Tag: Royal Artillery

Thomas Ernest Bax: A Ramsgate Soldier’s Legacy

Thomas Ernest Bax, born in Ramsgate, Kent, in 1914, served as a gunner in the Royal Artillery during World War II. He married Joan Woodland in 1937, but they had no children. Bax died of wounds in Sicily on August 9, 1943, during the Allied campaign, just days before its conclusion.

Thomas Ernest Bax was born in Ramsgate, Kent, in the summer of 1914, the son of Thomas Ernest Bax and Edith Mary Hogben. He grew up in the parish of St Lawrence-in-Thanet and later lived at 37 Winstanley Crescent, Ramsgate, before the Second World War took him from the Kent coast to the Mediterranean theatre.

He married Joan May Woodland at St Lawrence, Ramsgate, on 4 December 1937. The couple had no children. By the time he died in Sicily on 9 August 1943, aged 29, he was serving as Gunner 806653 with the 17th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, and had become one of the many young men from Thanet lost during the Allied campaign to capture the island. [1]

Thomas Bax left Ramsgate as a young husband and died of wounds in Sicily during the hard final stages of the island campaign.

Early Life and Family

Bax was born in Ramsgate, a port and seaside town whose identity had long been shaped by fishing, trade, tourism, and its position on the Kent coast. His birth was registered in the Thanet district in the June quarter of 1914, only weeks before the outbreak of the First World War.

In June 1921, when he was seven, he was living in St Lawrence Intra, Ramsgate, and was recorded as a grandson. The available record does not identify the household in detail, but it places his childhood firmly within the neighbourhood surrounding St Lawrence, an area closely connected with Ramsgate’s expanding residential population in the inter-war period.

By 1937 Bax was living at 37 Winstanley Crescent, Ramsgate. That year he married Joan May Woodland at St Lawrence, and their marriage was registered in the Thanet district. Their life together was brief and was lived against the growing uncertainty of late-1930s Britain, when Ramsgate itself was increasingly conscious of its exposed position near the continent.

Military Service

Thomas Bax served as Gunner 806653 in the Royal Artillery, with the 17th Field Regiment. A gunner was a fully trained artillery soldier responsible for operating, maintaining, supplying, and protecting the regiment’s guns. Field artillery units were built to provide mobile fire support to infantry formations, using their guns to strike enemy positions, suppress counter-attacks, destroy strongpoints, and cover troops as they advanced.

A British field regiment normally consisted of three batteries, each with eight guns, giving the regiment a substantial concentration of firepower. In the Sicily campaign, field artillery was most commonly equipped with the 25-pounder gun-howitzer, an adaptable weapon able to fire high-explosive, smoke, and other ammunition in support of rapidly moving ground operations. [2]

Gunners endured an especially demanding form of service. Although often positioned behind the foremost infantry, artillery units were exposed to shelling, air attack, counter-battery fire, and the hazards of moving guns and ammunition along poor roads. The work was physically exhausting: gun crews had to establish positions, calculate and execute fire missions, move forward as the line advanced, and keep weapons firing despite dust, heat, shortages, and enemy action.

Unit Context at Time of Death

In August 1943, the 17th Field Regiment was serving in Sicily with the British 78th Division during Operation Husky, the Allied invasion and conquest of the island. The invasion began on the night of 9–10 July 1943, when a vast Allied force landed to open a route into mainland Italy and to remove Sicily as an Axis base in the Mediterranean. [3]

By early August, the campaign had moved beyond the initial beachhead battles into difficult fighting across Sicily’s mountainous interior. The British advance faced determined German resistance, especially around the approaches to Mount Etna and the towns that controlled routes north towards Messina. The 78th Division was engaged in this demanding advance, with its artillery supporting infantry attacks and responding to German positions that often dominated the surrounding high ground.

The 17th Field Regiment’s guns formed part of the division’s artillery screen and offensive firepower. On 9 August, the divisional artillery came under heavy German shelling, and surviving contemporary research into the regiment’s war diary identifies a number of 17th Field Regiment casualties on that date, including Gunner Bax. This makes clear that the unit was not merely moving in support of the battle but was itself under direct and dangerous enemy fire. [1]

On 9 August 1943, the guns of the 17th Field Regiment were under heavy German shelling while supporting the advance through Sicily.

Circumstances of Death

Thomas Ernest Bax died of wounds in Sicily on 9 August 1943. The available record does not identify the exact gun position, battery, or immediate incident in which he was wounded. However, the concentration of 17th Field Regiment casualties on the same date, together with the report of heavy German shelling of divisional artillery, strongly places his death within the artillery battle during the advance through central and eastern Sicily. [1]

He was 29 years old. His death occurred less than a week before the end of the Sicilian campaign, which concluded on 17 August with the Axis evacuation from Messina. Yet for the men still fighting, the final advance was no less dangerous than the initial landings. Field regiments had to continue firing, relocating, and supplying their guns as the front moved through difficult country towards the north-east of the island.

Bax’s death was therefore part of the final cost of Operation Husky. The campaign succeeded strategically, opening the way for the Allied invasion of mainland Italy, but the success was achieved through sustained fighting in which artillery crews were frequently called upon to work in exposed positions close to the changing front line.

Burial and Commemoration

Thomas Bax was buried at Catania War Cemetery in Sicily, in grave II. K. 4. The cemetery contains Commonwealth burials from the Sicily campaign and later operations connected with the fighting in southern Italy. His burial in Sicily gives him a permanent resting place close to the campaign in which he died.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records him as Gunner Thomas Ernest Bax of the Royal Artillery, serving with the 17th Field Regiment, and gives 9 August 1943 as his date of death. His grave also stands among those of fellow artillerymen from the same regiment who died during the same phase of the campaign, reflecting the concentrated losses suffered under enemy shellfire. [1]

For Joan May Bax in Ramsgate, the cemetery in Sicily was necessarily a distant place of mourning. The couple had been married for fewer than six years and had no children, making the loss especially personal and final. His CWGC commemoration ensures that his name remains linked both to the war in Sicily and to the family and town he left behind in Kent.

Legacy

Thomas Ernest Bax’s life joined two very different places: the familiar streets of Ramsgate and the harsh mountains and gun positions of wartime Sicily. He was a young husband from Thanet whose service in the Royal Artillery placed him within the machinery of Allied combined operations in the Mediterranean.

His story also reminds us of the often-unseen contribution of field artillery. Infantry attacks, tanks, and aircraft are commonly remembered in accounts of Sicily, but their operations depended upon artillery units that delivered constant support while under threat themselves. Bax was one of the gunners who enabled that advance, and his death illustrates the risk borne by the crews behind the guns as well as by troops at the front.

Remembering him restores an individual life to the broad history of Operation Husky: a Ramsgate-born soldier, husband of Joan May Woodland, and gunner of the 17th Field Regiment, who died of wounds during the Allied advance in August 1943.

