H.M.S. NELSON, Royal Marines.

Born 27th April 1922, son of William & Martha (nee TIBBLES) ADAMS, died at the Churchill Hospital, Oxford, on Friday, 1st February, 1946, aged 23 years, and was buried in Ramsey St. Mary’s churchyard.  He married Dorothy Melba EMMINGTON at Holme in November 1943, and besides the widow, he left a son Roger, aged about 18 months.    [Not on Ramsey memorial;  on Holme memorial]    

born 9th March 1925, third son of Thomas & Ada Mary (nee APTHORPE) CARRINGTON of the Council Houses, Ramsey Heights, was killed in action in Normandy on Friday, 11th August 1944, aged 19 years, and was buried in the St. Charles de Percy War Cemetery, Calvados, France.  His section had been ordered to take a piece of ground from which the enemy were giving much trouble, and it was in the advance he was caught in the fire from an enemy automatic and killed instantly, and was buried by the Padre the next day with two more of his comrades.  Most of those buried in this cemetery died in the last day or two of July and the first two weeks of August 1944, when the British Forces broke out from the Normandy bridgehead and were later able to trap the Germans.  Pte. CARRINGTON had been in the Army for less than a year, and had two older brothers serving.      [Also on Ramsey St. Marys memorial]

born 23rd August 1922, son of Harry & Letitia COX of 55 The Avenue, Ramsey, was reported to be in hospital seriously ill after being wounded in action in the Central Mediterranean theatre of war suffering from gunshot wounds in the head, arm and back, on 3rd February 1944.  He died on Monday, 6th March 1944, aged 21 years, and was buried in the Naples War Cemetery, Italy.  He had joined the Suffolk Regt. about two years previously and was attached to the “Queen’s”.  Before joining the Army he was a canteen assistant at a local public works and a member of the Home Guard.  Mr. & Mrs. COX also had two sons who served in the Royal Navy and another son was held a prisoner-of-war in Japanese hands.

born 6th October 1924, the eldest son of Alfred George & Clara (nee ABRAMS) CULLIP of 30 Station Road, Ramsey, joined the Northamptonshire Regt. on 17th July 1943.  After spending a short Christmas 1943 leave with his parents, he proceeded to the Front, and on 28th February 1944 he was reported to be seriously ill with gunshot wounds to his left foot and left arm, received while on active service in the Central Mediterranean theatre of war.  He died on Wednesday, 1st March 1944, aged 19 years, and was buried in the Naples War Cemetery, Italy.  Mr. & Mrs. CULLIP had three other sons.      [Also a wall tablet in Ramsey Baptist Chapel]

second son of Mrs. Sarah Elizabeth DAVIS & the late Frank Richards DAVIS of Bleak House, 23 Blenheim Road, Ramsey, was reported missing and since presumed killed on the night of Tuesday, 10th August 1943, aged 22 years, and is commemorated on the Malta Memorial, located in the area of Floriana, Malta.  He joined the R.A.F. at the outbreak of the War and quickly attained his wings as a Fighter Sergeant Pilot, later being promoted to commissioned rank.  After taking part in the Battle of Britain, he had just been granted the Freedom of the City of Coventry, where he had served his articles in aircraft construction.  He had recently been operating from Gibralter and was actually on his way home in a bomber for a well-earned rest when the plane was reported missing.     [Also on Ramsey Grammar School memorial]

born 17th December 1924, eldest son of William Ward & Violet DAWSON of 24 New Road, Ramsey, lost his life as a result of air operations during the night of Sunday, 15th October 1944, and was buried in the Sage War Cemetery, Germany.  He was the rear-gunner, one of a crew of seven, in a Halifax plane which was on an operational flight near Jackstede.  Having previously been wounded in the legs during a flying operation over France, he had spent some time in a Yorkshire hospital.  Before joining the R.A.F. in 1943, he was employed as an assistant at the International Stores, Ramsey.

son of George & Florence (nee BRADFORD) DEAN of Ramsey Mereside, had been abroad for two and a half years when he was killed in action in Burma on Wednesday, 7th June 1944, aged 25 years, and was buried in the Imphal War Cemetery, Manipur State, north east India.  Before joining up in November 1939, he was employed by his father.  He left a widow Ethel (nee SNEESBY) DEAN, and a daughter Janet, living at Benwick.

