The Unluckiest Dunkirk Evacuee?

Researching some of the names on the local village war memorial, I came across this story about Private Cecil Belsey of 2/Royal East Kent Regt (The Buffs), which is mainly from family recollections, so it may or may not be entirely accurate:

Cecil Belsey was born in 1919 and worked for Chandler and Dunn Fruit Farm. After the outbreak of war he joined the Buffs in March 1940, aged 21. He was sent almost immediately to France where he suffered an injury and he was evacuated from the beaches at Dunkirk in May 1940. As he was classed as walking wounded, Private Belsey was on the deck of the ship as it made its way across the English Channel. As the ship approached Brighton on 27 May, a German aircraft strafed the ship, killing everyone on deck, including Private Belsey.

Cecil Belsey is buried in our local village churchyard here in Kent.

I would like to verify any or all of the details in this story: would a Buffs soldier with only 2 month's training be considered fit for duty in 44 Division on active service? Was Brighton used as a destination for evacuation ships? Does anyone know which ship it may have been?

To get so close to a safe port and then be machine-gunned by a German plane seems incredibly unlucky.

 

Just about to check the Bn war diary and some related naval books but a few things don't add up already:

CWGC :: Certificate



I'm not overly sure on what the burial policy was for the dead who returned to the UK from France in 1940. A lot that died on ships were thrown over the side but some were definately saved from that happening by their mates on the voyage to the UK. I am under the impression that those that were landed that had died would be buried at the local cemetery.

I wonder if someone can confirm whether there was a policy to move bodies to a local cemetery at the wish of the family if the dead were in the UK?

That said he would have been moved from Surrey to Kent and his NoK are listed in Sandwich which is 6 miles from his burial location (I could probably get you a picture of his headstone if you want as I'm going to my parents in March) which isn't that far away.

Right - I'll go now and check the stuff on my shelves and see what I can find.

 

Hi

As far as I am aware (someone please correct me if I am wrong!) if a casualty died in, 9or their body was recovered in the area of) the UK, they could be buried in their local cemetery or churchyard, if the family requested. As an example, I have met someone recently whose father was killed during an air raid in Devon, but was buried in Surrey.

 

Thanks for the quick replies! Drew - Chandler and Dunn is a Wingham firm (still in business today) and I knew Belsey's parents lived in Sandwich, but I am guessing he lived somewhere in Wingham. A lady friend of his met him at a local dance and there is a photograph of the two of them outside a Wingham cottage.

The headstone is about three-quarters of a mile from where I sit typing this and I hope to get photographs of it and the war memorial as soon as the rain stops!

 

2nd Buffs were only attached to 44th Division during the first week of May 1940, having spent the previous eight months on pioneer duties with, according to Blaxland, only one short break for training.

As such, it seems quite possible that he was being used for labour whilst training which was probably expected to continue. If the situation had mirrored WW1 then there would have been time to complete training before being sent to the front.

 

2 Buff's deployed to France as a Battalion on 17th Sept. arriving at Cherbourg.

On the 19th March a draft of 32 OR's arrived from No.1 I.B.D (Infantry Base Depot?)

On the 27th Match a draft of 38 OR's arrived from No.1 I.B.D. Many of these men are very small, one only standing 4ft 10 ins high.

Several groups of OR's arrive in April.

On the 27th May the battalion was around the area of Merris after leaving Merville arriving at 1100 hrs. and occupied Bde reserve position one and half miles to the north east. The defensive line was a ridge running north and south to the west of Merris.

Around the 28th the battalion was split in two and on the 29th they seem to be in the area of Mont de Cats. There is no exact evacuation date in the diary but I'd guess around the 30th/31st May.

I did find a casualty in May called Private E Bersey - Close but no cigar.

Just going to check naval evacuation books.

 

As such, it seems quite possible that he was being used for labour whilst training which was probably expected to continue.

Indeed the diary lists every day OR's being sent on work parties, stagging on, exercises or playing football which they appeared to be quite good at - They didn't loose a game.

