Oakham School WW2

Oakham School War Memorial Chapel

The Memorial Crucifix

Special treatment for a Martyr

Vivian Frederick Barnes REDLICH
Priest-in-charge Sangara, Papua.
He was beheaded on 14 August 1942 at Buna, Papua. He was 37
He was the son of the Reverend E Basil and Mrs Redlich, Teigh Rectory, Oakham
He is remembered in St Paul’s Cathedral, Leicester Cathedral and in the Chapel of St John’s Leatherhead which school he attended after Oakham
Additional information
Oakham 1920, he also attended St John’s, Leatherhead and 
Chichester Theological College 1926. Deacon 1932; Priest 1933; diocese of Wakefield, Curate of Dewsbury Moor, 1932-35. Member of the Brush Brotherhood of St Andrew, Queensland, 1935. Priest-in-charge Dawson Valley, 1935-36, diocese of Rockhampton. Priest-in-charge, Winton 1937-40. Diocese of New Guinea, 1940; Doguara, via Samuria, Papua; Priest-in-charge Sangara, Papua.

The most recent information - 2009

Over the years the story has been told of a young priest, Vivian Redlich being beheaded by the Japanese. Recently a different story has emerged and for the sake of completeness both stories are told here.
From the journal This is Leicestershire 2 October 2009
The half-brother of a Leicestershire missionary who was murdered by Pacific tribesmen has attended a reconciliation service with the families of the  killers.
Patrick Redlich travelled to New Guinea to offer islanders his
family's forgiveness for the murder of the Rev Vivian Redlich, who was killed in July 1942. The descendants of the missionary's murderers had told local church leaders they wanted to seek forgiveness because they felt cursed. At
an emotional service, attended by 1,500 people, many of the relatives came forward to hand gifts to Mr Redlich and embrace him. He said: "I was bringing the forgiveness of the whole family. I presented the cathedral with a bronze
memorial plaque. This records the date of Vivian's death and our father's forgiveness for all those who caused it."
The brothers' father, Edwin, was the rector of Little Bowden in Market Harborough. When he heard of his son's death, he preached a sermon of forgiveness.
Rev Redlich had refused to leave his post in New Guinea despite the invasion of Japanese forces during the Second World War.
Five other missionaries, including his fiancée May Hayman, 
a nurse, were killed by the Japanese invaders. For many years it was believed Rev Redlich had been murdered by the soldiers as well. But six years ago, tribal families on the island told church leaders it was their relatives who had murdered him and that they felt cursed. The circumstances of the murder were not revealed.
An emotional reconciliation service was held at Popondetta 
Cathedral in the south east of the island, last month, attended by many of  the tribal families and Mr Redlich.
The 77-year-old, who lives in Sydney, Australia, said: "Several people were on their hands and knees and
many were crying."A large number of traditional gifts were presented, as well as offerings of money amounting to almost £700, more than a year's pay for a local labourer.
It was incredible." The money will form the basis for a
Vivian Redlich Trust that it is hoped will be used for the formation of a teachers' training college.
Patrick was only three when Vivian left Leicestershire.
He said: "He went to Queensland to work in the bush. He could  have come home to England in 1940 but he decided to go to New Guinea."
In his last letter home, which is part of a memorial in St Nicholas Church in Little Bowden, he wrote: "If I don't come out of it, just rest content that I have tried to do my job
faithfully."

Supporting this report
There is the following report on PM which is part of ABC  News in Australia

MARK COLVIN: In just under a fortnight in a church at the north end of the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea, a reconciliation ceremony may finally lay to rest a little known mystery of the Second World War. 
Patrick Redlich will be unveiling a plaque to his elder brother Father Vivian Redlich, an Anglican priest who died there in 1942. Father Vivian Redlich was always listed as one of the so-called Gona New Guinea Martyrs - a group of missionaries who were stabbed and beheaded by the Japanese during the  invasion. 
But it's emerged in the last few years that some of them were betrayed to the Japanese by the tribes people among whom they were working. And in the case of Father Vivian Redlich, it was a group of tribesmen who actually speared
him to death.
I asked Patrick Redlich whether until a few years ago he'd been convinced that it was the Japanese who killed his brother.
PATRICK REDLICH: Oh yes, yes, there was no question. That was the thought right round the world. There's something like 180 entries on this... on Vivian Redlich in the Internet and the great bulk of them confirm that fact.
MARK COLVIN: And so he was considered to be one of the so-called Gona New Guinea Martyrs.
PATRICK REDLICH: That's exactly right.
MARK COLVIN: And their story was relatively famous because some of them really were killed by the Japanese.
PATRICK REDLICH: Oh yes, they certainly were. They were killed very horribly. They were either stabbed by bayonets or had heads cut off.
MARK COLVIN: And well, what about your brother Vivian then? What actually happened to him, do you now believe?
PATRICK REDLICH: Well, we know believe that he was stabbed by a party of five or six Arukivan (phonetic) spearman. One of those who was still alive, Bishop David, wrote and told me had had a religious experience and had asked for forgiveness for this. Bishop David wanted me to go up to New Guinea to express the family's forgiveness to this man and to other people there. But he died before it could happen.
MARK COLVIN: Why do you think that they waited for more than half a century before letting this news come out?
PATRICK REDLICH: I think they probably realised that they had done something fairly terrible, and I think it... I think it probably ran around in their minds it was bad thing. Locally they now believe that the curse is on the community descended from these people. And I think it was just the horror of it.  They realised they had done something really bad, and that was what it boils down to.
MARK COLVIN: What do you think the reason for killing was? Did they mistake your brother; did they not understand that he was a missionary? Did they think he was a colonialist in some way?
PATRICK REDLICH: That I cannot tell you at all. The... I have a letter which... the validity of which I don't know, sent to me by the man who was doing the investigation for Bishop David. And he describes how my brother was... very exactly how my brother was walking up a path with this guy Kipling when they met this party of spearman. But there is no hint as to why this happened - what brought it on.
MARK COLVIN: I believe this all came at a bit of a turning point in your brother's life?
PATRICK REDLICH: Yes, he had been down to recover possibly from malaria to Dagua, which is the cathedral city there, and he had very recently become engaged to a young girl who is no... is just I think a year older than him, who was nurse at the gorner station there.  She and the other girl there who was a teacher, both of them were horribly killed by the Japanese later on, separately to Buna beach
(phonetic). And what in fact... they were walking out... walking out rather late and they had just crossed the Kokoda trail when they were discovered and attacked and were put into the hands of the Japanese. That's what happened to them. That would have been about the same time that my brother was killed.
MARK COLVIN: Now, tell us about your impending visit.
PATRICK REDLICH: Now, they've got a bishop there, Bishop Joe Kapata, who has had some difficulty establishing himself there because it's the biggest diocese in New Guinea and eventually he had a secretary from New Zealand who was a New Zealand priest, Father Michael, who just before his retirement acted as secretary there. And one of the things he tidied up was the situation regarding my brother. Now
he's come up with a slightly different story, saying that there's too much through different views there and it would be... too many people would come forward if I just went offering forgiveness there. And so he suggested, and
this has been accepted, and in fact it's happening that I'm taking up a memorial plaque to put in the cathedral there.
MARK COLVIN: So when you go, will you go with much forgiveness in your heart or do you understand what happened to your brother?
PATRICK REDLICH: I do, but as this was going on it was very interesting and about three years ago I received out of the blue a letter at my home in Sydney, and it was a  letter that said something like this:
'Dear Patrick, when you go up to new Guinea and you are called to speak, I would like you to know that when I was in
your father's parish in 1964 with the boys, several people came up to me and all talked about how your father had preached on forgiveness when the news of your brother's death arrived in the parish'. This would have been in about late 1942.
MARK COLVIN: Because your father was a priest as well?
PATRICK REDLICH: Yes, a priest, as well as my brother.
And so on this basis, I feel I have a Christian duty, particularly with the invitation from Bishop David, although he's dead, to go there now I'm being welcomed there and offer this forgiveness to them.
MARK COLVIN: And you have assurances that you will be
well received?
PATRICK REDLICH: I think that from what I... and the program of events there I think shows that I'm, going to be more than welcomed.
MARK COLVIN: Patrick Redlich, who'll be going to the north end of the Kokoda Track to lay a plaque to his brother
Father Vivian Redlich, on August the 31st.

The story that we learnt soon after the war

In July 1942 after a short illness, Vivian Redlich returned from Doguara, HQ of the New Guinea Mission, to his Mission
Station in Sangara, Papua.
Japanese warships were already shelling the coast further south as he landed. On Saturday 25 July the travelling Medical Assistant of the Papuan Government arrived in the
district, and, hearing that Vivian was in a shelter prepared for him by the natives, went to see him. This official was a Roman catholic and was very friendly with Vivian and other members of the Anglican Mission in New Guinea. To him we are indebted for what details we have of Vivian's last few days. He found Vivian surrounded by church members of the district who were much alarmed by conditions in  their neighbourhood.
Vivian said to them: "I am your missionary. I have come
back to you to help you and I will remain with you as long as you will let me. Tomorrow is Sunday and I shall celebrate Holy Communion. I invite you to Communicate."
Next day the Medical Assistant himself was present at the
Celebration and he was deeply impressed with the spirit of devotion of all who communicated.
On the following day, Monday July 27th, Vivian hastily wrote in pencil on a piece of paper the following message to his father, the Rev. Canon Edward B Redlich, Rector of Little Bowden: 
  
Somewhere in the Papuan Bush
July 27th 1942
My Dear Dad
The war has busted up here. I got back from Doguara and ran right into it, and am now somewhere in my parish hoping to carry on, tho' my people are horribly scared.
No news of May, and I am cut off from contacting her - my
staff O.K. so far, but in another spot.
I'm trying to stick whatever happens.
If I don't come out of it, just rest content that I have tried to do my job faithfully.
Last chance of getting word out: so forgive brevity.
God Bless you all,
Vivian

About twelve missionaries and church workers were killed by the invading Japanese in New Guinea in WW2.  The four women in the group are commemorated in a window high up the east wall in the south transept of St John's Cathedral, Brisbane including May Hayman, his
fiancée who was a Nurse stationed at Gona.  These four women were captured by the Japanese after many difficult days in the jungle trying to escape the patrols. 
They were executed by the bayonet in late August 1942 at 
Jegerata.  May had worked as a nurse in various Australian hospitals and, not long before her death, had announced her engagement to Vivian.

