hi first post so be kind. I have found a record of my grandfather(i think) being a pow in italy and poland the problem i'm having is are there any online records that will have more than the inital all i have at the moment is D Hoey army number 4449954 pow number 29722 camp pg 52, stalag 344 durham light infanty my grandfather died a long time ago and i have no other family to ask, what would be the best way to find if this d hoey is david kitchener hoey and if so which battalion. thanks for any advice, hope i have put this in the right place nome
Hello nome, Good advice from Andy (handle 'Drew 5233') on requesting his service records! Our resident Durham Light Infantry expert is Jim (handle 'Verrieres'). He runs this website - http://durhamlightinfantry.webs.com/ - which includes a lot of information about the regiment in WWII. You may wish to consider sening him a PM (personal message) about your search... There is also a book about Durham Light Infantry POW's: For You Tommy the War is Over: The Experiences of the Durham Light Infantry Prisoners of War During World War II by Ian R. English and Harry Moses. Good luck with your search! Best, Steve.
NOME you have a fair task ahead as the DLI had battalions all over the place and the service record is your best chance to find out - anything - BUT you can start with the fact that he was in a POW camp in Italy - which suggests 50th Division which had 151 bde of 6th-8th and 9th battalions in North Africa and Sicily before going home for D Day - where 49th Div had the 10th and 11th Battalions - in NWE also his number looks dodgy as it MIGHT be missing the first "1 as in 1444**** indicating call up in early 1943 which would preclude service in North Africa but might have been Sicily..so interesting puzzle ... Cheers
4449954 Cpl D Hoey is listed on the (unreliable) WO21 lists (Campo 52) the only thing you can really take from this is he was captured prior to the Italian Capitulation (September 43) Cpl Hoey has the number 4449954 which is a `true` DLI number falling between the block 4448001 - 4449000, These numbers come from the Enlistment book No 14 for recorded enlistments between 24th January 1930 - 7 May 1931 what battalion is not recorded but the 1st DLI,6th DLI,8th DLI,9thn DLI and 16th DLI (Although Tom Tunney at the 16DLI website does not list him amongst 16DLI personnel Tom is an absolute authority on 16DLI) all served in North Africa (with 6/8/9 DLI also serving in Sicily) Excellent advice regarding his Service Records might I suggest a search for a PoW Return Questionaire? Not all filled them in but the ones I have seen give a full name,place of capture and battalion when captured. Best Wishes Jim
Old thread but just to tidy any loose ends served 8th Durham Light Infantry captured 9/4/1942 Western Desert/ PoW card WO 416/179/371 Name: David Hoey. Date of Birth: 16/8/1913. Place of Birth: West Hartlepool. Service: [British Army] Rank: Corporal. Regiment/Unit/Squadron: [The Durham Light Infantry]. Service Number: 4449954. Date of Capture: 09 April 1942. Theatre of Capture: Libya. Camp Name/Number: Stalag VIIIB Lamsdorf. PoW number: 29722. Date of Death: [unspecified]. Number of Photographs: 1. Number of Fingerprints: 1. Number of X-rays: 0. Number of Cards: 2. Kyle