TEIGNMOUTH & SHALDON

The German invasion of Poland German troops dismantle a Polish border post. The Poles fought bravely, but they were heavily outnumbered in both men and machines, and especially in the air.

Stalin invaded eastern Poland, and Warsaw surrendered. Organised Polish resistance ceased after another week’s fighting. Poland was divided up between Hitler and Stalin.

Parts of Poland, including the Danzig Corridor, are annexed by Germany. The Soviet Union annexes the eastern parts of occupied Poland to Ukraine and Belorussia.

Russia continues its war against Finland; Helsinki is bombed. In the first two weeks of the month, the Finns retreat to the Mannerheim Line, an outmoded defensive line just inside the southern border with Russia.

10,000 Japanese troops launch a counter-attack in eastern Shanxi Province in China in an attempt to relieve the nearly-surrounded Japanese 36th Division.

Britain and France decide to intervene in Norway to cut off the iron ore trade in anticipation of an expected German occupation and ostensibly to open a route to assist Finland. The operation is scheduled to start around the 20th of March.

Meat rationing starts in Britain.

Able Seaman Cyril Gordon Westlake, Royal Navy, D/JX138703, was killed by enemy action when HMS Hunter was sunk during the First Battle of Narvik in April 1940. Son of William James and Frances Elsie Westlake (née Knight).

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Able Seaman Ernest Thirwell Maddison, Merchant Navy, MV Ngaroma, was killed by enemy action rescuing troops from Dunkirk.

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Able Seaman John William Heslop was killed in action aboard the aircraft carrier HMS Glorious. Son of Jane Heslop and husband of Florence Gwendoline Heslop (née Drew). Intercepted by German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. In a brief engagement, all three British warships were sunk.

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Sapper Marcus John Downes McCausland of the 39th Fortress Company, the Royal Engineers, service number 1870506, was killed by enemy action in West Africa. Son of Cecil Frank and Julia Monica McCausland of Teignmouth, Devon, and husband of Julia Monica Stuart McCausland, of Willowdene, Ferndale Road, Teignmouth, Devon.

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Around 1678 men were piled onboard the SS Arandora Star designed for 500. Of these, around 734 were Italian internees, many of whom had come from Warth Mills. The ship wasn’t displaying the International Red Cross symbol to signify civilians were on board, and access to lifeboats was obstructed by heavy wire mesh. It was also sailing without an escort. At 7 am on the 2nd of July 1940, the SS Arandora Star was torpedoed by a German U-boat off the coast of Ireland. Private Edward George Lane was a military escort aboard the SS Arandora Star and was killed by enemy action.

2.19 pm Luftwaffe bombing raid In the sea off the Pier, Teignmouth. No casualties. One property damaged.

RAF victories over the Luftwaffe continue, in a wide-ranging fight along the East coast. British fighter aircraft production begins to accelerate.

Berlin suffers a large bombing raid by the RAF.

Electrical Artificer 4th Class Maurice Joseph Pedrick, HMS Rodney, D/MX 50036, died from Tubercular Meningitis at Royal Navy Hospital, Port Edgar, South Queensferry. Son of George S. R. Pedrick and Gertrude Mary Pedrick nee Ford, of Teignmouth, Devon.

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10:45 pm Luftwaffe bombing raid on Lindridge House, Bishopsteignton. No casualties. One property damaged.

Second Lieutenant John George Thomson, Bedfordshire And Hertfordshire Regiment, 70th Battalion, 45928, died, no reason found. Son of Mary Thomson nee Bryett, a widow, born 1849, Calcutta, India.

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The Blitz – was the name given to the German air attacks on Britain between the 7th of September 1940 and the 16th of May 1941. London was bombed by accident on the night of the 24th of August 1940, and the following night Churchill ordered an attack on Berlin.

RAF bombers attack Bremen and the Kiel Canal in Germany. The Kiel Canal Bridge suffers a direct hit and collapses on Finnish ship Yrsa.

7.55 pm Luftwaffe bombing raid Ringmore, Shaldon. No casualties.

British retreat after the losses at El Agheila, Libya. Rommel is surprised, then decides to continue his offensive.