The railway bridge at Kanchanaburi over the river Kwai. It was immortalised in the film "A bridge over the River Kwai"
In the nearby cemetery there are 6.982 former PoWs buried mostly Australian, British and Dutch. The bodies of American PoWs were repatraited. The multitudes, probably over 80,000, of the local population were buried where they died by the railway

Gordon Fletcher Beldam Archer
He died on 7 August 1943

The Fallen in WW2

Gerard (Robin) Griffin ALLEN
Battery Quartermaster Sergeant, 222 Battery, 10 Heavy
Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery. Army no. 1451651
He died on 30 December 1942. He was 40
He was the son of Hubert and Jessie G Allen of Burton Overy, Leicestershire
He is buried in Coll. grave 3 3 4 Imtarfa Military Cemetery, Malta
Additional information
Oakham 1916-1919 Cricket and Rugby Colour

Alaric (Pip) Joseph APPLEBY
Sergeant, 217 Squadron, Royal Air Force. RAFVR no. 949210
He died on 25 July 1941. He was 25
He was the son of Ernest and Gertrude Appleby, Spinney Hill, Northampton and the husband of Eunice G Appleby of East Haddon, Northamptonshire
He is remembered on panel 38 of the Runneymede Memorial
Additional information
Oakham 1930-1932 Greylands
At 05.30 hours on 25 July 1941, 6 Bristol Beauforts of 217 Squadron took off from RAF St. Eval in Cornwall armed with mines targeting the German battleship Scharnhorst which was in the Bay of Biscay. She was escorted by six destroyers making a dash for the safety of Brest with its guns and its repair facilities.
The weather quickly worsened providing cover but the aircraft became separated and only one Beaufort found the target. Spotting a large wake in the sea, they flew along it hoping to catch their quarry unawares. In fact the cloud was so thick that it wasn't until they were directly above it that the Beaufort crew saw the huge vessel. 
There was no time to drop the mine. They had to go round again. Whilst attempting a second run the lone Beaufort ran out of cloud cover and met a storm of flak.  Within seconds the aircraft was hit several times and it crashed.  
Sergeant 'Pip' Appleby, the Wireless Operator, was killed. The pilot, Squadron Leader Les Collings, was wounded and Pilot
Officer Jim Hunter, navigator, and Air Gunner, Sergeant
Ted Taylor suffered minor injuries. All three became PoWs. 

George Fletcher Beldam ARCHER
Private, 1st Battalion, Straits Settlements Volunteer Force, (Singapore Volunteer Corps). Service no. 13823
He died of dysentery on 7 August 1943 whilst he was a PoW
of the Japanese Army. He was 31
He was the son of John F and Laura A Archer of Bessacarr, Doncaster
He is buried in grave 2 J 28 Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, Thailand 
Additional information
Oakham 1923-1929 School House
He was born 10 April 1912 and his civilian occupation was either an Accountant (Oakham Magazine) or a Rubber Vendor. 
He was taken prisoner by the Japanese at the surrender of Singapore and taken to Thailand as part of “H Force” on 13 May 1943.  The terminology for the larger PoW groups moved from Singapore were known as “Force”. H Force consisted of 1,949 British, 705 Australians, 26 Americans and 590 Dutch. 
George Archer died in captivity at Tamarkan, Thailand which was a base hospital camp. It is most likely that he was either left there on the way up the line or sent back with the sick.  His grave is at Kanchanaburi.
'H' Force [and 'F' Force] were real horror stories - often sick men pushed up from Singapore and marched up the Railway during the Japanese 'Speedo.'  'Speedo' was the period in 1943 when the Japanese speeded up the construction of the
Railway - longer working hours, more demanding work and more brutality leading to much higher illness and death rates.
The PoWs from the Straits Settlement Volunteer Force weren't helped by the fact that their senior British Officer, Lt Colonel T H Newey, commanding 1st Straits Settlements Volunteer Force, was a harsh disciplinarian - he was the subject of a post-war court of enquiry.
The Burma-Siam railway was a project to support the large
Japanese army in Burma and built by Commonwealth, Dutch and American PoWs. During its construction, approximately 13,000 PoWs died and were buried along the route of the railway and it is rarely recorded that an estimated 80,000 to
100,000 civilians also died. These were chiefly forced labour brought from Malaya, the Dutch East Indies, Siam (Thailand) and Burma (Myanmar). 
Two groups, one based in Siam and the other in Burma worked from opposite ends of the line towards the centre.  The Japanese aimed at completing the railway in 14
months and work began in October 1942. The line, 424 kilometres long, was completed by December 1943.

Jack Butler ASTLE
Bombardier, 277 Battery, 68 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment,
Royal Artillery. Army no. 1460896
He died on 20 June 1942. He was 27
He was the son of Leonard and Nell Astle, Hucknall Road, Nottingham and the husband of Agnes K Astle of Nottingham
He is buried in grave 2 B 24 Tobruk War Cemetery, Libya
Additional information
Oakham 1928-1931 School House
The 20 June was a day of bitter fighting before Tobruk was
taken by the Germans the following day

John Lewis BAINES
Pilot Officer (Pilot), Royal Air Force. RAFVR no. 88686
He died on active service on 18 March 1941. He was 27
He was the son of Eleanor S and the Late Colonel John C Baines of Oadby and the husband of Shirley Baines
of Bexhill-on-Sea
He is buried in grave sec A grave 43 Oadby Cemetery
Additional information
Oakham 1922-1931 School House
He was the pilot of Blenheim Mark IV, T2443 of 2 SAC (School of Army Co-op) at RAF Andover. The plane crashed at Penton Mewbey. The observer, Ion H Acland (RCAF) and Wireless Operator Sergeant Victor Moore were also killed.

The Rev. John Charles BARTLEET 
Chaplain 4th Class, Royal Army Chaplains' Department. Army no. 101735
He died in a road accident on 17 July 1942. He was 39
He was the son of the Reverend Edwin B and Sophie Bartleet of Much Wenlock and the husband of Alice E Bartleet, SRN, SCM, QN of Tettenhall, Shropshire
He is buried in grave C A 6 Gaza War Cemetery, Israel
Additional information
Oakham 1917-1920. John Bartleet achieved a 2nd in Theology at Oxford, was ordained in 1927 and appointed Vicar of Meole Brace in 1931
Gaza, where he died, was a major Hospital centre at the time

Wilfred Bennett BEALE
Squadron Leader (Pilot), Royal Air Force. RAFVR no. 90240 
He died on 4 September 1941. He was 43.
He was the son of the late Edgar W and Edith M Beale, Humberstone House, Leicester and the husband of Freda L
Beale.
He is buried in grave 6, row D in Upavon Cemetery,
Wiltshire
Additional information
Oakham 1912-1914
RAF Upavon was the Central Flying School for the RAF from 1935 to 1 April 1942. His service number shows he was with 605 Auxillary Air Force Squadron. He was an instructor who had also served in the Army and the RFC.
He was killed near the Central Flying School based at RAF Upavon on 4 September 1941.
He was instructing Pilot Officer George H Brown in Miles Master III, W8472 when it dived into the ground near Alton Barnes. Both were killed.

Peter Gascoyne BEARD
Sub-Lieutenant, HM Trawler Agate, Royal Naval Volunteer
Reserve
He died on 6 August 1941. He was 25
He was the son of the Reverend Hugh S G Beard MA and Winifred A Beard MA (Cantab.)
He is remembered on panel 4 column 3 of the Lowestoft Naval
Memorial
Additional information
Oakham 1929-1934, School House, Cricket Colour. After Oakham, Peter Beard had been an Exhibitioner at St Catherine’s Cambridge, gained a BA and been an Assistant Master at King’s School, Canterbury
HM Trawler Agate was a 627 ton trawler purchased in  November 1935 and converted for anti-submarine duties. On 6 August 1941, whilst escorting convoy FS69, she went off course, grounded and was wrecked on Haisborough Sands off Cromer.
The Depot for the Royal Naval Patrol Service was at Lowestoft during WW2. By the spring of 1944 it had reached its peak
strength of some 57,000 men. Between 1942 and 1946, their ships and craft totalled 1,637, among them minesweepers, corvettes, fuel carriers, motor launches and naval seaplane tenders. Their objective was to maintain wartime patrols and safeguard the coasts.

James Henry Manning BLAKE  MBE
Wing Commander, Combined Operations, North Africa, CMF and MEF, Royal Air Force
He died on 16 October 1945 in an air accident. He was 37.
He was the son of Leonard J B and Lois A F Blake of Corwen, Wales
He is buried in grave IV M 10 Naples War Cemetery, Italy
Additional information
Oakham 1930-1937 Greylands Prefect. James Blake attended Cranwell after Oakham. 
He was promoted Squadron Leader in 1941, Liaison Officer with USAAF, in 1943 promoted Wing Commander, Combined Operations, North Africa, CMF, MEF. 
He was appointed MBE in 1941

Patrick Selwyn Fraser BLAND
Sergeant, 107 Royal Horse Artillery (The South Nottinghamshire Hussars), Army no. 896291. In April 1942 this unit was renamed 107 Field Regiment Royal Artillery
He died on 27 May 1942 in the siege of Tobruk. He was 22
He was the son of William P and Florence M Bland, Tattershall Drive, Nottingham
He is remembered on column 10 of the El Alamein Memorial 
Additional information
Oakham 1933-1936 Wharflands

David Herbert Vivian BOARD      MiD
Lieutenant Colonel, The Royal Berkshire Regiment seconded to
The King's Regiment (Liverpool) Army no. 69830
He died on 6 June 1944, D Day. He was 38
He was the son of Thomas H and Mary G Board, Norbiton Lodge, Kingston upon Thames and the husband of Barbara M Board
He is buried in grave 1 C 13 Hermanville War Cemetery, Normandy
Additional information
Oakham 1921-1924 School House, Prefect. He attended
Clare College, Cambridge where he achieved a BA
David Board landed in Normandy on D Day after months of training. In 1943, the 5th and 8th King's (Liverpool Irish) had been given specialist training in Ayrshire in preparation for a planned invasion of France. They were selected to form the nucleus of the 5th and 7th Beach Groups, whose objectives on the invasion beach were to maintain organisation, secure positions and provide defence against counter-attack.  Both the King's battalions landed on D-Day, the 5th at Sword
with the British 3rd Infantry Division and the Liverpool Irish at Juno with the Canadians.
2 companies of the Liverpool Irish landed in the assault wave with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles. Under intense machine gun and mortar fire, the landing of Major Max Morrison's A Company proceeded well, allowing some to establish a command post upon reaching the sand dunes. In contrast, in B Company's sector, the late arrival of the reconnaissance party and DD tanks exposed the landing infantry to heavy machine gun fire. The company's officer commanding, Major O'Brien, and the second-in-command were among those wounded.
Experiences at Sword Beach were similar.
As the 3rd Division moved inland, the 5th King's attempted to neutralise hostile positions and snipers. Lieutenant-Colonel D H V Board was killed by a sniper and Lieutenant Scarfe
commanding 9 Platoon was mortally wounded.