 

Ok after mucho searching I think Brighton isn't a possibility for two reasons. The first I don't think it had a port back then and certainly doesn't today-Just a rather modern Marina if I remember correctly. The second is I can find no mention of Brighton in any of my books and all three official routes across were much further to the east from Folkstone to Ramsgate being the main area for landing troops. That said there is a few reports of ships landing troops at Newhaven.

I did wonder if there may be some confusion between being landed at Brighton and possibly transported on the Brighton Belle but she didn't transport anyone until the 28th and was lost the same day.

So all that discounted I have come up with this from The Admiralty book, The Evacuation from Dunkirk:

Mona's Isle makes the first round trip

Except for the destroyer Wolsey, which left Dover at 1930 to act as W/T link ship, the first ship to sail on this great mission was the armed boarding vessel Mona's Isle, which left the Downs at 2116. After some delay with a fouled propeeler she berthed at the Quai Felix Faure during an air attack, and embarked 1420 troops. On the return journey, she was straddled by shore guns off Gravelines, and shortly after, was heavily machine-gunned from the air; these attacks caused 83 casualties, including 23 dead. She reached Dover at noon on 27th May escorted by the destroyer Windsor, which had put her doctor on board and landed her troops. Mona's Isle was the first ship to complete the round trip in Operation Dynamo.


Another source says she was attacked with macine gun fire by six aircraft off Gravelines at 0750 hrs with a similiar figure regarding casualties and landed 1,281 troops at Dover.

I think he may have stretcher case too as it was quite common to place the strecthers on the open deck due to the difficulty getting them below deck. Of the ships that sailed to Dunkirk on the 26th May 6,183 troops and 646 stretcher cases the following day.

Because of the accurate figures I suspect there'll be some file(s) at Kew on this with a good possibility of a casualty list. The Regiment also has a 1940 missing person list at Kew and he may get a mention in that.

Thats as good as I can get it.

Cheers
Andy

 

Thanks Andy and everyone who replied - I know Brighton quite well and it seemed to me a very odd place to try to berth a ship, plus I had read about British ports closer to the evacuation beaches being used, which made more sense.

As for E Belsey versus C Belsey, could it have been a case of someone mis-reading a handwritten entry? Copperplate[FONT=&quot] C [/FONT]can look very much like a round capital E, as I discovered when researching old census records.

When I get chance I will post a photo of the headstone and include Wingham's war memorial on the appropriate thread.

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Suppose ship could have been off Brighton , going to Shoreham or Newhaven ?
edit-Just noticed Drews mentioned Newhaven.

 

I'll check again but I think his name is spelt Bersey plus the service number is different too. I guess one could argue (long shot) he had a brother and they got the two mixed up?

If you want more info I would think the 2 Buffs missing files and the ADM files at Kew would be worth checking.

Cheers
Andy

 

The UK Army Roll of Honour for WW2 has this:-
Name: Cecil Belsey. Rank: Private. Death Date: 27 May 1940. Number: 6289265
Birth Place: Canterbury. Residence: Canterbury. Branch at Enlistment: Infantry
Theatre of War: United Kingdom. Regiment at Death Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment). Branch at Death: Infantry
Birth Registration: Name: Cecil F Belsey. Mother's Maiden Surname: Tomlin. Date of Registration: Apr May Jun 1919
Registration district: Eastry. Registration County: Kent. Volume Number: 2a. Page Number: 1464
Now I don't know whether or not he was serving in France and machine gunned as described, but that must have come from some source, so if verified, then I would have thought his enlistment was pre March 1940, perhaps an expert on service Numbers could check?
As you say, very unlucky, but so were all the other casualties, so I don't think he stands out especially as really unfortunate.
The chap who, in my limited knowledge, seemed particularly unfortunate was a chap allegedly killed in the latrines somewhere remote (Wales, I believe) when his brother attacked a German bomber, which jettisoned his load, killing the brother... probably apocryphal but...

