Trooper SIDNEY COLE (photo added)

Serviceman Headstone image Serviceman grave marker Serviceman thumbnail
Rank Trooper
Forenames SIDNEY
Surname COLE (photo added)
Initials S
Place of Birth LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
Date of Birth Friday, 26 February 1915
Date of Death Saturday, 24 June 1944
Age 29
Nationality British
Residence or Entered Service From LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
Service Number 1637431
Force British Army
Service/Corps/Regiment Reconnaissance Corps, Royal Armoured Corps
Unit / Ship / Battalion / Squadron 43 Reconnaissance Regiment (2/5 Battalion, The Glocestershire Regiment) (43rd Wessex Infantry Division)
Military Honours and Awards
Place of Burial/Commemoration BAYEUX MEMORIAL
Roll of honour
Grave/Memorial Location Panel 4.
Previous Place(s) of Burial Lost at Sea
Epitaph NO EPITAPH
Family Details SON OF FREDERICK AND HILDA COLE; HUSBAND OF DORIS MAUD COLE, OF DEPTFORD, LONDON.

Additional Information

Trooper SIDNEY COLE.1
 
 

Trooper SIDNEY COLE was born in Paddington, London on the 26th February 1915. He was living at Tavistock Cresent, Westbourne Park, Paddington, London when he joined the British Army.

 

He was one of many men from 43 Reconnaissance Regiment who were killed on the 24th June 1944, when the ship they were being transported on was blown up by a mine.

 

The ship, Motor Vessel (MV) Derrycunihy Motor Transport Ship (MTS) T72, was anchored off SWORD Beach on the night of the 23rd June 1944. Weather conditions prevented the 600 men from 43 Reconnaissance Regiment disembarking that day. The following morning, the weather had improved and as the captain began preparing to move the ship, a German mine beneath the ship detonated. The DerryCunihy split in two. The forward section of the ship remained afloat but the stern section sank within a minute.

 

An amunition truck on the ship also exploded, and spilled oil and fuel ignited on the surface of the the ship and on the sea around the stricken vessel. 177 men from 43 Reconnaissance Regiment died, Trooper SIDNEY COLE is one of 167 men whose body was never recovered and who is now commemorated on Bayeux War Memorial. A further 10 men are buried in Normandy. It was the highest single loss of life off the Normandy beaches during the Normandy Campaign in 1944.2

 

 

Motor Vessel (MV) Derrycunihy Motor Transport Ship (MTS) T72,
after being hit by a mine explosion on the 24th June 1944.

 

Letter, dated July 1944,  from 43 Reconnaissance Regiment Commanding Officer
Lieutenant Colonel Francis Lane Fox.

 

 

Letter, dated 3rd July 1944, from the Padre of 43rd Reconnaissance Regiment.
 

 

 

Notification, dated 19th August 1944, of Trooper SIDNEY COLE
being listed as Missing at Sea believed Killed.

 

 

Report, dated 5th October 1944, of Trooper SIDNEY COLE
being listed as Killed in Action.

 

Notification of Death, dated 24th October 1944.

 

 

Letter from King George VI and commemoration scroll.

 

 

References
1. All additional documents and photographs, unless otherwise credited, kindly provided by Anne Smith, daughter of Trooper SIDNEY COLE.
2. Compiled by Carl Shilleto.

 

Acknowledgements and Credits
Source of original data: Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Memorial photograph: Carl Shilleto
Individual photograph: Anne Smith, daughter of Trooper SIDNEY COLE.
Additional photographs provided by: Anne Smith, daughter of Trooper SIDNEY COLE and Carl Shilleto.
Additional information provided by: Anne Smith, daughter of Trooper SIDNEY COLE and Carl Shilleto.

 

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