Ninfield & District WW2 RoH

Discussion in 'War Cemeteries & War Memorial Research' started by KevinBattle, Sep 28, 2011.

  1. KevinBattle

    KevinBattle Senior Member

    Today is a double effort, two Pocock brothers?

    Name: POCOCK, EDWARD BERTRAM. Rank: Rifleman
    Regiment/Service: Rifle Brigade Unit Text: 1st Bn.
    Date of Death: 09/04/1942. Service No: 5575529
    Grave/Memorial Reference: 4. H. 23. Cemetery: Knightsbridge War Cemetery, Acroma.
    Name: Edward Pocock. Given Initials: E R. Rank: Rifleman. Death Date: 9 Apr 1942.
    Number: 5575529. Birth Place: Sussex. Residence: Sussex. Branch at Enlistment: Infantry
    Theatre of War: Middle East. Regiment: Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own). Branch: Infantry
    (NOTE: The Knightsbridge Box was a bitterly fought area during the El Alamein attack which saw the start of the end of German advances in the Western Desert campaign).
    The defence against Rommel's drive across Cyrenaica towards Suez consisted of a number of irregularly spaced strong points or 'boxes' linked by deep minefields. Those nearest the Axis forces were held by infantry, while those further back served as reserve static positions and as bases from which the armour could operate. The chief 'box', known as Knightsbridge, was round a junction of tracks about 20 kilometres west of Tobruk and 16 kilometres south of Acroma, commanding all the tracks by which supplies came up to the front. The Eighth Army's advance fuelling stations and airfields were at Acroma, El Adem, El Duda, Sidi Rezegh and Gambut, while by February 1941, Gazala aerodrome, taken from the Italians early in the campaign, housed two Commonwealth squadrons.
    Knightsbridge was thus a key position, and the pivot on which the armour manoeuvred during the heavy fighting which commenced in late May 1942. Fierce actions were fought at all these places, and a battlefield cemetery was created at each for the burial of the dead. The graves of many of those who gave their lives during the campaign in Libya were later gathered into Knightsbridge War Cemetery from the battlefield burial grounds and from scattered desert sites. The men who fought and died with them, but have no known grave, are commemorated on The Alamein Memorial which stands in El Alamein War Cemetery, Egypt.
    Anything further would be a bonus.
    ==========================================================
    Name: POCOCK, RONALD JAMES. Rank: Sergeant
    Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. Unit Text: 148 Sqdn.
    Date of Death: 30/07/1944. Service No: 1608024
    Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 14, Column 1. Memorial: Malta Memorial.
    Birth Registration: Name: Ronald G Pocock. Mother's Maiden Surname: Ball. Date of Registration: Oct-Nov-Dec 1921. Registration district: Eastbourne, Sussex. Volume: 2b. Page: 91
    CLIFFORD PW 150370 148 SQDN 30/07/1944 RAFVR PANEL 13, COLUMN 1.
    HUMPHREY JB 991460 148 SQDN 30/07/1944 RAFVR PANEL 15, COLUMN 1.
    MACKNEY JR 145391 148 SQDN 30/07/1944 RAFVR PANEL 13, COLUMN 1.
    MCCORMICK RW 1494970 148 SQDN 30/07/1944 RAFVR PANEL 15, COLUMN 1.
    POCOCK RJ 1608024 148 SQDN 30/07/1944 RAFVR PANEL 14, COLUMN 1.
    148 Squadron flew clandestine operations out of Brindisi to support Resistance Groups in Italy, Greece, France, Yugoslavia and Poland, amongst other destinations around the Mediterranean.
    As yet, I do not know what aircraft was involved and whether other crew Nationalities may have been involved. There may possibly be more than 5 crew involved.
    (I have posted on the Liberator forum, without response so far, but I'm not sure if a Liberator was involved in this incident).
    Hope that there is more information out there, so please let me know if there is!!
     
  2. Oldman

    Oldman Very Senior Member

    Kevin
    148 Sqdn was a Special Duties Squadron, flying Lysanders, Halifax, Lancs & Liberator during 1944.

    Suggest you contact 148 Sqdn Assoc if there is one or research from net they were more than likely flying arms to TITO and other partisans.
     
