Souvenir of memories from people of Felbridge to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II

Our War – The bombing of Lingfield County Secondary School
My friend Margaret and I have always been friends since 1936, as we lived next door to each other in Felbridge, a small village in Surrey. At the age of eleven we both left Felbridge School to go to Lingfield County Secondary School. On the morning of Tuesday 9th February 1943, we left our homes at 8.20am as usual, and walked to the bottom of Rowplatt Lane to wait for the coach. Three coaches collected children from around the villages to take us to Lingfield to school.

It was a wet, dark morning, and as we waited on the side of the road, chatting as usual, we heard the steady drone of an aeroplane, German of course. We knew at once, as they all sounded different from ‘ours’. As we watched, skywards we saw a German Bomber, slowly approaching. It tilted slightly as it passed overhead and we could see the unmistakeable markings of a German cross under the wings. At that moment the sirens wailed, we didn’t take much notice as after three and a half years of war we had grown complacent – it was part of our daily lives.
The coach arrived and we climbed aboard. Some 20 minutes later we reached the village of Lingfield. We rounded the last bend and complete devastation greeted us. Debris everywhere, houses with windows broken, a complete row of old and tiny cottages lay with roofs open to the sky, still with fires smouldering. Disaster had only just struck and people were rushing about everywhere. The coach driver picked his way carefully through the village, round the pond and into the High Street.

A fire engine was standing in the school playground, the Gas Company repair lorry also stood there. My dad must have been there somewhere, as he was in charge of ‘Repair Party Gas’. It was these men who had to attend to turn off the gas to the mains. The playground at the front was littered with wood and broken glass. Smoke was still pouring from the back of the main building and something seemed to have disappeared altogether. As children do, we all climbed over to the side of the coach so we could see easier, and now we could see that the roof of the Assembly Hall had gone.

Mrs. Huddspeth, our music teacher came running across the playground to the coaches. The driver must take us all home, the school had received a direct hit on the Geography room, three classrooms, the Assembly Hall, the girls’ cloakrooms, and the ladies staffrooms had all gone. The girls corridors, which were supposed to be bomb-proof (!) had come down like a pack of cards. Two teachers, two children, and Jessie the cleaner were all dead. Another elderly teacher was being dug out, seriously injured, who had the two dead children round her. So in a dazed sort of way, we went home. What next?

My father arrived home that evening, plainly distressed, he had been helping with the rescue work. He was very upset as he had a lot to do with the school, helping to run the Air Training Corps for boys and girls, and the classes for Aircraft Recognition for which he was trained. A few days later a message arrived from Lingfield via our Infants School that we were to attend our Infants Schools with a teacher from Lingfield until arrangements could be made for some temporary accommodation. We didn’t think much of that! Go back to Infants! However, it wasn’t for long. We went back and were told that some of our classes were to be held in ‘The Old Star Inn’ public house near the church in Lingfield. That might be fun! The rest of the school building had been temporarily repaired. The class rooms that opened on to the hall now had outside walls and doors, proving to be quite draughty in winter! The murals and decorations of the old hall now appeared on the outside!

Our maths classes were now held in the pub, which was only a short distance down a narrow ‘twitten’ and we soon got used to it. Maybe we could waste a bit time to shorten lessons….but it was not to be, the teachers carefully worked out the timetables to allow for time! The place still smelt slightly from beer – especially the Public Bar! The children soon forget, and we gradually settled to a new routine. Soon there were too many children joining the school, and by the summer some more alternative accommodation had been found. A charming little Manor House at the top of Jacksbridge Hill, next to some apple orchards had been found. Even further to walk! By the time we had walked up and down two or three times a day between school and house we were very fit! The War went on and Margaret and I, and all our friends got older and left Lingfield School to earn our livings.
Mavis V Porter née Hopper formerly of Felbridge, now of Findon Valley, Worthing, West Sussex

Time to Remember
I remember one summer evening a crowd of us children, including Mavis Hopper and David Wedge, were playing rounders in the School field at Felbridge, all of a sudden we heard a plane approaching over the trees from the Copthorne Road. We stood and watched for a moment then realised it was a German Bomber flying very low, we then had to run for our lives as he machine gunned us and we threw ourselves under the hedge by the Chestnut trees for cover. We were very frightened but felt lucky to be alive. The German plane was followed by one of our fighters and we believe it crashed in Sharpthorne.
Margaret Owden, née Pentecost

Bombs around Park Farm
Our house was close to the Barracks [Hobb’s Barracks], close enough that we could hear the bugle, and the Irish Guards used to practise their marching and Band practise in the lane from Hobb’s to near our house at Park Farm, so we heard the pipe band playing quite often.

