posted on 2024-06-05, 18:17authored byTheir Finest Hour Project Team
I am the owner of the Greater Manchester Blitz Victims website www.greatermanchesterblitzvictims.co.uk and I stumbled across 12 deaths whose cause of death had been lost in the midst of time and, of course, the efficiency of the war-time censor. The full story is attached in a local history document that I wrote in 2020.
History
Item list and details
Local history document.
Person the story/items relate to
In alphabetical order, the twelve men killed in this incident are listed below:
1. Lance Sergeant Benjamin Harry BROUGHTON - aged: 28 - Son of Benjamin H. and Margaret Broughton, of Whitby, Yorkshire - Buried in the Whitby (Larpool) Cemetery.
2. Sapper Eric John Berkley CLAYTON - aged: 23 - Son of Robert Millard Clayton and Alice Maria Clayton, of Hall Green, Birmingham - Prior to enlisting he was employed as a Dairyman's Clerk - Commemorated on the Brookwood Memorial, Surrey.
3. Sapper Leslie DANES - aged: 21 - Son of James William and Matilda Elizabeth Danes; husband of Ivy Maude Danes (née Berry) of Hainault, Ilford, Essex, whom he married in late 1939 - Buried in the Barking (Rippleside) Cemetery, Essex.
4. Sapper William Reginald DEAKIN - aged: 23 - Son of Mr. and Mrs. H. B. Deakin, of South Yardley, Birmingham - Prior to enlisting he was employed as a Parcel's Porter with the LMS Railway - Buried in the Manchester (Southern) Cemetery.
5. Warrant Officer George Wilfred HIMBURY - aged: 31 - Son of Samuel and Holly Himbury, husband of Kathleen Lucy Himbury (née Clayton) of Copnor, Hampshire - Buried in the Western Super Mare Cemetery.
6. Sapper James Bird HODGSON - aged: 20 - Son of James and Edith Mabel Hodgson, of Perry Bar, Birmingham - Prior to enlisting he was employed as a Dispatch Clerk in non-ferrous metals - Buried in the Birmingham (Witton) Cemetery.
7. Sapper Charles Caine HOLMAN - aged: 28 - Son of Samuel and Margaret Holman, of West Hampstead, London - Buried in the Communal Civilian Grave in the Manchester (Southern) Cemetery - His brother Samuel Walter Holman also died on active service in Italy in 1944..
8. Lance Corporal William Hugh MILLER - aged: 22 - Son of William and Elizabeth Miller, of Glasgow - Buried in the Renfrew (Arkleston) Cemetery, Scotland.
9. Sapper Isiah (Sonny) MOSS - aged: 21 - Son of Isaiah and Minnie Moss, of Lye, Stourbridge - Son of Isiah & Minnie Moss (née Keen) - Buried in the Stourbridge (Lye & Wollescote) Cemetery, Worcestershire.
10. Sapper Henry William Abram ROBERTS - aged: 21 - Son of Robert and Alice Ethel Roberts, of Wenhaston, Suffolk - Prior to enlisting he was employed as a Farm Labourer - Commemorated on the Brookwood Memorial, Surrey.
11. Sapper Jack Edward SHELDRAKE - aged: 20 - Son of David & Martha Ann Sheldrake - Commemorated on the Brookwood Memorial, Surrey.
12. Lance Corporal Denis Henry Wilfred THAYER - aged: 22 - Son of Wilfred Frank & Lily B. Thayer, of Rodney Stoke, Somerset - Buried in the Rodney Stoke (St. Leonard) Churchyard, Somerset.
Person who shared the story/items
George Cogswell
Type of submission
Shared online via the Their Finest Hour project website.