  3. Tom Canning

    Tom Canning WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Kevin
    The knightsbridge box was a part of the Crusader battle which became the Gazala Gallop when we lost Tobruk on the retreat to what became famous as El Alamein and the last stop for Rommels forces on his way to Cairo - as he thought - but by then Auchinlek had taken over from Ritchie and stopped Rommell- and was fired and Montgomery took over and again beat Rommel at Alum el Halfa then finally at El Alamein in the October.

    Cheers
     
  4. KevinBattle

    KevinBattle Senior Member

    Thanks, guys. I should have realised that April '42 was NOT the start of the successful campaign by Monty, but the early part of the Battle of Gazala. Perhaps there is some War Diary account as to how Edward lost his life.
     
  5. KevinBattle

    KevinBattle Senior Member

    A bit of an update on this old item, but I went on the wrong track when I couldn't find out if they were brothers.
    I can now confirm they were.
    POCOCK, EDWARD BERTRAM. Rank: Rifleman. Date of Death: 09/04/1942.Age: 21
    Regiment/Service: Rifle Brigade 1st Bn. Service No: 5575529.
    Son of Edward T and Daisy S Pocock (nee Potter).
    Grave/Memorial Reference: 4. H. 23. Cemetery: Knightsbridge War Cemetery, Acroma.
    Edward Pocock. Rank: Rifleman. Death Date: 9 Apr 1942. Number: 5575529. Birth Place: Sussex. Residence: Sussex. Regiment: Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own). Branch: Infantry.
    Birth: Edward B Pocock. Mother's Maiden Name: Potter. Registered: 2nd Qtr 1920. District: Battle. Sussex. Volume: 2b. Page: 85.
    (NOTE: Edward was killed with 2 other Rifle Brigade comrades on 9 April during a “lull” in the fighting. It is possible that they died of wounds incurred earlier and were reburied in Knightsbridge on 7 July 1944. The defence against Rommel's drive across Cyrenaica towards Suez consisted of a number of irregularly spaced strong points or 'boxes' linked by deep minefields.
    The central defensive 'box', known as Knightsbridge, was round a junction of tracks about 20 kilometres west of Tobruk and 16 kilometres south of Acroma, commanding all the tracks by which supplies came up to the front. Knightsbridge was thus a key position, and the pivot on which the armour manoeuvred during the heavy fighting which commenced in late May 1942. Fierce actions were fought at all these places, and a battlefield cemetery was created at each for the burial of the dead. The graves of many of those who gave their lives during the campaign in Libya were later gathered into Knightsbridge War Cemetery from the battlefield burial grounds and from scattered desert sites.)

    POCOCK, RONALD JAMES. Rank: Sergeant. Trade: Air Gunner. Died: 30/07/1944. Age: 20.
    Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. 148 Sqdn. Service No: 1608024.
    Son of Edward T and Daisy S Pocock (nee Potter). Memorial: Panel 14, Column 1. Malta Memorial.
    Ronald J Pocock. Mother's Maiden Surname: Potter. Registered: 2nd Qtr 1924. District: Battle, Sussex. Volume Number: 2b. Page Number: 69

    CLIFFORD PW 150370 148 SQDN 30/07/1944 RAFVR PANEL 13, COLUMN 1. Pilot.
    HUMPHREY JB 991460 148 SQDN 30/07/1944 RAFVR PANEL 15, COLUMN 1. F/Eng
    JOYCE AF 417848 30/07/1944 RAAF PANEL 16, COLUMN 2. B/Aim
    MACKNEY JR 145391 148 SQDN 30/07/1944 RAFVR PANEL 13, COLUMN 1. Nav
    MCCORMICK RW 1494970 148 SQDN 30/07/1944 RAFVR PANEL 15, COLUMN 1. W/Op
    POCOCK RJ 1608024 148 SQDN 30/07/1944 RAFVR PANEL 14, COLUMN 1. A/G.
    HUMBLE JA R/192008 148 SQDN RCAF Survived Air Gunner
    148 Squadron RAF was used to fly supplies of arms and ammunition and often agents to help the partisan in the Balkans. Often it meant unescorted single bombers flying in bad weather through mountain ranges alone and at night, at the mercy not just of the elements but German radar, flak and night fighters all combining to destroy the aircraft. Halifax Mk II JP239.

