Wincobank St Thomas
Wincobank War Memorial lists 17 names from the Second World War
ST THOMAS CHURCH
Newman Rd Wincobank Sheffield South Yorkshire S9 England OS Grid Ref.: SK 380 910 Denomination: Church of England |
VARNISHED BOARD
|
Awaiting photo
1939 - 1945/ (NAMES)
Derek Armitage
Dereck Burton Ernest Clark Jack Coacher Frederick Daines Harry Davy Allen Horsefall Bert Job Harold Lee |
Douglas Mann
Leonard Maxfield Arthur Nelson Wilfred Parkin Geoffrey Reynolds Albert Stanton Gordon Ulley Walter Wall |
Additional details
Thomas Derrick Armitage - C/JX 351446
Royal Navy - H.M.S. Curacoa - Ordinary Seaman
2 October 1942, aged 19
Son of Harry and Elizabeth Armitage, of Sheffield.
Chatham Naval MemorialLost when ship was accidently rammed and sunk by RMS Queen Mary in the North Channel during passage to UK with troops. This disaster was caused largely by lack of judgement of course changes by the liner to avoid submarine attack.
Derrick Percy Burton - 1515874
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve - 10 O.T.U. - Sergeant
20 October 1943, aged 22
Son of Percy and Annie Burton, of Wincobank, Sheffield.
Sheffield (Shiregreen) Cemetery
Whitley (Mk V) BD280 took off from its base at Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire, at 18:40hrs for a night cross country training flight. At approximately 23:20hrs the port engine failed and the pilot was obliged to attempt an emergency landing. In doing so, at 23:30hrs, the bomber stalled as the pilot tried to avoid a line of high tension cables. Out of control, it smashed into the ground at Vicarage Farm, a mile or so NNW from the village of Ivinghoe, six miles ENE of Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. All members of the crew, with exception of rear gunner.
Ernest Raynor Clark - 1892242
Royal Engineers - 275 Field Coy. - Sapper
23 January 1943, aged 23
Son of Thomas William and Minnie Clark; Husband of Doris Evelyn Clark, of Wincobank, Sheffield.
Tripoli War Cemetery
Died in North Africa
Frederick Thomas Danes - 4535824
Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders - 2nd Bn. - Private
15 June 1941, aged 26
Son of William and Elspeth Danes; Husband of Susan Anne Danes, of Enford, Wiltshire.
Halfaya Sollum War Cemetery
Died on the first day of Operation Battleaxe, the attempt to clear eastern Cyrenaica of German and Italian forces and raise the Siege of Tobruk. It was the first time during the war that a significant German force fought on the defensive but the operation failed as British forces attacked strong defensive positions created by German General Erwin Rommel. The British lost over half of their tanks on the first day and only one of the three attacks succeeded.
Harry Davy - P/MX 68873
Royal Navy - H.M.M.L. 265 - Chief Motor Mechanic 3rd Class
1 July 1944, aged 29
Son of George William and Ethel Mary Davy, of Sheffield.
Freetown (King Tom) Cemetery
Killed when ship lost to fire at Freetown
Jack Goacher - 4754195
York and Lancaster Regiment - 6th Bn. - Lance Corporal
12 September 1944, aged 30
Son of William Henry and Bertha Ann Goacher; Husband of Georgina Elizabeth Goacher, of Miles Platting, Manchester.
Montecchio War Cemetery
Died during the battle of Gemmano, while attcking the Gothic Line
Allen Horsefall
Not Yet Identified
possibly Alan Albert Horsfall (Brother of DT Horsfall (Dambuster) - see Barnsley Grammar School)
Bert Job - 173281
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve - 178 Sqdn. - Flying Officer
26 January 1945
Belgrade War Cemetery
Liberator EW142 t/o Amendola, Italy for SOE mission to Yugoslavia. Crashed Yugoslavia due to bad weather conditions and icing.
Harold Joseph Lee - 2076154
Royal Engineers - 228 Field Coy. - Driver
23 May 1940, aged 19
Son of Arthur Tennyson Lee and Beatrice Lee, of Sheffield.