I remember one night we saw a plane come down in flames. That would have been the one that crashed at Wiremill. Also, when Woodcock Hill was bombed, the bombs whistled down. They landed all around the house called ‘The Sheiling’, but the owner was deaf and didn’t hear them. Fortunately she survived.

Park Farm also had two bombs fall in the filed at the side of our house and a bit of a bomb went through our bird aviary, luckily no birds escaped. I also remember on another day, in the same field, a plane that was so low that it was below the height of the hedge, it was a fighter plane but I don’t know what that was doing.
Joyce Chewter, née Streeter

Last V1
Flying Bomb attacks started in 1944 and it is said that if you heard the drone of its engine you were alive. Launched from the French coast the Flying Bomb or V1 as it was known, would fly until its engine failed then it would fall to the ground and explode. The last V1 to land in Britain came down on 25th March 1945 near Lower Barn Farm to the east of the Felbridge Hotel, behind North End. Fortunately, casualties were slight but damage to property was extensive and wide spread, affecting as far away as the houses in Imberhorne Lane.
War Damage Reports

World War II
‘War is coming’ was the talk as to the school we would walk.
Gas masks issued at the hall, in various sizes, mine was small.
Stacked at school they would sit underneath the Cuckoo clock.
A dug out shelter under trees, the camouflage was made of leaves.
We sang songs to drown the noise made up there by our brave boys.
Crisscross tape upon the glass to prevent damage from a blast.
Under the desks we would dive if there wasn’t time to hide,
We had two teams, Spitfire and Hurricanes, but we got mixed
Ensuing arguments would leave us vexed.
Buckets of water to quench the flames,
Buckets of sand to do the same.
Air Raid wardens dressed in navy with tin hats would blow their whistles
And shout to take cover from enemy missiles.
During the night it was ‘Put out that light’.
Posters on notice boards would say ‘Dig for Victory’.
The boys at school were not so keen. We did our bit to help weeding.
Anderson shelters were the rage; to dig the hole took us an age.
‘Careless talk costs lives’ we were told. To talk to strangers would be too bold.
At Lingfield Senior School, food parcels arrived,
Cheese cubes for lunchtime snack.
Chocolate powder for making drinks never got beyond the gate,
Finger dipping was its fate.
Armoured cars and tanks on the road did travel; you could hear the crunching gravel.
The Irish Guards were on Parade, you could hear them as their Pipe Band played.
Meeting tonight the Home Guard said, ‘Polish your buttons for inspection’,
The Fire Service polished their Engine instead.
‘The War is over’, everyone shouted, ‘Hang out the bunting and Union Jacks’.
My father planted a colourful hue, of flowers, in ‘Red, White and Blue’.
Jean Roberts née Sargeant

VE Day celebrations
At the end of the war we celebrated VE Day, we had a lovely party in the Felbridge playing field where the Village Hall now stands. I think it was arranged by the Felbridge Home Guard, of which my father was a member. We had sports and games in the afternoon before a tea and a large bonfire in the evening. It all seemed very exciting after five years of war, and going to the seaside and not being able to go near the beaches because of barbed wire defences. War was a terrible thing and something you would never wish another generation to live through, sadly quite a few people lost only sons in the war who lived in Felbridge.
Ann Hillman, née Agates

Greater love hath no man that he lay down his life for his friends
For over sixty years there was no memorial in Felbridge to the service men who laid down their lives during World War II. The only references to anyone not returning from the war were to be found discreetly inscribed on relative’s headstones or, in the case of FO Albert Cheesewright, a pair of credence tables in St John’s Church. In the year of the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II it seemed a fitting tribute to erect a memorial to these men and found there to be eighteen men with Felbridge connections that have lain unrecognised for their services. Sadly, due to Diocesan formalities, it was not possible for the memorial to be erected in 2005 so these service men will have to wait a little longer for their deserved remembrance memorial.