Petty Officer Stoker Ernest William Robins was killed by enemy action on the 24th of April 1941, aged 52, when the Royal Naval Barracks at Devonport, HMS Drake, was bombed by the Luftwaffe. Son of William Richard and Caroline Robins (née Bryett), and husband of Susan Annie Robins of Teignmouth, Devon.

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2.15 am Luftwaffe bombing raid Hospital, Kingsdown & Mill Lane. 11 dead, and 4 minor injuries. Elsa Olga Bruns, aged 26, Mary Louisa Cotmore, aged 61, Rosina Esworthy, aged 69, Jane Elizabeth Herbert, aged 60, Beatrice Mary James, nurse, aged 17, Beatrice Milner, nurse, aged 49, Eliza Moore, aged 75, Bessie Mundy, aged 55, Muriel Lily Georgina Taylor, nurse, aged 22, John Francis Tatchell, aged 80, and RosaWinsborrow, aged 56. 2 properties demolished and 35 damaged.

D/M Chief Ordnance Artificer Michael James Wilfred Day was killed by enemy action aboard HMS Gloucester. She was sunk by German dive bombers on the 22nd of May 1941 during the Battle of Crete with the loss of 722 men out of a crew of 807. Son of Henry Day and Mary Day, and husband of Joyce Vera Day (née Court) of Teignmouth, Devon.

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7.13 pm Luftwaffe bombing raid Railway Line, Hole Head Tunnel. No casualties.

2.40 pm Luftwaffe bombing raid Bishopsteignton, Teignmouth main road. No casualties.

SS Commander Hans Krueger, or Hans Krüger, orders the registration of hundreds of Jewish and Polish intelligentsia in Stanisławów, who are subsequently tortured and murdered. This is the first implementation of the "one bullet one Jew" method in Galicia.

Pilot Officer Randle Feilden died during a practice bombing run, the aircraft Blenheim struck the mast of the target ship moored off Cromer, Norfolk. Commemorated on the village memorial at Shaldon, Devon.

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Private Edward Charles Palmer of the Oxford And Bucks Light Infantry, 4th Battalion, 5387984, died as a result of an accident. Son of George Harvey Palmer and Ethel Mary Palmer nee Robbins and husband of Ivy Phyllis Palmer nee Mortimore, of Teignmouth, Devon.

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Trooper George Edwin Hicks died from his wounds on the 25th November 1941, aged 25 at Libya. Father, George Edwin, Chief Stoker Royal Navy, and mother, Ellen, who lived at 2, Portland Road, Devonport, Devon.

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Pearl Harbour - Japanese carrier-borne aircraft attacked the US Pacific fleet at its base at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands. Despite warnings, the Americans were caught completely by surprise. Eight battleships were put out of action, and seven other warships damaged or lost. Over 2,500 Americans were killed, while the Japanese lost only 29 planes.

Commissioned Gunner Cyril Karl Laban aboard HMS Neptune was killed by enemy action when HMS Neptune was sunk when it hit four mines and capsized, with the loss of 737 seamen.

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Lieutenant Commander Francis Underhill, Royal Navy, HMS Lucifer, died at home. Son of George and Charlotte Underhill of Teignmouth, and husband of Ethel Mary Underhill nee Truman of Teignmouth, Devon.

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Aircraftman 1st Class Charles Alexander Walters, Royal Air Force, 309719, died, no further information found. Death registered at Totnes, Devon.

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Private Richard John Fielden, Royal Army Service Corps, S/5504180, taken Prisoner of war at Singapore. Son of Edward P Fielden and mother, Olive I. Fielden.

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Motor Torpedo Boat (MTB) 241 was built by Morgan Giles, Teignmouth and entered service in 1942, it was one of 48 Vosper 72-foot 6-inch boats ordered during 1941. MTB 241 operated as part of the 21st MTB Flotilla based at Lowestoft, Felixstowe, and Harwich from 1942 until 1944. MTB 241 was Sunk by gunfire from German surface forces off Ijmuiden, the Netherlands on the 31st of March 1944.

Sergeant George Stephen Tusler, Corps of Military Police, 7519055, died as a result of an accident. Son of William and Mary Jane Tusler (nee Hammacott) and husband of Eva Tusler (nee Moore).