Dunkirk Memorial
Died in France and Belgium Campaign with the BEF during the retreat to Dunkirk
Douglas Mann
Not Yet Identified
Leonard Maxfield - 834102
Royal Artillery - 71 Field Regt. - Lance Serjeant
30 November 1944, aged 28
Cesena War Cemetery
DoW in Italy as the advance on the Gothic line stopped with the on set of winter
Arthur Nelson - 1912884
Royal Engineers - 614 Road Constr. Coy. - Sapper
9 June 1944, aged 29
Son of Arthur and Clara Ellen Nelson, of Sheffield; Husband of Myra D. Nelson, of Shiregreen, Sheffield.
Bayeux War Cemetery
Died on D-Day+3 near the village of Cully.
Wilfred Parkin - T/800424
Royal Army Service Corps - Driver
4 June 1940, aged 29
Son of John Thomas Parkin and Francis Millicent Parkin, of Wincobank, Sheffield; Husband of Elsie Parkin, of Wincobank.
Dunkirk Town Cemetery
Died during the Dunkirk evacuation
George Geoffrey Reynolds - L/FX77304
Royal Navy - H.M.S. Condor - Petty Officer
11 February 1946, aged 24
Son of Dennis and Edith Reynolds; husband of Edith Dorothy Reynolds, of Didsbury, Manchester.
Byley (St. John) Churchyard
Killed in an mid-air collision between DH89A Dominie X7453 RN and with Seafire XV SW822 over Wimboldsley, Cheshire
Albert Stanton - P/JX 276092
Royal Navy - H.M.L.C.S. (M) 1 - Able Seaman
20 August 1942, aged 21
Son of Albert and Ethel Stanton, of Pitsmoor, Sheffield.
Sheffield (Shiregreen) Cemetery
Died at Brighton Municipal Hosp, Elm Grove.
Died of wounds from Operation Jubilee, the Dieppe Raid.
Gordon Ulley - 7344365
Royal Army Medical Corps - Warrant Officer Class II
10 October 1942, aged 39
Son of Alfred and Mary Ann Ulley; Husband of Margaret Ulley, of Shirecliffe, Sheffield.
Brookwood 1939-1945 Memorial
The troop ship Orcades was on the route Suez - Capetown (9 Oct) - Liverpool with 741 passengers, 3000 tons of general cargo and 2000 bags of parcel post. At 10.28 hours on 10 Oct 1942 the unescorted Orcades (Master Charles Fox) was hit on the port side by two torpedoes from U-172 while steaming on a zigzag course at 15 knots about 220 miles southwest of Capetown. The ship was running at a slower speed as usual in order to conserve fuel as she was heading directly for the UK and rain showers had reduced the visibility. The first torpedo struck between #1 and #2 holds and the second in #6 hold, disabling the port engine and the steering gear. The master ordered the crew to prepare the lifeboats and to send distress signals and consequently most of the crew and passengers abandoned ship after she was hit on port side amidships in #3 hold by a third torpedo at 10.45 hours. The hatches were blown off #6 and #3 holds and the ship settled slowly on even keel, slightly down by the head. The abandonment proved to be difficult in rough seas and heavy swell and the ship still making headway, but 20 lifeboats were launched without mishap. One capsized and its occupants were picked up by one of the motor boats, while another became waterlogged upon launch and was last seen drifting away with the most persons who were later reported missing and probably drowned when this boat eventually sank. A skeleton crew and the gunners remained behind and tried to save the vessel, among them were volunteers from the passengers that helped manning the armament of one 6in, one 3in, four 20mm and five machine guns and a petty officer telegraphist who sent a second distress signal after the radio operators had abandoned their station. At 10.54 hours, the U-boat fired a fourth torpedo that malfunctioned and missed. Afterwards the Germans had first to reload one bow torpedo tube because no attack could be carried out with the stern torpedoes on the Orcades, which was running in circles at 5 knots. However, in the meantime the engineers managed to restart the port engine and the ship began heading towards the coast at about 8 knots, steering with the screws only. U-172 surfaced to overtake her but had to dive again when the gunners opened fire, not knowing that they haven’t actually spotted them but fired at something they thought was a periscope. At 12.49 hours, the U-boat fired another torpedo that hit on starboard