6976962 Nicholas RENTZOS, 1 Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers: btwn 18/4/42 & 20/4/42

Discussion in 'British Army Units - Others' started by CL1, Apr 18, 2018.

  1. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    Remembering Today

    Casualty
    Corporal RENTZOS, NICHOLAS
    Service Number 6976962
    Died Between 18/04/1942 and 20/04/1942
    Aged 27
    1st Bn. Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
    Commemorated at RANGOON MEMORIAL
    Location: Myanmar
    Number of casualties: 26857
    Cemetery/memorial reference: Face 11.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 28, 2020
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  2. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    Possibly him

    England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007
    Name: Rentzos
    Registration Date: Jul-Aug-Sep 1916
    Registration district: Paddington
    Inferred County: Greater London
    Re-registration Year: 1916
    Mother's Maiden Name: Ritchie
    Volume Number: 1a
    Page Number: 111

    UK, Army Roll of Honour, 1939-1945
    Name: Nicholas Rentzos
    Given Initials: N
    Rank: Corporal
    Death Date: Apr 1942
    Number: 6976962
    Birth Place: London (not otherwise specified)
    Residence: London E
    Regiment at Enlistment: Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
    Branch at Enlistment: Infantry
    Theatre of War: Burma
    Regiment at Death: Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
    Branch at Death: Infantry

    TD


    London, England, Electoral Registers, 1832-1965
    Name: Nicholas John Rentzos
    Year: 1939
    County or Borough: Ealing
    Ward or Division/Constituency: Castlebar
    Street address: 31 Glencairn Drive, Av
    Reference Number: mr/per/c/0694
     
  3. harkness

    harkness Well-Known Member

    TD - the 1916 birth was a female:

    Births Sep 1916
    Rentzos Female Ritchie Paddington 1a 111

    There is no Rentzos listed ANYWHERE on the 1939 Register (though I suspect the surname will have been mis-transcribed).
     
  4. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    Thanks - the database I accessed only gave me a surname - no forenames so cant tell

    What about the address as given in the Electoral Register? (Street address: 31 Glencairn Drive, Av)

    TD
     
  5. harkness

    harkness Well-Known Member

    1939 REGISTER TRANSCRIPTION
    31 Glencairn Drive, Ealing M.B., Middlesex
    NAME DOB OCCUPATION
    Lilian (G) Tichie 02 Jun 1899 Stenographer (Divorced)
    Sorry, this record is officially closed.

    Tichie = Ritchie (if they can't transcribe Ritchie properly then there's no hope for the Rentzos family!)
     
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  6. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    From a family tree

    John Nicolas Rentzos
    Birth: Abt 1887
    Marriage: 23 Dec 1912 - Middlesex, England
    Spouse: Lillian Grace Ritchie

    I would guess Nicholas in original post in their son??

    TD
     
  7. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837-1915
    Name: Lilian G Ritchie
    Spouse Surname: Rentzos
    Registration Year: 1912
    Registration Quarter: Oct-Nov-Dec
    Registration district: Poplar
    Parishes for this Registration District: View Ecclesiastical Parishes associated with this Registration District
    Inferred County: London
    Volume: 1c
    Page: 867
    Records on Page:
    Name
    William S Bishop
    John N Rentzos
    Lilian G Ritchie
    Rose Weedon

    Rentzos children born with a mothers maiden name of Ritchie:
    Marie E Rentzos 1913 Apr-May-Jun Islington London

    Rentzos Jul-Aug-Sep 1916 Paddington Greater London

    Rentzos Jan-Feb-Mar 1919 Paddington Greater London

    Rentzos Jul-Aug-Sep 1920 Paddington Greater London

    Nicholas J Rentzos Jul-Aug-Sep 1931 Islington London

    Take your pick
    TD
     
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  8. harkness

    harkness Well-Known Member

    Got him! Mis-transcription as I feared:

    Births Jun 1913
    Rentzos Marie E Ritchie Islington 1b 647

    Births Jun 1915
    Rentzor Nicholas J Ritchie Islington 1b S31

    Births Sep 1916
    Rentzos Female Ritchie Paddington 1a 111

    Births Mar 1918
    Rentzos Evangeline G Ritchie Paddington 1a 88

    Births Sep 1920
    Rentzos Male Ritchie Paddington 1a 138
     
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  9. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    I was hoping to add to this thread with some details about his death. Probably in the Arakan, but he is not mentioned on any of the MIA lisitings or casualty rolls for 1942 in the 1st Inniskillings war diary.
     
  10. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    We were hoping you were going to add something as well - so stop messing about :-P

    TD
    PS have you accounted for possible spelling errors?
     
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  11. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    The thing is TD, I feel I've seen his name before somewhere anyway. I have too much stuff on my computer, that is the real problem.
     
  12. Donovan Leininger

    Donovan Leininger New Member

    Hello!

    I would technically be Nicholas Rentzos' great grandson. My grandfather is his son, however, he was adopted by his stepfather after his dad was killed in war. I was wondering if anyone had any information on current and past relatives of Nicholas Rentzos. I would love to learn more about that side of my family.

    Thank you,
    Donovan
     
  13. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    Hello Donovan welcome to the forum
    I am not sure forum members would have much info on family members
    You possibly need to check with the geneology sites to see if a family member has posted anything about him
     
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  14. Donovan Leininger

    Donovan Leininger New Member

    Thank you so much! Just starting to search and didn't really know where to begin, but figured this would be a good start since it had information on him!
     
  15. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Donovan, your post on this thread took me to look through my files again. You great grandfather died during the retreat from Burma at a place called Yenangyaung. During the retreat several British units were ordered to destroy the oil fields in this area, preventing them from falling into enemy hands.

    Corporal Rentzos and the men with him at that time were captured by the Japanese and held in a large barn building. Nicholas had studied First-Aid before the war and administered what help he could to his wounded comrades. After a short time the Japanese chose four of the battalion to assist in the burial of the battle casualties and one of these was Nicholas and another man, Corporal Martin. None of these men were ever seen again.

    This information comes from the book, All Hell on the Irrawaddy, by Major John Finnerty. This officer was also with the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and captured alongside Nicholas. He spent 3 years as a prisoner of war in Rangoon Jail before his liberation in April 1945. I hope this information will be of help to you going forward.
     
    Last edited: Feb 14, 2023
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  16. Donovan Leininger

    Donovan Leininger New Member

    I appreciate the research so much! This is so fascinating to learn about. Thank you!
     
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  17. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    No worries. Glad to help in some way.
     
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