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11.15 pm Luftwaffe bombing raid Headway Cross, near Teignmouth. No casualties.

Midway - For six months after Pearl Harbor, Japanese forces carried all before them, capturing Hong Kong, Malaya, the Philippines, and the Dutch East Indies. In May 1942, in an attempt to consolidate their grip on their new conquests, the Japanese sought to eliminate the United States as a strategic Pacific power. This would be done by luring into a trap the US navy carriers that had escaped Pearl Harbor, while at the same time the Japanese would occupy the Midway atoll in preparation for further attacks. In the event, it was the Americans who inflicted a crushing defeat on the Japanese.

The First Battle of El Alamein was a battle of the Western Desert Campaign fought in Egypt between Axis forces (Germany and Italy) of the Panzer Army Africa (Panzerarmee Afrika), which included the Afrika Korps under Field Marshal Erwin Rommel and Allied (British Imperial and Commonwealth) forces (Britain, British India, Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand) of the Eighth Army, General Claude Auchinleck.

7.16 pm Luftwaffe bombing raid, Bitton Ave, Belgrave Terrace, Heywoods. 8 dead, 6 severely injured, and 7 minor injuries. Ada May Ford, aged 59, Ida Alice Curtis, aged 59, Daisy W. Hamlyn, aged 39, Winifred Hamlyn, aged 13, Marjorie Hamlyn, aged 9, Ellen Govier, aged 86, Edith Whiteman, aged 50, and Arthur Whiteman, aged 52. 4 properties demolished and 105 damaged.

4.00 pm Luftwaffe bombing raid, Seafront, Barnpark Rd, Higher Brook St. 8 dead, 4 seriously injured and 27 minor injuries. Henry J. Williams, aged 82, Elizabeth M Williams, aged 79, Alice J. James, aged 82, Florence M. Best, aged 73, Pauline N. Best, aged 44, Alice J. Gilpin, aged 68, Rosa V. Turpin, aged 55, and Elizabeth Loosemore, aged 72.

12.50 pm Luftwaffe bombing raid St.James Church, Reed Vale. 6 dead and 4 minor injuries. Raymond Boorer, aged 15, Rhoda Boorer, aged 61, Mary A. Stevens, aged 29, Ann R. Stevens, 3 months, Dora Ellen Young, aged 86, and Albert W. Boorer, aged 44. 21 properties demolished and 183 damaged.

In the Battle of the Barents Sea, the British win a strategic victory, leading Hitler to largely abandon the use of surface raiders in favor of U-boats.

2.30 pm Luftwaffe bombing raid, Powderham and Alexandra Terrace and Saxe Street. 20 dead, 5 seriously injured, and 22 minor injuries. Bernard E. Brook, aged 27, Eileen M. Brook, aged 27, John Brook, aged 20 months, Edward J. Brook, aged 19, Jessie Pratt, aged 65, George W. Pratt, aged 30, Charles F Stephens, aged 60, Violet M. Cousins, aged 32, Helena Hastings, aged 54, Sidney J. Branchett, aged 50, Agnes B. Cheverton, aged 57, Samuel J. Coleman, aged 80, Jane B.Coleman, aged 79, Olive W. Coleman, aged 54, Florence Goddard, aged 72, Kate E. Hambly, aged 82, William F. Rendell, aged 52, Peter F. Rendell, aged 17, Jessie Skinner, aged 32, and Herbert L. Skinner, aged 37. 1 property demolished and 4 damaged.

Battle of the Bismarck Sea. U.S. and Australian naval forces, over the course of three days, sink eight Japanese troop transport ships near New Guinea.

Flying Officer Leslie John McCullock, Royal Air Force, 502 Squadron, 49842, Killed in Action. The Halifax bomber was lost by gunfire/shell on the 22nd of March 1943, Royal Air Force Captain, Leslie John McCullock and seven crew lost. Son of John and Elizabeth Sybil McCullock (née Griffiths) of Teignmouth, Devon, and husband of Bronwen McCullock (née Morgan) of Teignmouth, Devon.

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2.45 am Luftwaffe bombing raid, Bitton House and Shaldon. No casualties.