Selwyn Butlin BRADFIELD
Lieutenant, 1st Battalion, The Leicestershire Regiment. Army no. 95598
He died on 15 December 1941 during the Japanese invasion of Malaya. He was 21
He was the son of Henry H and Maude E Bradfield of Nottingham
He is remembered on column 63 of the Singapore Memorial
Additional information
Oakham 1934-1938 School House, Prefect, Rugby and Cricket Colour then RMA, Sandhurst 

William Francis Baron BRIGGS
Captain, 4th Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry attached to 12th Battalion, Nigeria Regiment, RWAFF.  Army no. 165796
He died on 14 July 1944. He was 24.
He was the son of William R and Deborah A Briggs of Lightwater, Surrey
He is buried in grave 7 D 12 Taukkyan War Cemetery, Myanmar (Burma)
Additional Information
Oakham 1934-1938 Wharflands, Prefect, Cricket Colour.
William Briggs was a Chindit in 3rd Brigade of Wingate’s Army.
His brother John Baron OO wrote:
William joined up in 1939 and he was commissioned in the Royal West African Frontier force, they joined the second Chindit force in Burma, and he was killed, regrettably by a shortfall from allied gunfire. 

Geoffrey Franklin BRITTLEBANK
Flying Officer (Pilot), Royal Air Force. RAFVR no. 101004
He died on 29 September 1942. He was 21
He was the son of Colonel Joseph W and Maud E Brittlebank of Sawbridgeworth
He is buried in East Boundary Cemetery of Great St Mary Church, Sawbridgeworth 
Additional  information
Oakham 1934-1937 School House.
He had been studying to become a Vet. At the time of his death he was with 1 Refresher Flying Training School at Kirk Newton, Scotland. 
He was flying with Flying Officer Thomas R C Adams RCAF in Miles Master III, W 8960. The aeroplane hit trees on take-off.
He was being posted to 152 Squadron to fly Spitfires. He has the Oakham School motto on his memorial stone

John Trevor BURGASS
Captain, 2nd (Royal) Battalion, Sikh Regiment, Army no. EC/7435
He died on 25 November 1945 in a road accident whilst he was on leave. He was 22
He was the son of Archibald H and of Edith M Burgass of Radcliffe on Trent
He is buried in Sec. K16 grave 45 Nottingham Southern Cemetery
Additional information
Oakham, 1931-1940 School House

Charles John Washington CHARTERS
Sub-Lieutenant, HMS Kelvin, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve 
He died on 29 November 1944 in an accident which coincided
with an attack by enemy aircraft. He was 20
He was the son of Norma K and of the late Charles G W Charters of Newcastle-upon-Tyne
He is remembered on panel 79, 3 of the Chatham Memorial
Additional information
Oakham 1938-1942 School House, Head Prefect, Rugby and Cricket Colour
At the time of Charles Charter’s death, HMS Kelvin was deployed in the Eastern Mediterranean involved with the re-capture of the Dodecanese Islands. This included bombarding
the island of Tilos and launching an attack by the Special Boat Service.  In June HMS Kelvin had taken part in the D-Day landings in Normandy where her main role had involved firing on targets on Sword Beach.  HMS Kelvin also took Sir Winston Churchill to visit the Normandy in June 1944 shortly after the
landings.

James Falshaw COOK
Sergeant (Flight Engineer), 15 Squadron, Royal Air Force. RAF no. 524567
He died on 14 February 1943. He was 34
He was the son of James F and Catherine J Cook and the husband of Barbara Cook of Hunstanworth, Co. Durham
He is buried in grave Coll. grave 10 E 2-8 Heverlee War Cemetery, Belgium
Additional  information
Oakham 1923-1927 School House
In April 1941, 15 Squadron was the second squadron to receive Stirlings and from August 1942, the squadron was based at RAF Bourn, Cambridgeshire.
Stirling 1 BF448 LS-T took off at 18.25 hours on a mission to
bomb Koln. The aircraft was shot down by a night fighter flown by Ofw Fritz Schellwat of 5./NJG1 and crashed near Helchteren in Belgium.  All the crew died:
Flight Lieutenant Owen C Chave pilot, Sergeant Lewis L Gladwin RCAF, Sergeant James F Cook Navigator,  Pilot
Officer William A McL Archibald, Sergeant Alfred A Self, Pilot Officer John H M Muir, Sergeant Thomas F Stocks, Sergeant James E Nicholls. They were all buried at St Truiden but they were moved to Heverlee War Cemetery, Belgium after the war

David Sturge CRICHTON, BA (Oxon.) 
Lieutenant, 1st Battalion, The Gordon Highlanders, Army
no. 70723
He died on 29 August 1941 as a Prisoner of War of the Germans. He was 34
He was the son of David S and Edna A Crichton of York.
He is buried in grave 3 C 17 Durnbach War Cemetery, Germany
Additional information
He was on the Staff at Oakham and certainly taught PE
The great majority of those buried at Durnbach War Cemetery are airmen shot down over Bavaria, Württemberg, Austria, Hessen and Thuringia who were brought here from their scattered graves after the war. The remainder are men
who were killed while escaping from prisoner of war camps in the same area. 

Ronald Vincent Geoffrey CURRALL   MC
Lieutenant, 2nd/7th Battalion, The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment). Army no. 287764
He died on 23 February 1944 whilst defending caves
containing wounded Allied soldiers. He was 25.
He was the son of Lawrence V and Winifred V H Currall of Eastbourne, Sussex
He is buried in grave XVIII G 3 Beach Head War Cemetery, Anzio
Additional information
Oakham 1931-1936 School House. He was a Johnson
Exhibitioner at Sidney Sussex and gained a Theology Tripos and a BA Literature and had planned to take Holy Orders
The London Gazette of 10 February 1944 announces the award of his MC

Raymond Stuart DENNISON
Captain, Leicestershire Regiment seconded to 46th
Battalion, King's African Rifles Army no. 180120
He died on 9 February 1945 in Burma. He was 33
He was the son of Joseph S and Kate M Dennison of Oakham 
He is remembered on panel Face 8 of the Rangoon Memorial
Additional information
Oakham 1924-1928 Day Boy 
The King's African Rifles were part of the 14th Army, the Forgotten Army under the command of Viscount Slim.  This Army invaded Burma from the north and, whilst fighting in appalling conditions and with serious logistical problems
steadily defeated the Japanese in Burma.

Keith Inger DEXTER
Flying Officer (Pilot), 103 Squadron, Royal Air Force. RAFVR
no. 127249
He died on 17 June 1943. He was 32.
He was the son of Walter J and Constance S Dexter of Little Chalfont, Buckinghamshire
He is buried in plot JJB grave 106 Woensell General Cemetery, Eindhoven
Additional information
Oakham 1923-1929 School House, Rugby Colour. After
leaving Oakham he became an Engineer and then a Station Inspector for the Metropolitan Police.  He played Rugby for the Police and for Wasps.
Avro Lancaster III ED945, PM-B from 103 Squadron took off at 22.33 hours from RAF Elsham Wolds, North Lincolnshire. It was shot down by a night fighter piloted by Hptm Manfred Meurer from I./NJGI and crashed at 01.55 hours near Esch,
Netherlands. All the crew were killed:
Pilot Officer Keith I Dexter,  Sergeant Horace Staples, Sergeant Roy C Ridgway, Sergeant William T Shepherd,
Sergeant Harold G Thomas, Sergeant James M Carroll and Sergeant Robert A  Heslop

Peter Patman DODSON
Flight Lieutenant (Pilot), 613 Squadron, Royal Air Force. RAFVR no. 123983
He died on 17 January 1945. He was 24
He was the son of Harold and Doris Dodson of Mapperley, Nottingham and the husband of Eileen G Dodson of Chilwell,
Nottinghamshire
He is buried in grave Plot 2 Row B Grave 7 Route de Solesmes
Communal Cemetery, Cambrai
Additional information
Oakham, School House 1930-1935
613 Squadron started to train in tactical reconnaissance from August 1941 when it received its first Tomahawks. They received Mosquito VIs from November 1943 and joined 2 Group, beginning operations in December.
From May 1944 it took on the role of night intruder and moved to Cambrai in November 1944 where it stayed for the rest of the war
He was killed on take-off at A75, Cambrai/Epinoy piloting Mosquito FB VI, LR302.  The aeroplane stalled on take-off. The Navigator, Flight Sergeant Thomas H Summers was also killed

David DOLBY
Corporal, Royal Air Force. RAFVR no. 744863
He died on 6 October 1944 as a prisoner of war of the Japanese. He was 27
He was the son of Albert E and Annie M Dolby of St Martins, Stamford and the husband of Vera A Dolby
He is buried in grave 14 B 11 Ambon War Cemetery,
Indonesia
Additional information
Oakham 1926-1929  School House Born 28 November 1912
David Dolby is believed to have been captured in Java. 
He is buried near Ambon, on the Laitimor Peninsula on the southern shore of Ambon Bay. This area was severely damaged during the war, first by the Japanese who bombed it heavily in January 1942 and later by the Allied forces who attacked it in 1943 and 1944.
The War Cemetery is on the site of a former camp for Australian, British and Dutch Prisoners of War, some of whom had been transferred from Java in 1943. Many of those buried in it died in captivity.  Soon after the war the remains of PoWs from Haruku and other camps on the island were also removed to Ambon as were the 503 people who had been
buried in Makassar War Cemetery on the island of Celebes.
The cause of his death is believed to have been dysentery according to the accounts of a fellow PoW – source contemporary school magazine

