Percy Gale

Percy Gale was born on 4 September 1904 in West Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales. His mother was Mary Ann Jenkins Gale. On 3 December 1938 Percy married Irene Hedwick Louise Wyatt and in 1939 their daughter, Mary was born. In 1939 his occupation was listed as hospital porter.

The next definite information that we have about Percy is that he died on 12 August 1943 and was buried at the Bone War Cemetery Annaba, Algeria.

The Bone War Cemetery contains 868 burials of Commonwealth soldiers from the Second World War.

Allied forces landed on the coast of Algeria in November 1942. Allied forces then continued into Tunisia where fighting in the North African campaign continued until the end of 1943 when the Axis forces surrendered. 

Allied forces occupied Bone (Annaba) from 12 November 1942. Bone was an important port for supplies and also had an airport. There was also a hospital.

The control of military bases on the Mediterranean coast in North Africa was important for the Allies to keep watch on the movements of German ships and troop movements in relation to North Africa and also in Italy.

The limited information that we have about Percy's service during the war includes that he was an Aircraftman 2nd class (AC2) in the RAF Volunteer Reserve. His service number was 1666106 and his unit was 1 Base Personnel Depot, Mediterranean Command, at Fort De L'eau (Bordj El Kaffan), another port further along the coast. Fort De L'eau also had an airport and a hospital. We have not located any information as to how Percy Gale died.

Windsor Thomas Henry Gale

Windsor Thomas Henry Gale was born in Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales in 1920. His parents were George Windsor Gale and Sena Smith.

During the Second World War Windsor Gale was appointed as a pilot officer in the RAF Volunteer Reserve on 11 January 1945. His service number was 190271. Windsor was stationed at Leuchars Station, Fife on the east coast of Scotland where he was a Flight Engineer in 206 Squadron, Coastal Command. The role of the Coastal Command was to observe the path of German naval vessels, including submarines, in the North Sea.

The B-24 was not a comfortable plane to fly in and some of the crew had to sit on the floor. It was cold with lots of drafts. It was difficult to move around the plane and the crew often collided with structures and equipment within the plane. When the plane was refuelled the plane filled with fumes and aircraft doors would have to remain open until the fumes cleared.

Consolidated B-24 Liberator- Aviation History

On 21 April 1945 Windsor Gale was one of eleven crew members aboard a B-24 Liberator VIII which left Leuchars at 20:11 the previous evening on an anti-shipping patrol. The plane was shot down by a night fighter on a night patrol to Kattegat and crashed into the western part of the Rold Forest, nine miles north of Holbro, Denmark. All the crew died. Windsor was 24 years old.

International Find a Grave

The crew consisted of:

Pilot Lieutenant-Commander Nicodeme Guilonard of the Royal Netherlands Navy,
Second pilot Flying Officer Anthony Richard Tenison Smith,
Navigator Flying Officer Alan James Harding,
Navigator Warrant Officer George Henry Topliff,
Wireless Operator-Air Gunner Flight Lieutenant Peter Stevens Leinthall Laycock,
Wireless Operator-Air Gunner Warrant Officer Walter William Spencer,
Wireless Operator-Air Gunner Warrant Officer Thomas Keith Theaker,
Air Gunner Warrant Officer George Charles Kenneth Long,
Air Gunner Warrant Officer Kenneth Alwyn Albert Emery, 
Wireless Operator-Mechanic/Air Gunner Flight Sergeant Frederick Ralph Orritt and
Flight Engineer Pilot Officer Windsor Thomas Henry Gale.

Photo of the crew - PO Gale bottom right- Airwar over Denmark

The bodies of the crew, initially buried by German soldiers, were rediscovered in 1947. They were reburied in the Arestrup Kirkegård cemetery. The priest conducting the service concluded his speech for the fallen with the words: Now we will lay to rest our unknown friends.

International Find a Grave

A memorial stone was erected in Torstedlund Forest, in the western part of Rold Forest, where the Liberator had crashed.

Memorial Stone - Rebildporten

Two and a half weeks after the plane was shot down by the Germans, Germany unconditionally surrendered to the Allies on 8 May 1945.

RAF Leuchars - Wikipedia

RAF Leuchars Remembered - Scottish Saltire Aircrew Association 

Flight Over Kattegat - BBC 

Consolidated B-24 Liberator GR Mk VIII; KH410; PQ-N - Aviation Safety Network

Consolidated B-24 Liberator VIII -  Aviation History

Windsor Thomas Henry Gale - International Find a Grave 

B 24 GR8 KH410 crashed in Torstedlund Skov Forest -Airwar over Denmark 

World War Two in Rebild - Rebildporten

Windsor Gale

Windsor Gale was born in Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales on 7 August 1886. His parents were George Albert Gale (1841-1925)  and Sarah Thomas (1842-1925).

The 1911 England census shows that Windsor was living in a boarding house in Gloucester and worked as a commercial traveller. Grace Cotterill lived at the same boarding house and was also listed as a commercial traveller. Windsor and Grace married in June 1912 in Worcestershire. On 16 April 1914, their daughter, Beryl Audrey Grace, was born.

War was declared on 28 July 1914 and in 1915 Windsor Gale enlisted in the 10th Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery as a gunner. Initially his rank was a bombardier and he later became a lance bombardier. His service number was 18091. 

Little information about Windsor Gale's service in France is available but I have located some information about the 10th Siege Battery of the Royal Garrison Artillery.

The Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) was initially formed in 1899 as fortress-based artillery located on the British coast. From 1914 it grew into a very large component of the British forces. The RGA siege batteries were armed with heavy, large calibre guns and howitzers that were positioned some way behind the front line and had immense destructive power.

During the First World War the RGA had more than 550 siege batteries deployed overseas and at home. The 10th Siege Battery of the Royal Garrison Artillery was sent to France in February 1915. The 10th Siege Battery of the RGA used a 9.2 inch howitzer - a heavy siege howitzer that formed the principal counter-battery equipment of British forces in France during World War I.

One gun used by the 10th Siege Battery in 1915 in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle and the Battle of Festubert was referred to as 'Mother'. 'Mother' could fire a 130 kilogram round 9,200 metres. By the end of the war 692 9.2 inch howitzers had been in service and more than three million rounds of 9.2 inch ammunition had been fired during the conflict. The mark 2 9.2 inch howitzer with a longer barrel and increased range came into service in December 1916.

Each siege battery usually had four to six large weapons including 6 inch howitzers. A four-gun battery had seven officers and 208 other ranks; a six-gun battery had eight officers and 291 other ranks. The weapons were moved to a new location using horse drawn gun carriages.

Windsor Gail contracted pneumonia and died on 21 May 1918 in the General Hospital, Camiers, France. His body was buried at Etaples Military Cemetery, a Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery near Boulogne, France.

Windsor Gale was 31 when he died. He was awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal.

References:

Siege Batteries, Royal Garrison Artillery - The Long, Long Trail 

Etaples Military Cemetery

Royal Garrison Artillery - Forces War Records

9.2 - inch BL Howitzer - Militaria

9.2 - inch Howitzer "Mother" - Great War Forum

 Battle of Festubert - Long Long Trail

Battle of Neuve Chapelle - Long Long Trail 

How many men in a siege battery - Great War Forum