was killed in a plane crash while engaged in night flying operations on Sunday, 4th August 1940, aged 24 years, and was buried in Ramsey Cemetery.  He left a widow Vera (nee GARTON) DUFFY.       [Added to Ramsey memorial]

born 16th May 1900, son of George Henry & Julia (nee HARVEY) EDWARDS of 25 Newtown Road, Ramsey, was killed in action on Thursday, 9th December 1943, aged 43 years, and his grave is in the Moro River Canadian War Cemetery, Chieti, Italy.  He left a widow, Florence (nee LAVENDER) EDWARDS, who he married at Ramsey Church on 24th December 1920, living at Field Terrace, Ramsey.  After serving in the Army during World War I, he emigrated to Canada in 1926.

son of George William & Louisa (nee CUMBRIDGE) EMMINGTON of Ramsey St. Marys, died in the India Command Hospital at Bombay, after a week’s illness from toxic hepatitus, on Thursday, 14th September 1944, aged 41 years, and his grave is in the Kandy War Cemetery (formerly known as the Pitakande Military Cemetery), Sri Lanka (Ceylon).  He joined the R.A.F. two months before the War started and had been stationed in Ceylon for three years.  Before joining the R.A.F. he had been employed as a fitter’s labourer at the Newall Engineering Co, Peterborough.  Besides the widow, Edith Florence Grace (nee ALLEN) EMMINGTON, he left a 10 year old son, living at 46 St. Leonards Street, Peterborough.         [On Ramsey St. Marys memorial only]

son of Edward & Carrie FEAST, had been reported missing since ‘Dunkirk’, and was later presumed to have been killed in action on Saturday, 1st June 1940, aged 36 years, and is commemorated on the Dunkirk Memorial which stands at the entrance to the British War Graves Section of the Dunkirk Town Cemetery, Nord, France.  As a Reservist, he was called up at the beginning of the War, having previously been employed as a lorry driver for Messrs. SLOTE Brothers, of Ramsey St. Marys.  He left a widow Lilian May (nee SHAILES) FEAST living at Ramsey St. Marys.      [Also on Ramsey St. Marys & Holme memorials]

eldest son of Alfred James & Jessie FRANCIS of the Council Houses, Ramsey Mereside, died on Wednesday, 23rd August 1945, aged 25 years, and his name is commemorated on the Singapore Memorial which stands in the Kranji War Cemetery, Singapore.  He had been taken prisoner at Singapore on 15th February 1942, and died at sea from exposure and heat while a prisoner of war in Japanese hands in Thailand.  Before joining the Suffolk Regt. in October 1939, he was employed by Mr. John Edward CADE.

born 23rd November 1911, younger son of  William Ewart & Mabel Emma (nee HOOKS) GILDING of 37 Field Terrace, Ramsey, was reported missing from air operations in the Middle East in September 1942, and he died on Tuesday, 22nd September 1942, aged 31 years, after a nine-day struggle to reach safety after his aircraft made a forced landing in the remote Qattara Depression in Egypt.  His remains (confirmed by his identity discs) were found after the War - by a party of American oilmen – and were buried in the El Alamein War Cemetery, Egypt.  Mr. & Mrs. GILDING’s elder son Alec Rupert GILDING was also on active service in the R.A.F.      [Also on Ramsey Grammar School memorial]

youngest son of John William & Rose (nee TOWNSEND) GREENWOOD of 18 Newtown Road, Ramsey, went out to Normandy on the 7th June 1944 (the day after ‘D-Day’).  He was killed in action there on Tuesday, 8th August 1944, aged 19 years, and was buried in the Bayeux War Cemetery, Calvados, France.  The town of Bayeux, in Normandy, was the first French town of importance to be liberated from the Germans in June 1944.  Before joining up he was employed by the Central Meat Co, Ramsey, and for a short time with Bury Transport Co.  Mr. & Mrs. GREENWOOD had two other sons serving:  Ken GREENWOOD who was a Petty Officer in the Royal Navy, and Jack GREENWOOD a corporal (military policeman) in the R.A.F.