Sources and Further Reading

Sources
[1] 17th Field Regiment Royal Artillery – Sicily – August 1943 https://ww2talk.com/index.php?threads/17th-field-regiment-royal-artillery-sicily-august-1943.33038/
[2] Sicily 1943 https://mikesresearch.com/2023/08/06/sicily-1943/
[3] SICILY – U.S. Army Center of Military History https://history.army.mil/Portals/143/Images/Publications/Publication%20By%20Title%20Images/C%20Img/campaigns-wwii/pdf/35.pdf
[4] Individual-Report-for-Thomas-Ernest-Bax.pdf https://ppl-ai-file-upload.s3.amazonaws.com/web/direct-files/attachments/141549598/6179aa35-60af-47f9-acca-c9592158ea4c/Individual-Report-for-Thomas-Ernest-Bax.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=ASIA2F3EMEYER2UH5CCI&Signature=4A5uSBYsHxGFikDTg13UOXtNKgc%3D&x-amz-security-token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEIv%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FwEaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJIMEYCIQDHaSPoznrdrDLzPO4hfxALJmqdKcKTkxkDrhVW97HgOgIhAP2r7x%2F%2FVE0YNvP2%2Bg6sr%2Bb7bsmnwRyipy6Xdp2rz3CSKvMECFQQARoMNjk5NzUzMzA5NzA1IgwK2z3xXJqKGmE%2Fu7Aq0AQk1JHELPBgVPcp2VXzolLgYDY%2FLZyxrRL3kTOtKO47r%2BzCUzvY92sNFWhSUcNId1Ru66xTMY%2BfGRCZJdm%2FMM7ljh3JHrpjx1vNxas%2FVbeMaRRZjZ%2FSCoCcVfpf%2F%2FOuvnWOdq7OyDGHp0NuyeDNkOL5HsetbiApZdbYfoxWqeipL2mx53GWtxj28C%2Bw4U9n2rL03KOsNuMMhalbq8z1%2B6ued%2FvbmbAiG4crRaTMDf3bfDFNxV5TxJF4ry1%2BS4kkVItCFFbjrhRecxz1j%2FdnwfqiVjE%2F0930KWqBQ6t%2BbCHsSZ5sFYTAem2iE2wncNKgV7j0MZmNvHA%2Bf50rsNt8%2BHdqRk2tYNsdJHbIq0wzqX20ostSF8FxVPiRGMcKPeATxWCTpFu6Y9HyyUJwMZwWr4CE8A23q%2FJtgnNub9CEQNcfyw87GaVPCNuUwYA9XeVWnVsrlPTgAUF8DHhHa%2BJOc1D6JTLBMmZluWSZDmmJg72P44QeFb0G%2BiTxd9cJntlJLpLuPjzXzfij2TvZN5A632KU5vZUCyVpypePGr2lJWmXIzRA6yVZchpHogvPYLSjNbgWCPXcOelILbhUbEGvA1ugU9zL3w%2BWltLQ39Q8cK56w0dE4eO7x%2FKK5kelktBE3KW3KcJpgG3UTV%2F3uf1qXQ2myf1HPx%2F9K402tE8%2Fs2CORXuTlCuETqVD7vzjUWomFBkHsqjSVYftvkjZuhb5uLDBHqVkGzfE4x%2BkfztgwNKjfirVP5qDrfH5ibR2Su%2FY6ccqR7jevalmAV3L%2BbDHdpN1MKDz1tMGOpcB30grBi4ZT95HFX5Rq9dtOrDnIoPZcGz8CQY7L0Boakwf%2Fm75Yf5cjqB91gebJxHedyzVI%2F4td93fLPEV%2FNqVUv%2FbywS7GJX%2BTu78TZdevZaKatL5z4XjU%2FORJWG7fFdX6nmOxz9Lwr6cu6lo9FHfWYXrJMIKbXJ057xZd79DY%2F7VQy%2Facoi7YcdwFHRjjrPKdIiqoWOWYw%3D%3D&Expires=1786101599
[5] Possible photo of Royal Canadian Artillery soldier in Sicily … https://www.facebook.com/groups/141371489605093/posts/2325099824565571/
[6] Royal Artillery units in WWII, 181st Field Regiment RA history https://www.facebook.com/groups/553899301708247/posts/2033115707119925/
[7] Allied advance in Sicily, 1943 – London https://www.facebook.com/iwm.london/videos/allied-advance-in-sicily-1943/832395679719264/
[8] Account of Battles in Sicily Campaign from 128th Field Reg … https://51hd.co.uk/accounts/128_field_reg
[9] GPO War Heroes https://gpowarheroes.org.uk/
[10] Operation Husky order of battle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Husky_order_of_battle
[11] history of the royal regiment of artillery. … https://www.gutenberg.org/files/52258/52258-h/52258-h.htm
[12] The Guns of Sicily http://rca-arc.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/No02-The-Guns-of-Sicily-Maj-David-Grebstad-2nd-place.pdf
[13] SICILIAN CAMPAIGN [Allocated Title] – IWM Film https://film.iwmcollections.org.uk/r/479
[14] British Army Officers 1939-1945 — M https://www.unithistories.com/officers/Army_officers_M02.html
[15] WW2 People’s War – 111th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/09/a2921609.shtml
[16] Personnel – 58th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery https://58fab.com/personnel/

Remembering Eric Victor Cheeseman: POW and Casualty

Eric Victor Cheeseman was born on April 9, 1922, in Cranbrook, Kent. A Bombardier in the Royal Artillery, he served in the 5 Searchlight Regiment during World War II. Captured in 1943, he died as a prisoner of war in Thailand on August 7, 1943, and is buried at Kanchanaburi War Cemetery.

Eric Victor Cheeseman was born in Cranbrook, Kent, on 9 April 1922, the son of Albert Edward Cheeseman and Edith Sarah Fedarb. He grew up in the Weald of Kent, in a market town shaped by agriculture, local trade, and the long traditions of Cranbrook School and the surrounding rural parishes. By 1941 he was living in Kent, and by the time the Second World War reached its darkest years he had entered military service. [1]

He served as Bombardier 6285906 in the Royal Artillery, with the 5 Searchlight Regiment. Cheeseman died on 7 August 1943 at the age of 21 while a prisoner of war in Thailand, and he is buried at Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, one of the principal Commonwealth cemeteries linked to the Burma-Siam Railway. His gravestone bears the inscription: “Gone from us but not forgotten, never shall thy memory fade.” [2][1]

He was a young Kent man who served in searchlight artillery and died as a prisoner of war on the Burma-Siam Railway.

Early Life and Family

Cheeseman’s early years were spent in Cranbrook, a historic market town with deep roots in the Weald of Kent. The family record identifies his father as Albert Edward Cheeseman and his mother as Edith Sarah Fedarb, placing him in a working family with London connections later reflected in his adult residence at 69 Benhurst Court, Streatham. The move from Kent to south London before the war mirrors the wider pattern of interwar mobility in and around the capital. [1]

The 1939-era record does not show a spouse or children, and his death at 21 meant that there was no later family life of the kind many men might otherwise have built after the war. Instead, the surviving evidence focuses on his parents, his service, and the place where his remains were laid to rest. In that sense, his biography is both brief and deeply poignant. [1]

Military Service

Cheeseman served in the Royal Artillery as a Bombardier, service number 6285906, and the record places him with the 5 Searchlight Regiment. Searchlight units were part of Britain’s air-defence system, using powerful lights to help locate hostile aircraft at night and to assist anti-aircraft gunners and fighter control. Although searchlight work was usually associated with the home front and air defence, the regiment’s wartime history could be complex, and many men later became prisoners of war in the Far East after capture in earlier campaigns. [3][4][5][1]

As a bombardier, Cheeseman held a junior NCO rank that carried responsibility and technical competence. In the Royal Artillery such a rank normally indicated experience, reliability, and the ability to supervise others in a specialist battery or section. The family report and CWGC record together show that he was serving overseas in 1943 after being captured in February of that year. [1]

Unit Context at Time of Death

Cheeseman’s death took place against the backdrop of the Burma-Siam Railway, built by the Japanese between 1942 and 1943 to improve military supply routes into Burma. Tens of thousands of Allied prisoners of war and Asian labourers were forced to work on the railway under brutal conditions, with disease, malnutrition, exhaustion, and violence causing enormous loss of life. Kanchanaburi War Cemetery was created to receive many of the dead from the southern section of the railway and now contains more than 5,000 Commonwealth burials. [6][2][1]

By 1943, the men buried at Kanchanaburi represented the human cost of a system of captivity in which captivity itself became a lethal condition. Cheeseman’s regiment and rank matter because they identify him not only as a casualty but as a trained artilleryman who had become one of the prisoners compelled into the Japanese war economy of labour and movement. His service record is therefore inseparable from the broader history of the Burma-Thailand railway and the Allied POW experience in Southeast Asia. [2][6][1]

He died in the shadow of the Burma-Siam Railway, where captivity, disease, and forced labour claimed thousands of lives.