Peter ELLINGWORTH
Midshipman, HM LCT 494, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve 
He died on 18 October 1944. He was 19
He was the son of Arthur R and Edith M Ellingworth of St Leonards-on-Sea, Sussex
He  is remembered on panel 88, column 1 of the Portsmouth Naval Memorial
Additional information
Oakham, Day Boy, Rugby Colour 1939-1942
HM LCT 494, (Landing Craft Tanks) foundered in bad weather off Lands End and the ship was lost with its Captain, Sub Lieutenant Roland J Gilmour and 16 men. This was one
of four 4 LCTs that were lost that night.
And the official records tell us that:
LCT 494 foundered, stress of weather, Lands End, ship loss, 18-19 October. The following were lost: Charles Bayford Leading Mechanic, John D G Berry Stoker 1 class, John J Busuttil, Act/Able Seaman,  Ronald V Dickinson Leading Stoker, Andrew Donaldson Ordinary Seaman, Leonard A C Eager Leading Seaman, Peter Ellingworth Midshipman, Barry S Fitzsimon Leading Seaman,  Alistair Fraser Wireman, Roland J Gilmour  Sub Lieutenant, Edward C Hartley Ordinary Seaman, Arthur S James Stoker 1 class, Kenneth Killingback Ordinary Seaman, William H Mccunnell Wireman, John Murts  Lieutenant, John Shipston Telegraphist, George Smith Able Seaman 

John Hardyman ELLIOTT
Lieutenant, HM Trawler Leyland, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.
He died on 26 November 1942 of his injuries. He was 29.
He was the son of John and Dorothea H Elliott of Exmouth, Devon
He is remembered on panel 7, column 3 of the Lowestoft Naval Memorial
Additional information
Oakham, School House, Prefect 1927-1932. John Elliott had trained as an Architect
HM Trawler Leyland was purchased for anti-submarine duties in September 1939. It sank in collision with a merchantman off Gibraltar on 25 November and John Elliott died the following day

John Morris EMERTON 
Second Lieutenant, 2nd/5th Battalion, the Leicestershire Regiment. Army no.117317
He died on 25 May 1940 in the retreat to Dunkirk. He was 20
He was the son of John E and Annie Emerton of Wymondham, Leicestershire
He is remembered on column 48 of the Dunkirk Memorial
Additional information
Prefect 1931-1937

Maurice Adeney Ellis ENNION
Sergeant (Observer), 77 Squadron, Royal Air Force. RAFVR no. 1150934
He died on 11 June 1942. He was 21
He was the son of Sidney J and Isabel M Ennion, Newmarket 
He is remembered on panel 82 of the Runneymede Memorial
Additional information
Oakham, School House 1934-1938
From May to October 1942 the squadron with its Whitley
aeroplanes was loaned to Coastal Command and based at RAF Chivenor in Devon.  This was a bad period for the squadron with 11 aircraft lost, 43 crew killed or missing believed dead.  The targets included St Nazaire, Emden, Rostock and Wilhelmshaven
Maurice Ennion died on 11 June 1942. His aeroplane a Whitley V, number Z9477 was lost, missing on patrol and the crew of 6 were posted as Missing in Action.

David Ronald EVANS
Lieutenant, Cheshire Regiment attached to 1st/4th Battalion, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. Army no. 277982
He was killed in action on 25 June 1944 shortly after the Allied Landings in Normandy. He was 27
He was the son of D Ernest and Hilda Evans of Hoole, Chester
He is buried in grave IV C 9 Tilly sur Seulles War Cemetery,
France
Additional information
Oakham, Wharflands 1932-1936
This area was well and courageously defended by the Germans and was the scene of very hard fighting.

John Denys FLETCHER
Flight Lieutenant (Pilot), 91 Squadron, Royal Air Force. RAFVR no. 61460
He died on 8 February 1942. He was 23.
He was the son of Arthur N and Catherine Fletcher of Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire
He is buried in row A grave 5 Middelkerke Communal Cemetery, Belgium
Additional information
Oakham, School House, Rugby Colour 1932-1935
No 421 (Reconnaissance) Flight had been formed at RAF Gravesend on 8 October 1940, to carry out shipping reconnaissance and to monitor the movements, tactics and
marking of the enemy. The flight became 91 Squadron on 11 January 1941 by which time it had moved to RAF Hawkinge.  It became a normal Spitfires fighter squadron in the summer but continued to carry out weather reconnaissance mission
and ASR patrols.  
John Fletcher is presumed to have been shot down on 8
February 1942 on a reconnaissance flight over the Channel known as a “Jim Crow Shipping Recce.” He had taken off from RAF Hawkinge at 12.00 hours in Spitfire Vb, W3132 for Gris Nez Ostend.

James Woodroofe Guy FLETCHER
Captain, 64th (The Queen's Own Royal Glasgow Yeomanry)
Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery. Army no. 134651
He died on 12 May 1944. He was 30
He was the son of Edward H and Marion P Fletcher of
Wilmslow,
He is buried in grave I F 2 Salerno War Cemetery, Italy
Additional Information
Oakham, Wharflands 1924-1930
The 59th General Hospital was based in the area and it is probable that he died from his wounds there

Morgan FORD
Sergeant (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner), 106 Squadron, Royal  Air Force. RAFVR no. 956103
He died on 30 June 1941. He was 28
He was the son of George H and Mary Ford of Oakham
He is buried in Coll grave 1 E 7-9 Sage War Cemetery, Near Oldenburg, Germany
Additional  information
Oakham, Day Boy 1924-1929
Morgan Ford was killed in action with 106 squadron on 30 June 1941. Hampden I, AD895 took off from RAF Coningsby to bomb Bremen. It was shot down by the night fighter of Obit Reinhold Eckardt of 11/NJG 1. The aircraft crashed at 02.55 hours on 30 June 1941 near Utersen, 23 kilometres from Hamburg.
All of the crew were killed: Pilot Officer Murray R F Baker,  Sergeant Morgan Ford, Sergeant John H Bevans and  Sergeant George E Smith

John Hesketh FORMBY
Sub-Lieutenant (A), HMS Vulture, Royal Naval Volunteer
Reserve
He died on 30 May 1941. He was 23
He was the son of Commander Hesketh and Gwladys Formby of Portsmouth
He is buried in grave 3 of St Merryn Churchyard, near Padstow , Cornwall
Additional information
Oakham, Greylands 1931-1935
On 30 May 1941 at 10.00 hours, Fairey Swordfish Mark II
L2799, S6-A of 774 Squadron based at RNAS St. Merryn hit an overhead electric cable in Trebarwith Valley, 1¼  miles SSW of
Tintagel Police House. The aircraft was totally destroyed and the occupants killed.  Those on board were:
Sub-Lieutenant John H Formby and 2 Trainee Air Gunners,
Ordinary Seaman Edward W Page and Ordinary Telegrapher Frederick Thurlow.

Gordon Allison FRASER
Sub-Lieutenant (A), 769 Squadron, HMS Condor, Royal Naval
Volunteer Reserve
He died on 14 September 1942. He was 20.
He was the son of the Reverend Albert E Fraser MA, and Elizabeth A Fraser of the Rectory, Solihull. Albert Fraser was previously the Vicar of Oakham
He is remembered on bay 4, panel 2 of the Lee on Solent Memorial
Additional information
Oakham, Day Boy 1930 who later attended Marlborough
College
He was stationed at RNAS Condor, near Arbroath
Gordon Fraser was killed in an air crash. Sub Lieutenant (A) Wilfred J Ashcroft also died.  Little information has been found but another Condor from the same squadron is listed as having been involved in an air crash that day killing Leonard F Cradock

Richard Thomas GLOVER
Sergeant (Pilot), 607 Squadron, Royal Air Force. RAFVR no.
742508
He died on 26 June 1940. He was 22
He was the son of Dr Norman and Irene Gladys Glover of Brailsford, Derbyshire
He is buried in plot O, row N, grave 3 Thornaby on Tees Cemetery
Additional information
Oakham, Greylands 1926-1934
In March 1940, the squadron’s Hurricanes arrived but, with its airfields overrun, No. 607 (County of Durham) Squadron moved back to RAF Usworth on 5 June 1940 from France as a
consequence of the Dunkirk evacuation.
Richard Glover died on active service on 26 June 1940. He was flying in Hurricane I, N2704 when his aircraft dived into the ground at Neasless Wood, ½ mile south of Sedgefield, Co
Durham.
On 3 July 1962, RAF Usworth, was purchased by Sunderland Corporation and reopened as Sunderland Airport. Usworth closed at 15.00 hours on 31 May 1984, The site is now a Nissan car factory.

Henry Hugh GOUGH
Captain, 2nd Battalion, The Royal Irish Fusiliers. Army no. 71211
He died on 15 February 1942. He was 25.
He was the son of Harry P and Martha R Gough of Frodsham, Cheshire
He is buried in grave 1 3 14 Pembroke Military Cemetery, Malta
Additional information
Oakham, School House, Prefect, Rugby Colour 1930-1935.
After Oakham he attended the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He shot for the College and for Middlesex
15 February 1942 was one of continuous bombing of Malta by the Axis forces which started at 06.30 hours and lasted until the evening. At 17.50 hours a bomb fell on Regent Cinema, Valletta.  Among the casualties were the Adjutant, Captain P Low and the Commanding A Company, Captain H Gough were both killed.  Fusilier Haunce of C Company was also killed.