British 1st Division takes the Italian island of Pantelleria, between Tunisia and Sicily, capturing 11,000 Italian troops.

Private Leslie Denis Lyndon Browne of the South Staffordshire Regiment, 2nd (Airborne) Battalion, service number 4925985, was Killed in Action at Sicily, Italy. Son of Denis and Ethel Beatrice Browne, of Shaldon, Devon.

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Private Percival Roy Johnson, 4th Battalion, the Devonshire Regiment 5630609, was killed in action at Gibraltar. Son of Arthur John and Hannah Alice Johnson (née Stocker) of Teignmouth, Devon.

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2,897 Romani are gassed when their camp at Auschwitz is liquidated.[

Cruiser HMS Charybdis sunk, and destroyer HMS Limbourne damaged, by German torpedo boats off the North coast of Brittany with large loss of life. Bodies of 21 sailors and marines washed up on the Island of Guernsey. Buried with full military honours by the German Occupation authorities, allowing around 5,000 Islanders to attend and lay some 900 wreaths.

Heavy damage from Allied bombing of Berlin. Notably, the Deutsche Opernhaus on Bismarckstraße in the Berlin district of Charlottenburg is destroyed.

Private Richard John Fielden, Royal Army Service Corps S/5504180, died of beriberi whilst being kept as a prisoner of war and was buried in the Chungkai War Cemetery, Thailand. Son of Edward P Fielden and mother, Olive I. Fielden.

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The Allies begin Operation Shingle, the landing at Anzio, Italy, commanded by American Major General John P. Lucas. The Allies hope to break the stalemate in south Italy, but they are unable to break out of the beachhead and the line holds until late May. The minesweeper USS Portent (AM-106), commanded by Lt. H.C. Plummer, hit a mine and sank southeast of Anzio, Italy.

The Siege of Leningrad ended after 872 days, as Soviet forces finally forced the Germans to withdraw. Some 2 million died, mostly of starvation and disease

Operation Flintlock began, as American forces land on Kwajalein Atoll and other islands in the Japanese-held Marshall Islands. United States troops also invade Majuro, Marshall Islands.

Lieutenant Norman Charles Wills, Royal Navy, HMS Daedalus, Fleet Air Arm 815 Squadron died as a result of an air crash on the 17th of February 1944.

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Seaman George Anthony Holmes, of the Royal Naval Patrol Service, service number LT/JX 180422, died, unable to find a reason. Son of Henry G. Holmes and Sarah Holmes and husband of Mary Elizabeth Holmes nee Vicary, of Teignmouth, Devon.

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Leading Stoker Sidney Albert Treen, aboard HMS Gould, D/KX 97510, was killed by enemy action. HMS Gould was sunk by U-358 using a Gnat (German Navy Acoustic Torpedo) torpedo. Son of William G. Treen and Laura Treen (née Groves) and husband of Gladys Treen (née Sutton) of Teignmouth, Devon.

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Staff Serjeant Samuel Suckley, Royal Engineers, 2199961, died, no reason found. Son of Samuel and Elizebeth Suckley and husband of Dorothy May Suckley, of Teignmouth, Devon.

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RAF suffers grievous losses in a huge air raid on Nuremberg.

Allied bombers hit Budapest in Hungary, now occupied by the Germans, and Bucharest in Romania, ahead of the advancing Red Army.

Japanese launch Operation Ichi-Go with over 600,000 men in central China. The objective is to conquer areas where American bombers are located. The first phase is the Battle of Central Henan.

The Slapton Sands tragedy - hundreds of American soldiers and sailors are killed over two days in a training exercise in preparation for D-Day at Slapton in Devon.

More than 130 Allied political leaders and military officers, including King George VI, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, GEN Dwight D. Eisenhower, LTG George S. Patton, GEN Bernard L. Montgomery, and LTG John C. H. Lee met for the final joint briefing for D-Day at St. Paul’s School in Hammersmith, west of London, England.

Increased Allied bombing of targets in France in preparation for D-Day.

V-1s continue to have devastating effects in South-East England in terms of material destruction and losses of life.