side aft in #6 hold, followed by a fifth and sixth torpedo hit at 12.50 and 12.54 hours. The torpedoes struck on the starboard side in the engine room and forward of amidships and caused the ship to sink with a broken back and a heavy list to starboard about six minutes after the last hit. Shortly afterwards an aircraft attacked the U-boat on periscope depth, causing no damages but forcing it to leave the area submerged without questioning the survivors. After the fourth torpedo hit, the remaining 55 men immediately abandoned ship in the last four lifeboats or jumped overboard and swam to rafts that were released. However, the chief engineer failed to leave the ship. The four boats then picked up all men who were on rafts or clung to debris, also recovered many oranges from the cargo and were then tied together, awaiting rescue close to the sinking position. The aircraft had reported their position and the Polish steam merchant Narwik (Master Czeslaw Zawada) located the lifeboats a few hours after the sinking, stopped and her crew worked tirelessly for the next seven hours to pick up more than 1000 people without accidents despite rough seas and the constant danger of being torpedoed herself. The ship even carried out a search for three lifeboats that were unaccounted for until 03.30 hours on 11 October and then headed towards the South African coast at 9 knots. After ten hours, she was joined by HMAS Nizam (G 38) (Cdr M.J. Clark, DSO, RAN) and HMS Foxhound (H 69) (LtCdr G.H. Peters, RN) which escorted her to Capetown, arriving on 12 October. The arrival of the destroyers had been delayed by the sighting of U-159 (Witte) in 35°51S/16°24E at 06.29 hours on 11 October. They gained no contact after the U-boat crash dived and soon left without carrying out a depth charge attack, but warned Narwik about its presence and the area was avoided. Orcades carried a complement of 290 crew members, 36 gunners and 741 passengers (mostly service personnel returning to the UK) of which 45 persons were lost: 27 crew members, two gunners, two civilian passengers, seven naval personnel and seven army personnel.
Walter Lewis Wall - C/KX 136194
Royal Navy - H.M.S. Widemouth Bay - Stoker 1st Class
13 October 1945, aged 22
Son of Harold Walter and Annie Elizabeth Wall; Husband of Elsie Wall, of Brightside, Sheffield.
Chatham Naval Memorial
Died on War Service. HMS Widemouth Bay was carrying out patrol and escort duties in Formosa Straits.
Royal Navy - H.M.S. Curacoa - Ordinary Seaman
2 October 1942, aged 19
Son of Harry and Elizabeth Armitage, of Sheffield.
Chatham Naval MemorialLost when ship was accidently rammed and sunk by RMS Queen Mary in the North Channel during passage to UK with troops. This disaster was caused largely by lack of judgement of course changes by the liner to avoid submarine attack.
Derrick Percy Burton - 1515874
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve - 10 O.T.U. - Sergeant
20 October 1943, aged 22
Son of Percy and Annie Burton, of Wincobank, Sheffield.
Sheffield (Shiregreen) Cemetery
Whitley (Mk V) BD280 took off from its base at Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire, at 18:40hrs for a night cross country training flight. At approximately 23:20hrs the port engine failed and the pilot was obliged to attempt an emergency landing. In doing so, at 23:30hrs, the bomber stalled as the pilot tried to avoid a line of high tension cables. Out of control, it smashed into the ground at Vicarage Farm, a mile or so NNW from the village of Ivinghoe, six miles ENE of Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. All members of the crew, with exception of rear gunner.
Ernest Raynor Clark - 1892242
Royal Engineers - 275 Field Coy. - Sapper
23 January 1943, aged 23
Son of Thomas William and Minnie Clark; Husband of Doris Evelyn Clark, of Wincobank, Sheffield.
Tripoli War Cemetery
Died in North Africa
Frederick Thomas Danes - 4535824
Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders - 2nd Bn. - Private
15 June 1941, aged 26
Son of William and Elspeth Danes; Husband of Susan Anne Danes, of Enford, Wiltshire.