Charles Godfrey GRAHAM-BROWN
Lieutenant, Royal Army Service Corps attached to Royal
Engineers. Army no. 121780
He died on 17 June 1943. He was 28.
He was the son of William and Sybil R Graham-Brown and the husband of Mary F Graham-Brown of Great Horkesley, Essex
He is remembered on panel 15 column 2 of the Brookwood Memorial
Additional information
Oakham, School House 1929-1932 and then he gained a BA from Edinburgh University.
The Brookwood Memorial commemorates nearly 3,500 men
and women of the land forces of the Commonwealth who died during WW2 and have no known grave, the circumstances of their death being such that they could not appropriately
be commemorated on any of the campaign memorials in the
various theatres of war. They died in Norway in 1940, or in the various raids such as Dieppe and St Nazaire. Others were special agents who died as prisoners or while working
with Allied underground movements.  Some died at sea, in hospital ships and troop transports, in waters not associated with the major campaigns, and a few were killed in flying accidents or in aerial combat.  
The circumstances of Charles Graham-Brown’s death has not been identified 

Bernard Tresham HARDY     MM
Lieutenant, 13th/18th Royal Hussars, Royal Armoured Corps. Army no. 197989
He was killed in action on 14 June 1944 shortly after the Normandy Invasion. He was 30
He was the son of Harold E Hardy OO and Beatrice C Hardy of Gundrada, Lewes and the husband of Vivien M F Hardy of West Acton, Middlesex
He is buried in grave 3 C 2 Hermanville War Cemetery, France
Additional information
Oakham, Wharflands 1928-1931. After Oakham he had gained
a BA at Selwyn College, Cambridge. 
He was commissioned in 1941 having been a Despatch Rider with the British Expeditionary Force. The Regiment was equipped with Sherman Tanks and had landed on D Day

Hubert HARVEY
Chief Engine Room Artificer, HMS Niger, Royal Navy. RN no C/M 7099
He died on 6 July 1942. He was 43
He was the son of Henry and Elizabeth Harvey and the husband of Eva M Harvey of Allington, Lincolnshire
He is remembered on panel 60 1 Chatham Naval Memorial
Additional information
Oakham 1910-1915
HMS Niger took part in the evacuation of the BEF from Dunkirk evacuating some 1,500 men. On 14 February 1942 HMS Niger met 13 merchant ships who constituted Convoy PQ11 which sailed from Kirkwall. The return Convoy QP11 (13 ships) sailed on 28 April. On 27 June she sailed for the UK from  Murmansk with Convoy QP13 (35 ships), which by an error of navigation caused by the bad weather, strayed into an allied minefield off Iceland.  At 22.40 hours on 5 July 1942 HMS Niger blew up and sank. The Commanding Officer, 8 officers and 140 ratings perished.

William Thomas HEATH
Captain, Royal Marines, HMS Royal Albert
He died on 4 March 1946 in an accident. He was 35
He was the son of Frank T and Marion Heath, Knighton Road, Leicester and the husband of Phyllis C Heath of Brixham, Devon 
He is buried in grave 2 B 23 Munster Heath War Cemetery, 
Germany
Additional information
Oakham, School House 1923-1925. In civilian life he was an Insurance Broker.
In 1946 HMS Royal Albert was a shore establishment of the Royal Navy in Hamburg

Peter Severn HITCHCOCK
Major, Pioneer Corps.  Army no. 220758
He died in an accident on 23 January 1946. He was 28
He was the son of Francis J and Alice D Hitchcock of Southport, Lancashire
He is buried in grave 8 F 2 Tripoli War Cemetery
Additional information
Oakham, Greylands 1930-1934

Robert Colin HODGSON
Flying Officer, Royal Air Force. RAF no. 31444
He died on 17 June 1940. He was 21
He was the son of Dr Robert E and Mary Hodgson, Burley in Wharfedale, Yorkshire
He is buried in sec 18 plot 1 row A grave 107 Rennes Eastern
Communal Cemetery
Additional  information
Oakham, Wharflands, Cricket Colour 1931-1935
Large numbers of the British Expeditionary Force were stranded in France after the Dunkirk evacuation. Robert
Hodgson was killed when the Germans bombed a train in Rennes on which he and two other RAF personnel were escaping.

Cecil HOLMES
Warrant Officer (Observer), Royal Air Force. RAF no. 581425
He died on 31 May 1942. He was 30
He was the son of Harry Cecil and Edith A Holmes, Sandown, Melton Mowbray and the husband of Marjorie K Holmes of
Leeds
He is buried in row C grave 23 Bury Cemetery, 
Huntingdonshire
Additional information
Oakham, Greylands 1925-1927
Hampden I, P5321 of 14 OTU coded GL P3 took off from RAF Cottesmore at 23.06 hours on 30 May 1942. On returning from an operation to Koln at 04.05 hours on 31 May 1942, the aeroplane collided near March, Cambridgeshire with Halifax W1013 of 78 Squadron which had also been on the same Koln mission. The Hampden pilot, Squadron Leader Falconer DFC said later that he emerged from a rain cloud and saw an aircraft displaying navigation lights but he was unable to
avoid a collision. The crew of the Halifax who died were:
Sergeant George Bolton, Sergeant Andrew Caie. 3 others were injured
The pilot of the Hampden, Squadron Leader Falconer survived but the others died: Wireless Operator Cecil Holmes, Sergeant John H Knowling and Pilot Officer Harvey S Little.

Stephen Gordon HUMPHRYS
Major, Royal Corps of Signals seconded to HQ III Indian Corps. Army no. 41149.
He died between 2 and 3 March 1942. He was 33
He was the son of the Reverend Percy and Helen Humphrys, Baxterby Rectory, Atherstone and the husband of Betty
F Humphrys of Bromley, Kent
He is remembered on column 41 of the Singapore Memorial
Additional information
Oakham, School House 1922-1926. He had graduated from RMC Sandhurst in 1929.
Stephen Humphrys died whilst escaping from Sumatra and the Japanese

Norman James INGRAM
Major, 145 (8th Battalion, The Duke of Wellington's) Regiment, Royal Armoured Corps. Army no. 149373
He died on 18 September 1944. He was 25
He was the son of Harold P and Mary E Ingram, Brynbella, Ilkley
He is buried in grave XII B 3 Coriano Ridge War Cemetery.
Additional information
Oakham, Wharflands, Prefect, Rugby Colour 1932-1937
On 3 September 1943 the Allies invaded the Italy. Rome fell in June 1944. Coriano Ridge was the last important ridge in the way of the Allied advance in the Adriatic sector in 1944. Its capture was the key to Rimini and then the River Po. German parachute and panzer troops, aided by bad weather, resisted all attacks on their positions between 4 and 12 September 1944. On the night of 12 September, the 8th Army reopened its attack on the Ridge, with the 1st British and 5th Canadian Armoured Divisions.
The attack was successful in taking the Ridge but marked the beginning of a week of the heaviest fighting experienced since Cassino in May, with daily losses for the 8th Army of some 150 killed.

William Henry KINGSWOOD
Commander (E), HMS Golden Hind, Royal Navy
He died of a cerebral haemorrhage on 21 April 1945. He was 42.
He was the son of William and Anna Kingswood of Hambleton
He is buried in grave 2W B 12 Sydney War Cemetery
Additional information
Oakham, Cricket colour, Senior Cadet and Captain of the Rugby Team 1912-1916
He died from natural causes whilst he was the Commander, HMS Golden Hind which was the Royal Naval Barracks in Sydney. He had served in WW1 and remained in the Royal
Navy.

Charrington Cecil KIRBY MB, MRCS 
Surgeon Lieutenant, HMS Cornwall, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
He died on 5 April 1942. He was 29
He was the son of Thomas C and Mary M Kirby of Pinner
He is remembered on panel 66, 1 of the Chatham Naval
Memorial
Additional information
Oakham, School House, Prefect 1927-1931
31 March 1942 HMS Cornwall joined HM Battleship Warspite,
HM Aircraft Carriers Formidable and Indomitable, HM Cruisers
Enterprise, Emerald and Dorsetshire screened by six destroyers as Force A in position south of Ceylon.
1 April   Force A was deployed in unsuccessful search for
Japanese naval force reported to be on passage to Ceylon.
3 April   detached from Force A with HMS Dorsetshire for escort of military convoy SU4 during their passage in Indian Ocean.
4 April   recalled to join Force A again when Japanese warships were sighted.
5 April  HMS Cornwall was sighted during her return passage to Force A by aircraft from Japanese cruiser Tone. HMS
Cornwall and HMS Dorsetshire came under heavy and sustained attacks by dive bombers from the aircraft carriers Akagi, Soryu and Hiryu. HMS Cornwall was quickly disabled and sank within 15 minutes with heavy casualties including 190 killed or missing. (Note: Some 6 minutes later HMS Dorsetshire was sunk by similar attacks).
6 April   1,122 survivors from the two cruisers were
rescued by HMS Enterprise and destroyers Paladin and Panther.
A contemporary report records that Charrington C Kirby was killed by fire from Japanese aircraft whilst he was in the water

John Lawson KIRBY
Lieutenant, Royal Artillery Army no. 302819
He died on 23 July 1945 of Infantile Paralysis (Polio). He was 21
He was the son of John H Kirby and Ida M Kirby, Powys
Avenue, Leicester
He is buried in plot 1 row A grave 3 Christiansborg War Cemetery, Ghana
Additional information
Oakham, Wharflands, Head Prefect, Rugby Colour  1937-1942

Peter (Titch) Anthony LOVEGROVE
Flying Officer (Pilot), 83 Squadron, Royal Air Force. RAFVR no. 62324
He died on 12 November 1942 when he was a PoW at Oflag
XXXIB. He was 22.
He was the son of Edward T and Hilda M Lovegrove of Thorpe
Arnold, Leicestershire
He is buried in grave 6 A 14 Poznan Old Garrison Cemetery, Poland
Additional information
Oakham, School House 1929-1936
Avro Manchester 1 L7427 OL-Q of 83 Squadron took off at 22.15 hours on 9 April 1942 from RAF Scampton on a mission to bomb Hamburg. The aeroplane was last heard at 00.10 hours on 9 April and was thought to be near Lastrup, Germany. The aeroplane crashed NE of Cloppenburg
Peter Lovegrove survived but the other 6 crew members died, they were: Pilot Officer Jack H Morphett, Flight Sergeant Geoffrey D Hutchinson RNZAF, Flight Sergeant Albert H  Salter, Sergeant Reginald S Williams, Sergeant George C Fisk RCAF and Sergeant Charles D Gellatly RCAF.
These crew members are buried in Sage War Cemetery.
Peter Lovegrove was interned by the Germans in Stalag 21B in Poland. He was PoW no. 778. He died in captivity on 12 November 1942. One report states that he fell from a window but other prisoners said that he was trying to escape.

