1944
22nd January -
ALLIES IN ITALY - Allied forces landed at Anzio, Italy.
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Anzio War Cemetery.
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4th February -
4384071 Cpl Joseph William Shobbrook
16 L. of C. Sigs. Royal Corps of Signals was killed in Italy.
He was aged 37 and the son of Alfred and Elizabeth Shobbrook, of Skelton, Saltburn, Yorkshire.
He is buried in Grave: IV, G, 5, Anzio War Cemetery.
Click to see his memorial
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29th May -
W/147112 Pte Laura Holt
Attached to the 547 (M) H.A.A. Bty, Aux. Territorial Service, Royal Artillery was killed.
She was aged 23 and was the daughter of Thomas and Louisa Holt, of Skelton.
She is buried in Grave: Plot R. Row I. Grave 12, Skelton and Brotton Cemetery.
Click to see her memorial
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2 MAY 1944.
AWARDED THE BRITISH EMPIRE MEDAL [CIVIL DIVISION]
GEORGE BRADLEY, MINER, NORTH SKELTON IRONSTONE MINE.
A man was trapped by a sudden collapse of the roof in a mine, his leg being pinned down by a prop underneath a large fall of shale.
After a gang of men had been engaged for some time in attempting to rescue him, it became evident they could not release his foot.
Bradley volunteered to squeeze himself into a samall aperture about 23 inches by 8 inches inside the fall to endeavour to free him.
With great difficulty he managed to withdraw the victim's foot from his boot, after which he remained with him for about 40 minutes before they were both pulled clear.
There was a risk of a further heavy collapse of the broken and unsupported roof and Bradley showed courage without regard for his own safety.
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Gordon Ward of High St, Skelton. Born in 1925, he must have enlisted at a young age in the Royal Navy.
He served in the Far East, the Middle East and the Mediterranean and was on convoys to Russia when the War ended.
He was returning on his last ship the HMS Bellona on the 4th May 1945 when the Germans finally surrendered.
5th June -
ALLIES ENTER ROME.
6th June -
D-DAY - invasion of Europe. Allies landed in Normandy.
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12th June -
FIRST FLYING BOMBS - launched against Britain.
25th August -
PARIS LIBERATED.
8th September
FIRST V2 ROCKETS - launched against Britain.
12th September - 4399588 Pte Walter Thomas Austin
2/4th Bn King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry was killed in Italy.
He was aged 23 and the son of Alfred Laurence and Myra Ann Austin, of Skelton, Saltburn, Yorkshire.
He is buried in Grave VI, E, 1, Coriano Ridge War Cemetery.
Click to see his memorial
13th September -
SIEGFRIED LINE TAKEN - American troops reached the Siegfried Line in Germany.
14th October -
ATHENS LIBERATED.
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Skelton High Street as it was just after the Second World War.
[Photograph kindly contributed by Peter Appleton of Skelton.
The shop first Left was his Grandfather's, Evans, Jewellers and the one on the next corner Whittaker's Newsagents and Pay Lending Library.]
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16th December -
BATTLE OF THE BULGE. German Army launched "Battle of the Bulge" offensive on the Western Front.
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1945
17th January -
RUSSIANS TAKE WARSAW.
19th January -
GERMAN LINES - on the Eastern Front collapsed.
YALTA -
Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin met at Yalta Conference.
9th March -
TOKYO firebombed.
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4th February -
10th March - T/1067337 Serjeant Frederick Olman Heseltine of
the Royal Army Service Corps died.
He was the husband of Margaret Heseltine, of Skelton-in-Cleveland,
Yorkshire.
He is buried in Grave: 2. A. 6, Krakow Rakowicki Cemetery, Poland.Click to see his memorial
Men buried at Krakow, Poland died while prisoners of war during the
German occupation, most of the graves coming from the cemetery at the
large camp at Lamsdorf, Stalag VIIIB (after 1943 known as Stalag 344), where there
was a hospital of 450 beds used only for Commonwealth prisoners.
21st March -
MANDALAY Allies took Mandalay, Burma.
16th April -
BERLIN Soviet Army launched Berlin offensive.
2nd May -
ITALY All German forces in Italy surrendered.
7th May -
GERMANY SURRENDERS. Unconditional surrender of all German forces.
5th June -
GERMANY DIVIDED. Allies divided Germany into occupation zones.
6th August -
ATOMIC BOMB First atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.
Aug. 9 -
NAGASAKI. Second atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki.
Aug. 14 :
JAPANESE SURRENDER. Unconditional surrender of Japanese forces.
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Men of Skelton who gave their lives in the Second World War.
"They died to save their country, and they only saved the World"
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Street Party in New Skelton to celebrated Victory in Europe Day.
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