fourth son of Bertie & Martha GREENWOOD of 131 Great Whyte, Ramsey, died on Sunday, 5th August 1945, aged 25 years, and was buried in the Labuan (a small island in Brunei May, off the coast of north-west Borneo) War Cemetery, Malasia.  He died while being held a prisoner-of-war in Kuching Camp, Sarawak, Borneo, where he had been held for three and a half years.  He left a widow, Kathleen May GREENWOOD, living at Brockley, London.

second son of Benjamin William & Fanny HIBBINS of 54 The Avenue, Ramsey, enlisted on 20th April 1944, and proceeded overseas on 29th November.  He was killed in action on the Western European Front on Friday, 2nd March 1945, aged 19 years, and was buried in the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, near Kleve, Germany.

eldest son of George William & Nellie HODSON of Newtons Farm, Warboys Fen, died on Saturday, 24th January 1942, aged 22 years, and is commemorated on the Singapore Memorial, which stands in Kranji War Cemetery, Singapore.  After leaving Ramsey Grammar School, he was employed by Messrs. MAULE, Son & WINTER, Solicitors, of Huntingdon.     [Not on Ramsey memorial;  on Ramsey Grammar School memorial & Warboys memorial]

born on 8th July 1920, only son of Herbert INGLE, a postman in Ramsey for many years, & Ethel May INGLE of 1 Field Terrace, Ramsey, attended Ramsey Grammar School from 1931-37, passed the School Certificate – reaching credit standard in four subjects.  On leaving school, he entered the service of the L.N.E.R. as a clerk, starting at Ramsey St. Marys, and later at Holme, Littleworth & Ramsey.  Called up for service in January 1941, he passed tests in driving, maintenance and wireless, and little more than six months later was drafted to the Libyan area and then to northern Borneo.  He died of wounds received in action whilst serving with the 7th Hussars in the Indian theatre of war on Wednesday, 1st April 1942, aged 21 years, and is commemorated on the Rangoon Memorial, situated in the Taukkyan War Cemetery, Myanmar (Burma).      [Also on Ramsey Grammar School memorial] 

eldest son of Oliver & Daisy May (nee SMITH) NORFIELD of 49 Council Houses, Ramsey St. Mary’s, died on Wednesday, 11th February 1942, aged 22 years, and his grave is in the Kranji War Cemetery, Singapore.  Before joining the Army in November 1940, he was employed by Mr. C. BRIDGFOOT of Pondersbridge.     [Also on Ramsey St. Marys memorial]

only child of the Rev. Gordon Miles Staveley OLDHAM O.B.E, M.A. and Mrs. Hilda Georgina Susan OLDHAM of The Vicarage, Ramsey, died of wounds received while on active service in the Middle East on Wednesday, 9th September 1942, aged 21 years, and was buried in the Heliopolis War Cemetery, Cairo, Egypt.  Born in April 1921, he was educated at Highfield School, Liphook, Shrewsbury School, and finally for one year at Hertford College, Oxford.  In July 1940 he enlisted as a private in the Essex Regt. and one month later became a sergeant, in the autumn of the same year he was posted to an O.C.T.U.and in December  was granted a commission in the Rifle Brigade.  After a period of training, Lt. OLDHAM volunteered for foreign service and in March 1941 sailed for the Middle East, and following active service in Libya, was made a Temporary Instructor at the Base School of Instruction, ultimately being offered an Instructorship at that School, with the rank of captain.  However, he preferred to go back to the Rifle Brigade as a 2nd Lieutenant.

of Ramsey, son of Frederick & Bertha PALMER, had been with an Infantry Regt. in Italy for fourteen months when he died of wounds on Wednesday, 31st May 1944, aged 37 years, and was buried in the Beach Head War Cemetery, Anzio, Italy.  He joined up a few days before War broke out, was sent to France at the end of September 1939, and went through the evacuation of Dunkirk.  During the Anzio beach-head landing he was taken prisoner, but escaped and sustained only a slight head wound.  Besides his widow Ruth (nee ALLEN) PALMER, he also left a daughter Jean, living at 17 Newtown Road, Ramsey.  Before joining the Army, he was employed in H.M. Stationery Office in London. 

