16th DLI Signal Platoon, 1944

Photograph taken at Er Rama in April 1944. Courtesy of Les Brown. Identifications courtesy of Les Brown, Jimmy James and Ernie Scriven.

Front row, left to right, sitting on ground: (2) Foy (3) Tommy Broughton (4) Solomons (8) Ernie Scriven, who was called up from London in 1940 and served with the Battalion from the very beginning in Edinburgh.

Second row: (1) Bryant, (2) Hall, one of the two Halls in the Platoon. (3) Cpl Frank Reynolds, an ex-Beds and Herts man, also with the Battalion from the start, see also these photographs (4) Sgt Thompson, in the Platoon from 1940, see the 1940 Signal Platoon photograph. (5) Capt G R Harris (6) Sgt 'Nobby' Billington (7) Howe (8) Cain? Or Higgins? (9) Webberley.

Third row: (1) Les Brown, (2) Ronald Elliott, (3) Taylor, (4) White, (6) Gaffney, (7) Cram (8) Burton (9) Bill Pinn, another ex-Beds and Herts man: see also the 1940 Beds and Herts squad photo.

Fourth row: (1) Mason (2) Berkovich (3) Alex Grey, ex-Beds and Herts, with the Battalion from 1940. (6) Name forgotten but remembered as Captain Harris's batman (7) Hall.

Several members of the 16 DLI Signal Platoon, most featured above, were subsequently interviewed at length by the Imperial War Museum. These interviews are now available to listen to online. These are the direct links:

Lesley Brown, interviewed by the author in 2001: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80024568

Ronnie Elliott: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80009948

Alex ‘Jock’ Grey, interviewed by the author in 2001: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80020526

W, ‘Jimmy’ James, the first Signal Platoon Sgt in 1940, subsequently served as D Coy CQMS;, interviewed by the author in 1999: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80024594

Bill Pinn: http://.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80013078

Tony Sacco: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80017762

Ernie Scriven, interviewed by the author in 2001: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80024557
Signal Platoon 1944

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