Pte J B Hindmarch, 4464321, 16 DLI POW Group Photograph

Pte J B Hindmarch, 4464321, was wounded and taken POW at Sedjenane, Tunisia in late February-early March 1943 and was subsequently a POW in Italy, at Hospital camp PG 206 and in Germany, where he was assigned the POW number 6151.

Stalag 18A was one of the camps he was held at in 1943-43. This page of the site has a 1945 group photograph of him and several of his fellow POWs:

http://powbooks.atspace.co.uk/page22.html

It's noteworthy that in the official British POW listings, Pte Hindmarch's surname is often mis-spelled as 'Hindmarsh'

As ever, there's plenty of hidden history in this photograph. Any and all further details welcome.

'New' Name Added to 1940 16 DLI Recruits Photograph

Pte J R Richardson, 4465653, is notable as the first fatal combat casualty suffered by the 16 DLI--he was killed in an air raid while on leave in South Shields in April 1941. He has now been identified by a close relative on the 1940 16 DLI Recruits photograph here:

http://16dli.awardspace.co.uk/page54.html

Also new to the site is a photograph of his grave:

http://powbooks.atspace.co.uk/page18.html

'New' Name Added to 1942 D Coy Photograph

One of the main reasons I put this web site together was in a bid to unlock some of the secrets of the several 1942 group photographs of the Battalion which were taken in 1942 before the unit went abroad.

Five of these are currently on the site: the Officers; the Sergeants; B Coy; D Coy; and the Mortar Platoon, with work-in-progress captions built up for all of these with information supplied by the 16 DLI veterans I interviewed in the late 1990s and early 2000s (sadly all now deceased) and various relatives of 16th DLI soldiers who have been in touch since the web site was first published in 2004.

To all those who have helped with this so far, many thanks.

As I've remarked in several other places on the site and on this blog, the 1942 photographs of 'A' Coy, 'C' Coy and all the platoons of HQ Coy bar the Mortar Platoon, are still lost to DLI history. Where are they?

Also, of the group photographs taken while the unit was in the Middle East in early 1944, only the photographs of HQ Coy, C Coy and the Signal Platoon, which are on the site, seem to have survived. Where are the others?

If you have any of these, let me know!

The World War Two era is now passing into beyond living memory, but it is possible even now for identities to be fixed by close relatives. This is the latest example:

Pte Clement Ross Ackroyd, 4470369, from Oldham, who was reported wounded and missing at Sedjenane, Tunisia 27/2/43 and who became a POW in Italy and Germany in 1943-45, has now now been placed by a relative on the 1942 D Coy photograph here:

http://16dli.awardspace.co.uk/page60.html

16 DLI Carrier Platoon, Updated Photo Caption, 1945

The 1945 photograph of the 16 DLI Carrier Platoon on this page of the site:

http://powbooks.atspace.co.uk/page19.html

has now been updated with a new caption which identifies many of the men featured. The annotated version of the photograph can be seen here:

http://powbooks.atspace.co.uk/page273.html