Page 118 - Sylvia Malt - Side by Side

After the successful Allied invasion of German held territory in Normandy at the beginning
of June, No. 3 Commando were specifically landed to undertake the dangerous task of
seeking out the enemy who were holed up in bombed buildings and trying to prevent the
Allied Forces from making further progress in Europe and pushing the enemy back to
Berlin. Unfortunately, on the 13th August 1944, whilst undertaking this brave and
dangerous work John James Robinson was killed by a sniper.

In Memoriam: John Robinson was buried in the Ranville War Cemetery, France.

JOHN ALBERT ROSE Private, Queens Own Royal West Kent
1920 - 28th Aril 1943

Albert Rose was 27-years-of-age when he married Annie Crane in All Saints Church, Foots
Cray, in the summer of 1901. During the next twenty years their family slowly increased,
and John Albert was the youngest child, born when his mother was 42-years-of-age. The
couple had set up home in Garden Cottages, Foots Cray, where Albert was a general
labourer. By the time of the Second World War, most of the children had already married
and left the family home.

The Tunisia Campaign - In 1942, John Albert's Regiment, the Queen's Royal West Kent,
was part of a large Army being amassed in North Africa for the Tunisian Campaign. This
was the first time that both British and United States forces were deployed together and
many of the problems and tensions that arose during the campaign were to continue
through the campaigns in Sicily, Italy and North West Europe, but the Tunisian Campaign
provided the foundation for the eventual success of the Allies in defeating the Axis.

By January 1943 the line had stabilised but on 14th February the Germans launched an
offensive towards Kasserine. The battle lasted until 22nd February 1943 when the Germans
withdrew. With the Tunisian campaign in danger of becoming a stalemate, the decision was
taken to reinforce the 1st Army. The infantry divisions arrived during March 1943 with both
formations coming direct from the United Kingdom.

The Battle, historically known as the El Alamein Campaign, was eventually won by the
Allies and marked a changing point in the effort to win superiority. Unfortunately, 23-year-
old John Albert Rose was a casualty.

In Memoriam: John Albert Rose is remembered on the Medjez-el-Bab Memorial, Tunisia
along with thousands of other men who were lost and have no known grave.

LEONARD BERTIE WATSON Petty Officer, Royal Navy HMS Samphire
1916 - 1943

Petty Officer Leonard Bertie Watson married Gwendoline Pegg, just before the start of the
WW2. The couple had two children born 1941 and 1943. Gwen Pegg was the daughter
George Pegg, born 1900 in Lambeth. He was the youngest of six children but when his
mother was widowed she felt compelled to send him to the Lambeth workhouse as she was
unable to care for him. He was later sent to the Hollies Children's Home in Sidcup
(described on the 1911census as “Children’s Home/Workhouse") where he remained until
able to leave and make his own way in life. He decided to settle in Sidcup.

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