born 31st October 1919, eldest son of John Harold Tearle & Constance Pauline (nee BUTLER) PALMER of The Hawthorns, Great Whyte, Ramsey, was educated first at Ramsey Grammar School and later at The Kings School, Peterborough.  On leaving school at eighteen, he decided to take up flying as a career, and in March 1939 took a short service (four years) commission in the R.A.F.  His plane crashed whilst on operations over Belgium in July 1940, and he was badly burned and suffered from concussion & shock.  He was in the Edith Cavill Hospital, Belgium, for a time, and was then moved to a camp in Germany where he spent his 21st, 22nd and 23rd birthdays.  He died of an illness contracted while in a German Hospital Camp, on Sunday, 6th December 1942, aged 23 years, and his grave is in the Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery, Brandenburg, Germany.     [Also on Ramsey Grammar School & Westminster Abbey ‘Battle of Britain’ memorials]

second son of Mr. & Mrs. Andrew PAPWORTH of Witcham, near Ely, was killed in action on Tuesday, 16th May 1944, aged about 28 years, and was buried in the Cassino War Cemetery, in the Province of Frosinone, Italy.  Besides the widow Alice Florence (nee RICHARDSON) PAPWORTH, he also left a two years old son.

born 13 February 1913 at Wennington, Abbots Ripton, third son of Henry James & Jane Louisa PEPPERCORN of 25 Council Houses, Ramsey Mereside, was killed in action at sea on Saturday, 5th July 1941, and his name is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial, which overlooks the River Thames, at Englefield Green, Surrey.  He had left England earlier in the year for the Middle East.  He left a widow living at Coronation Avenue, Whittlesey, he had only been married for two years.  Mr. & Mrs. PEPPERCORN had four other sons serving in H.M. Forces.    [Also on Whittlesey memorial]

youngest son of Winifred Louisa Dumella (nee BATEMAN) and the late Frederick Mawdesley SERJEANT of Biggin Lane, Ramsey, was killed in action in Burma on Wednesday, 24th May 1944, aged 29 years, and his grave is in the Taukkyan War Cemetery, Myanmar (Burma).  Educated at Wellingborough School, Northants, in 1938 he qualified as a solicitor and for a time practised at Ipswich, and he was due to join his brother, Mr. Frederick Robert Mawdesley SERJEANT, in the family firm of SERJEANT & Son (Solicitors) at Ramsey, on the day he was demobilized.  Captain SERJEANT was with the Royal Norfolk Regt. attached to the Cameronians at the time of his death, having served overseas since April 1942.  His brother Major James SERJEANT was serving in Italy.

second son of Jack & Kate (nee GREENWOOD) SHEPPERSON of Royston, School Lane, Ramsey, was educated at Ramsey Grammar School and later at The Kings School, Peterborough.  When he was seventeen years old, he joined the Merchant Navy and was a member of the crew of the 28-year-old S.S. CLARISSA RATCLIFFE, a merchant ship belonging to the Evans Thomas Ratcliffe Company.  In March 1943, one month before his eighteenth birthday, and on his second trip across the Atlantic, the S.S. CLARISSA RATCLIFFE, carrying a load of iron ore and a crew of 41 with 10 gunners, was torpedoed and sunk off Nova Scotia by a German submarine, the U.663 – there were no survivors.  On it’s return journey to Breast, the U.663 was sunk in the Bay of Biscay.  He died on Tuesday, 9th March 1943, aged 17 years, and is commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial, which stands on the south side of the garden in Trinity Square, close to the Tower of London, London.  His brother was a physical training instructor with the R.A.F.  [Also on Ramsey Grammar School memorial & the Kings School memorial in Peterborough Cathedral 

7th. Queen’s Own Hussars, Royal Armoured Corps

second son of Harry & Emma SMITH of Middlemoor, Ramsey St. Mary’s, died of wounds in the Middle East on Tuesday, 4th August 1942, aged 29 years, and his grave is in the Kirkee (also known as the Khadki) War Cemetery, near Poona, India.  He had also been wounded in Libya the previous March.  Mr. & Mrs. SMITH had two other sons.