Circumstances of Death

Eric Victor Cheeseman died in Thailand on 7 August 1943 at the age of 21. The family record gives the cause of death as indigestion, but in the context of POW life this almost certainly reflects a much broader physical breakdown brought on by harsh conditions, inadequate food, disease, and exhaustion. The exact immediate circumstances are not described in the record, yet the setting makes clear that he was living and dying under captivity conditions far from home. [2][1]

His death came only months after capture on 17 February 1943, and the probate record later confirmed that he had died “on war service”. That phrasing underlines the fact that even though he was a prisoner, he remained a serviceman in the eyes of the state and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. His name is also preserved in the memorial panels and cemetery records that keep alive the memory of those lost on the railway. [7][2][1]

Burial and Commemoration

Cheeseman is buried in Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, Plot 8, Row G, Grave 14. The cemetery lies beside the Thailand-Burma Railway Centre and serves as the final resting place for thousands of Commonwealth prisoners of war who died during construction of the railway. His headstone is inscribed with his rank, name, regiment, date of death, and the personal family message chosen by his loved ones. [2][1]

The inscription, “Gone from us but not forgotten, never shall thy memory fade,” gives voice to the grief of his family in Streatham. The probate record shows that administration of his estate was granted to his mother, Edith Sarah Cheeseman, in August 1946, with modest effects of £123 9s. 2d. The CWGC entry and the family report together preserve both the official facts of burial and the deeply personal loss behind them. [1]

Legacy

Eric Victor Cheeseman’s life was short, but it traversed the wider wartime geography of the Second World War: from Cranbrook and Streatham to captivity in Thailand and burial at Kanchanaburi. He was a young bombardier in the Royal Artillery whose service ended not in action against the enemy but in the desperate conditions of prisoner-of-war labour under Japanese control. His story is a reminder that war’s cost was borne not only by those killed in battle, but by those who died in captivity after battle was over. [2][1]

His grave in Kanchanaburi stands among thousands of others from the Burma-Siam Railway, each one marking an individual life within a vast and tragic system of forced labour and loss. For family history, Cheeseman’s biography preserves the arc of an ordinary Kent and London upbringing, a wartime artillery career, and a death that connects directly to one of the darkest episodes of the Far Eastern war. His memory endures in the cemetery, the CWGC record, and the words cut into his headstone. [1][2]

Sources and Further Reading

Sources
[1] Individual-Report-for-Eric-Victor-Cheeseman.pdf https://ppl-ai-file-upload.s3.amazonaws.com/web/direct-files/attachments/141549598/ce6ab936-01e7-45b4-b004-a6bd1eab9941/Individual-Report-for-Eric-Victor-Cheeseman.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=ASIA2F3EMEYEYCNL7Z33&Signature=rK%2BVWipiZ0mdHZGW90cG7dHDi%2BI%3D&x-amz-security-token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEHcaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJFMEMCIBzC1kkdFqeuFs5LtzQSpLg6mF5B4duLTWanT6y2CXv2Ah8MTwKGaFCdzKa%2BnirDPuXM8%2FYVQ8IfqjWaVFtJ2%2FkHKvMECEAQARoMNjk5NzUzMzA5NzA1Igyb8Pzsqf1GK1XZpqgq0ASlUmWuAt5d6MJjVHvOx6U738pG%2FR8llJn6C3UtevnggmseTVX4%2BRJ2zyH89nHkI3qEj8Yu%2Fzkg4fNTbhH8lNHW7Ho51NYEOdjJxAjQdkWdOmbPhRf%2Fy6pDDJmU27jG%2B3jdUImKwE3uIgRAq3NPlsHlUzD5Q4WQcrUxDpmsZeAwgUBg6LvBCUr3ah0fKHnWdkK2NmB2rXfEOAzzkMd8GlkriNNt3h1EbB%2B7JI4PZ6GIsBP5HTFwa%2BNEZGgAqGJ4zalzBuYAs4ny4Z9%2BNPjVYz16xxNvFMzaBJpP8SG0%2BU4D%2BTBkdshKgCSWSxWT8gXXb7RygEgqjWdm4BKS0tZH4n%2BID6xeP0NaEifFx5Gygcrx3XdeAg2f12teb6W8aS5xv2pM5WiNJ8KklnFul6m0BgNvyTGGqHvcyBi95xOaUpNtFsX2scwBfhhSlQEbLMeizX2EzYMw4UwEYuCQ45HislNeyD5EPiSRDu1uoysCrIrTQwT3PPg60ESZTHd%2BmrLUCkwUtufMOd%2FZeMxDmdYmFD0Zfb4Wx%2FZzbBdWAUqpimXGNlG2UjweoUcq4qS5QQretpNmifD5cD7Gar6Ot20rFf%2BQlE1o3JXVZ0EwMqklXlMEwBXWRqpnIRjsQTcPAqoo3xhoPfWrj7MoIxnQbuNek%2BEXLGiu4SUHFtxjoM3xHXkv%2FmlDD4Ktl3X3FSB2Y6265M08mVZoE0f5tFLXKz5elb2oZyFszwtNlSsxpPkD4KEvY6cH7toxl9y34nfYwzxJNy9v8gGnG36LVybo0UZxMeMSMM200tMGOpoBfMCpCclqEYRm3jCtmdP1oWlMjuHznueZPmrE6tXiyVtnxFluXh1fd5fY2BuexTru1aNWwxWT%2BTyut%2Bepe11tG6Q0Mnbp1288WCtxTuDtTg2tdIuNCgRHMCb9tqydmCX%2BGUbmoartXNB3dgWipnWDhQ%2Bb5drsQzPnMAxphHnzEeQ8I2MsuV9H2fDzbkQCHWBJ%2FLd2zfmZETk6Rg%3D%3D&Expires=1786027586
[2] Kanchanaburi War Cemetery https://www.cwgc.org/visit-us/find-cemeteries-memorials/cemetery-details/2017100/kanchanaburi-war-cemetery/
[3] 5th Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5th_Searchlight_Regiment,_Royal_Artillery
[4] 5 Searchlight Regiment RA https://ra39-45.co.uk/units/searchlight-regiments/5-searchlight-regiment-ra
[5] 2nd Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2nd_Searchlight_Regiment,_Royal_Artillery
[6] Burma–Thailand Railway https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/burma-thailand-railway
[7] Kanchanaburi Memorial | Cemetery Details https://www.cwgc.org/visit-us/find-cemeteries-memorials/cemetery-details/2017101/kanchanaburi-memorial/
[8] Tracing unknown Regiment in Burma 1943-45 https://ww2talk.com/index.php?threads/tracing-unknown-regiment-in-burma-1943-45.58709/
[9] Kanchanaburi War Cemetery Thailand https://dyingtogetin.com/kanchanaburi-war-cemetery-thailand/
[10] 5th Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery https://www.wartimememoriesproject.com/ww2/allied/battalion.php?pid=5527
[11] 28th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery https://burmastarmemorial.org/archive/stories/1405862-28th-field-regiment-royal-artillery
[12] “FREEING THE DEMONS” – Prisoners of War of the Japanese https://www.pows-of-japan.net/booksetc/NellisComposite.doc
[13] Cemeteries – 2/29th Battalion A.I.F. Association https://www.229battalion.org.au/cemeteries
[14] The 1943 Burma railroad https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhnHhaON_j4
[15] List of Prisoners of War who worked on the Burma https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1030009604

Remembering William Lacey Goldfinch’s Normandy Sacrifice

William Lacey Goldfinch was born in Dover, Kent, on 31 May 1918, the son of William Lacey Goldfinch and Ellen Charlotte Wright. He grew up in Whitfield and was educated at Dover Grammar School, giving him a solid local upbringing in the years after the First World War. By the time of the 1939 Register he was living at 136 Elms Vale Road in Dover and working as an A.F.S. man, placing him in a civil defence role on the eve of the Second World War. [1]

He married Gladys Eileen Hartley in Dover on 31 July 1940, and the couple later had a son, Trevor Lacey Goldfinch, born in Dartford in 1943. The family story preserved in the report shows a young man whose life moved quickly from school, to marriage, to war service, and then to death in Normandy at the age of 26. His unusual middle name, Lacey, reflected an old family connection between the Laceys and Goldfinches, both Alkham farming families in the nineteenth century. [1]

He was a Dover schoolboy and father who became a Royal Artillery sergeant and died in Normandy only weeks after D-Day.

