Captain Dennis Bembridge Kelland (200721) Army Air Corps

I am trying to locate a photograph of Captain Dennis Bembridge Kelland (200721) of the Army Air Corps who served with the 8th battalion, Parachute Regiment. I have recently acquired some photographs of a Parachute Regiment Captain that came from a house clearance in the Sutton Coldfield area and circumstantial evidence suggests that they may be of Dennis Kelland. He was born in the Aston area of Birmingham in November 1915 and was commissioned into the Royal Warwickshire Regiment before transferring to the A.A.C.

If any photographs of him are known to exist I would like to compare them with the photographs that I have to either rule him in or out.

A search of the internet has not revealed any so far.

 

Cant find a photo as yet but if you didnt know he has an oral history at IWM - Kelland, Dennis Bembridge (Oral history)

TD

 

TD,

many thanks, I have spent the afternoon and early evening on the internet and have found several references to him including the IWM one that you mentioned. He was in Normandy in June 1944 and seems to have had a distinguished career. However, the only evidence that I have that I am on the right track is the name Kelland written on a packet of photographs.

A photograph of him from another source would confirm or destroy my theory.

Simon

 

HW,

Capt. Kelland is listed in Carl Rymen's book Gale's Eyes. Not a very good photo however. I'll leave it big for a good view of him.



Another of him from same book with Officers' group, also poor quality. He's noticeably thin on top.



Regards ...

 

Cee,

thank you for posting. I am not sure when your photographs were taken but, unless some traumatic event such as dropping over Normandy in June 1944 triggered sudden onset male pattern baldness, it is not the same officer as the one in my photographs. Kelland's Sutton Coldfield connections put him right in the frame but I will have to come up with another theory.

Simon.

 

I am not sure when Dennis Kelland's military career ended but I can find no reference to him in the London Gazette after 1950.

 

HW,

The group photo was taken sometime before D-Day as one of the Officers shown was taken POW June 6th. On the possibility Carl may have a clue I'll send you his address by PM. Otherwise it's just a guessing game.

Regards ...

 

Cee,

much appreciated, I will send him an email. The bloke that I got the photographs from is a house clearance dealer in the Sutton Coldfield area of the Midlands. Unfortunately, he has a tendency to put all the loose photographs from multiple clearances into one large box and bring it to a local flea market. I sorted out about a dozen photographs that were clearly from the same family having looked at every single photograph in the box. I also wrote down the names and addresses on all the envelopes in the box, one of which was Kelland with a Sutton Coldfield address. You can imagine that I thought that I had cracked it having found a Captain Kelland in the Parachute Regiment.

I have about another seven surnames to work through, none of which may be the same surname as the officer. The only name that I am sure of is that the young woman was called Joan. I know that her father served in the NFS in Wolverhampton..

Many thanks,

Simon.

 

First name(s) DENNIS BEMBRIDGE
Last name KELLAND
Gender Male
Birth day 19
Birth month 11
Birth year 1915
Age -
Death quarter 1
Death year 1996
District Teignbridge
District number 4131A
Register number 6DA
Entry number 001
Date of registration mm/yy 0396
County Devon

 

Simon,

I better attach the 8 Para HQ Group from the Rymen book on the off chance it might be another Officer known to Capt. Kelland. According to the book "A Fierce Quality" by Lt-Col. Alastair Pearson it shows, "Pearson with his HQ, 8th Parachute Battalion, Tilshead, May, 1944."



Regards

 

I have spent the afternoon compiling a list of all the women called Joan who married in Sutton Coldfield between 1943 and 1945 and the names of their husbands.

Marriages Mar 1943

Gooch Joan M – Ernest S Fisher Sutton Coldf'd 6d

Lovett Joan D – Gordon D Smith Sutton Coldf'd 6d 973

Sharp Joan - John E Fitch Sutton Coldf'd 6d 993

Marriages Jun 1943

Cook Joan –John T Smith Sutton Coldfd

Cowdell Joan – Clifford W Partridge Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1381

Margetts Joan M – Eric J Todd Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1387

Matthews Joan O -Thomas G Clark Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1361

Webb Joan C-Francis W Chambers Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1374

Marriages Sep 1943

Foden Joan A - Eugen Beer Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1374

Postlethwaite Joan E -Cyril V Clement Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1387

Thorpe Joan - Raymond A Sidwells Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1394

Wilcox Joan M - Thomas Brassington Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1399

Williams Joan E _ Leonard E Steel Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1384

Marriages Dec 1943

Thompson Joan -Edgar V Adcock Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1131

Wallwork Joan -Arthur Long Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1117

Marriages Mar 1944

BENNETT Joan- Robert Crutchley Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1021

DAVIS Joan M – Philip K M Williams Sutton Coldf'd 6d 997

HUGHES Joan B – Harold V Bradbury Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1024