Halfaya Sollum War Cemetery
Died on the first day of Operation Battleaxe, the attempt to clear eastern Cyrenaica of German and Italian forces and raise the Siege of Tobruk. It was the first time during the war that a significant German force fought on the defensive but the operation failed as British forces attacked strong defensive positions created by German General Erwin Rommel. The British lost over half of their tanks on the first day and only one of the three attacks succeeded.
Harry Davy - P/MX 68873
Royal Navy - H.M.M.L. 265 - Chief Motor Mechanic 3rd Class
1 July 1944, aged 29
Son of George William and Ethel Mary Davy, of Sheffield.
Freetown (King Tom) Cemetery
Killed when ship lost to fire at Freetown
Jack Goacher - 4754195
York and Lancaster Regiment - 6th Bn. - Lance Corporal
12 September 1944, aged 30
Son of William Henry and Bertha Ann Goacher; Husband of Georgina Elizabeth Goacher, of Miles Platting, Manchester.
Montecchio War Cemetery
Died during the battle of Gemmano, while attcking the Gothic Line
Allen Horsefall
Not Yet Identified
possibly Alan Albert Horsfall (Brother of DT Horsfall (Dambuster) - see Barnsley Grammar School)
Bert Job - 173281
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve - 178 Sqdn. - Flying Officer
26 January 1945
Belgrade War Cemetery
Liberator EW142 t/o Amendola, Italy for SOE mission to Yugoslavia. Crashed Yugoslavia due to bad weather conditions and icing.
Harold Joseph Lee - 2076154
Royal Engineers - 228 Field Coy. - Driver
23 May 1940, aged 19
Son of Arthur Tennyson Lee and Beatrice Lee, of Sheffield.
Dunkirk Memorial
Died in France and Belgium Campaign with the BEF during the retreat to Dunkirk
Douglas Mann
Not Yet Identified
Leonard Maxfield - 834102
Royal Artillery - 71 Field Regt. - Lance Serjeant
30 November 1944, aged 28
Cesena War Cemetery
DoW in Italy as the advance on the Gothic line stopped with the on set of winter
Arthur Nelson - 1912884
Royal Engineers - 614 Road Constr. Coy. - Sapper
9 June 1944, aged 29
Son of Arthur and Clara Ellen Nelson, of Sheffield; Husband of Myra D. Nelson, of Shiregreen, Sheffield.
Bayeux War Cemetery
Died on D-Day+3 near the village of Cully.
Wilfred Parkin - T/800424
Royal Army Service Corps - Driver
4 June 1940, aged 29
Son of John Thomas Parkin and Francis Millicent Parkin, of Wincobank, Sheffield; Husband of Elsie Parkin, of Wincobank.
Dunkirk Town Cemetery
Died during the Dunkirk evacuation
George Geoffrey Reynolds - L/FX77304
Royal Navy - H.M.S. Condor - Petty Officer
11 February 1946, aged 24
Son of Dennis and Edith Reynolds; husband of Edith Dorothy Reynolds, of Didsbury, Manchester.
Byley (St. John) Churchyard
Killed in an mid-air collision between DH89A Dominie X7453 RN and with Seafire XV SW822 over Wimboldsley, Cheshire
Albert Stanton - P/JX 276092
Royal Navy - H.M.L.C.S. (M) 1 - Able Seaman
20 August 1942, aged 21
Son of Albert and Ethel Stanton, of Pitsmoor, Sheffield.
Sheffield (Shiregreen) Cemetery
Died at Brighton Municipal Hosp, Elm Grove.
Died of wounds from Operation Jubilee, the Dieppe Raid.
Gordon Ulley - 7344365
Royal Army Medical Corps - Warrant Officer Class II
10 October 1942, aged 39
Son of Alfred and Mary Ann Ulley; Husband of Margaret Ulley, of Shirecliffe, Sheffield.
