Bookham War Memorials - WWII Plaque, St Nicolas' Church

The WWII plaque with the WWI
plaque above and the Parish Book of Remembrance below it.

Where a name is hyperlinked this is to what
appears to be the
relevant record in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
(CWGC) database or to a page about the person.
# see Notes for more
detail or comment on the inscription.
1939-1945
| P/O FC ASHLEY 21 Squadron Age 21 MALTA MEMORIAL |
L/Cpl A AYRES 1st Bn, The Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) Age 24 RANGOON MEMORIAL/MYA |
| LAC EDWARD GODFREY CARTER Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve Age 19 TORONTO (PROSPECT) CEMY/CAN |
2nd Lt MALCOLM CHARLES CANDY 1st/7th Bn, The Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) Age 26 HEVERLEE WAR CEMETERY/B |
| P/O JOHN CHARLES CUNNINGHAM
story Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 50 Squadron Age 24 buried St Nicolas |
Wg Cdr PETER ANDREW KLEBOE DSO DFC AFC story Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 21 Squadron Age 28 COPENHAGEN (BISPEBJERG) CEMY/DEN |
| Sgt DENNIS GORDON LONGHURST
# Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve Age unknown RAMLEH WAR CEMY |
Dvr CHARLES ADOLPHUS MOORE Royal Army Service Corps Age 46 buried St Nicolas |
| Gnr EDWARD ARTHUR OVENS 139 Field Regt Royal Artillery Age 21 TAUKKYAN WAR CEMETERY/MYA |
D POPE # |
| AB RONALD CHARLES RANGER
# Royal Navy HMS Acheron Age unknown PORTSMOUTH NAVAL MEMORIAL |
P/O GORDON HENRY STEPHENS
# Royal Navy HMS Nabob Age 21 DUNFERMLINE (DOUGLAS BANK) CEMY |
| DP TOUCH # |
AJ WHITE # |
Name: LONGHURST, DENNIS GORDON
Initials: D G
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Sergeant
Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Date of Death: 02/08/1945
Service No: 1866479
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: 7. B. 4.
Cemetery: RAMLEH WAR CEMETERY
http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=2220000
The only WWII DG Longhurst on CWGC.
More information is sought to relate him to
Bookham.
POPE, D - none of the D Popes on CWGC relate
to this area.
More information about him is sought.
RANGER, R - none of the R Rangers on CWGC
relate to this area.
3 Mar 09: Bill Whitman - Ron Ranger is remembered on family
memorial in the churchyard with Ernest, died 01/07/45 age 64 and
Edith Annie, died 12/01/54 age 71. Ron was lost at sea
17/12/1940. The only R Ranger who died in 1940 on CWGC is Able
Seaman Ronald Charles Ranger and so he is matched. He was lost
with his A Class destroyer, HMS Acheron,
sunk by a mine off the Isle of Wight with the loss of 196 lives.
More detail about his time in Bookham
sought.
STEPHENS, GORDON HENRY
HMS Nabob was a Ruler Class Escort Carrier. On
August 22 1944 in the Barents Sea she was struck by an acoustic
torpedo fired by U-354 which critically damaged her. Eventually,
under her own steam, she was able to make Scapa Flow for
emergency repairs and then dry dock at Rosyth where the remains
of 14 of her dead were removed. Gordon Stephens is buried at
Dunfermline.
http://www.royalnavyresearcharchive.org.uk/ESCORT/NABOB.htm
TOUCH, DP - there is no-one with this surname
on CWGC for WWII.
There is however an entry for a DP Tough:
Name: TOUGH, DOUGLAS POLLOCK
Initials: D P
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Flight Lieutenant
Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Unit Text: 105 Sqdn.
Date of Death: 19/03/1945
Service No: 123616
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 266.
Memorial: RUNNYMEDE MEMORIAL
Although it seems unlikely that an error was made in the
inscription, such errors did occur.
He was an Old Boy of Sutton High School, Plymouth:
http://www.oldsuttonians.org.uk/deceased%20suttonians%20N.htm
More information about Touch or Tough is
sought.
Name: WHITE, ALFRED JOHN
Initials: A J
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Guardsman
Regiment/Service: Coldstream Guards
Unit Text: 3rd Bn.
Age: 23
Date of Death: 08/11/1944
Service No: 2666023
Additional information: Son of John James White and Elizabeth
Patience White; husband of Eunice White, of Leatherhead,
Surrey.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: II, C, 17.
Cemetery: CASTIGLIONE SOUTH AFRICAN CEMETERY
http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=1715490
None of the 25 other AJ Whites on CWGC reveal a local connection.
More information is sought to relate him to
Bookham.
Other Gt Bookham WWII deaths recorded on CWGC
SIMMS,
JOHN age14: died 30/08/1940: of 2 East Street, Great Bookham.
Son of J. Simms, and of the late Alfred Simms.
Died at Reigate Road Leatherhead when a fleeing
German bomber dropped its remaining bombs, killing John Simms and
a Leatherhead postman, an Old Contemptible, Mr Frederick Hatchwell, aged 57, who is
buried at SS Mary & Nicholas, Leatherhead.
3 Mar 09: Bill Whitman - according to St Nicolas's Burial Register, John Simms is buried with, presumably, his mother Isabella who died in 1963. No memorial. Johns date of death is given as 1940, age 14.
WINFIELD, WILFRED VICTOR age 45: died 28/02/1945: Police War Reserve. Husband of Lydia Ann Winfield of Newlyn, Dowlans Road, Great Bookham. Died at Newlyn, Dowlans Road, from an illness contracted while on war duties.
3 Mar 09: Bill Whitman - according to St Nicolas's Burial Register, William Winfield [in my transcription of the register, not Wilfred as it is written on stone]; died 28 Feb 1945, age 45. In loving memory of Wilfred dearly loved husband of Lydia Winfield. Entered into rest 28 Feb 1945
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page added 14 Feb 2009: updated 10 Mar 2009