Early Life and Family

Goldfinch’s childhood and youth were rooted in east Kent. Born in Dover and raised at Whitfield, he came from a family with deep local ties, and the report suggests a background that combined farming connections with urban and suburban Dover life. His schooling at Dover Grammar School indicates a level of education that set him apart from many infantrymen and perhaps helped prepare him for later responsibility in the Army. [1]

His courtship and marriage to Gladys Eileen Hartley add a personal dimension to the story. They met when she worked for the Goldfinch family butchers in Tower Hamlets, and their wedding at St James the Apostle Church in Maison Dieu Road on 27 July 1940 was recorded in the Dover Express. At the time of his death they were living in Elms Vale Road, and Gladys was left with their young son Trevor. [1]

Military Service

Goldfinch served in the Royal Artillery as Sergeant 954839, attached to the 76th Field Regiment. His medal entitlement included the 1939–45 Star, France and Germany Star, Defence Medal, and War Medal, confirming service in the European theatre and in the wider war effort. The service number appears in the records with a minor variation, but the identity is clear: he was a Royal Artillery non-commissioned officer who served with a field regiment in North-West Europe. [1]

The 76th Field Regiment was a field artillery unit, and its role was to provide close and responsive gun support to infantry divisions. In the battlefields of Normandy, field regiments supplied indirect fire against enemy strongpoints, helped suppress German artillery, and supported advances across the bocage and open ground around Caen. As a sergeant, Goldfinch would have held a position of responsibility within the regiment, helping direct gun detachments and maintain the unit’s effectiveness under combat conditions. [1]

Unit Context at Time of Death

At the time of Goldfinch’s death on 26 July 1944, the 76th Field Regiment was serving with the 3rd Infantry Division in Normandy. The division had landed on Sword Beach on D-Day, 6 June 1944, and was then drawn into the hard fighting around Caen and the Allied attempt to break out from the beachhead. In this phase of the campaign, artillery units were indispensable: they backed infantry attacks, broke up German counter-attacks, and helped create the conditions for armoured and infantry advances farther south. [1]

The fighting in Normandy was especially costly because of the terrain and the strength of the German defensive system. The 3rd Infantry Division had already been involved in the Caen fighting and was still pressing German forces back through a sequence of strongly contested positions. The 76th Field Regiment’s work in this environment would have been intense and continuous, with gun positions shifting as the battle developed and as the Allied advance demanded rapid artillery support. [1]

In Normandy his regiment was part of the artillery support that helped the 3rd Infantry Division hold the line and push forward after D-Day.

Circumstances of Death

William Lacey Goldfinch was killed in action on 26 July 1944 in Normandy, France. The record does not specify the exact incident, but the date places his death during the great Allied struggle in Normandy, when German resistance remained fierce and casualties were still heavy among artillery and infantry alike. He was 26 years old. [1]

The family record also preserves the memorial wording chosen for his headstone: “The call was sudden / The blow severe / To part with one / We loved so dear.” That inscription captures the shock of his death and the suddenness with which many wartime families received their loss. His death notice in the Dover Express in August 1944 confirms the family grief and places him among the men from Dover serving in North-West Europe. [1]

Burial and Commemoration

Goldfinch is buried at La Délivrande War Cemetery, Douvres, in grave IV.E.7. This cemetery contains many of the Commonwealth dead from the Normandy campaign and from the advance inland from Sword Beach. His grave is marked as a Royal Artillery burial, with the regiment’s emblem and the family inscription, providing a permanent place of remembrance in France. [1]

His CWGC record, the family report, and the local newspaper notices together preserve both the official and personal dimensions of his loss. The probate calendar shows that administration of his estate was granted to Gladys Eileen Goldfinch in February 1945, with effects of £367 2s. 11d., a reminder that even war service deaths had practical consequences for a young widow and child. His name was later added to the Dover War Memorial, ensuring that his service is remembered in his home town as well as in Normandy. [1]

Legacy

William Lacey Goldfinch’s life reflects the experience of many Kent men in the Second World War: local education, marriage, fatherhood, service, and death before middle age. He belonged to the generation that fought in the hard summer battles after D-Day, when artillery, infantry, and armour worked together to break German resistance in Normandy. His service with the 76th Field Regiment placed him in one of the Army’s most essential but often overlooked branches, where the battlefield contribution was measured in hours of shell fire rather than in single dramatic charges. [1]

For family history, his story has particular force because it connects Dover, Whitfield, and Elms Vale Road with the fields of Normandy and the cemetery at La Délivrande. He was a husband and father as well as a sergeant, and the surviving record keeps both roles in view. In remembering him, we also remember the wider cost of the Normandy campaign and the men of the Royal Artillery who helped make the Allied advance possible. [1]

Sources and Further Reading

Sources
[1] Individual-Report-for-William-Lacey-Goldfinch.pdf https://ppl-ai-file-upload.s3.amazonaws.com/web/direct-files/attachments/141549598/085f4997-98a4-4014-8657-bc3ffca5adb3/Individual-Report-for-William-Lacey-Goldfinch.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=ASIA2F3EMEYEX25N3DLD&Signature=UdRPe31PXabfv8vFk3cXcYSMZRw%3D&x-amz-security-token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjECYaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJGMEQCIEfu1LW0TpDUdfN4ci7RXD4z9aYd3OJjRvtnhC6z0C5oAiBO7pemilHDOPF7abXLUqtTN7I4lxVHKu7fLXCjKO%2BzWSr8BAju%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F8BEAEaDDY5OTc1MzMwOTcwNSIMk2xb9rYKEYz8J0P0KtAEqmaRQ7gkugwgYzqQSZgS6VCGZSydFRNJi72Zw%2B%2FlQPSS1bDUmyfKpcjiJ%2BneUQfYT8jTnLqzS%2F87A9GsobzY4KBULZPgw%2BFsBgsp3Av4dtg2wXXnQIvpMfRfc7chLOXwUXmVOVpTp63xxWZlRhAcsQ6WSIYTIU%2BoxgyVrdO7yn%2FO2V7WHWoePIg2nbxs0FusQxmi4dIGKCVIfl2pgKBhUtaEoihLqXvC2DSDpifRf9B2kyMjWDNMqQqWsvsTqFN03kdl9rrZ23WBLR3NePC3PSjJyQYKf6pv7GJ%2B12W843A2MiiD4uBm%2FPanAYgRJHy0k670uHv2HFboVpYcVV8oDfBi10rMrjew4DMx0wcWZSK4l7Pgl7zFhBwHV3sZ2g%2BcXJdEuJsYkdk4Mm6d34BpFQ217JX6696XPRcY9RFmHOFTnAoLSkhspjYIEdgDaPfi5fR2verOp84rSsSTErhKecOWDyCXWDdR2rjrHXOrsdJshgdcrEOzWWSVd6truLsqT8uLsiDpacZZExIQKKGpbppgIWAcb54XgWhRN2m6udzufNMiBdEfgsSVdtkfEnSSNiSsnb0cCkHycWHUb%2BrZGwIu4gsAg0JWo308j4CV1gacU%2FpMfnPQELa7yZEybDn9ZOz3%2BlfDJVfQAAO4B3fwM8h1j1hWrtx05SLNAbhBzSyFkLMzan10rGm342LEWApAUijG0spzNypHmrv2Np9VyUr1UD%2BSwRaL%2B1r1FmnJTe5AcPd7EoGLQ3TidqTGvdrRfqEscAZFldV1HPryu2RvzDD9qYjTBjqZAcPObmdQ76hU8PKWVfzdtvULlMYvV5%2B3%2BzYvEa5FWOin%2B1U%2BeS%2F2c1VUHbHdW%2FAFgiiL5iNQpSbZuZF%2FYFKFA36uyShOg8Xju6PZRAJgJdl04jiqGColvlNPa0zBpIm5weuZvwnTF7ZfHoKKM3svq%2BUC%2B8Og8RzKLgAVcI%2BHzYBatlbkOGo2LpiPvNey7Fiiw%2FbvZU5gXCsCIQ%3D%3D&Expires=1784815802

Remembering William Henry Maxted: A Soldier from Kent

William Henry Maxted, born in 1908 in Temple Ewell, Kent, was a devoted family man and skilled paper finisher. He served as a Gunner in the Royal Artillery during World War II and died on July 6, 1943, in Benghazi. His legacy reflects the intertwined nature of civilian life and military service in wartime.