F.O. Gerald Dennis Carroll
Gerald was born in 1921, the son of Charles Michael and Luisa Margaret Carroll who joined Luisa’s mother, Mrs Horsefield, at 6 Wembury Park in Newchapel in 1943. Gerald joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, 138 Squadron, and F.O. Gerald Dennis Carroll 137405 was killed on 8th February 1944, aged twenty-one when the aircraft he was in crash-landed. Seven young airmen were killed in the crash, five Britain’s, and two Canadians, Gerald being one of the British. He was buried in Grave No.7 of the Autrans Communal Cemetery in France. The small town of Autrans, west of Grenoble, is situated high up in the Vercors. On 31st July 2004, a small monument was dedicated to the memory of the airmen by the town’s people of Autrans at the place where the crash occurred, an area that is inaccessible during the winter months.

Capt. Michael John Carroll
Michael was born in 1917, the son of Charles and Luisa Carroll, and older brother of Gerald Dennis Carroll. He joined the 113 Field Regiment of the Royal Artillery, where he rose to the rank of Captain. Capt. Michael John Carroll, 124063, was killed on 10th September 1943, five months before his younger brother Gerald, and was buried in Grave III. A. 1 in the Salerno War Cemetery in Italy. Allied Forces had invaded the Italian mainland on 3rd September 1943, and Commonwealth and American Forces landed near Salerno on 8th/9th September 1943 which was followed by fierce fighting for several days in the bridgehead that they established. The site of the cemetery was chosen in November 1943 and it contains many burials resulting from the landings and the fight that followed in which Capt. Michael John Carroll was killed.

2nd Lt. Patrick Milne Carroll
Patrick was born in 1920, the son of Charles and Luisa Carroll and middle brother of Michael John and Gerald Dennis Carroll. He joined the Royal Tank Regiment of the Royal Armoured Corps rising to the rank of Second Lieutenant. 2nd Lt. Patrick Milne Carroll 187261 was killed on 22nd July 1942 and is remembered on Column 29 of the Alamein Memorial in Egypt. This memorial forms the entrance of the El Alamein War Cemetery that contains the bodies of Commonwealth Forces who fought in the campaigns in the Western Desert, especially those who died in the Battle of El Alamein in 1942. Patrick was the first of the Carroll brothers to be killed in action, the war claiming three of the Carroll children.

F.O. Albert George Frederick Cheesewright
Albert was born in 1901, and served with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserves during World War II. Flying Officer, Albert George Frederick Cheesewright, 65030, was killed on 4th May 1942, aged forty-one. His name appears on the Singapore Memorial, Singapore, Column 412. The Memorial stands in the Kranji War Cemetery, and bears the names of 24,000 casualties of the Commonwealth land and air forces that have no known grave. The airmen who are commemorated died during operations over the whole of Southern and Eastern Asia and the surrounding seas. Unfortunately little else is known about his personal life, except that he was married to a lady called Dorothy, who at the time of his death in 1942, was recorded as living at Earls Court, London.

Sap. Harold Curtis
Harold was born in 1916, the son of Frederick and Florrie Curtis, of ‘Trevore’, Copthorne Road, Felbridge. With the outbreak of World War II on 3rd September 1939, Harold signed up with the No. 2 Bomb Disposal Section of the Royal Engineers. However, it was not defusing a bomb that caused the death of Sapper Harold Curtis, 1888425, on Thursday 31st October 1940, at the age of twenty-four. He had been on leave and had returned to Barracks. On his arrival he was requested to take a message, by motorbike, and it was whilst on this duty that he was involved in a fatal accident. His body was returned to Felbridge and he was buried in the churchyard at St John’s.

Lt. C Francis Drake
C Francis Drake was born 7th September 1911, the son of John Bernard and Beatrice Louisa Drake, and grandson of Anne Louisa and C Bernard Drake. C Bernard Drake, MA, was Rector of Leverington, Cambridgeshire, and some time after his death his widow Anne moved to The Limes, Felbridge, naming the house Leverington. C Francis married a lady called Dorothea, who at the time of his death was recorded as living in Germiston, Transvaal, South Africa. Francis served with No.12 Squadron of the South African Air Force rising to the position of Lieutenant. LT. C Francis Drake, 102340, died in active service on Thursday 4th June 1942, aged thirty. He is buried in the Halfaya Sollum War Cemetery in Egypt, in grave no. 12. C. 7. All the graves in the Halfaya Sollum Cemetery were brought in from the surrounding area to centralise them and give them a safe location in a sensitive area, being only a short distance from the Libyan border. The cemetery contains 2,046 Commonwealth burials of World War II, of which 238 are unidentified. Francis is also remembered in the churchyard of St John’s, on the grave slab of his grandmother, Anne Louisa Drake, who at the time of her death was aged ninety-one, and was buried on 18th September 1942. Also recorded on her gravestone is:

