2588477 Cpl Arthur Eagles, RCS

2588477 Corporal Arthur Henry Eagles of the Royal Corps of Signals died on the 21st September 1941 - seventy years ago this day. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission gives his nationality as British although according to the Army Roll of Honour he was born in Australia and living in West London when he enlisted. He is buried in Hatfield Park War Cemetery in Hertfordshire.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry (UK Army Roll of Honour 1939-1945)
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

7870813 Signalman Cecil H Cuming, RCS

7870813 Signalman Cecil Herbert Cuming of the Royal Corps of Signals died on the 13th December 1943. He was 43 years old, the son of Lewis Herbert and Mary Cuming and the husband of Janetta Cuming, of Paignton, Devon. He is buried in the churchyard of St Thomas, Killinghall in Yorkshire.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry (UK Army Roll of Honour 1939-1945)
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

2363378 Signalman William F Toseland, Royal Corps of Signals

2363378 Signalman William Frank Toseland of the 161st Infantry Brigade Signals, Royal Corps of Signals died on the 1st November 1941. He was 22 years old, the son of Charles and May Toseland of Finedon, Northamptonshire, and the husband of Lily Kathleen Toseland of Finedon. He is buried in Heliopolis War Cemetery in Egypt.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry (UK Army Roll of Honour 1939-1945)
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

2582489 Signalman Austyn R Naylor, Royal Corps of Signals

2582489 Signalman Austyn Robertshaw Naylor of the 49th Division, Royal Corps of Signals died on the 9th October 1939. He was 20 years old, the son of Harry and Maggie Naylor, of Guiseley. He is buried in Rawdon (St Peter) Churchyard in Yorkshire.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry (UK Army Roll of Honour 1939-1945)
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

2352402 L/Cpl Frank J Rixon, Royal Corps of Signals

2352402 Lance-Corporal Frank James Rixon of the Royal Corps of Signals, died on the 15th September 1942. He was born in Bolton and was living in Bolton when he enlisted. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission notes that he was the son of William and Lily Ellen Rixon and that he is commemorated on the Alamein Memorial in Egypt.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry (UK Army Roll of Honour 1939-1945)
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

2323426 Signalman Tom H Halstead, Royal Corps of Signals

2323426 Signalman Tom Heap Halstead of the Hong Kong Signal Company, Royal Corps of Signals, died on the 29th August 1942. He was born in Australia but living at Blackburn, Lancashire when he enlisted. He was 23 years old, the son of Walter and Lucy Taylor Halstead, of Stoneyholme, Burnley, Lancashire. He is buried in Sai Wan War Cemetery in Hong Kong.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry (UK Army Roll of Honour 1939-1945)
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

2346245 Dvr Alan Mongger, Royal Corps of Signals

2346245 Driver Alan Mongger of the Royal Corps of Signals, died as a prisoner of war of the Japanese on the 27th August 1943. He was 25 years old, the son of Herbert and Ethel Monger of Sherborne St. John, Hampshire. He is buried in Chungkai War Cemetery in Thailand

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry (UK Army Roll of Honour 1939-1945)
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

2362510 Sgt Eric H Shrimpton, Royal Corps of Signals

2362510 Sergeant Eric Harold Shrimpton of the Royal Corps of Signals, died on the 29th July 1945. He was 27 years old, the son of Harold and Mabel Christian Shrimpton, of Birmingham. He is buried in Naples War Cemetery.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry (UK Army Roll of Honour 1939-1945)
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

2584896 L/Cpl Raymond Lewry MM, Royal Corps of Signals

2584896 Lance-Corporal Raymond William Lewry MM, of the Royal Corps of Signals, died on the 25th May 1943. He was 21 years old, the son of Wilfred Warden Lewry and Hilda Mary Lewry, of South Harrow, Middlesex. He is buried in the Enfidaville War Cemetery in Tunisia.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry (UK Army Roll of Honour 1939-1945)
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

2587634 L/Cpl Raymond Hall, Royal Corps of Signals

2587634 Lance-Corporal Raymond Hall of the Royal Corps of Signals died on the 1st May 1943. He was 22 years old, the son of William Henry and Ruth Hall of Darlington, County Durham. He is buried in the Medjez-El-Bab War Cemetery in Tunisia.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry (UK Army Roll of Honour 1939-1945)
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

2569458 Sjt Edward Arthur Pexton, Royal Corps of Signals

2569458 Serjeant Edward Arthur Pexton of the Royal Corps of Signals, died in Italy on the 1st April 1944. He was 29 years old, the son of Sidney Chatham Pexton and Nellie Pexton of Stratford in Essex. He is buried in the Cassino War Cemetery, 139 kilometres south-east of Rome.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry (UK Army Roll of Honour 1939-1945)
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