William Henry Maxted was a Temple Ewell man whose life spanned the quiet world of pre-war Kent, the anxieties of the inter-war years, and the global conflict of the Second World War. He was born on 31 August 1908 in Temple Ewell, Kent, the son of Walter George Maxted and Frances Emily Baldwin, and spent his childhood in the village at Rose Cottages. By 1939 he was living at 5 Astor Avenue in Dover and working as a paper finisher, part of the skilled industrial life that supported the town’s economy on the eve of war. [1]

He married Hilda May Swinerd at St Mary’s Church, Dover, on 30 June 1934, and the marriage produced one daughter, Brenda Christina Maxted. The family record and wartime notices show a man deeply rooted in local family life, remembered not only as a soldier but as a husband, father, son, and brother. His death in the Middle East in 1943 left a lasting mark on the family, and his funeral notices in the Dover Express show the continuing grief of those left behind. [1]

He was a Dover worker and family man who became a gunner in one of the Royal Artillery’s key anti-aircraft regiments.

Early Life and Family

Temple Ewell was a historically rich village in the Dour valley near Dover, and Maxted’s early years were shaped by that east Kent setting. The family record places him there in 1911, living at Rose Cottages, before later moving to Dover itself. In the 1939 Register he appears as a paper finisher, a role that suggests steady industrial employment rather than military or maritime work. [1]

His marriage to Hilda May Swinerd in 1934 was a local event reported in the Dover Express, with family, friends, and workmates marking the occasion with gifts and attendance in some numbers. The long list of wedding presents preserved in the report speaks to the strength of his social network, linking family, neighbours, and colleagues from the Dover and Temple Ewell area. These details give the biography a human texture that goes beyond the bare facts of service and death. [1]

Military Service

Maxted served as a Gunner in the Royal Artillery, service number 1752367, and was posted to Heavy Anti-Aircraft duties on 1 October 1941. His service awards, the 1939–45 Star and War Medal 1939–45, confirm wartime operational service in a theatre of active operations. By the time of his death on 6 July 1943, he was serving with the 89th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery. [1]

The regiment carried the proud territorial title of the 89th (Cinque Ports) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, and in 1943 it was part of the air defence structure protecting Benghazi and the wider Cyrenaica region. Heavy anti-aircraft regiments were responsible for operating 3.7-inch guns and related equipment against enemy aircraft, but they also contributed to the defence of ports, airfields, and supply routes that were essential to the Allied war effort. Maxted’s wartime career therefore belonged to a branch of the Army that worked in the background but played a vital part in keeping the front supplied and the skies guarded. [2][3][1]

Unit Context at Time of Death

At the time of Maxted’s death, the 89th HAA Regiment was stationed at Benghazi, Libya, having deployed there on 29 January 1943 after the city was captured from Axis forces. By mid-March 1943 the regiment’s command structure included regimental headquarters, 205, 231, and 235 Batteries, a signal section, a workshop, and supporting batteries and searchlight units under the anti-aircraft defence commander at Benghazi. This shows that the regiment was part of a larger and highly organised defensive system rather than an isolated battery position. [2][1]

The regiment’s task was to defend the port of Benghazi, nearby airfields, and the growing Allied logistical base that had developed after the Axis retreat. The source notes that the build-up of the USAAF’s IX Bomber Command at landing grounds around Benghazi still required protection, so guns were redeployed accordingly even after enemy air activity had declined. In practical terms, the regiment was guarding one of the Middle East theatre’s important supply and air support hubs at a moment when Allied operations in North Africa were shifting toward the invasion of Sicily and the campaign in Italy. [4][1]

In Benghazi, his regiment was helping to shield a vital Allied base whose airfields and port supported the next stage of the war.

Circumstances of Death

William Henry Maxted died suddenly on active service on 6 July 1943 in the Middle East, at Benghazi, aged 34. The family notices do not give a detailed medical or operational explanation, and the available record therefore presents his death as sudden rather than as a battle casualty in the usual sense. Even so, the context makes clear that he died while serving in a wartime theatre where operational strain, climate, transport, and the pressures of continuous defence duties could all take their toll. [1]

The Dover Express carried multiple notices the following year describing him as having died suddenly on active service in the Middle East, showing how strongly his loss was felt in the family and local community. He was remembered in notices from his wife Hilda, daughter Brenda, his mother, and wider relatives and in-laws, demonstrating the breadth of the personal mourning that followed his death. His passing was thus both a military loss and a family tragedy anchored in Dover and Temple Ewell. [1]

Burial and Commemoration

Maxted was buried in Benghazi War Cemetery, Plot 3, Row D, Grave 15. The CWGC record identifies him as a Gunner of the 89th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, and confirms his date of death as 6 July 1943. Benghazi War Cemetery contains more than a thousand Commonwealth burials from the Second World War and stands as one of the principal places of remembrance for those who died in the North African campaign. [1]

His memorial record is also preserved in family history sources and in local remembrance notices in the Dover Express, which returned to his memory in the years after the war. Those notices show the continuing place he held in his wife’s and daughter’s lives, as well as in the wider Maxted, Swinerd, and connected families of Kent and beyond. The burial in Libya and the memorial notices in Kent together reflect the distance between the front line and home, and the effort families made to keep faith with their dead. [1]

Legacy

William Henry Maxted’s legacy lies in the combination of ordinary working life and wartime service that defined so many British families in the first half of the twentieth century. He was a local boy from Temple Ewell who became a Dover worker, husband, and father before serving in the Royal Artillery in one of the most strategically important theatres of the war. His story is especially poignant because it links a Kent family to the wider air defence of Benghazi, a city that had become a key Allied base by 1943. [2][1]

He also represents the indispensable but often overlooked role of anti-aircraft gunners in the Second World War. Their work rarely made headlines, yet it helped protect ports, airfields, and supply lines that enabled the offensive operations in North Africa and later Italy. In that sense, Maxted’s biography is both personal and strategic: a family story rooted in Kent, and a wartime story tied to the defence of a vital Allied base in Libya. [3][4][1]

Sources and Further Reading

George William Dynes: Soldier and POW

Gunner George Dynes, a soldier from Kent, served in the Royal Artillery during World War II. Captured in Singapore, he died as a prisoner of war in Thailand on 29 June 1943, at age 26, and is buried at Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, highlighting the tragic fate of many POWs during the war.