F.O. John Randal Drake
John Randal was born in 1909, brother of C Francis Drake, and married a lady called Sonia, who at the time of his death was living at Victoria, London. John Randal served with the 218 (Gold Coast) Squadron of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserves during World War II, rising to the rank of Flying Officer. F.O. John Randal Drake, 115207, was killed in active service on Thursday 1st October 1942, aged thirty-three, and his name appears on the Runnymeade Memorial, Surrey, that overlooks the Thames, panel number 66. The Runnymeade Memorial stands on Cooper’s Hill, at Englefield Green, between Windsor and Egham, and commemorates the names of over 20,000 airmen lost in the Second World War during operations from bases in the United Kingdom and North and Western Europe. The circumstances of John Randal Drake’s death are not known, and as well as the Runnymeade Memorial, his name also appears on the grave slab of his grandmother Anne Louisa Drake, along with Francis Drake, his brother, who also died in 1942.

1st O. Gilbert Christopher Gould
Gilbert was born in 1907, the son of Gilbert and Grace Gould. He married Esme Maude and they had at least one daughter called Mary. Both Gilbert and Esme were school teachers and the family home was Tangle Hedge, The Limes in Felbridge. Gilbert joined the Air Transport Auxiliary, rising to the rank of First Officer. 1st O. Gilbert Christopher Gould was killed on 8th February 1945, when the taxi plane in which he was travelling crashed into the North Downs, he was aged thirty-eight, and was laid to rest at Golders Green Crematorium.

Sap. Mark Heselden
Mark was born on 7th March 1916, the son of William Mark Heselden and his wife Edith née Cosson. Mark joined the family building firm of W M Heselden & Sons Ltd. in 1930, working as a carpenter. On 4th April 1940, he married Winifred Emily Alison Potter, and they had one son called Keith, born in 1942. In 1940, Mark was called up under the Government’s direction of labour policy for World War II to carry out duties working on aircraft engines. He worked first at Gatwick and later at Southampton, and whilst in Southampton the Germans bombed his unit heavily. Later Mark joined the 174 Workshops and Park Company of the Royal Engineers, and was due to take part in the Normandy invasion of 6th June 1944, but Sapper Mark William Heselden, 14379084, was fatally injured just a fortnight earlier when an army lorry in which he was travelling was involved in a road accident. Mark died the following day on 23rd May 1944, at the age of twenty-eight, his body returned to Felbridge to be buried at St John’s.

F. Lt. Geoffrey Robert Humphries
Geoffrey was born in 1917, the son of William and Daisy Humphries of Felbridge, and in his short life had gained a Bachelor of Philosophy. Geoffrey joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, 159 Squadron, rising to the rank of Flight Lieutenant. F. Lt. Geoffrey Robert Humphries, 82962, was killed on 23rd February 1943 and is remembered on Column 423 of the Singapore Memorial in the Kranji War Cemetery in Malaya. After the fall of the island the Japanese established a prisoner of war camp at Kranji and after the reoccupation of Singapore, the small cemetery started by the prisoners of Kranji was developed into a permanent war cemetery by the Army Graves Service after it became clear that other war cemeteries would not remain undisturbed.

Sgt. (Air Gunner) Royston Elvin Keel
Royston, known as Roy, was born in 1925, the son of Bertie and Ellen Keel of 1 The Firs, Crawley Down Road, Felbridge. Roy joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, 218 Squadron, rising to the rank of Sergeant (Air Gunner). SGT. (Air Gnr) Royston Elvin Keel, 1809996, was killed on 1st January 1945 and was buried in Grave No.VII.D.17 in the Leopoldsburg War Cemetery in Limburg in Belgium. Many of the airmen buried there were shot down or crashed in raids on strategic objectives in Belgium, or while returning from missions over Germany.