son of John Alfred & Mabel Gladys SMITH of Ramsey Hollow, died of wounds in a hospital somewhere on the Western European Front on Saturday, 10th March 1945, aged 20 years, and was buried in the Venray War Cemetery, Netherlands.  He was called up on 7th January 1943, and landed in France two days after ‘D-Day’ (8th June 1944), and died shortly after spending eight days leave at home.  The town of Venray had been liberated by Allied troups in October 1944.       [Not on Ramsey memorial]

of Ramsey, son of John Henry & Mary Ann SMITH of 32 Needingworth Road, St. Ives, formerly employed by the Co-op Society, was killed while on duty on Friday, 22nd August 1941, aged 21 years, and is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Hampshire.   [In memoriam – from all at 8 Field Terrace, Ramsey]  [In memoriam – from his aunt & family, Bury Road, Ramsey]  [Not on Ramsey memorial;  on St. Ives memorial]

died on Saturday, 15th December 1945, aged 20 years, and was buried in Ramsey cemetery.

son of Mr. & Mrs. Elisha TAYLOR of Jubilee Yard, Ramsey, who had been taken prisoner at Singapore, died of avitaminosis in a Thailand Camp on Monday, 23rd August 1943, aged 24 years, and was buried in the Chungkai War Cemetery, Thailand.  Chungkai was one of the base camps on the Burma – Siam railway, and contained a hospital and church built by Allied prisoners-of-war.  The War Cemetery is the original burial ground started by the prisoners themselves, and those who rest there are mostly men who died in the hospital.  He left a widow Mrs. Sylvia (nee DRING) TAYLOR who he married at Warboys, just one week prior to being called up, living at Station Road, Warboys.  His brother, Pte. Albert Charles TAYLOR of the Essex Regt., had been a prisoner-of-war in ‘Italy & Germany’ and was released just prior to V.E. Day.    [Also on Warboys memorial]

youngest son of John William & Ellen Isadore (nee BUTLER) WHITAKER of Ramsey, later of Fishponds, Glos, was killed in action on Sunday, 23rd May 1943, aged 22 years, and interred in the Markelo General Cemetery, Holland.     [Added to Ramsey memorial]

135 (The Hertfordshire Yeomanry) Field Regt, Royal Artillery.

son of Herbert John & Alice Elizabeth (nee TURNER) WHITEHEAD of Yaxley, was killed in action on Monday, 26th January 1942, aged 21 years, and is commemorated on the Singapore Memorial, which stands in the Kranji War Cemetery, Singapore.     [Not on Ramsey memorial;  on Ramsey Grammar School & Yaxley memorials]

born 24th July 1922, son of John & Marion WILLIS of the School House, Ramsey Fortyfoot, died when the ship on which he was serving was sunk on Friday, 31st January 1941, aged 18 years, and is commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial, in the garden of Trinity Square, London.  The 5,159 ton ROWANBANK, owned by Bank Line Ltd. was bombed and sunk some 1,100 miles from Merignac (near Bordeaux, France), en route from Lourence Marques (on the south coast of Mozambique, South Africa), to Oban, Scotland, and all her crew of 68 were lost – it was one of eight vessels sunk in January 1941 by Focke Wulf 200 Kondor (German) aircraft in the Western Approaches..  Mr. & Mrs. WILLIS’ other son Tom WILLIS was serving with the Royal Navy.    [Also on Ramsey Grammar School memorial]

1st Bn. Cambridgeshire Regt, Suffolk Regt.

born 27th December 1918, youngest son of Charles & Mary Ann (nee WHITE) WILSON of 70 The Avenue, Ramsey, died at sea while a prisoner-of-war in Japanese hands in Thailand on Thursday, 21st September 1944, aged 25 years, and is commemorated on the Singapore Memorial, which stands in the Kranji War Cemetery, Singapore.  He was taken prisoner at Singapore, and worked in No. 1 (Prison) Camp, Thailand.

born 5th October 1904, eldest son of Charles & Mary Ann WILSON of 70 The Avenue, Ramsey, was mobilised on 2nd September and died twelve days later at Aldershot, on Thursday night, 14th September 1939, aged 35 years, and was buried in Ramsey Cemetery.  He had just posted a letter to his wife when his motorcycle was involved in an accident with a lorry that was on the wrong side of the road, killing him instantly.  A claim for damages for negligence was settled on his widow in May 1940.  Besides the widow Ivy (nee BAILEY) WILSON, he left seven children aged between six months to fourteen years, living at 20 West Avenue, Ramsey.  Before being called-up as a reservist, he had been employed as an M.T. driver at the R.A.F. Station, Upwood.