C Company, 16 DLI, 1942

In the March 24th 2009 update I have added photographs of Les and Stan Bernard of Scarborough, who both served in C Company, 16 DLI with my father in 1942-43. Stan Bernard was killed on 27/2/43 at Sedjenane. His cousin Les went on to serve in the 1st Battalion DLI ending the war as a Sergeant. This is the link to that page:

http://16dli.awardspace.co.uk/page124.html

I'm still hoping that someone will turn up the missing Company photographs of A, C and HQ Companies that must have been taken in 1942, most probably by the firm of Lambert and Weston of Folkstone which took the photos of B Company and D Company which are already on the site.

I've also began to add small portrait photos of identified casualties enlarged from these B and D Company photographs to the Roll of Honour section of the site. For example, see this page which lists and pictures several Sedjenane casualties:

http://16dli.awardspace.co.uk/page21.html

Also added are enlargements of Faces 28 and 29 of the Medjez el Bab Memorial which commemorate those soldiers of the DLI who died in North Africa who have no known grave. Click on the image on this page to go to the first enlargement:

http://16dli.awardspace.co.uk/page22.html

Sgt John Wintershausen MM, 16 DLI

Just added in the March 18th update is an excellent collection of photographs of Sgt John Wintershausen, who was awarded the Military Medal for his actions with the Pioneer Platoon of 16 DLI at Salerno on 17/9/43. These were kindly provided by his son Paul and include members of the Battalion posing with the Nazi flag that John Wintershausen liberated from the one-time Gestapo HQ in Athens, Greece, in December 1944. These photos begin from this page:

http://16dli.awardspace.co.uk/page114.html

16 DLI in Vienna 1945

A photograph of 16 DLI on ceremonial parade outside the Palace of Justice in Vienna in October 1945 has now been added to the site. Also included in this update is an article about this parade from the Battalion magazine Geordie.

The new items can be accessed from both the Photographs and Eyewitness Memories sections of the site and begin from this page:

http://16dli.awardspace.co.uk/page271.html

The 16th DLI Regimental Aid Post at Salerno

In the Eyewitness Memories section of the site I have now added Padre G Meek's memories of the 16th Battalion DLI Regimental Aid Post in the immediate aftermath of the Salerno landings of September 1943. This item has been transcribed from a late 1945 edition of the Battalion magazine 'Geordie'. Here is the link to the page:
http://16dli.awardspace.com/page88.html

B Company, 16 DLI, Greece 1945

Hmm, where have the last 18 months gone? I've finally got back to updating my 16 DLI website, after spending most of 2008 working with the Wheatley Hill History Club on their book about local people from the three villages of Thornley, Wheatley Hill and Ludworth in World War Two.

Here's a link to the cover of the book:

http://www.wheatley-hill.org.uk/book2008.shtml

And here's a link to a picture of myself (on the right, looking like a refugee from a Seventies folk concert) and fellow toilers Fred Bromilow and Owen Rowland with local MP Phil Wilson at the book launch in Wheatley Hill Working Men's Club back in September 2008:

http://www.wheatley-hill.org.uk/pastprojects.shtml

Now back to the 16th DLI. Latest additions to the site are much better quality right, left and centre enlargements of the 1945 B Company photograph which was taken in Greece. I purchased an original print of the photo on Ebay recently and it's scanned in very well. It should be possible now to recognise individual faces on this picture. It would be great to get a decent caption compiled, so if anyone reading this recognises themselves or a relative please get in touch.

Here's the link to the web page:

http://16dli.awardspace.co.uk/page149.html

In the latest update I have also added more photos and documents relating to the career of Norman Bland, who was wounded while serving with B Company, 16 DLI in April 1943. These are the links to these new pages:

http://16dli.awardspace.co.uk/page220.html
http://16dli.awardspace.co.uk/page221.html

POWs of Camp 70 Italy

I've now added two 1942-43 POW group photographs of Camp 70, Italy to the site in the Prisoners of War Section, access from this page.

At least four men featured on these photographs ended up in Bad Schmiedeberg, Germany via Stalag 4B. These men are identified on the photos. One photo features British POWs from the Leeds area, another is 'Group 5'. Already on the site is a photo of Camp 70 POWs from the Green Howards Regiment

First Posting

The latest updates to the website at http://www.16dli.net/ are in the Photographs and the Letters and Documents sections. Spread between the two sections there is now an extensive collection of items relating to Private Percy Ord of C Company, who was taken POW at Sedjenane in February-March 1943. Perhaps the most intriguing of them is his paybook pay note for Christmas Day 1942.

Also new to the Photographs section are photos of Pte Aubrey M Davies, who served with the Battalion in Greece, including an early 1945 group photo of the entire B Company. Also in the Letters and Documents section I have added the 1942 Soldier's Will form for Pte T Tunney and his last letter before going abroad, in which he mentions the inspection of the Battalion by the King.