–

Gunner George William Thomas Dynes was a Kent-born soldier of the Royal Artillery who died as a prisoner of war in Thailand on 29 June 1943, aged 26.[file:530] His life connects a childhood in Dover with the fall of Singapore, captivity on the Burma Railway system, and burial at Kanchanaburi War Cemetery.[file:530][web:534]

Gunner G. T. Dynes, Royal Artillery, died in captivity on 29 June 1943 and now rests at Kanchanaburi War Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission and family report

Early Life and Family

George William Thomas Dynes was born on 20 March 1917 in Dover, Kent, the son of George Dynes and Emily Goddard.[file:530] A census-style residence record shows him living at 6 Devonshire Road, Dover, on 19 June 1921, aged four years and three months, still recorded as the son in the household.[file:530] These details place him firmly within the working-class neighbourhoods of Dover in the years after the First World War.[file:530]

He later married Lydia Annie Shaw Parker in Dover about June 1937, and the report notes that the couple had no children.[file:530] By the time of the Second World War, Lydia was living at 2 Fifth Avenue, Garston, Watford, which was also the address used for the notification of his death.[file:530] The family report identifies him as the husband of a fifth cousin once removed to the researcher, showing that his memory survives within an extended family network.[file:530]

Military Service

Dynes served as a Gunner in the Royal Artillery, with service number 6285850.[file:530] His sub-unit was the 85th Anti-Tank Regiment, a formation trained to deal with enemy armour and support infantry operations with direct anti-tank fire.[file:530][web:534] He also qualified for the 1939–45 Star and the War Medal 1939–1945, which were awarded for wartime service in overseas and operational theatres.[file:530]

By 1939 he was already in Singapore, and by 1941 he had returned to Kent, suggesting a career soldier or serviceman moving within the empire before the Pacific war reached the British garrison.[file:530] His Japanese POW record describes him as a British gunner from Dover, occupation “Regular Army”, confirming that he was serving full-time rather than as a short-term recruit.[file:530] That background fits the profile of many Royal Artillery men sent to reinforce Malaya in the final months before the Japanese attack.[web:534][web:536]

The 85th Anti-Tank Regiment was in Singapore to help defend the garrison against Japanese armour and assault, but it was overwhelmed in the fall of Malaya.

Regimental history and Malaya campaign sources

Unit Context at Time of Death

The 85th Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery was formed in Britain in 1941 and sent to Malaya as part of the emergency reinforcement of the Singapore garrison.[web:534] The regiment was diverted from an original Middle East deployment and reached Singapore in January 1942, where it was attached to defensive operations against the Japanese advance.[web:531][web:534] Its anti-tank guns were intended to help stop armoured thrusts and protect key positions during the fighting for the island.[web:531][web:536]

During the final defence of Singapore, the regiment was engaged in the Malayan campaign as British and Commonwealth forces tried to hold the island against a much stronger and faster-moving Japanese army.[web:531][web:545] The 85th Anti-Tank Regiment fought in the desperate last phase of the campaign, then shared the fate of the garrison when Singapore surrendered on 15 February 1942.[web:531][web:534] Survivors were taken prisoner, and many were later transferred to labour camps connected with the Thailand-Burma Railway, where disease, exhaustion and starvation caused enormous loss of life.[web:531][web:534]

Dynes’s military service record shows that he was reported missing on 15 February 1942, with the War Office casualty list noting him in April 1942.[file:530] His Japanese POW record then confirms capture in Singapore on 15 February 1942 and transfer to Thailand, indicating that he survived the surrender only to enter one of the harshest prisoner-of-war systems in the Far East.[file:530] The unit context is therefore essential: he was not simply a casualty of battle, but part of a regiment broken in the fall of Singapore and then consumed by imprisonment.[file:530][web:534]

Circumstances of Death

Gunner George Thomas Dynes died on 29 June 1943 in Thailand, while still a prisoner of war.[file:530] The Japanese record marks him as deceased and indicates that notification of his death was sent, confirming that his family in Britain was informed through the official channels available to the War Office and the Japanese records system.[file:530] The report does not name a specific camp, but notes markings suggesting internment in Thailand, probably within the Burma Railway complex.[file:530]

The Burma Railway, often called the Death Railway, became notorious for extreme labour, disease and malnutrition among Allied prisoners forced to build and maintain the line.[file:530][web:534] Men from Singapore were commonly moved north into Thailand and Burma after capture, where conditions were markedly worse than in the transit camps.[web:534] George Dynes’s death at age 26 therefore belongs to the wider tragedy of the Far East prisoner-of-war experience, in which many servicemen died long after the fighting that had first taken them captive.[file:530][web:531]

Burial and Commemoration

Dynes is buried in Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, Thailand, in Plot 2, Row Q, Grave 46.[file:530] The grave inscription recorded in the family report reads: “6285850 GUNNER G. T. DYNES ROYAL ARTILLERY 29TH JUNE 1943 AGE 26 TREASURED MEMORIES OF A LOVING HUSBAND,” a personal memorial that places his wartime identity beside his family role.[file:530] The cemetery is the principal Commonwealth burial ground for prisoners who died during imprisonment on the Burma Railway system.[file:530]

Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, also known locally as Don-Rak War Cemetery, is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and contains thousands of British, Australian and Dutch war graves.[file:530] It was designed by Colin St Clair Oakes and serves as a central place of remembrance for those who died in Japanese captivity in Thailand.[file:530] For George’s widow and wider family, the cemetery is the final resting place that links Dover, Watford and Thailand through one engraved headstone.[file:530]

Legacy

George William Thomas Dynes’s life was short, but it crossed some of the most dramatic military events of the Second World War: the defence of Singapore, the collapse of the Malayan campaign, and captivity on the Thailand-Burma Railway.[file:530][web:534] His biography is also a reminder that the war reached far beyond the front line, affecting soldiers long after capture and families at home who waited for news.[file:530] The surviving records allow him to be remembered not only as a casualty, but as a husband, son and soldier whose service followed the difficult path taken by the 85th Anti-Tank Regiment.[file:530]

Sources and Further Reading

183 Field Regiment: Gunner Garlinge’s Service

Gunner William George Garlinge served with the 183 Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, and died on 17 April 1942 during training on the Isle of Wight. Buried in Parkstone Cemetery, he was born in 1900 and lived in Poole with his wife and three children. His death highlights the challenges faced by home-based military units.

Gunner William George Garlinge (service number 1416760) served with 183 Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, and died on the Isle of Wight on 17 April 1942 while the regiment was stationed on the island during its early training period.[file:163][web:166][web:173]

He is buried in Parkstone Cemetery, Poole, Dorset, in Section N, Grave 85, rather than in a war cemetery, reflecting his death on home soil during military service.[file:163]



Early Life and Family

William George Garlinge was born on 12 December 1900 in Herne Bay, Kent, his birth registered in the Blean registration district in the March quarter of 1901 (volume 2A, page 897). He was the son of Thomas Garlinge and Mary Susanna (née Higgins).[file:163]

In the 1901 census he appears as a four‑month‑old baby at 2 Grande Drive, Herne Bay, recorded as a son in the household. By 1911 he was living at Westbrook, Herne, aged eleven, again recorded as a son, indicating that his childhood was spent entirely in the Herne Bay–Herne area on the north Kent coast.[file:163]

On 1 March 1924 William married Winifred May Alexandra Courtney at Parkstone, in Poole, Dorset (registration reference 5A/425, line 54/77). The couple settled in Poole and had at least three children: Geoffrey Harry Garlinge, Michael George Garlinge, and Anthony W. Garlinge.[file:163]

By 29 September 1939 the Register records William at 22 Court Hill Road, Poole, aged thirty‑nine, married, and working as a gardener. This places him in a settled family home and civilian occupation on the eve of the Second World War.[file:163]

Born in Herne Bay and settled in Poole, William Garlinge left his work as a gardener to serve as a gunner in a newly formed Royal Artillery field regiment.

Reconstructed from civil registration and 1939 Register data



Service with 183 Field Regiment, Royal Artillery

William’s wartime service saw him enlist in the Royal Artillery, where he served as a Gunner with 183 Field Regiment. His service number is given as 1416760, a typical Royal Artillery number issued to wartime recruits.[file:163]

183 Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, was formed in March 1942 as one of the many field regiments raised during the war. Field regiments provided close artillery support to infantry and armoured formations, usually equipped with 25‑pounder field guns and organised into three batteries under a regimental headquarters.[web:168][web:173]

According to the Royal Artillery 1939–45 unit summary, 183 Field Regiment was formed in March 1942 and later moved to North Africa in June 1943, becoming 61 Heavy Regiment in November 1943. At the time of William’s death in April 1942 the regiment was still new and undergoing training and familiarisation in the United Kingdom.[web:173]

Gunner Garlinge served in 183 Field Regiment just weeks after its formation, as the unit trained in Britain for future overseas deployment.

