The officers of the 16th Battalion Durham Light Infantry in late 1942, just prior to the Battalion’s embarkation for North Africa. Photograph probably taken at Rye, Sussex. Caption last updated 19/2/17.
|
|
For a left-side enlargement of the photograph, click here. For a right-side enlargement, click here.
|
|
This photograph is reproduced with the kind permission of the Durham County Record Office and the Trustees of the DLI Museum, where it is catalogued as follows: 'Group photograph of officers of the 16th Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry, taken before proceeding overseas, December 1942. Ref No. D/DLI 2/16/2' The Record Office also have a name-only caption, to which I have added Commonwealth War Graves Commission casualty information as per the Roll of Honour section of this web site.
|
|
Back row: Lt Donald McGregor (B Coy, KIA Sedjenane, 2/3/43; note: CWGC date of death is 1/3/43, but the Battalion War Diary File mentions him by name as leading his platoon's advance on 2/3/43); Lt Frank Ryan (Anti-tank Platoon, HQ Coy); Lt S R Horne (Medical Officer, Royal Army Medical Corps); Lt Michael B Davies (C Coy, POW Sedjenane 2/3/43); Lt Geoffrey Lindley (Intelligence Officer, HQ Coy); Lt Harold Pritchard (C Coy, later Battalion Adjutant); Lt Dennis B Stark (KIA 27/2/43); Lt W A Tinwell (A Coy); Lt L Kauffman, seriously wounded 27/2/43. Note, the Durham Record Office caption only has nine names for the 10 officers on the back row, so the identities of the last three officers on this row are suspect and one name is missing. To further complicate matters, the officer to the left of Lt Stark has been provisionally identified as Lt W J Waring, HQ Coy in 12/42, C Coy by 9/43, which could make the last two officers Tinwell and Kauffman. Confirmation requested. For more on W J Waring, see this external site:
|
http://www.militaryheraldrysociety.com/founder.html
|
|
Middle row: Lt H M Richardson (MT Section, HQ Coy); Lt P R M Glyn-Evans (A Coy, captured Sedjenane, 27/2/43, later escaped from Italy to Switzerland); Lt R W Chapman; Lt Tom R Logan (Signal Platoon, HQ Coy, later A Coy, KIA Salerno, Italy 14/9/43); Capt D H Clarke (D Coy, seriously wounded Sedjenane 27/2/43). For more on Derek Clarke, who became a professional artist postwar, see these external sites:
|
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/mar/07/derek-clarke
|
http://www.royalscottishacademy.org/exhibitions/derek-clarke-at-100/
|
|
Capt T A Cookson; Capt R M Ponder; Capt J. Welford; Lt T W Weightman (POW Tunisia, 3/43); Capt Jeffrey R Bavington Jones (B Company Second-in-Command, died of wounds as a POW, Sedjenane 9/3/43); Lt H T Dorrian, B Coy, POW Sedjenane, 2/3/43); Lt T H ‘Harry’ Mynheer, MM (Mortar Platoon, HQ Coy, wounded Sedjenane, returned to Battalion).
|
|
Front row: Lt A E ‘Bert’ Newman, MBE, Quartermaster; Capt J H Waylen (D Company CO); Capt G F D Girling (Adjutant); Major T G L Ballance (HQ Coy CO, awarded the Battalion’s first MC for actions in 3/43, KIA 4/12/43); Major David A H Bannerman (Battalion Second-in-Command); Lieutenant-Colonel Richard F Ware MC (Battalion Commanding Officer); Major K N Hillas (B Company CO, POW Sedjenane, 2/3/43); Capt T N Douthwaite; Capt M H Brown (A Company CO); Capt B Hetherington (C Company CO); Capt Fredrerick B Kirkup (Carrier Platoon, KIA Salerno, Italy, 9/9/43).
|
|
Other officers definitely with the Battalion at this time who do not feature on the photograph include: Lt Frank Duffy (D Coy, later MC, Lt Charles W Duck (C Company, KIA 1/3/43), Lt George Jobey (C Company, later C Company CO and DSO), Lt Brian Lax (HQ Coy, Carrier Platoon, POW 3/43).
|
|
For a May 1942 Nominal Roll of 16th DLI officers, click here.
|
|
For a November 1942 Nominal Roll of 16th DLI officers, click here.
|
