I had a look through this list for those that served with the 50th (Northumbrian) Division. BURNS, FRANK Rank: Serjeant Service No: 4923918 Date of Death: 06/06/1944 Age: 33 Regiment/Service: Green Howards (Yorkshire Regiment), 6th Bn. Grave Reference: XI. D. 18. Cemetery: BAYEUX WAR CEMETERY Additional Information: Son of Emily Burns, of Brockmoor, Brierley Hill, Staffordshire. From 'Fighting Through' (Paul Cheall): Remembered WW2 soldiers - WW2, Dunkirk, D-Day war diary and biography book, story - "Killed on beach, D-day, 1944" The 6th Bn Green Howards, 69th Infantry Brigade, 50 Div, was an assault battalion on Gold Beach on D-Day. Sgt Major Stan Hollis of his battalion was the only VC recipient on D-Day.
CRAGE, GEORGE Rank: Private Service No: 14693760 Date of Death: 04/10/1944 Age: 21 Regiment/Service: Devonshire Regiment, 2nd Bn. Panel Reference: Panel 3. Memorial: GROESBEEK MEMORIAL The fighting on 'The Island' in which Pte George Crage as killed is described in this link by Pieter (stolpi) on WW2Talk, with which I had the pleasure of assisting: NIJMEGEN BRIDGEHEAD: II.SS Pz Corps' counterattack in October 1944 - pages 29 to 38 particularly. Pte Crage is mentioned on page 37. He served with the 2nd Bn Devonshire Regiment, 231st Infantry Brigade, 50 Div.
DAVIES, RONALD Rank: Corporal Service No: 14265884 Date of Death: 14/06/1944 Age: 21 Regiment/Service: Durham Light Infantry, 6th Bn. Grave Reference: XV. G. 24. Cemetery: BAYEUX WAR CEMETERY Additional Information: Son of Walter William and Emily Victoria Davies, of Quarry Bank, Staffordshire. From 'The Faithful Sixth' (Moses): An account by Pte. Ernest Harvey about the attack at Verrieres (Normandy) on 14 June 1944. This was just part of the action there that day. “We were all going into the attack and we were going across this cornfield. We got about 20-25 yards into this cornfield when Jerry opened up with spandaus. Well, [there was] a small groove in the ground where, fortunately, I got into it. I got down. The men were getting mown down, left, right and centre. In fact the Company was being slaughtered, it’s as simple as that. As those were going down more men were coming up and these were getting knocked down. The cry then was, "Mother! Mother!" I know it’s a funny thing but everybody was crying for their mothers. Eventually there was two tanks came up behind us. This was after a long while and all the corn had been completely mown down as though it had been with shears, by the spandaus… We couldn’t move. If you moved you got shot. You had to stay down and, I remember, two tanks came up eventually and they blasted this hedge… Eventually we took the position but the point was that nearly all the men had gone… You’d think they’d expected us coming.... I thought that only went on in the World War I. I never thought that it would have happened in 1944… The sergeant says “Ernie, go round and collect the ammo out of the pouches”… and I started gathering the ammo from the wounded and the dead. Of course the stretcher-bearers were coming up and tending the few wounded that was left... Suddenly this voice said, “Leave that alone. Don’t touch them.” It was the Padre. The tears were streaming from his eyes. I went back to the hedge and this German was running across the field and someone started firing at this German and this chap knocked the gun out of his hands. It was the Padre again. He said, “There’s been enough killing for one day". The sergeant and he had words.." Casualties for the day were high, with 23 other ranks killed, 62 wounded and 15 missing. Three officers were wounded. It would appear that Cpl R Davies died in the action at Verrieres. He served with the 6th Bn Durham Light Infantry, 151st Infantry Brigade, 50 Div.
GUEST, EDWARD FRANCIS Rank: Private Service No: 4037582 Date of Death: 02/11/1942 Regiment/Service: Durham Light Infantry, 8th Bn. Grave Reference: XXIII. F. 19. Cemetery: EL ALAMEIN WAR CEMETERY The 151st Infantry Brigade (of 50 Div) and the 152nd Infantry Brigade, 51st (Highland) Division, executed Operation Supercharge on 2 November 1942, exploiting a salient made in the German defences by the 9th Australian Division. This was the action that started the rout of enemy forces at the 2nd and famous Battle of El Alamein, and on towards final victory in the Western Desert and North Africa. The 8th Battalion the Durham Light Infantry 1939-1945 2004: Amazon.co.uk: P. J. Lewis, I. R. English: Books is the 8DLI Battalion history for WWII and covers El Alamein at Chapter 15, giving a very good account of 'Supercharge' at pages 146 to 157. Pte. EF Guest served with the 8th Bn Durham Light Infantry, 151st Infantry Brigade, 50 Div.
WELLINGS, CA Rank: Private Service No: 5059174 Date of Death: 09/04/1945 Age: 30 Regiment/Service: Green Howards (Yorkshire Regiment), 6th Bn. Grave Reference: II. E. 12. Cemetery: PRAGUE WAR CEMETERY Additional Information: Son of Humphrey and Beatrice Wellings, of Wordsley, Staffordshire. According to the Book Of Rememberance, Pte. Clifford Arnold Wellings died whilst a PoW of the Germans, just one month before VE Day. From this link I have ascertained inormation that he was captured in Normandy on 13 July 1944 and held at Camp 8B, Teschen. His PoW number was 82792. It is thought he may have been killed in an Allied air raid in support of the Russians: Pte Clifford Wellings 5059174 - Normandy PoW - Men in the Shed As mentioned (partly) at post No. 2, he served with the 6th Bn Green Howards, 69th Infantry Brigade, 50 Div.
Hi, The "Men in the Shed" website link is the research site that I run. I'm interested to find out the real reason for Wellings' death... I put forward the possibility of an air raid as I know that there were some raids to support the Russia advances, however, this is not (yet) proven. If anyone can add further details, I'd be interested to hear. Also, whilst they survived the war, the site does list some other 50th Division men who were also held as PoWs in this shed in Normandy; again, any further information would be useful Cheers Colin