Brookwood 1939-1945 Memorial
The troop ship Orcades was on the route Suez - Capetown (9 Oct) - Liverpool with 741 passengers, 3000 tons of general cargo and 2000 bags of parcel post. At 10.28 hours on 10 Oct 1942 the unescorted Orcades (Master Charles Fox) was hit on the port side by two torpedoes from U-172 while steaming on a zigzag course at 15 knots about 220 miles southwest of Capetown. The ship was running at a slower speed as usual in order to conserve fuel as she was heading directly for the UK and rain showers had reduced the visibility. The first torpedo struck between #1 and #2 holds and the second in #6 hold, disabling the port engine and the steering gear. The master ordered the crew to prepare the lifeboats and to send distress signals and consequently most of the crew and passengers abandoned ship after she was hit on port side amidships in #3 hold by a third torpedo at 10.45 hours. The hatches were blown off #6 and #3 holds and the ship settled slowly on even keel, slightly down by the head. The abandonment proved to be difficult in rough seas and heavy swell and the ship still making headway, but 20 lifeboats were launched without mishap. One capsized and its occupants were picked up by one of the motor boats, while another became waterlogged upon launch and was last seen drifting away with the most persons who were later reported missing and probably drowned when this boat eventually sank. A skeleton crew and the gunners remained behind and tried to save the vessel, among them were volunteers from the passengers that helped manning the armament of one 6in, one 3in, four 20mm and five machine guns and a petty officer telegraphist who sent a second distress signal after the radio operators had abandoned their station. At 10.54 hours, the U-boat fired a fourth torpedo that malfunctioned and missed. Afterwards the Germans had first to reload one bow torpedo tube because no attack could be carried out with the stern torpedoes on the Orcades, which was running in circles at 5 knots. However, in the meantime the engineers managed to restart the port engine and the ship began heading towards the coast at about 8 knots, steering with the screws only. U-172 surfaced to overtake her but had to dive again when the gunners opened fire, not knowing that they haven’t actually spotted them but fired at something they thought was a periscope. At 12.49 hours, the U-boat fired another torpedo that hit on starboard side aft in #6 hold, followed by a fifth and sixth torpedo hit at 12.50 and 12.54 hours. The torpedoes struck on the starboard side in the engine room and forward of amidships and caused the ship to sink with a broken back and a heavy list to starboard about six minutes after the last hit. Shortly afterwards an aircraft attacked the U-boat on periscope depth, causing no damages but forcing it to leave the area submerged without questioning the survivors. After the fourth torpedo hit, the remaining 55 men immediately abandoned ship in the last four lifeboats or jumped overboard and swam to rafts that were released. However, the chief engineer failed to leave the ship. The four boats then picked up all men who were on rafts or clung to debris, also recovered many oranges from the cargo and were then tied together, awaiting rescue close to the sinking position. The aircraft had reported their position and the Polish steam merchant Narwik (Master Czeslaw Zawada) located the lifeboats a few hours after the sinking, stopped and her crew worked tirelessly for the next seven hours to pick up more than 1000 people without accidents despite rough seas and the constant danger of being torpedoed herself. The ship even carried out a search for three lifeboats that were unaccounted for until 03.30 hours on 11 October and then headed towards the South African coast at 9 knots. After ten hours, she was joined by HMAS Nizam (G 38) (Cdr M.J. Clark, DSO, RAN) and HMS Foxhound (H 69) (LtCdr G.H. Peters, RN) which escorted her to Capetown, arriving on 12 October. The arrival of the destroyers had been delayed by the sighting of U-159 (Witte) in 35°51S/16°24E at 06.29 hours on 11 October. They gained no contact after the U-boat crash dived and soon left without carrying out a depth charge attack, but warned Narwik about its presence and the area was avoided. Orcades carried a complement of 290 crew members, 36 gunners and 741 passengers (mostly service personnel returning to the UK) of which 45 persons were lost: 27 crew members, two gunners, two civilian passengers, seven naval personnel and seven army personnel.
Walter Lewis Wall - C/KX 136194
Royal Navy - H.M.S. Widemouth Bay - Stoker 1st Class
13 October 1945, aged 22
Son of Harold Walter and Annie Elizabeth Wall; Husband of Elsie Wall, of Brightside, Sheffield.
Chatham Naval Memorial
Died on War Service. HMS Widemouth Bay was carrying out patrol and escort duties in Formosa Straits.
Information about the memorial includes that given on the IWM War Memorials Register - © IWM (WMA-27929)