Major Stanley Henry James Whitehead, 3rd Battalion, the 18th Royal Garhwal Rifles - A Gurkha Regiment which fought with distinction in WW2, was killed in action. Son of Major Ernest Kilve Whitehead and Edith Henrietta Clough Raymond Whitehead (nee Mallock) and husband of Pamela Mary Whitehead.

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On the 18th of July, 1944, with the Fleet threatened by U-Boat wolf packs, Lieutenant Commander Baker-Falkner was launched on the first anti-submarine patrol. Flying a Barracuda II aircraft with the serial LS556 and the squadron code 5K, he was assisted by his Observer, Lieutenant G.N. Micklem, and his tactical Air Gunner (TAG), PO A.H. Kimberley. A Corsair of 1841 squadron flown by the senior pilot, Sub Lieutenant H.S. Mattholie, escorted his Barracuda. Tragically, the weather worsened and Baker-Falkner’s Barracuda and the Corsair failed to find the Fleet and became separated. Baker-Falkner and his crew were lost at sea.

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Guam is liberated by American troops; all of the Marianas are now in American hands. They will be turned into a major air and naval centre against the Japanese homeland.

Major James Ivor Houston, 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment was killed in action in the Oude Kraan area at Arnhem, aged 32, Operation Market Garden. James Ivor Houston was the husband of Lorna Houston, of Weyhill, Hampshire.

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Able Seaman Harold Lee, of the Royal Navy, D/JX 334884, died. This was registered at Exeter, Devon. He is buried in the Teignmouth Old Cemetery, plot PP112.

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The Battle of the Bulge begins as German forces attempt a breakthrough in the Ardennes region. The main object of Hitler's plan is the retaking of Antwerp.

46 American B-29 bombers based near Calcutta, India, attacked a railroad bridge near Bangkok, Thailand and other targets in the area. The Japanese increasingly use kamikaze tactics against the US naval forces nearby.

Able Seaman Reginald Percy Stoyle, Royal Navy, HM Cable Ship Alert, D/JX 29115, was killed by enemy action. HMTS Alert is believed to have been torpedoed by a small two-man German “Seehund” (Seal) submarine. Son of Percy Frederick and Elsie Maud Stoyle of Shaldon, Devon.

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The Battle of Remagen: When German troops fail to dynamite the Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine, the U.S. First Army captures the bridge and begins crossing the river. The Army also takes Cologne, Germany. The Germans begin to evacuate Danzig.

Able Seaman Harold Anisley Tidball, Royal Navy, D/JX, 285129, was killed by enemy action when HMS Lapwing was sunk by German submarine U-968. Hit amidships she sank within 20 minutes with the loss of 158 lives. 61 men were rescued. Son of Frank and Edith Tidball (née Sage), and husband of Annie Mary Tidball (née Stride) of Shaldon, Devon.

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Private Cecil Edward Hurford, 1st Battalion, the Devonshire Regiment, 5629315, killed in action at Burma. Husband of Ivy A Hurford (née Pickles) of Teignmouth, Devon.

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VE Day - Victory in Europe. The date the Allies celebrated the defeat of Nazi Germany and the end of Adolf Hitler’s Reich, formally recognising the end of WW2.

Australian troops land at Balikpapan, Borneo in the Western Allies' last major land operation of the war.

Nagasaki - Atomic bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki.

The formal surrender of Japan took place on USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on the 2nd of September, six years and one day after the Germans invaded Poland.

Sergeant Bertram John Crosse, 1st/4th Battalion, the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, 14410289, died. No further information found. Son of Bertram Harry and Phyllis Mary Crosse and husband of Daisy Eveline Charlotte Crosse of Stokeinteignhead, Devon.

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Wing Commander Edward Albert Slater OBE, Royal Air Force, 21036, died at home. Son of Rupert Maxwell Slater and Minnie Slater and husband of Mrs Minnie Evelyn Slater nee Garnham, of Shaldon, Devon.

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Bombardier John Humphrey Wilson Thorne, 1st Regiment, the Royal Horse Artillery, 872122, died. No further information found. Buried: Brookwood Military Cemetery, Brookwood, Surrey. Grave reference 34A. D. 8. Son of George and Helena Mabel Thorne (née Humphrey) of Teignmouth, Devon, and brother of Francis Anderson George Thorne, who also died on service.

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