Vasquez was a POW from Dec 1944 to May 1945.
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Antonio Vassalli . Italian Army 77th Infantry Regiment from Pradalunga, Bergamo, Italy Antonio Vassalli was my great-uncle.
In his diary he wrote that he was an Italian war prisoner in Stalag XXB in Marienburg from the 19th of September 1943, until after the armistice of the 3rd of September, between the new government of Italy and the Allies.
He was captured by the Germans when he was trying to return home from the Italian front in France.
He was brought to the POW camp by train from Italy and by the 20th of December 1943 he was moved to an other prisoner of war camp near Wuppertal, 40km from Cologne. His prisoner number was 56281.
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L Vassie . British Army L Vassie 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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Flying Officer A R Vaughan . RCAF 582 Squadron 582 Squadron lost 5 aircraft on 23/12/44 whilst on operations to Cologne.
Lancaster PB523, took off from Little Stoughton at 10.29hrs. Crew were
F/Lt Peter Alfred Thomas, DFC, RAF 172593, killed, age 22.
F/Sgt Vivian George Hobbs, RAF 1816098, killed age 20
F/O W.E.Vaughan, RCAF, POW
F/Lt A.R.Whittaker, POW
W/O H.Fuller, POW
Sgt G.Fallon, POW
W/O2 Frederick William Campbell, RCAF J/94493, killed, age 29
The Lancaster is believed to have crashed at Oppiter (Limburg), 4km SE of Bree in Belgium, though it is likely some of the crew baled out over Germany.
F/O Hobbs lies in the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, his death being attributed to a collapsed parachute canopy. F/L Thomas was originally buried at Oppiter but his grave is now at Heverlee War Cemetery, while WO2 Campbell RCAF, who was laid to rest alongside his skipper, has been taken to Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery, Holland.
—From Bomber Command War Diaries - Martin Middlebrook & Chris Everitt
Lancaster PB523 was one of 27 Lancasters and 3 Mosquitoes of 8 Group to attack the Gremberg railway yards.
The raid went very badly. The force was split into 3 formations, each led by an Oboe-equipped Lancaster with an Oboe Mosquito as reserve leader. During the outward flight, 2 Lancasters of 35 Squadron collided over the French coast and their crews were all killed. On approaching the target, it was found that the cloud which had been forecast had cleared and it was decided to allow the bombers to break formation and bomb visually; this move was made because the formations would have been very vulnerable to Cologne's flak defences during the long, straight Oboe approach. Unfortunately the order to abandon the Oboe run did not reach the leading Lancaster, a 582 Squadron aircraft piloted by Squadron Leader R A M Palmer DFC (on loan from 109 Squadron), who continued on with his designated role, even though his aircraft was already damaged by flak. German fighters, who were being directed to intercept an American bomber force, also appeared and attacked. The bombs from Squadron Leader Palmer's aircraft were eventually released and hit the target but his plane went down out of control and only the tail gunner escaped, by parachute. Squadron Leader Palmer, on his 110th operation, was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross, the only Oboe VC of the war; his body is buried in the Rheinberg War Cemetery with the other men who died in the Lancaster.
The formation suffered further losses when another Lancaster and a Mosquito were shot down by Flak ANF fighters and a further Lancaster was abandoned by its crew over Belgium. The losses were thus 6 aircraft out of the 30 dispatched.
I am desperately searching for any information about Pilot Officer Frederick William Campbell, known as Teddy, of 582 Sqd RCAF, age 29, of Pembrooke, Nova Scotia who died in action December 23, 1944. He is my half-brother's father and we know nothing at all about him. My 70 year-old brother was adopted and never met or knew his Dad. Very sad circumstances. I am determined to search until I have answers. He died while serving his country and deserves to be recognized by his son for his bravery.
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Sgt. Arthur James Vaughan . Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 242 Squadron (d.26th April 1941) I live on the south coast in a place called Telscombe Cliffs, near to Newhaven Harbour. About 2 miles going inland from the coast is a little hamlet of about 6 cottages and a lovely old Saxon church and it goes by the name of Southease. In the little churchyard the graves go back 200 plus years apart from one and it is a typical war grave headstone with the RAF arms on the front, buried in the grave is Pilot Sgt. Vaughan. What we would like to unravel is the mystery of how Sgt. Vaughan came to be buried in our little churchyard. We are more than honoured to have Sgt. Vaughan in our church grounds but it would be nice just to know a little more about this very brave man.