NOCH Joan L – Bernard J Turton Sutton Coldf'd 6d 989

Marriages Jun 1944

REECE Joan F-Edwin S Warren Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1329

STALEY Joan K – Trevor H B Davis Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1316

WILBRAHAM Joan – Desmond S Ashmore Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1293

Marriages Sep 1944

FREEMAN Joan S –Ronald R S Wayman Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1398

PERRY Joan S - Frank Britain Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1431

WALKER Joan M - Kenneth H Scott Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1463

WILLCOX Joan -John W Trotman Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1427

Marriages Mar 1945

Johnson Joan D- Edward W Buldock Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1191 Scan available - click to view

Seal Joan M – Francis M B Roberts Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1184 Scan available - click to view

Sheerman Joan - Desire J B Cotard Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1185 Scan available - click to view

Marriages Jun 1945

Archer Joan – Leonard A Holmes Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1559

Pearson Joan M – Anthony Stains Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1535

Talbot Joan – Leonard A Holmes Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1559

Marriages Sep 1945

Frewin Joan H - Vernon R Sarsfield Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1814

Harding Joan – Brian E J Rudge Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1800

Penzer Joan M- Donald C Morris Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1783

Woodhouse Joan –Edwin S Bennett Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1819

Marriages Dec 1945

Allbrighton Joan M – Sydney R Plant Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1541

Cleminshaw Joan –Dennis A Quayle Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1558

Dayman Joan M – Arthur D Lingley Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1560

Dean Joan W – Francis W Greig Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1537

Deeming Joan M – William E Nicholls Sutton Coldf'D 6d 1565

Onions Joan - Alfred Leeson Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1542

Potts Joan M – Henry W Gobrecht Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1536

Price Joan Grice Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1539

Warford Joan W Green Sutton Coldf'd 6d 1552

Of course all of this is meaningless if a, they didn't get married, b, they married before 1943 and after 1945, c, married somewhere other than Sutton Coldfield, but you have to start somewhere.

They do look as if they would want to get married.

 

Simon,

They make a lovely couple. In the one of them seated together on the folding lounge chairs he appears to be wearing a boating blazer. The edge of a crest is just visible under his left hand. In your last photo possibly two pips, so a Lieutenant at that point.

Regards ...

 

Hi.
I met an 8th battalion veteran in Normandy last week and I know the tour operator he was with. Can maybe try and contact him and see if he recognizes the officer.
Also maybe worth looking through paradata for and matches?
Alex

 

From Dennis’s birth record his mother’s maiden name was Bembridge.

Marriage Q3 1909 Aston, Warwickshire
Harry Kelland & Kate Bembridge

Children, both registered Aston, Warwickshire
Harry P B Q4 1914
Dennis B Q1 1916

1939 Register, 73 Birchfield Road, Birmingham
Harry Kelland dob 25 June 1878, widower, watch & clock repairer
Harry P B Kelland dob 14 Sept 1914, single, traffic controller & distribution officer, paint & varnish manufacturer. Service No 2578193, Signalman, discharged physically unfit.

Harry Patrick B Kelland death registered Truro Q3 1988

Kate Kelland death registered Q2 1936 Birmingham age 54, (dob 1882 approx).
Probate. Kate Kelland of 73 Birchfield Road Birmingham (wife of Harry Kelland) died 6 May 1936 at the General Hospital Birmingham Administration Birmingham 20 April 1937 to the said Harry Kelland watchmaker & jeweller and Harry Patrick Bembridge Kelland manufacturers clerk.

Harry Kelland death registered Q3 1944 Birmingham age 66, (dob 1878 approx).
Probate. Harry Kelland of 73 Birchfield Road Birmingham 19 died 2 July 1944 Probate Birmingham 7 November 1944 to John Henry Bluck civil servant and Frank Thomas Wiley company secretary.

 

The watchmaker connection is interesting as there is a photograph of factory work benches amongst the photographs that I bought. Here are a few close ups. The workers appear to be making or repairing pocket watches.

 

Here is Joan who appears to be the same woman in the other pictures. The back of the photograph clearly gives her name and the date the photograph was taken.
Hig 2423 may or may not be a telephone number. Spr 1006 possibly the same.

 

This is Joan and possibly her father or brother, who served in the National Fire Service. The photograph cannot be any earlier than August 1941. His NFS badge has the district number 24 which indicates Birmingham.

 

Joan's father later held a higher rank in the NFS in Wolverhampton (NFS 40).

 

If the man in the NFS uniform is Joan's father then the man on the right could be the officer's father. The second photograph could be of the officer's mother and father, in which case the officer is not Dennis Kelland. However, if the well dressed couple are Joan's parents then who is the NFS man?

 

The man in the suit appears to have a Parachute Regiment lapel badge,