 

Thanks, Kevin. I only wrote "unlucky" on the basis of the family story which had him almost back in Britain when he was killed - but as you say there were many similar cases. Our local scout group has been doing a major project on the soldiers listed on the war memorial (including visiting graves in France and Belgium) and they will be interested in all the details forum members have provided about Cecil Belsey. I am extremely pleased to see young people getting involved and keeping those memories alive.

 

Name: Cecil Belsey
Given Initials: C F
Rank: Private
Death Date: 27 May 1940
Number: 6289265
Birth Place: Canterbury
Residence: Canterbury
Branch at Enlistment: Infantry
Theatre of War: United Kingdom
Regiment at Death: Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment)
Branch at Death: Infantry

Name: Cecil F Belsey
Death Registration Month/Year: 1940
Age at death (estimated): 21
Registration district: Brighton
Inferred County: Sussex

The death was registered in Brigton, which means that a Death Cert was issued. This will tell where he was killed.

The sub districts at the time where Brighton Central; Brighton General Hospital; Brighton Outer; Brighton West; East Brighton; Kemptown; Palace; Pavilion; St. Peter; West Brighton

 

The death was registered in Brigton, which means that a Death Cert was issued. This will tell where he was killed.



That's interesting Phil - Anyway of telling when he joined up other than a copy of his service records?

Andy

 

That's interesting Phil - Anyway of telling when he joined up other than a copy of his service records?

Andy

Drew, the Army ROH indicates that he enlisted post 3rd Sept 39

The Buffs (East Kent Regiment) 6278001 - 6334000

 

The census after 1910 shows the family living in Wingham

Person: BELSEY, Frank
Address: Preston Hill Wingham

BELSEY, Frank Head Married M 29 1882 Colliery Labourer Above Ground Kent
BELSEY, Annie Wife Married 5 years F 24 1887 Kent Northbourne Stoneheap
BELSEY, Sydney Son M 0 (5 MONTH) 1911

 

Cheers Phil. Looking at those details I think he would have lived in one of these houses as they look like the only ones on Preston Hill.

 

I'll check again but I think his name is spelt Bersey plus the service number is different too. I guess one could argue (long shot) he had a brother and they got the two mixed up?

If you want more info I would think the 2 Buffs missing files and the ADM files at Kew would be worth checking.

Cheers
Andy

Including Sydney, Cyril was one of 7 children

Name: Winifred E Belsey
Mother: Tomlin
Birth: Jan 1913 - Eastry, Kent

Name: Eileen R Belsey
Mother: Tomlin
Birth: Oct 1915 - Eastry, Kent

Name: Leslie J Belsey
Mother: Tomlin
Birth: Jan Feb Mar 1918 - Eastry, Surrey,Kent

Name: Cecil F Belsey
Mother: Tomlin
Birth: Apr May Jun 1919 - Eastry, Surrey,Kent

Name: William J Belsey
Mother: Tomlin
Birth: Apr May Jun 1922 - Eastry, Surrey,Kent

Name: Joan M Belsey
Mother: Tomlin
Birth: Oct Nov Dec 1930 - Eastry, Surrey,Kent

 

The houses in the picture are all post-war (I know, I live in one of them a bit further along!!!). There are houses at the bottom of Preston Hill that are much older (they feature in pictures of Victorian and Edwardian Wingham in a booklet on my shelves) and I will have a look tomorrow.

How's this for a working hypothesis:

Belsey is wounded while serving with the 2nd Buffs somewhere in the combat zone and perhaps some time between 24th and 26th May. He is transferred to the coast and embarks on Mona Isle, which is attacked by aircraft. He is not killed but again wounded. Figures quoted earlier say 83 casualties, of which only 23 killed, so the odds are in his favour. Arriving at Dover he is sent to the Royal Sussex Hospital in Brighton, where he dies of wounds on 27th May.

This gets around the problem of having him die on board ship yet being taken ashore, the problem of having a ship disembark troops at Brighton and the fact that his death was registered at Brighton. I checked the story of Ernie Leggett (2nd Royal Norfolks), who was evacuated to Newhaven but then sent directly to Royal Sussex Hospital in Brighton, so there is a precedent.