Sgt. Vaughan was flying Hurricanes in 242 Squadron, being based at Stapleford Tawney, North Weald from April 9th to May 22nd and was shot down and killed near Chartham in Kent. We know he was married to a lady called Christine. Another strange thing was his age, he was 41 when he was shot down. As he was RAF Volunteer Reserve could he have been a ferry pilot who was in the wrong place at the wrong time? Does anybody know how Sgt. Vaughan came to be laid to rest in our little churchyard? If there is anyone with any clues no matter how small we would love to be able to put his story to rest. We always place flowers on his grave on the anniversary of his death and say a little pray and thanks for the ultimate price he paid so we can tell this story.
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C Vaughan . British Army C Vaughan 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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C Vaughan . British Army Royal Armoured Corps C Vaughan 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 David Elwyn Vaughan . Army Royal Army Service Corps from Glynneath, South Wales (d.14th Aug 1940) I am desperately trying to trace my Grandfather, David Vaughan who died in the Second World War aged 27. His wife was Annie may Vaughan and she died aged 33 in 1950.
They lived in Glyneath, South Wales and the circumstances surrounding his death are vague.
His only son died in 1993 and his only daughter, my mum is unable to recall any memories due to his death when she was only 9 years old
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HJN Vaughan . British Army HJN Vaughan 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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Pte. Horace Vaughan . British Army
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Idris William Vaughan . British Army Royal Engineers from Bargoed, South Wales
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Jack Vaughan . British Army Royal Horse Guards / Commandos My father, Jack Vaughan, was captured in Crete and spent 4 years in VIIIB
He had deducted one year from his birth date so that he could join the Royal Horse Guards at 17. In January 1940, the regiment took horses to Palestine and there he rode as many as 70 miles a day through many places mentioned in the Bible, including one day drinking ice cold water from Jacob’s Well.
As the war progressed and European countries fell to Nazi Germany, he transferred to the Commandos after undertaking specialist training in Egypt. He went to Abyssinia where he took part in raids behind enemy lines, sometimes covering as much as 200 miles in a day. After a further short spell in Egypt, two commando units went to Crete, but the weather was too rough to land. After changing on to a cruiser, he eventually landed at Suda Bay and fought hand to hand across the island for five days before being captured by the Germans.
He was taken to Stalag VIIIB where his experiences were horrific including being hospitalised for four months after being severely beaten. Released by the Americans in 1945, he returned to the UK spent some time in hospital receiving treatment before resuming Guard duties at Whitehall. Later, due to his treatment in the prisoner of war camp, he was disabled out of the Horse Guards.
I have cartoons and pictures drawn in a log book by WMH who I have now deduced is Bill 'Toad' Hughes as a result of meeting up with the wife of former inmate Stan Livingstone - she also has a log book containing a cartoon by WMH. We found the reference and some further pictures in a book called "Almost a Lifetime" by John McMahon.
We know of at least 5 cartoonists/artists who drew in prisoner's log books – does anyone have any information on these prisoner artists please? I would like to hear from anyone who remembers my father.
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Jack Vaughan . My father was a POW at Lamsdorf 8B from 1939 to 194/45 when he took part in the death march west, ultimately to be liberated by the Allies. I think he served with one of the London infantry regiments. He had a very close friend, Reginald Blair, who was captured in North Africa.
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Pte. James Vaughan . British Army Royal Berkshire Regiment from Woodcote, Nr Reading James Vaughan served with the Royal Berkshire Regiment.
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P. Vaughan . Royal Air Force I am looking for anyone who knew, or served with my grandfather, Leslie Hermiston-Hooper, during the Second World War, specifically the following:
Syd Hancock
P. Vaughan
A. Haxman
Alex Henshaw.
All of these, I believe, flew with him on April 16th 1940. I have a photograph which he took on that day from the cockpit of his Whitley Bomber.
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