Based on Royal Artillery unit histories



183 Field Regiment on the Isle of Wight, April 1942

Local Isle of Wight research notes that on 1 March 1942 a new regiment, 183 Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, was formed, and on 4 March “Q” Battery was sent to the island for familiarisation and training. The regiment formed part of the coastal defence and garrison forces in the area during this period.[web:166]

The same sources record that 183 Field Regiment remained on the Isle of Wight through the spring of 1942, and that several of its members were killed in incidents connected with air raids and accidents during training. An Inner Temple biographical note for another officer of 183 Field Regiment summarises this context succinctly, describing him as “killed by bombing while training on the Isle of Wight.”[web:165][web:166]

William’s death on 17 April 1942 in the Isle of Wight registration area places him directly within this period of training and local defence. Although the individual report and CWGC entry do not specify his precise cause of death, the convergence of date, place, and regiment strongly suggests that he died as part of 183 Field Regiment’s detachment on the island, possibly as a result of enemy bombing or a training‑related incident.[file:163][web:166][web:173]

Garlinge’s death on 17 April 1942 came while 183 Field Regiment was still settling into its new role on the Isle of Wight, training under the ever‑present threat of air attack.

Context from Isle of Wight and RA sources



Circumstances of Death

The civil registration index records William’s death in the Isle of Wight registration district on 17 April 1942 (volume 2B, page 1208, line 75). CWGC records him simply as “GUNNER WILLIAM GEORGE GARLINGE, 1416760, 183 Field Regt., Royal Artillery, who died on 17 April 1942, age 41, son of Thomas and Mary Garlinge; husband of Winifred May Alexandra Garlinge, of Parkstone, Poole.”[file:163][web:164]

Island heritage sources explain that 183 Field Regiment had batteries billeted in various locations on the Isle of Wight, some of which were struck in air raids or other wartime incidents. One recorded tragedy at “Sea Breeze,” for example, notes ten men killed in their beds, nine of them members of 183 Field Regiment, Royal Artillery. While William’s name is not in that specific list, it illustrates the type of hazard faced by the regiment in April 1942.[web:164][web:166]

Without direct access to his service record or a detailed local inquest report, it is not possible to state definitively whether William’s death resulted from enemy action, accident, or illness. However, the combination of his age, unit, and location makes it clear that he died on active service with 183 Field Regiment while the regiment was deployed on the Isle of Wight.[file:163][web:166][web:173]



Burial and Commemoration

After his death, William’s body was returned to Dorset and buried in Parkstone Cemetery, Poole, in Section N, Grave 85. This reflects both his strong connection to Poole, where he had lived and worked as a gardener since at least 1939, and the practice of returning some home‑service casualties to their local cemeteries for burial.[file:163]

His CWGC entry can be accessed at CWGC casualty details for Gunner W. G. Garlinge. A further memorial entry is available at Find a Grave memorial 190718911, which may include grave photographs and personal tributes.[file:163]



Family and Legacy

William left behind his widow, Winifred May Alexandra, and their children Geoffrey Harry, Michael George, and Anthony W., who were living in Parkstone, Poole, at the time of his death. For them, his grave in Parkstone Cemetery, rather than a distant war cemetery overseas, became the focal point of remembrance, supported by his listing in CWGC records and local Rolls of Honour.[file:163][web:166]

His service with 183 Field Regiment anchors him in the wider story of the Royal Artillery’s home‑based field formations in the early years of the Second World War, units that trained and stood ready in Britain while others went overseas. For family historians, resources such as Ancestry, the CWGC, and Isle of Wight heritage sites offer ways to set his life—from his birth in Herne Bay to his burial in Poole—within a fuller regimental and community context.[file:163][web:166][web:173]

Sources

  • Individual report for Gunner William George Garlinge (family tree compilation, including birth and early residences in Herne Bay and Herne; marriage to Winifred May Alexandra Courtney in 1924; children Geoffrey Harry, Michael George, and Anthony W.; 1939 Register entry at 22 Court Hill Road, Poole, as a married gardener; service as Gunner 1416760, 183 Field Regiment, Royal Artillery; death on the Isle of Wight on 17 April 1942; and burial at Parkstone Cemetery, Section N, Grave 85).[file:163]
  • Commonwealth War Graves Commission – casualty record for “GARLINGE, WILLIAM GEORGE”, Gunner 1416760, 183 Field Regt., Royal Artillery, who died on 17 April 1942, aged 41, son of Thomas and Mary Garlinge; husband of Winifred May Alexandra Garlinge, of Parkstone, Poole, Dorset: CWGC casualty details.[file:163]
  • Find a Grave – memorial for William George Garlinge (Parkstone Cemetery, Poole, Section N, Grave 85, with scope for grave photographs and tributes): Find a Grave memorial 190718911.[file:163]
  • Royal Artillery 1939–45 – field regiment listings confirming existence and outline history of 183 Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, including formation in March 1942 and later conversion and overseas service: 183 Field Regiment RA – unit summary and general field regiment overview at Field Regiments – Royal Artillery 1939–45.[web:173][web:168]
  • Isle of Wight war dead and local histories – background on wartime casualties, including notes that 183 Field Regiment, RA, sent batteries to the Isle of Wight in March 1942 for training and that some gunners were killed in air raids or related incidents (used for contextualising Garlinge’s death while on the island): Newport & Carisbrooke Heritage Society – War Casualties and article “Tragedy at Sea Breeze, April 1942” describing losses within 183 Field Regiment RA: Tragedy at Sea Breeze, April 1942.[web:166][web:164]
  • Royal Artillery regimental summaries – broader background on British artillery regiments and their organisation in the Second World War: British Artillery Regiments – summary.[web:171]

Memorializing Gunner Edward Kember: A WWII Casualty

Gunner Edward Stephen Kember, a 23-year-old Royal Artillery soldier from Dover, died on January 7, 1943, when the troopship SS Benalbanach was torpedoed off Algeria, illustrating the hidden dangers faced by reinforcements during WWII. He is commemorated at the Medjez-el-Bab Memorial in Tunisia, symbolizing sacrifice in logistics.

Gunner Edward Stephen Kember: A Detailed Biography

Gunner Edward Stephen Kember [1], a 23-year-old Royal Artillery soldier from Dover, Kent, lost his life when the troopship carrying him to the North African campaign was torpedoed off Algeria. Serving with the 80th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Edward represented the home defence gunners redeployed to counter Axis air threats in Tunisia during the critical winter of 1942-43. His death by drowning at sea, far from the front lines, exemplifies the hidden perils faced by reinforcements in the Mediterranean theatre.

Early Life and Family

Edward Stephen Kember was born around March 1919 in Dover, Kent, England, registered in the March Quarter (Volume 2A, Page 1440) [1]. He was the only son of Stephen Henry Kember and Alice Eliza Kember (née Ballard), a working-class family rooted in the coastal town known for its strategic port and cross-Channel defences [1]. The 1921 Census records the family at 27 Oswald Road, Dover, where two-year-old Edward lived with his parents [1].

Dover’s maritime environment shaped Edward’s youth amid interwar economic challenges and rising tensions. No records indicate marriage or children, suggesting he remained single and devoted to family and service [1]. Tragedy struck the household early: Alice passed away on 19 December 1940, leaving Stephen to grieve alone [1]. A poignant notice in the Dover Express on 17 December 1943—nearly a year after Edward’s death—captured their sorrow: “In loving memory of my dear wife, Alice Eliza Kember, who passed away on December 19th, 1940. Also of Gunner Edward Kember, R.A., the only son of the above, who was drowned at sea while on active service—From her sorrowing Husband and Father” [1].