Terence (Punch) LUNDHOLM
Pilot Officer, Royal Air Force. RAFVR no. 116426.
He was formerly with The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment.
He died on 27 May 1942. He was 24
He was the son of Lieutenant-Commander Torkel and Kathleen Lundholm of Bedford
He is buried in grave Sec C grave 25 Llantwit Major Cemetery,
Glamorgan
Additional information
Oakham, Wharflands 1932-1935
Terence Lundholm, pilot of Spitfire K9951, was killed in a
collision with another Spitfire whilst landing at RAF Llandow near Cowbridge. RAF Llandow was an Operational Training Unit

Peter MANGHAM  MiD
Captain, 531 Battery, 190 Field Regiment, Royal Artillery Army no. 233408
He died on 22 September 1944. He was 22.
He was the son of Professor Sydney and Effie A Mangham of Bassett, Hampshire
He is buried in grave III B 2 Mierlo War Cemetery, Netherlands
Additional information
Oakham, School House, Prefect, Rugby Colour 1935-1940.
Emmanuel College, Cambridge
He was promoted Second Lieutenant on 9 May 1942 and Captain in March 1945. He was killed whilst the Germans were being driven out of the Maas

Alan Cresswell MARTIN
Squadron Leader, 40 Squadron, Royal Air Force. RAF no. 32051
He died on 26 August 1941 over Belgium whilst on a bombing mission. He was 27
He was the son of the late Alan R and the late Juanita Martin
and the nephew of Gertrude Martin of Barnstaple, Devon
He is buried in grave 516 Handzame Communal Cemetery, Belgium
Additional information
Oakham, Wharflands, Prefect, Rugby and Cricket Colour
1922-1929
In November 1940, 40 Squadron had moved to a night bombing role when it was equipped with Wellingtons and was based at RAF Alconbury.

Guy Meredith Myles MATHEWS
Lieutenant, 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards, Royal
Armoured Corps seconded to The Staffordshire Yeomanry. Army no. 129137
He was killed in action on 15 January 1943. He was 27
He was the son of Charles M and Edith A Mathews of Penn, Buckinghamshire
He is remembered on column 15 of the El Alamein Memorial
Additional information
Oakham,  Wharflands 1929-1932. In civilian life Guy Mathews was a Solicitor.
On 8 January 1943 The Staffordshire Yeomanry heard that the
next target was Tripoli. On 12 January the Regiment moved, with the Brigade to the Wadi Chebir and they advanced to the Gheddahia-Bungem road on 14 January
The following day, The Staffordshire Yeomanry moved off at first light and came under fire as soon as they crossed the Gheddahia-Bungem road. 
As the Brigade moved forward the Staffordshire Yeomanry were on the right, 3rd Royal Tank Regiment in the centre, and the Nottinghamshire Yeomanry on the left, with 131st Infantry Brigade in reserve. Ahead and behind the Dur Umm-Er Raml Ridge, lay the 15th (German) Panzer Division, supported by Italian M 13 tanks but the enemy seemed reluctant to engage his tanks and the day was spent mainly in artillery duels.  Lieutenant Mathews's Crusader was knocked out by a direct hit and he was killed, his driver being seriously wounded.

Charles Fred MILES
Officer Cadet, The Leicestershire Regiment. Army no. 4864564
He died on 16 March 1942. He was 20
He was the son of Charles & Ruth Miles, Tinwell Road, Stamford
He is buried in grave 8 B 6 Kirkee War Cemetery, India
Additional Information
Oakham, Greylands, 1934-1937

Donald Maitland James MURRAY
Major, Royal Engineers. Army no. 15975. He was previously
with the Royal Artillery  
He died on 19 December 1941. He was 42
He was the son of Harold J R and Katherine Murray, Sandon Road, Birmingham and the husband of H Neste Murray, Bathwick Hill, Bath
He is buried in grave 5 E 15 Stanley Military Cemetery, Hong
Kong
Additional information
Oakham, Prefect and Rugby Colour 1913-1917
In December 1941, Japan launched their invasion of Hong Kong, which resulted in the British surrender on Christmas Day of that year. Stanley Village is one of the last battlefields of the defence of the city where D Company, Royal Rifles of Canada and a group of Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps were stationed.

Michael Alan NEWLING    DFC
Flight Lieutenant, 145 Squadron, Royal Air Force. RAF no. 41867 
He died on 6 July 1941. He was 21.
He was the son of George A and Dorothy Newling of Barnes
He is remembered on panel 29 of the Runneymede Memorial
Additional information
Oakham, Wharflands, Rugby Colour 1933-1937
He attended Oakham until he was 17 when the family emigrated to New Zealand. He returned 9 months later because of the threat of war and was a trained pilot by the time war was declared.
On 18 May 1940 during an attack against a large number of enemy bombers, he was shot down in Hawker Hurricane Mk 1, N2600 and crashed at Pamel, in enemy territory but he managed to re-gain the Allied lines. His engine and cockpit & cross section were recovered on 22 February 1997.
After covering the evacuation from Dunkirk, the squadron took
part in the Battle of Britain until withdrawn to Scotland in mid-August, returning south in October and converting to Spitfires in February 1941 to make cross channel sweeps.
He was mentioned in despatches on 1 January 1941, awarded the DFC on 4 February 1941 and promoted flight commander.
On 6 July 1941, he was reported missing in action.
He was killed in action in a Spitfire Va (W3366) near Lille.
His war time exploits mean that he is one of 646 Aces
credited with destroying 5 enemy aircraft
His father George had a distinguished record in WW1 with 2nd Royal Marine Battalion and was awarded the MC

George Edward NEWTON
Flight Lieutenant (Pilot), 218 Squadron, Royal Air Force. RAF no. 37824.
He died on 18 August 1940. He was 29.
He was the son of Edward C and Gertrude Newton, Harrowby Hall, Grantham and the husband of Doris M Newton of Arrington, Cambridgeshire.
He is buried in grave 176 in the churchyard of All Saints,
Barrowby, Lincolnshire.
Additional information
Oakham, Wharflands, Rugby Colour 1919-1928
218 Squadron flew to France on 2 September 1939 and flew valuable leaflet raids and reconnaissance flights in Battle
aircraft.  During the early days of the war, the Squadron was constantly being moved.  Its bases were Auberive sur Suippes, Perpignan, La Salanque, Moscow Ferme, St. Lucien Ferme and then Nantes, all in France.  In June 1940, after having hindered the German advance into France by bombing
communications and troop concentrations (and having suffered heavy casualties in the process), it was evacuated to England to be equipped with Bristol Blenheim medium bombers and moved to RAF Mildenhall for June-July 1940 and then RAF Oakington in July 1940
George Newton died in an aerial collision whilst flying formation exercises from RAF Oakington in his Blenheim IV,T1929. The aircraft collided with another aircraft from his squadron Blenheim IV, L9264.
Those killed were: Flight Lieutenant George E Newton (pilot)  Blenheim IV, L9264
Sergeant David W Dennis    Blenheim IV, L9264
Sergeant William L Smith    Blenheim IV, L9264
AC 1 Robert H Harrison    Blenheim IV, L9264
Pilot Officer William B Wheelwright   Blenheim IV, T1929
Sergeant Robert W Clapperton.   Blenheim IV, T1929
Sergeant John N Bilton     Blenheim IV, T1929

John NEWTON
Sergeant, 86 Squadron, Royal Air Force. RAFVR no. 1113501
He died on 28 May 1942. He was 23.
He was the son of Frederick and Fanny Newton of Skillington, Grantham and the husband of Dorothy Newton.
He is remembered on panel 90 of the Runnymede Memorial
Additional information
Oakham, School House 1933-1935
John Newton was in Beaufort IIa, AW371 BX-Q which took off from RAF Wick at 23.25 hours on 27 May 1942 to patrol off the Norwegian coast between Stavanger and Andalsnes. The aircraft failed to return and the following were  lost:
Sergeant John K Knight (pilot), Sergeant John Newton, Sergeant Henry W Hall and Sergeant Stanley R Ashton.
42 and 86 Squadrons had carried out attacks on the Prinz Eugen on 18 May 1942 when it sailed through the Skaggerak and down to Kiel. The flight on 27/28 May may have been a patrol to
check for the Prinz Eugen (or another ship) coming out of Kiel.
It should be mentionned that he was a relative of Sir Isaac Newton whose home was near Skillington!

Charles Peter NICHOLSON
Captain, 467 Battery, 92 Field Regiment, Royal Artillery. Army no. 126242
He died on 20 January 1944. He was 24.
He was the son of Charles and Dorothy I Nicholson of Sheffield
He is buried in grave III G 20 Minturo War Cemetery, Italy
Additional  information
Oakham, School House 1933-1937
On 3 September 1943 the Allies invaded the Italian mainland with the objective of drawing German troops from the Russian front and more particularly from France.
Progress through southern Italy was rapid despite stiff resistance, but by the end of October, the Allies were facing the German defensive position known as the Gustav Line which stretched from the river Garigliano in the west to the Sangro in the east. Initial attempts to breach the western end of the line were unsuccessful and it was not until 17 January 1944 that the Garigliano was crossed, and Minturno taken two days later.
The burials in this cemetery are mainly those who died in
making the crossing of the Garigliano in January.

John Thornton NOBES
Sergeant, 2nd Battalion, Coldstream Guards Army no.
2657561
He died on 25 December 1942 at Longstop Hill. He was 25.
He was the son of Harry W and Christabelle I M Nobes of Bedford Road, London SW4 and the husband of Lily Nobes
He is buried in grave 3 A 5 Medjez el Bab War Cemetery, Tunisia
Additional information
Oakham, School House 1926-1933
In May 1943, the war in North Africa came to an end in
Tunisia with the defeat of the Axis powers. The campaign had begun on 8 November 1942, when the Allies landed in Algeria and Morocco. The Germans responded immediately by sending a force from Sicily to northern Tunisia, which checked the Allied advance east in early December 1942. In the south, the Axis
forces were defeated at El Alamein and withdrew into Tunisia along the coast through Libya, pursued by the Allied 8th Army. Medjez-el-Bab was at the limit of the Allied advance in December 1942 and remained on the  front line until the
decisive Allied advances of April and May 1943. 