Sig. Cecil Morris
Cecil was born in 1909, the son of Herbert and May Morris of Maicot, (now Spring Cottage), Crawley Down Road, Felbridge. Cecil married Emily Selina and they moved to East Grinstead. Little else is known about Cecil’s personal life. In World War II, Cecil was called up and served as a Signalman, with the 18th Division of Signalmen, in the Royal Corps of Signals. Signalman Cecil Morris, 2354987, died a Prisoner of War, on Tuesday 25th January 1944, aged thirty-five. He is buried in the Chungkai War Cemetery, Thailand, in grave no. 3. E. 3. This cemetery contains the remains of the Commonwealth and Dutch prisoners of war that had been forced to work by the Japanese on the notorious Burma-Siam railway. The railway was a project to improve communications to support the large Japanese Army in Burma. During its construction approximately 13,000 prisoners of war died and were buried along the railway, later moved to the Chungkai Cemetery. An estimated 80,000 to 100,000 civilians also died in the course of the project, chiefly forced labour from Malaya and the Dutch East Indies, or conscripted in Siam (Thailand) and Burma (Myanmar). The two labour forces, one based in Siam and the other in Burma, worked from opposite ends to meet in the middle. The Japanese aimed to complete the project in fourteen months and work began in October 1942. The line, nearly 263 miles (424km) long, was completed in December 1943.

The Chungkai Cemetery was started by the prisoners of war of the Chungkai Camp, which was one of the base camps on the Burma-Siam railway, and it contained a hospital and church built by the Allied prisoners of war. Most deaths, including those forced to work on the railway, were due to malnutrition, malaria, dysentery and pellagra, a vitamin deficiency disease. There are 1,427 Commonwealth burials in the cemetery from the Second World War. It is unclear whether Cecil Morris was one of those forced to work on the Burma-Siam railway as his date of capture is not known, but if he did work on the line, he survived that only to die of one of the previously mentioned causes of death.

Cecil’s father Herbert did not live to know the outcome of his son’s fate in World War II as he died in February 1941, and was buried in St John’s churchyard. A memorial to Cecil Morris was placed on this grave by his mother May and wife Emily in the form of a square block-shaped stone urn.

Sgt. Alfred Joseph Muggeridge
Alfred was born in 1913, the son of John and Ellen Muggeridge of Felbridge. He joined the 422 General Transport Company of the Royal Army Service Corps, rising to the rank of Sergeant. Sgt. Alfred Joseph Muggeridge, T/173644, was killed on 2nd December 1942, aged twenty-nine. He is buried in grave no. 1.B.2 of the Tel el Kebir War Memorial Cemetery, northeast of Cairo in Egypt. During World War I, Tel el Kebir had been a training centre for Australian reinforcements and the site of a large prisoner of war camp. During World War II the site became a hospital centre and a large ordnance depot was established there, with many workshops for the repair of armoured cars and other weapons of war.

Lt. John Seymour Pears
John was born in 1915 the son of Harry and Kate Pears who moved from Brighton to Newchapel House in 1924. John was well educated and attained a BA at Trinity College. With the outbreak of World War II, he enlisted with the Royal Scots Greys (2nd Dragoons), Royal Armoured Corps, rising to the rank of Lieutenant. He was part of the Allied Forces that invaded the Italian mainland on 3rd September 1943, but his active service was cut short as Lieutenant John Seymour Pears, 13257, lost his life on 20th October 1943, aged twenty-eight, and was buried in grave no. VII. D. 6 in Minturno War Cemetery, in Italy.

Cpl. John Henry Stone
John Henry was born in 1916, the son of William and Mary Teresa Stone of ‘Talacre’, Copthorne Road, Felbridge. John Henry was called up to serve with the 2nd Armoured Division of Ammunition Sub-Park of the Royal Army Service Corps during World War II, rising to the rank of Corporal. This Division was in the vicinity of Greece in early 1941, at the time when the German and Italian troops were advancing towards the Egyptian frontier, and invading Yugoslavia and Greece. Between 24th April and 1st May 1941, nearly 51,000 British and Commonwealth troops were evacuated from ports in Southern Greece, leaving behind 7,000 prisoners as well as a quantity of valuable equipment. Some of those saved were sent to Crete where, in late May, they fought a bitter and ultimately unsuccessful battle against invading German airborne troops, and a further 12,000 became prisoners of war. Cpl. John Henry Stone, 188552, was killed on Saturday 26th April 1941, aged twenty-five, and his name appears on the Athens Memorial, Greece. This memorial stands within the Phaleron War Cemetery and commemorates nearly 3,000 members of the Commonwealth land forces, with no known grave, who lost their lives in Greece and Crete in 1941, and again in 1944-45, and those who lost their lives in the Dodecanese Islands and Yugoslavia between 1943-45. John Stone is also remembered on the gravestone of his parents, William and Mary Stone, in the churchyard of St John’s.