5191726 Signalman Edward Victor Druce, Royal Corps of Signals

5191726 Signalman Edward Victor Druce of the 21st Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Corps of Signals, died on the 13 January 1943. He was 33 years old, the son of William and Lavinia Kate Druce, and the husband of Marjorie Ellen Druce, of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

Edward Druce is buried in the Labuan War Cemetery in Malaysia.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry.co.uk (1939-1945 Roll of Honour)
Commonwealth War Graves Commission

2595232 Signalman John William Kappelhof, Royal Corps of Signals

2595232 Signalman John William Kappelhof of the 155 Field Regiment, Royal Artillery Signals' Section, Royal Corps of Signals, holds the distinction of being the only Kappelhof commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in either world war. He was 31 years old when he died and was presumably originally of German or eastern European extraction. He died on the 12th January 1943 and is buried in the Sai Wan War Cemetery in Hong Kong.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry.co.uk (1939-1945 Roll of Honour)
Commonwealth War Graves Commission

224427 2nd Lt James Julian Paul Goodyear, Royal Corps of Signals

224427 Second Lieutenant James Julian Paul Goodyear of the 23rd Mountain Signals, Royal Corps of Signals, died on the 30th December 1942. He was the 22-year-old son of Frederick and Mary Goodyear of Fawley in Hampshire and he is buried in Taukkyan War Cemetery in Myanmar (Burma).

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry.co.uk (1939-1945 Roll of Honour)
Commonwealth War Graves Commission

2363470 Dvr Alfred George Bailes, Royal Corps of Signals

2363470 Driver Alfred George Bailes of Royal Corps of Signals died on the 25th October 1941. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission website notes that he was serving with the 1st Line of Communications Signals and that he was the Son of Lilian Bailes of Newcastle-on-Tyne and the husband of Margaret Coulson Bailes of Byker, Newcastle-on-Tyne. He was 21 years old when he died.

Alfred Bailes is buried in the Byker and Heaton Cemetery in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry.co.uk (1939-1945 Roll of Honour)
Commonwealth War Graves Commission

2336729 Signalman Robert Fotheringham, Royal Corps of Signals

2336729 Signalman Robert Fotheringham of the Royal Corps of Signals was 25 years old when he died. He gave up his life 67 years ago today - 19th October 1942 and lies in a corner of a Foreign Field in Kranji War Cemetery in Malaysia.

At the time of his death - according to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission - Robert was attached to the 11th Indian Division, Signals. He was a Glaswegian, the son of Alexander and Janet Fotheringham, of Glasgow. The War Graves Photographic Project has a photo of his last resting place.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry.co.uk (1939-1945 Roll of Honour)
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The War Graves Photographic Project

2977189 Sgt John Tonner, 1st Bn, Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders

William and Elsie Tonner of Bridgeton, Glasgow lost three sons in the Second World War. I was unaware of this when I randomly selected John Tonner's name from the 19 service personnel who died on the 14th October 1941 but there it is, in black and white, on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) site:

2977189 Sgt John Tonner, 1st Bn, Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, "son of William and Elsie Tonner of Bridgeton, Glasgow; husband of Annie Tonner. His brothers, William and James Davidson Tonner, also died on service."

John Tonner was born in Glasgow and was still living there when he enlisted. He was 29 years old when he died and is buried in Asmara War Cemetery in Eritrea. CWGC reports:

"The Italian stronghold of Keren was taken by Commonwealth forces at the end of March 1941 and the retreating Italian force pursued to Asmara, which was occupied on 1 April. Asmara War Cemetery contains the graves of those killed in the latter stages of the East African campaign, or who died subsequently at the garrison stationed at Asmara. The cemetery contains 273 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, 14 of them unidentified. There are also six war graves of other nationalities and five non-war burials."

2338238 Driver William Tonner of the Royal Corps of Signals was the first of the Tonner brothers to be killed. He was 23 years old when he died. He has no known grave and is one of 4506 men commemorated on the Dunkirk Memorial. His date of death is also uncertain; CWGC states that he died between "between 27/05/1940 and 02/06/1940."

FX95018 Air Mechanic Second Class James Davidson Tonner, the youngest of the three brothers, died on 21st April 1942. He was twenty years old and was serving aboard HMS Medina. He is buried in Glasgow (Riddrie Park) Cemetery.

Thus in three consecutive years, William and Elsie Tonner lost three sons. I have no idea whether there were other Tonner brothers who served and survived, but in any event, the family certainly paid a heavy price.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry.co.uk (1939-1945 Roll of Honour)
Commonwealth War Graves Commission