Jack Michael O'HAGAN
Signalman, HMS Penelope, Royal Navy.  No. P/JX 327318
He died on 18 February 1944. He was 19.
He was the son of Harry and Florence E O'Hagan of East Sheen, Surrey. 
He is remembered on panel 84, column 2 of the Portsmouth Naval Memorial
Additional information
Oakham, Wharflands, Rugby Colour 1938-1941
On 9 September 1943, HMS Penelope was part of the allied
landings at Salerno, Italy. On 7 October, with HMS Sirius and other ships she sank 6 enemy landing craft, one ammunition ship and an armed trawler off Stampalia.
Although damaged by a bomb, she was able to return to Alexandria at 22 knots.
On 22 January 1944, HMS Penelope took part in the amphibious assault on Anzio, Italy, providing gunfire support with the USS Brooklyn and then bombarded the Formia area.
On 18 February 1944, HMS Penelope was leaving Naples to return to the Anzio area when she was torpedoed by the Uboat  U410. The first torpedo struck her in the after engine room and was followed 16 minutes later by another torpedo which hit in the after boiler room and she sank immediately.  415 of the crew went down with the ship. There were 206 survivors.
The unusual aspect of the attack by U410 was that the cruiser was  making 26 knots when hit. In the history of submarine attacks during WW2, no other ship running at such speed was ever successfully attacked.

Richard Francis OLIVE
Lieutenant, 2nd Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment. Army no. 33855.
He died on 31 May 1940. He was 32.
He was the son of Charles and Mary Olive, Station Road, Kettering and the husband of Mabel K Olive of Willaston, Cheshire.
He  is remembered on column 56 of the Dunkirk Memorial
Additional information
Oakham 1919-1924. He had  a BA from Queen’s College, Cambridge.
He died in the retreat to and evacuation of Dunkirk

Edward Donald PARKER  GC, DFC 
Squadron Leader (Pilot), 61 Squadron, Royal Air Force. RAFVR no. 76465
He died on 16 January 1943. He was 33.
He was the son of Alfred and Rowena  Parker, Huntingdon Drive, Nottingham and the husband of Doris Parker
He is buried in grave 1 F 3 Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery
Additional information
Oakham 1924-1926
He was commissioned on 1 December 1939: awarded the George Cross on 6 August 1940 then the DFC on 22 December 1940. He was promoted Squadron Leader on 1 June 1942
Citation for the George Cross: The following details  are given in the London Gazette of 6 August 1940:
On the night of 8 June 1940, this officer was the First Pilot of an aircraft loaded with 4 500 lb bombs, detailed  for bombing operations. Just after taking off the port engine failed and Pilot
Officer Parker could gain neither height nor speed on one
engine.  
Reducing speed to 80 mph, he switched off his engine and "felt" the aircraft into the nearest field in complete darkness. The aircraft crashed and immediately burst into flames.
Pilot Officer Parker got clear to find that his Navigator and Air Gunner were safe, but the Wireless Operator was lying
stunned near the burning aircraft. With complete disregard for his own safety, and knowing that the bombs might explode at any moment he returned and carried his Wireless Operator to safety.  While he was doing so a bomb exploded but Pilot Officer Parker saved the airman further injury by throwing him to the ground. This officer displayed exceptional coolness, courage and resourcefulness throughout, and in face of extreme danger undoubtedly saved the life of his Wireless Operator
Edward D Parker was the pilot of Lancaster I, ED332, QR D of 61 Squadron which took off at 16.30 hours on 16 January 1943 for a raid in Berlin. The aircraft was lost near Berlin and the crew all died. They were: Squadron Leader Edward D Parker, Sergeant Tom Miller, Flight Sergeant John A Mcphee, RCAF Sergeant John J Cadd, Sergeant Clifford H Reed, Sergeant Cecil N Judd and Flight Sergeant R F Bird

Nigel Reginald PEARCE
Lieutenant, The Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) Army no. 184589
He died on 5 September 1944. He was 22.
He was the son of Reginald A S and Frances E Pearce of Belvedere Road, Burton on Trent
He is buried in grave VII F 9 Coriano Ridge War Cemetery, Italy. 
Additional information
Oakham, School House, Prefect, Rugby Colour 1931-1940
On 3 September 1943 the Allies invaded Italy. Rome fell in June 1944. Coriano Ridge was the last important ridge in the way of the Allied advance in the Adriatic sector in 1944. Its capture was the key to Rimini and then the River Po. German parachute and panzer troops, aided by bad weather, resisted all attacks on their positions between 4 and 12 September 1944. On the night of 12 September, the 8th Army reopened its attack on the Ridge, with the 1st British and 5th Canadian Armoured Divisions. The attack was successful in taking the Ridge but marked the beginning of a week of the heaviest fighting experienced since Cassino in May, with daily losses of some 150 killed for the 8th Army.

Ivan Roy James PERKINS
Pilot Officer, 108 Squadron, Royal Air Force. RAFVR no. 106235
He died on 4 May 1942. He was 29.
He was the son of Ernest and Edith Perkins, Esher Grove,
Nottingham and the husband of Theodor J Perkins of Bingham, Nottinghamshire 
He is remembered on column 249 of the El Alamein
Memorial
Additional information
Oakham, School House 1924-1929
108 Squadron was a night bomber unit, equipped with Wellingtons with its initial targets being in Libya and Greece.  The Squadron was based from 20 May 1942 at airbase LG 105.
Liberator AL511 A took off at 18.30 hours on 4 May 1942 to attack the shipping and harbour facilities at Tripoli. The aircraft was shot down by a night fighter near Soluch.
4 of the crew were killed: Flight Lieutenant Duncan H MacArthur DFC, Pilot Officer Ivan R J Perkins, Pilot Officer Douglas Hudson and Flight Sergeant Denis F Clifford NZRAF. Three others were taken prisoner

Hugh POPE
Second Lieutenant, 2nd/5th Battalion, The Leicestershire
Regiment. Army no. 113783
He died on 27 May 1940. He was 22.
He was the son of Arthur C and Mary B Pope, Bank House, Oakham, Rutland
He is buried in grave plot 2 row H grave 2 Carvin Communal Cemetery
Additional information
Oakham, School House, 1926-1936 Prefect, Captain of
Cricket Team. After Oakham, Hugh Pope attended Sidney Sussex, Cambridge and gained a BA. He had intended to take Holy Orders.
In the retreat to Dunkirk, there was a British counter-attack by the 50th Division, who took up positions along the canal on a line from La Bassée to Carvin. The canal crossings were
held and a German attack which had caused the French North African troops to fall back on Carvin was checked on 26 May
1940.


Arthur John Michael RICHARDSON    MiD
Captain, 121 Field Regiment, Royal Artillery. Army no.
148267
He died from his wounds on 28 October 1942. He was 21
He was the son of Donald and Dorothy Richardson of Park Valley, Nottingham
He is buried in grave XIX G 6 of El Alamein War Cemetery, Egypt
Additional information
Oakham, School House 1931-1937
He was wounded during the advance from El Alamein

Ronald Herbert ROE
Captain, 1st Battalion, 4/16th Punjab Regiment. Army no.
EC/9055
He was killed in action on 14 November 1943. He was 29
He was the son of Herbert B and Alice M Roe of Marlow
He is remembered on face 48 of the Rangoon Memorial
Additional information
Oakham, Wharflands 1923-1931

Peter ROOK
Captain, 1st/5th Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters
(Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment). Army no. 67912
He was killed in action on 11 February 1942. He was 26
He was the son of Maurice and Ethel Rook of Epsom and the husband of Helen Rook
He is buried in joint grave 23 C 16-17 Kranji War Cemetery,
Singapore
Additional information
Oakham, Wharflands 1926-1934.
He died just four days before Singapore fell to the Japanese

Reginald Geoffrey RYLEY
Captain, 1st Battalion, The Suffolk Regiment. Army no.
62226
He died on 7 June 1944 on D Day + 1. He was 37
He was the son of Maud E and the late Reginald Ryley of
Stratford St. Andrews, Suffolk and husband of Barbara J V Ryley
He is buried in grave IV G 3 Douvres-la-Délivrande War Cemetery, Normandy
Additional information
Oakham, School House, Prefect, Rugby and Cricket Colour
1920-1926. Johnson Exhibitor, Clare College Cambridge gained 2nd Classical Tripos and became Assistant Master at Liverpool  College

George Edward SHARDLOW
Captain, 129 Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery previously 21st Battalion, City of London Regiment. Army no.
179364
He died on 17 August 1945 of natural causes. He was 34
He was the son of Ernest A and Ada Shardlow, Knighton Grange Road, Leicester and the husband of Patricia Shardlow
He is buried in grave 6 A 19 Kiel War Cemetery, Germany
Additional information
Oakham, School House 1925-1929

John Arthur SHARPE
Sergeant (Flight Engineer), 218 Squadron, Royal Air Force. RAF no. 527639
He died on 21 August 1942. He was 27
He was the son of Herbert and Margaret E Sharpe and
the husband of Joan M Sharpe of Downham Market, Norfolk
He is buried in grave 2 J 1 Kiel War Cemetery
Additional information
Oakham, Day Boy 1926-1930
218 Squadron was equipped with Stirlings in February 1942. In July 1942, the unit re-located to RAF Downham Market. They took off at 20.15 hours on an operation mine laying in the Cadet Channel in the Baltic. His aeroplane, Stirling Mark I, BF338, HA Q crashed at Hoffnungstal Marietal.
He was buried initially at Schiewig and later moved to Kiel. 1 of the crew was taken prisoner. Those who died were: 
Flight Sergeant Leonard Hartley, Sergeant John A Sharpe, Sergeant Norman Podmore, Pilot Officer Isaac C Newell, Flight Sergeant Colin H Barrow and Sergeant George E S Wren
4 other Stirlings from 218 Squadron were lost on this operation.