F.O. Basil Thomas Vardy
Basil Thomas Vardy was a Flying Officer, RAF Volunteer Reserve (Service: 126847, Unit: 7 A. S.). Basil flew Hurricane's in the defence of Malta. He was born on 8 May 1920 at Edmonton, London. He was a beneficiary in the will of Florence Amy Corbett made on 19 Mar 1943 at 113 Millway, Mill Hill, Middlesex.

Basil Thomas Vardy died on 25 Sep 1943 at Voortrekker Hospital, Kroonstad, South Africa, at age 23 from acute peritonitis following operation for acute perforated gangerous appendicitis. He was buried at Kroonstad New Cemetery, Kroonstadt, Free State, South Africa, Plot B. Row 7. Grave 7. Basil was described as the son of Frederick Norman and Gladys Mary Vardy of Felbridge, Surrey.

Pt. Frederick Ernest Weeks
Frederick was born in 1919, the son of James and Mary Anne Weeks, and shortly before the outbreak of the war, Frederick had married Joyce Lillian Alice of Crawley Down Road, Felbridge, and they had one daughter who he never saw. When war broke out he joined the 7th Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment. Pt. Frederick Ernest Weeks, 6402497, was killed on 18th May 1940, on his twenty-first birthday, and was buried in Plot 9, Row B, Grave 3 in the Abbeville Communal Cemetery extension, in Abbeville near the Somme in France. The town of Abbeville is on the main road from Paris to Boulogne, and during the early part of World War II was a major operational airdrome, but the town had fallen to the Germans by the end of May 1940, and it would seem likely that Frederick was killed during this action.

Lt. Donald James Wilson
Donald was born in 1912, the son of John Sydney and Ruby Wilson of Felbridge. Donald gained a BA at Canterbury and was married to a lady called Kathleen when he signed up to join the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, serving on HMS Neptune and rising to the rank of Lieutenant. Lt Donald James Wilson was killed on 19th December 1941 aged twenty-nine, and was buried in grave no. 2. F. 22 in the Tobruk War Cemetery in Libya. HMS Neptune, on which Donald served, was a light cruiser that had been commissioned on 23rd February 1934, and was part of the Malta-based Force K of Admiral Cunningham that was trying to intercept an Italian convoy heading for North Africa in December 1941. The Neptune capsized and sank about twenty miles off Tripolli after sailing into a newly-laid Italian minefield and hitting four mines. A total of 765 officers and men, including Donald, went down with the ship. The survivors of the Neptune were found floating on a raft four days later by two Italian torpedo boats. Of the sixteen men on board only one was alive, Leading Seaman John Norman Walton was the only survivor, and he became a prisoner of war.

Killed on Christmas day
Amos Edward Pattenden, known as Ted, was the son of John and Edith Pattenden. John, (christened Alfred John) was the son of Amos and Jane Pattenden of Little Hedgecourt Farm. Before their marriage in February 1911, Edith Ellen Howell, known as Edie, worked as a housemaid for Dr Charles Henry Gatty at Felbridge Place, and John worked as a labourer. They had six children, Ted being born in 1920. By the outbreak of World War II, the family had moved from Felbridge and were living on the Gravetye estate, near West Hoathly. Ted enlisted with the Coldstream Guards, rising to the rank of Lance Corporal. The Coldstream Guards consisted of two battalions; Ted was in the 2nd Battalion, which fought in North Africa between 1940 and 1943, advancing to Medjez-el-Bab, which was the limit of the Allied advance in December 1942 and which remained on the front line until decisive Allied advances in April and May 1943. Having survived the Second Battle of Alamein, Lnc. Cpl. Amos E Pattenden, 2658442, was killed on 25th December 1942, Christmas day, aged twenty-two. He was buried at the Medjez-el-Bab War Cemetery in Tunisia, grave no. 3.C.11.