Stalag Luft III - need help figuring out a name

Discussion in 'Prisoners of War' started by Incredibledisc, May 12, 2016.

  1. Incredibledisc

    Incredibledisc Well-Known Member

    Looking for some help folks. I have been working through my great grandfather's YMCA logbook to transcribe the names and addressees in in it. At least two sections are from Stalag Luft III. Despite my best efforts this one name has me stumped. I'll post the original pic and a close up in the hope that someone here can help puzzle it out. Sydney V. ? The address is 75 Salisbury Road, Reading, Berks.

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  2. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    Possible:

    Name: S V Gorton
    Rank: Flying Officer
    Army Number: 118106
    Regiment: Royal Air Force : Officers & Other Ranks
    POW Number: 228308
    Camp Type: Stalag Luft 3
    Camp Number: L3
    Camp Location: Sagan and Belaria, Poland
    Section: Royal Air Force : Officers & Other Ranks


    Searching for Initials S V all those on the database held in L3 (Stalag Luft 3) are:


    S V Brazier
    Royal Air Force : Officers & Other Ranks Sagan and Belaria, Poland 1324462 263651 L3

    S V Gorton
    Royal Air Force : Officers & Other Ranks Sagan and Belaria, Poland 118106 228308 L3

    S V Harris
    Royal Air Force : Officers & Other Ranks Sagan and Belaria, Poland 1130017 270040 L3

    S V Wood
    Royal Air Force : Officers & Other Ranks Sagan and Belaria, Poland 649800 69103 L3


    TD
     
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  3. RCG

    RCG Senior Member, Deceased

    By the look of the way the pen has gone it seems that the writer has gone from the first letter to the third one then backwards to the second one.

    The other letters appear to me at first glance, to be, oatian.
    Then on magnifying the first, a it maybe an e, and the t is actually a, w.
    So then we have oewin, so now thinking that it may be a Welsh name but no matter which combination of letters I try nothing concrete comes up.
     
  4. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    Looking at the name it seems to me that their is something before and after a 't' hence I thought Gorton was the best bet, moving further on from that I have found that Gorton filled in a Lib Q

    1704 F/Lt Sydney V Gorton RAF Wellington FTR Bullseye Oct 42 near Loches Nov 42 with crew - interned - DetW
    http://www.conscript-heroes.com/escapelines/LIB-3335-1701-1908.htm


    So if anyone has a chance to look up Lib Q 1704 for this man it would be good to see what address he puts in it - hopefully somewhere in Reading

    TD
     
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  5. horsapassenger

    horsapassenger Senior Member

    TD

    Indeed Gorton's address is shown on SPG Lib 1704 as 75 Salisbury Road, Reading!!
     
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  6. Incredibledisc

    Incredibledisc Well-Known Member

    Hat's off gents! Outstanding detective work. I don't think I would have derived "Gorton" from that writing in a month of sundays. I'll update my spreadsheet accordingly. Once I'm done I'll upload the whole thing to the forum along with the photos. I'm also googling names when I get a chance which sometimes turns up information. For example I found out that the Robert Kee listed on this page went on to have a fairly high profile career in TV after the war and wrote a book called "A crowd is not company" about his POW experiences.
    http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2013/jan/11/robert-kee-obituary
     
  7. RCG

    RCG Senior Member, Deceased

    Yes I would never have guessed that it was a G, but once you know it's a G you can see how it was written must have went to a posher school than I did.
     
  8. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    Bulleyes were practise runs for aircrew, dummy runs of an operation - if that is the case what were they doing over the Loire when their plane came down?

    horsa - do you have a copy of his Lib Q you can post for interest?? - thanks

    TD
     
  9. Incredibledisc

    Incredibledisc Well-Known Member

    If you liked that one i have two more beauties to post when I get home. :biggrin:
     
  10. Incredibledisc

    Incredibledisc Well-Known Member

    Check this one out...

    image.png

    He's from Lake someplace Bay of not really sure, Canada.

    And this one...


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    Based on my limited paelographical skills the first letter of each name looks like a Y but I can't form any recognisable names out of that (could also be really fancy "M") Rest of surname looks like "organ"
    Address was easier. He's a kiwi - 10 Wright Place, Wellington , NZ.
     
  11. Incredibledisc

    Incredibledisc Well-Known Member

    Ok the Canadian one could be Lake Megantic in Quebec.

    Edit - ok that's Lake Megantic, Province of Quebec. Just need the name now.
     
  12. veronicad

    veronicad Well-Known Member

    ???. THEN A MIDDLE INITIAL SURNAME GUY.


    SURNAME . MORGAN.





    MORIS (ONE R) MORGAN
     
  13. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    Struggling with these 2 :ewink:

    The NZ one seems to have the same initial as the first letter of his surname, but nothing seems to fit

    The Canadian the surname is giving me nothing

    Surnames are more important than forenames or initials

    TD
     
  14. Incredibledisc

    Incredibledisc Well-Known Member

    Kiwi bloke would be Morgan (or is that Morgow?) but if that's an M then his first name looks like Mons? I did wonder if it was an abbreviation - I found a South African who had but down his rank Const. (For Constable) but for a little while I was convinced he was an Ernst.
     
  15. alieneyes

    alieneyes Senior Member

    Looks like Guy Turgeon to me.

    Regards,

    Dave
     
  16. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    Hi Dave

    There is an RCAF POW buy that name, but in Stalagluft 1 at the time the database was compiled

    Name: H E G Turgeon
    Rank: Flying Officer
    Army Number: J86190
    Regiment: Royal Canadian Air Force : Officers & Other Ranks
    POW Number: 3848
    Camp Type: Stalag Luft 1
    Camp Number: L1
    Camp Location: Barth Vogelsang, Germany
    Section: Royal Canadian Air Force : Officers & Other Ranks

    TD
     
  17. alieneyes

    alieneyes Senior Member

    Hi TD,

    I discounted Warrant Officer Henri Eugene Gerard Turgeon as he was from Montreal.

    Must keep looking.

    Regards,

    Dave
     
  18. Incredibledisc

    Incredibledisc Well-Known Member

    Neither of these two are definitely from Stalag Luft 3. My great grandad was in a lot of camps during the five years he was behind the wire - sorry I should have made that more clear.
     
  19. Incredibledisc

    Incredibledisc Well-Known Member

    Couple of possibles here. Can't check more details as my Forces War Records subscription has lapsed.


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  20. alieneyes

    alieneyes Senior Member

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