    JOYCE, ALAN FRANCIS. Flight Sergeant. Service No: 417848. Date of Death: 30/07/1944. Age: 25. RAAF. Panel 16, Column 2. Malta Memorial.
    Additional Information: Son of Arthur and Eliza May Joyce, of 19, Oxford Terrace, Unley, South Australia. Diploma in Commerce. Born Adelaide 5 February 1919. F/O Clifford and crew were detailed to fly Halifax Mk II JP239 on a special mission over north west Italy on 29/30 July 1944. He was airborne from Brindisi at 17:50 hrs GMT on 29 July and thereafter nothing further was heard from him. However, a report was received from another aircraft operating in that locality of an aircraft going down into the sea in flames in an approximate position of 43 degrees 39 minutes N and 04 degrees 42 minutes E.
    Next day news was received that F/Sgt J A Humble, had been picked up by an American Air Sea Rescue launch and taken to Corsica. He was the only survivor. At interrogation after his return to the Squadron F/Sgt Humble states that the aircraft was on its return journey to base after successfully completing its mission, when the starboard inner engine "ran away" and caught fire, filling the aircraft with thick smoke. F/Sgt Humble opened the parachute hatch and jumped out. He saw the aircraft continue to fly straight and level for a few moments then it peeled off to starboard and dived into the sea where it burnt furiously for some time. He did not see anyone else leave the aircraft.

    [NOTE: It is a little unusual for WW2 Commemorations not to mention Next of Kin. Here, neither Pocock has any NoK details, yet they are brothers, so perhaps the Pococks moved away from Ninfield after WW2.]
     
  6. Pat Atkins

    Pat Atkins Well-Known Member

    I don't have the ORB for July 1944 or the monthly aircrew return so I can't be sure, but if Sgt Pocock was the mid-upper gunner - as his and F/Sgt Humble's positions on the crew list suggest - then it's likely he was acting as dispatcher on ops. 148 Squadron employed the mid-upper gunner as one of two dispatchers to get the internal load away as soon as possible; the other was the Wop/AG I believe, though an additional airman was sometimes carried for this purpose. I'm attaching a picture from the IWM collection showing two 148 dispatchers at work.

    This reflected the solitary, low-level nature of SD operations, and the need to get supplies and/or parachutists onto a DZ before the enemy arrived. Even so, a drop often entailed two or three runs (and sometimes anything up to an hour circling until the pinpoint was found, surely not a healthy occupation in the circumstances). It's worth mentioning here that in the summer of 1944, 148 Sqdn suffered very heavy casualties supplying partisans in the Balkans, northern Italy and the Warsaw Uprising; mechanical malfunctions in elderly and/or over-used aircraft pushed to the limit contributed to the high toll.

    Cheers Pat.

    148 desp..pdf
     

    Attached Files:

  7. harkness

    harkness Well-Known Member

    1939 REGISTER TRANSCRIPTION
    1 Highwood Cottages, Moons Hill, Ninfield, Nr Battle, Hailsham, Sussex
    NAME DOB OCCUPATION
    Edward T Pocock 19 Feb 1890 Gardener
    Daisy S Pocock 13 Sep 1893 Househod Dutiies
    Sorry, this record is officially closed.
    Ernest C Pocock 23 Aug 1922 Farm Worker
    Ronald J Pocock 17 May 1924 Errand Boy
     
  8. KevinBattle

    KevinBattle Senior Member

    Thank you both for the extra details.
    Moons Hill joins Marlpits, so it all fits.
    Marl Pits (as it was originally) was part of Ashburnham parish until some boundary adjustments were made (leaving just one house, occupied by the churchwarden, in Marlpits as remaining in Ashburnham!).

    Leaves me scratching my head a bit though, as Edward Bertram not shown (may have already been in the Army?)
    Nice to have the DoB for Ronald, thanks both!
     
  9. harkness

    harkness Well-Known Member

    Kevin,

    He is almost certainly the hidden (ie 'officially closed') entry. If you look at the order in which the three sons were born:

    Jun 1920
    Pocock Edward B Potter Battle

    Sep 1922
    Pocock Ernest C Potter Battle

    Jun 1924

    Pocock Ronald J Potter Battle

    and compare that with the 1939 entries, they match. The system of 'officially closing' records seems to have been rather haphazard.
     
    Last edited: Dec 12, 2017
  10. KevinBattle

    KevinBattle Senior Member

    Ah! Still things to learn!
     

Share This Page