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Those known to have fought in Battle of Greece during the Second World War 1939-1945. The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed,
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The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website.
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Want to know more about Battle of Greece? There are:127 items tagged Battle of Greece available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War. |
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Pte. Hodgson Wilson "Bill " Alker 6th Btn. C Coy. Durham Light Infantry  Hodgson Alker was born in April 1919 at Willington, Co Durham. He enlisted in the Durham Light Infantry on the 15th of November 1939 and was posted to No 3 Infantry Holding Battalion
He arrived in France on 13th of March 1940 on the SS Ulster and was
posted to C Company, 6th Battalion, DLI on the 18th in Belgium, at Smeerchebbev Loersegem. He saw action in Northern France at Arras, Vimy Ridge and Beaurins in the Battle of Arras 1940. Made it back to
Dunkirk and was evacuated at 20:00 hrs on 1st of June 1940 on a Minesweeper from the Mole. He was then deployed on the south coast defences at Cullompton.
He embarked from Scotland on 23rd of May 1941 on the SS Duchess of Windsor, Canadian Pacific Line. On 27th of May all convoy escorts disappeared as they were hunting the Bismark. He disembarked in Egypt on 10th of July 1941 having sailed via South Africa, Aden and Port Suez. 6th DLI embarked for Cyprus on 27th of July 1941 on the Destroyer HMS Kimberley, Kokinni Trimithea.
They moved to Palestine 3rd of November 1941, on HMS Nizam, Napier and Jackel and entered Iraq on the 14th, being based at EskiKellek, Kirkuk and Habbaniya before leaving for Egypt on 13th of February 1942.
They were engaged in the North Africa Campaign at Gazala, Mersa Matruth, El Alamein, Mareth, Wadi Akarit, Enfidaville, Canal Zone. The Battalion then embarked for the Invasion of Sicily on 29th of June 1943 on the Winchester Castle and landed at 3:00 am 10th of July 1943 at Avola Floridia, moving through Solarino, Primosole Bridge, Catina, Alterella to Riposto. Bill embarked for the UK on 16th of October 1943 on the Sibajak and arrived 3rd of November 1943 to take his first leave for two and half years. The battalion were based at Shudy Camp near Thetford, while training for Normandy. The embarked for France on 3rd of June 1944 at Southampton on HMS Albrighton and landed in King Green Sector on Gold Beach, Normandy at 11:00 am on D Day near Ver sur Mer. They then saw action the the
Battle of Normandy at Conde s Seulles, Tilly Seulles, Villers Bocage, Auny, Mont Pincon, La Cannardiere, Conde s Noireau St Honorine la Chardonne until they were pulled out for rest on 18th of August 1944. At the end of the month they joined The Pursuit to Brussels through Nerrin, Gondecourt, Seclin, Vendeville, Tournai, Bizencourt, Ninove, Shepdaal to Brussels. They were in action in the The Battle for Gheel in September 1944 during the push into Holland, protecting the right flank at Eindhoven on the 16th, and on through Breugel, Lieshout, Beeken Donk, Uden,Grave, Nijmegen, Haalderen.
6th DLI returned to England in December 1944
The Battalion was disbanded and the men who had survived all of the campaigns from the beginning of the war were sent back to England to train others for active service. The remaining men were sent to join other regiments.
He was posted to Skipton Camp in Yorkshire and was training new recruits when he met his first wife Edith Child.
1946-12-16 The camp closed on 16th of December 1946 and Bill was released to the reserve the following day. He returned to coal mining in 1946/7 first in Lancashire then back in Willington Co Durham.
Hodgson never talked about war to his family and only in later life visited France with the Legion. He dies in 1992.
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Tpr. Adam Jamieson Cairns Royal Scots Greys Adam Cairns enlisted into 52nd (Lowland) Divisional Royal Army Service Corps Territorial Army on 14th of April 1936.
He was posted to Anti-Aircraft on 1st November 1938 and discharged from Territorial Army on 16th of January 1939 having enlisted into the Regular Army as a Trooper of the Calvary of the Line.
He was posted to Palestine with The Royal Scots Greys.
on 28th September 1939 he was posted to 7th Dragoon Guards, Royal Armoured Corps. He transferred to Royal Armoured Corps and posted to British Forces Greece on 28th of February 1941.
Adam was captured on 28th of April 1941 and sent to POW camp in Corinthia, Greece, then transferred to Stalag XVIIIB on 28th of July 1941.
He was then transferred to Stalag XVIIIA and was sent to various work camps until 1945 when he was liberated.