Frederick Arthur SILLS
Lieutenant, 7th/10th Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland
Highlanders, 154 Infantry Brigade, 8th Army.  Army no. 180346
He was killed in action on 28 October 1942. He was 35
He was the son of Frederick C Sills OO and of Edith N Sills of Chiswick and the husband of Nellie M Sills of Sudbury-on-Thames
He is buried in grave XXIII E 9 El Alamein War Cemetery
Additional information
Oakham 1915-1922
He died in the fighting at El Alamein, the turning point of the War in North Africa

Irvine John SMART
Ordinary Seaman, HM Trawler Northern Princess (on loan to US Navy), Royal Naval Patrol Service. RN no. LT/JX 281129
He died on 7 March 1942. He was 19.
He was the ward of Mrs L Fortune of Enfield, Middlesex and the son of the late Mr and Mrs C Smart, The Manor House, Stretton, Oakham
He is remembered on panel 9, column 3 of the Lowestoft Naval Memorial
Additional information
Oakham 1938-1940, Wharflands
HM Trawler Northern Princess was an anti-submarine, armed boarding vessel, on loan to US Navy which was sunk by a German U-boat U94 off Grand Banks in the North Atlantic. The entire crew of 38 were lost

Geoffrey Vincent SMITH
Lieutenant, 2nd/5th Battalion, The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment). Army no.  237872
He died on 29 April 1943. He was 21
He was the son of Edward V and Violet A Smith, Willowhayne, Chorley Wood
He is buried in grave IV D 22 Enfidaville War Cemetery, Tunisia
Additional information
Oakham 1936-1940, Wharflands, Prefect and Rugby Colour
The campaign had begun on 8 November 1942. The Axis forces defeated at El Alamein withdrew into Tunisia pursued by the Allied 8th Army. 
  By mid-April 1943, the Axis force was hemmed in and the Allies were grouped for their final offensive. The 8th Army attack on the position at Enfidaville on 19 April captured the village but made no further progress.
Attacks further north met with greater success and Tunis fell on 7 May, Bizerta on 8 May. Enfidaville fell on 12 May.

John Edward STEPHEN
Warrant Officer (Pilot), 516 (Combined Operations) Squadron,
Royal Air Force. RAFVR no. 903322
He died on 6 February 1944. He was 24
He was the son of Major Edward F Stephen and Constance Stephen of Havant 
He is buried in grave Sec 3 Grave 746 Warblington Cemetery, Havant and Waterloo
Additional information
Oakham 1933-1936, School House, Rugby Colour
516 Squadron at RAF Abbotsinch provided realistic air
support and mock enemy air attacks in Commando training and others, particularly in amphibious landings.
On 6 February 1944, three Hurricanes from 516 Squadron took off from RAF Connell for a training exercise in the Kentra Bay area on the NE corner of the Ardnamurchan Peninsular. Their task was to undertake mock, low flying attacks on amphibious landings. Their mission complete, they set course for RAF Connell but found themselves enveloped by thick cloud and mist that rolled in from the west at sea level. They split up and tried to reach any base they could. 
Pilot Officer Larry Figgis climbed above the cloud ceiling at over 6,000 feet on an easterly course. He was on the point of bailing out when a small break in the cloud appeared. He dived through it to a successful belly landing in a field near Stirling.
Warrant Officer John E Stephen in Hurricane IIc, LF160 made for Tiree but crashed onto the Isle of Coll while attempting a forced landing on which looked like flat ground. Unfortunately it was a bog with hidden streams and LF160 flipped over killing him. The wreckage was found on 9 February 1944.
Flight Lieutenant Woodgate took a sea level route to RAF Connel and on 19 February 1944 the Hurricane of Flight Lieutenant Woodgate was found on the side of Beinn na Seilg on Ardnamurchan. Flight Lieutenant A J Woodgate RNZAF was 21.
In 1995 a memorial plaque was mounted that overlooked both
crash sites.

Nigel Dennis STICKLAND   MiD
Lieutenant, Leicestershire Regiment seconded to 1st Battalion,
The Dorsetshire Regiment, 231 Infantry Brigade. Army no. 94765
He died on 24 July 1943 during the invasion and capture of
Sicily. He was 24.
He was the son of Harold J and Violet Stickland, Springfield Avenue, Harrogate and the husband of Phyllis D Stickland also of Harrogate.
He is buried in grave VI B 10 Syracuse War Cemetery, Sicily
Additional information
Oakham 1932-1935, School House

Francis Paul SUTTON
Lieutenant, The Northamptonshire Regiment seconded to 2nd Battalion, The Lincolnshire Regiment. Army no. 124248
He died on 14 October 1944. He was 28
He was the son of Rupert E and Edith Sutton, Bank House, Towcester
He is buried in grave I C 8 Overloon War Cemetery, Netherlands
Additional information
Oakham 1929-1933, Wharflands
In the autumn of 1944, the strip of land between Eindhoven and Arnhem was being extended slowly. The Germans had entrenched themselves around Overloon and the adversaries bombarded each other's position for four days.
On 30 September, the Allies launched their attack, one of the fiercest battles that took place in Western Europe. American Sherman Tanks tried to breach the German defences. They were stopped by mines, field artillery and Tiger and Panther tanks.
On October 8, exhausted Americans were relieved by the British who launched a new assault. The area was a quagmire and tanks were unable achieve much so breaking the German resistance was left to the infantry plus supported by heavy artillery and air raids. The last German stronghold fell at 16.15 hours on 14 October

Charles Maurice THORPE
Corporal, Royal Air Force. RAF no. 566539
He died on 26 October 1939. He was 22
He was the son of Charles H and Annie Thorpe, High Street, Uppingham
He is buried in Sec E Grave 1001 Dirleton Cemetery, East Lothian
Additional information
Oakham 1928-1933, Day Boy
He enlisted in September 1933 as an Aircraft Apprentice at RAF Halton. In October 1939 he was at 13 SFTS (Service Flying Training School) at RAF Drem
On 26 October he was in Airspeed Oxford N4592 with Cpl B F Evans RAF 566005 when it flew into the ground at Lammer Law, East Lothian and both occupants were killed. 

George TOWNS
Sergeant (Observer), 156 Squadron, Royal Air Force. RAFVR no. 1182661
He died on 28 June 1942. He was 21.
He was the son of John T and Margaret L Towns of Whissendine, Rutland
He is buried in grave 17 C 20 Rheinberg War Cemetery
Additional information
Oakham 1932-1938, Day Boy
George Towns was in Wellington III Z1619, GT on a mission to Bremen. It took off from RAF Alconbury at 23.13 hours and crashed at Westrum Kreis. 
144 aircraft attacked Bremen that night and 9 aircraft were lost - 4 Wellington, 2 Halifax, 2 Lancaster and 1 Stirling. The crew who died were: Sergeant Norman T Owen, Sergeant George Towns, Pilot Officer William Henderson, Sergeant John E Jones, Pilot Officer Hector W C Watts RCAF

Michael James WEST
Pilot Officer, Royal Air Force. RAFVR no. 88015
He died on 31 March 1941. He was 22
He was the son of William E and Mabel C West of East Farndon
He is buried in Compt 7 Grave 1, St Nicholas Churchyard
Extension, Cottesmore
Additional information
Oakham 1928-1935, School House
On 31 March 1941 Handley Page Hampden I, P2062 of 14 OTU
(Operational Training Unit) took off from RAF Woolfox Lodge for night flying practice.
At 04.20 hours this aeroplane, piloted by Sergeant K E Holder
while on approach to land went out of control and crashed close to the airfield. The crew who died were:
Sergeant Kenneth E Holder, Pilot Officer Michael J West, Pilot Officer John E Richmond and Sergeant Fred S Jessop  
At this time RAF Woolfox Lodge was a satellite airfield for RAF
Cottesmore.

Thomas Edwin WILLIAMSON
Captain, Royal Artillery and No. 4 Commando. Army no.
113188
He died on 6 June 1944, D Day. He was 32
He was the son of Griffith E and Catherine E Williamson of Rhyl, Flintshire
He is buried in grave 1 M 3 Hermanville War Cemetery
Additional information
Oakham 1926-1930 School House. He had qualified as a Solicitor before the War.
4 Commando were the first Commandos to hit the beaches on D-Day. Having disembarked from their landing craft Princess Astrid and Maid of Orleans, with 500 men, they landed on Queen Red beach to find 8 Infantry Brigade pinned down by enemy fire. In the mêlée that followed the Commandos suffered 40 casualties including the Commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Dawson.
The Commando pushed forward, breaking out onto the coastal road and set off for Ouistreham, led by 1 and 8 (French) troops of 10 (IA) Commando. 4 Commando joined the others at Hauger and dug in between Sallanelles and Le  Plein.

Peter Plumpton WILSON
Pilot Officer, 213 Squadron, Royal Air Force. RAFVR no. 114748
He died on 13 June 1942. He was 24.
He was the son of Dr Geoffrey P and Constance M Wilson of
Hildersham, Cambridgeshire
He is remembered on column 249 of the El Alamein Memorial
Additional information
Oakham 1928-1932 Junior House, when he moved to Repton
Peter Wilson joined 213 Squadron in 1938 and
went to France to assist the BEF. For part of the Battle of Britain, it was based in south-west England but moved to RAF Tangmere in September. In November 1940 it moved to Yorkshire and then to RAF Castletown in Scotland.
In May 1941, the squadron boarded HMS Furious. On 21 May it flew to Malta and on to Egypt and took part in operations over Syria. Then to Cyprus until December 1941 when it returned to Egypt. Air Defence duties were followed by offensive missions from June 1942 flying the Hurricane Mk. IIc. Then the squadron moved, supporting the 8th Army, following the breakout at El Alamein. During part of this period the squadron actually operated from bases behind the enemy lines.
The record of his final flight is:
Missing in action on 13 June 1942.
213 Squadron at RAF Gambut West took off at 07.00 hours on a sweep over Tobruk. 12 Messerschmitt Me 109's of 1/JG27 had taken off to escort a Messerschmitt 110 on a reconnaissance over the Acroma/El Adem area. 6 of the Messerschmitt 109 bounced the 213 Squadron aircraft north of Acroma. Lt Komer
claimed 2 Hurricanes and Lt Stahlschmidt another.
Pilot Officer Wilson in Hurricane IIc, Z3507 was seen to crash into the sea Flight Sergeant Holvorsen in Hurricane IIc, BE340 bailed out and was reported safe in Hospital with burns to chest and hands.

John Walter WOMERSLEY
Captain, 6th Battalion, The Lincolnshire Regiment. 138
Infantry Brigade, 46 Infantry Division. Army no. 162355
He died on 14 November 1944 in the advance to the Lamone River. He was 25
He was the son of the Rt. Hon. Sir Walter J Womersley, 1st Bt. PC and Lady Womersley of Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire and the husband of Betty Womersley of Cleethorpes 
He is buried in grave I C 13 Meldola War Cemetery, Italy
Additional information
Oakham 1931-1936 School House. He left his studies as an
Articled Clerk to an Accountant to join the Army and served with the HQ of Middle East Division and HQ CMF and then with HQ of the 5th Army before rejoining his Battalion.