Edward enlisted in the Royal Artillery sometime between 1938 and 1943, likely motivated by Dover’s military tradition and the need to defend against Luftwaffe raids during the Battle of Britain [1]. As a Gunner (Service Number 1514227), he trained on heavy anti-aircraft guns, vital for protecting ports and convoys [1].

Military Service

Edward served as a Gunner in the 80th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery (HAA RA), part of Britain’s expanding air defence network [1][2]. Formed to counter massed bomber formations, HAA regiments like the 80th operated 3.7-inch or 4.5-inch guns in static batteries, later adapted for field use in theatre [3]. The regiment supported 22 Anti-Aircraft Brigade, which defended key North African ports after landing in Algeria during Operation Torch [4].

By late 1942, the 80th HAA was earmarked for Tunisia, where Luftwaffe Ju 88s and Italian SM.79s menaced Allied supply lines and troop concentrations [5]. Anti-aircraft fire proved crucial around Medjez-el-Bab and Tunis, often repurposed as field artillery against ground targets [3]. Edward’s unit would have manned gun positions protecting Algiers or Bizerte harbours, shielding the British First Army’s advance against Rommel’s Afrika Korps and von Arnim’s Army Group Afrika [6][5].

The Tunisian Campaign raged from November 1942 to May 1943, with AA units enduring harsh winter conditions, supply shortages, and counter-battery fire [7][5]. Edward’s deployment came amid intensified Axis resistance, as Montgomery’s Eighth Army pushed from the Mareth Line and the First Army fought at Kasserine and Longstop Hill [5]. His role promised to safeguard the final Allied push to Tunis.

Circumstances of Death

On 7 January 1943, Gunner Kember perished when the SS Benalbanach, a 1,358-ton passenger/cargo ship built in 1940, was torpedoed by German U-boat U-442 (Oblt. Hans Lehmann-Willenbrock) off the Algerian coast near Algiers [8][1]. Sailing unescorted from Britain with 500-600 troops—including 80th HAA reinforcements—the vessel was struck amidships at approximately 35°20’N, 01°10’E, sinking rapidly in heavy seas [8].

The Benalbanach, requisitioned as a troop transport, carried men vital to bolstering AA defences in Tunisia [8]. Of the complement, around 84 lost their lives, including many from the Royal Artillery; survivors clung to rafts until rescued by Allied vessels [8][2]. Edward drowned at sea, aged 23 or 24, before reaching combat—his death registered without specific location, highlighting U-boat threats in the Mediterranean [1][2].

This sinking occurred during a perilous phase: Axis submarines claimed numerous convoys supporting Torch, delaying reinforcements as battles raged at Medjez-el-Bab (20km from Tunis) [6][5]. The 80th HAA’s survivors contributed to the campaign’s eventual victory in May 1943, capturing 250,000 Axis prisoners [5].

Burial and Commemoration

With no known grave, Gunner Edward Stephen Kember is commemorated on the Medjez-el-Bab Memorial, Tunisia [1]. This monument honours nearly 2,000 British First Army personnel killed in Algeria and Tunisia from 8 November 1942 to 13 May 1943 without graves, including those lost at sea like Edward [6].

Located near the strategically vital Medjez-el-Bab crossroads—site of fierce fighting in December 1942 and April 1943—the memorial stands amid olive groves, overlooking wadis where British, Indian, and American forces clashed with Panzergrenadiers [6][5]. Unveiled in 1945 by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, it lists casualties by unit, with Edward under Royal Artillery [1]. The CWGC inscription notes his parents: “Son of Stephen Henry Kember and Alice Eliza Kember, of Dover, Kent” [1].

Dover honours its son through local war memorials, reflecting community loss from U-boat sinkings and Channel battles [2]. His story appears in the Dover War Memorial Project and wreck databases [2][8].

Legacy

Edward Kember’s sacrifice underscores the forgotten casualties of logistics: for every frontline fighter, transports like Benalbanach delivered the gunners, drivers, and signallers enabling victory [8]. At 23, he left Dover a widowed father mourning both wife and only son, their Dover Express tribute echoing wartime resilience [1].

The 80th HAA Regiment pressed on, supporting the Tunisian triumph that cleared North Africa for Sicily and Italy [4]. Edward’s kin, including 4th cousins twice removed, preserve his memory through genealogy [1]. Amid Tunisia’s memorials—from Medjez-el-Bab to Cassino—he symbolises the Royal Artillery’s unyielding defence, ensuring Allied air superiority in the desert war.

(Word count: 1,056)

Sources:

  • [1] Individual Report for Edward Stephen Kember (PDF)
  • [4] 22 Anti-Aircraft Brigade – The Royal Artillery 1939-45
  • [2] Dover War Memorial Project – Surnames K and L
  • [6] Majaz al Bab – Wikipedia
  • [5] Battle for Tunisia 1942-43 – The Documentarian
  • [8] SS Benalbanach Wreck Site
  • CWGC: Edward Stephen Kember

Sources
[1] Individual-Report-for-Edward-Stephen-Kember.pdf
[2] THE DOVER WAR MEMORIAL PROJECT – Surnames K and L http://www.doverwarmemorialproject.org.uk/Casualties/WWIInot/SurnamesKandL.htm
[3] 3.7-inch guns of 60th (City of London) Heavy Anti- Aircraft Regiment … https://www.facebook.com/groups/homefronthistory/posts/25312068638423229/
[4] 22 Anti-Aircraft Brigade – The Royal Artillery 1939-45 https://ra39-45.co.uk/units/anti-aircraft-brigades/22-anti-aircraft-brigade
[5] Battle for Tunisia | 1942-43 – The Documentarian https://thedocumentarian.org/battle-for-tunisia-1942-43/
[6] Majaz al Bab – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majaz_al_Bab
[7] [PDF] 4 Indian Infantry Division (1943 Tunisia) – British Military History https://www.britishmilitaryhistory.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/124/2020/09/4-Indian-Infantry-Division-1943-Tunisia.pdf
[8] BENALBANACH PASSENGER/CARGO SHIP 1940-1943 – Wreck Site https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?32106
[9] 17 LAA RA, 1943 North Africa – WW2Talk https://ww2talk.com/index.php?threads%2F17-laa-ra-1943-north-africa.6490%2F
[10] Artillery Regiments Page – Desert Rats http://www.desertrats.org.uk/orgartillery.htm
[11] Aircrew Remembered Aviation Personal Histories and Databases https://aircrewremembered.com/RoyalNavyFleetAirArmDatabase/?s=100&q=Air+Gunner
[12] Tunisia, 1942-1943 – Irish Brigade https://www.irishbrigade.co.uk/roll-honour-details-1000-men-died-campaigns-irish-brigade/roll-of-honour-tunisia-1942-1943/
[13] 1st Army Group Royal Artillery – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Army_Group_Royal_Artillery
[14] Gun craft tragedy 1943 site, Freshwater West – History Points https://historypoints.org/index.php?page=gun-craft-tragedy-1943-site
[15] January 1943. – London Irish Rifles Association https://www.londonirishrifles.com/index.php/second-world-war/month-by-month/january-1943/
[16] Collection: WAR OFFICE SECOND WORLD WAR OFFICIAL … https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205013522
[17] Medjez-el-Bab War Cemetery, Tunisia – Commando Veterans Archive https://www.commandoveterans.org/Medjez-el-Bab-Cemetery
[18] 12 Anti-Aircraft Brigade – The Royal Artillery 1939-45 https://ra39-45.co.uk/units/anti-aircraft-brigades/12-anti-aircraft-brigade
[19] Royal Navy casualties, killed and died, December 1943 https://www.naval-history.net/xDKCas1943-12DEC.htm
[20] Casualties 1-4 Jan 1943 – rafweb.org https://www.rafweb.org/Members%20Pages/Casualties/1940s/1943/Casualties_1943_01-01.htm
[21] 87th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/87th_Heavy_Anti-Aircraft_Regiment,_Royal_Artillery