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Fus. Maurice McMulkin 2nd Btn. Royal Irish Fusiliers Maurice McMulkin served on Malta, during the siege 1940 to 1943. After Malta, the battalion was redeployed to Leros, in the Dodecanese Islands. On 12th of November 1943, the island was invaded by German forces. Five days of heavy fighting was followed by the island defenders succumbing to superior enemy forces.
Maurice was captured and after an arduous train journey across four countries lasting some two weeks, he ended up in Stalag XIA at Altengrabow. Being only a fusilier, he was put to work and spent most of his time at a work camp near to Halberstadt. He was liberated in April 1945 and according to his army records was repatriated to England on 23rd of April 1945. Including his pre-war service time from January 1938, he had been overseas continuously for over seven years.
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Sgt. Cyril Vivian Hawke 2nd Btn. Duke of Cornwalls Light Infantry Cyril Hawke was called up in October 1941 on his 18th birthday.
He trained in Bodmin and Northern Ireland.
Serving with C Company 2nd Btn, Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry he went overseas to North Africa in 1942, stayed until end of campaign in May 1943.
He then went to Italy landing at Salerno in autumn 1943 and fought through Naples, Cassino, Rome and ended up in Northern Italy by the end of 1944.
He was sent to Greece in December 1944 and then transferred to the 1st Battalion, Hampshire Regiment (reason not known) and served in Greece until end of the war.
He arrived home in 1945 and re-equipped to go to the Far East but whilst sailing through the Med the war in the Far East ended and they were taken to Libya to carry out garrison duties in Benghazi.
Later he went to Palestine for garrison duties there.
He was discharged in Canterbury on 5th of June 1947.
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Sig. Bertram Jury Royal Signals My dad, Bertram Jury was captured at Nauplion on 28th of April 1941 along with his good friend Elwyn "Tich" Jones and others serving with W Force in Greece. He spent the rest of the war in Stalag 383.
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Drv. Colin Seaton Patilla MiD. 519th Coy. Royal Army Service Corps      Colin Patilla was born in 1919. He was an unmarried hosiery worker when he enlisted into the RASC during October 1939. He was posted to the 519th Company, which was assigned to the 49th Division, and he later served with the 46th Divisional Ammunition Company, 1st Infantry Brigade Company, and the 519th Infantry Brigade Company.
In August 1941, whilst serving in the UK, he married Rita Mavis Lewis. He was stationed in different parts of the UK, so his wife Rita moved and lived nearby with the families of servicemen so that she could be near him. She spent time in Ashford, Kent and Dinas Powys, Wales.
Colin was posted to North Africa in January 1943 and later posted to Italy, Austria, the Middle East, and Greece. He was Mentioned in Dispatches, as reported in the London Gazette on 19th of July 1945. This award was for driving his truck of much-needed ammunition to the front whilst under very heavy enemy fire. He had been part of an earlier convey but his vehicle had broken down and it had taken him some time to make repairs. On being able to get going, he elected to continue to the scene of action instead of returning to base. His arrival was extremely fortunate as the troops were running short of ammunition.
He was demobbed in June 1946 and transferred to the Army Reserve, to be later called for duty and training with No. 324 RASC in 1952. In civilian life Colin was, for a great many years, a long-distance lorry driver. Rita and he had a son in 1943 and a daughter in 1946. He lived with his family at Darley Dale until his death in 1983, and he very rarely spoke about his wartime experiences.
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Pte. Leslie Reginald Clifford 2nd Btn. Royal West Kent Regiment My father, Leslie Clifford served in Palestine 1938-1939, then was posted to Malta 1939-1942. His battalion transferred to the Dodecanese Islands, moving to Samos in 1943 and later to Leros, where the battalion surrendered. He was taken prisoner and held in Stalag XI-A in Altengrabow.
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Gnr. William Arthur Hesketh 31st Field Regiment, 105th Bty. Royal Artillery William Hesketh was my father. As far as I know, he was a dispatch rider and was active from 1942. He first went to El Alamein and then to various other places all across North Africa, Italy, and Greece.
Sadly, he passed away in 1973 when I was 17 months old, and I would love to have had a conversation about his part in these campaigns.
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L/Cpl. James Robert Diston 1st Btn. Durham Light infantry James Diston was taken prisoner on 7 October 1943 during the battle for the Greek island of Kos.
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George Reginald Taylor 4th Btn. East Lancashire Regiment Reg Taylor served through North Africa and Italy campaign. Naples, Monte Cassino, Rome. He was in Athens on VE Day.
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