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 1864177 Warrant Officer Class I
VERNON CHARLES GEORGE DYETT
Royal Engineers

by

Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Edward De Santis, MSCE, PE, MInstRE
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers  

 1.  INTRODUCTION  

            Warrant Officer Class I Vernon Charles George Dyett had an interesting military career, although the details of his life and service may never be fully known.  The author has been unable, as of the writing of this narrative, to locate a family member who could authorize the release of Dyett’s service records by the Ministry of Defence.[1]  Much of the description of his military service has been put together from available sources.  His military service was cut short in May of 1940 when he was captured by the Germans during the battle at Dunkirk.

            Vernon had two brothers who also served.  Both served in the Royal Engineers as well and were commissioned for service in World War 2.  Some details of their service is presented in Section 11 of this narrative. 

2.  EARLY LIFE AND FAMILY INFORMATION

Family Information  

            The paternal family tree of the Dyett family is presented in Appendix A of this narrative.

            Vernon Charles George Dyett’s Great-Great Grandfather John Redman Dyett (1813-1854) was born on the 2^nd of August 1813 at Romney, Hampshire.[2]  His Great-Great Grandmother was Jane Cross (1818-1895) who was born at Shapwick, Dorset.  John and Jane had a son, Charles Dyett (1845-1928) who was born at Merley, Dorset.  Charles married one Sarah Brown (1845-1919) who was from Hembury, Dorset.  Sarah gave birth to Vernon’s father, John Redman Charles Dyett (1874-1938) in January of 1874 at Parkstone, Dorset.  By 1901 John was serving in the Royal Navy as a Petty Officer aboard the Royal Yacht, HMY Victoria and Albert III.[3]    The vessel had been launched in 1899 and was ready for service in 1901.  Petty Officer Dyett was one of its first crew members.

            HMY Victoria and Albert III was commissioned at Portsmouth on the 23^rd of July 1901 by Commodore the Honorable Hedworth Lambton.[4] Nearly all the ship's company of 230 men of the old HMY Victoria and Albert II were transferred to the new yacht, which with an additional 100 men had a total ship's company of 336.  It is not known whether Petty Officer Dyett was in this latter group or whether he had served on HMY Victoria and Albert II.

            King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra visited their new yacht in early August 1901, and used it for the first time when crossing the English Channel on the 9^th of August 1901 to attend the funeral in Germany of the King's sister, Empress Frederick (Victoria Adelaide Mary Louise, Princess Royal). 

            The yacht was the base for the royal couple during the fleet review held at Spithead on the 16^th of August 1902 for the coronation of King Edward VII. Following the review, the royal couple toured the West Coast of Scotland and visited the Isle of Man, before the Victoria and Albert III took Queen Alexandra to Copenhagen for her annual autumn visit. In late 1902 she was docked for several months to be fitted with telescopic masts.  Presumably Petty Officer Dyett was aboard during these visits.

Figure 1.  HMY Victoria and Albert III, circa 1901.

(Image courtesy of Wikipedia)

            John Redman Charles Dyett married Vernon’s mother, Constance Mary Ethyl Goulden (1878-1955) in January of 1906 in Southampton, Hampshire.  John and Constance had the following children:

Vera Sarah Mary Dyett (1907-1971), born on the 2^nd of March 1907 at Portsmouth, Hampshire.  

Vernon Charles George Dyett (1908-1975), born on the 22^nd of May 1908 at Portsmouth, Hampshire.  

Reginald John William Dyett (1909-1973), born on the 27^th of November 1909 at Portsmouth, Hampshire.  

Victor Redman Howard Dyett (1912-1981), born on the 18^th of January 1912 at Portsmouth, Hampshire.  

Arthur Ronald Gilbert Dyett (1913-1994), born on the 14^th of September 1913 at Portsmouth, Hampshire.  

Sturdee Vincent G. Dyett (1915-1996), born on the 16^th of February 1915 at Portsmouth, Hampshire.  

            All of the Dyett children were born in Portsmouth, the port city and naval base on England’s south coast, mostly spread across Portsea Island known for its maritime heritage and Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.  Constance appears to have resided at 37 Widley Road in Portsmouth (as seen in the 1911 Census), while her husband was away at sea.  John appears to have always returned to Portsmouth between voyages.

            Petty Officer Dyett does not appear in the 1911 Census of England and Wales as presumably he was on a cruise with the royal family aboard HMY Victoria and Albert III.  The 1911 census does show Mrs. Dyett and three of the children living at the 37 Widley Road address.  Mrs. Dyett is listed as Ethel and not Constance, so presumably it was her choice to use that given name.  She is listed as the wife of the head of the household, since John Dyett was not present at the time of the census.  She even signed the census document “Ethel Dyett.”            

1911 Census of England and Wales
Location:  37 Widley Road, Portsmouth

NOTES:

1. In no case were the full names of the individuals given, indicating that strict accuracy was not a part of census-taking in England in those days.
2. Except for Ethel’s age, none of the children’s ages is correct.  Vera would have been about 4 years old, Vernon 3 years old and Reginald 2 years old.  Again, accuracy did not seem to matter.

Figure 2.  37 Widley Road, Portsmouth, Hampshire.
(Image courtesy of Google Earth)  

3.  ENLISTMENT AND TRAINING  

            Based on his Army Number, Vernon Charles George Dyett enlisted as a Sapper in the Royal Engineers in 1925.  Following a period of recruit training (probably about 18 months) at the School of Military Engineering at Chatham, Kent, Sapper Dyett may have been posted directly to the 9^th Field Company, Royal Engineers, which was then a unit serving as part of the 4^th Division in the Eastern Command at Shorncliffe in Kent.[5]  

4.  ASSIGNMENTS AND CAMPAIGN SERVICEShorncliffe, Kent (1927-1936)

            On the 1^st of October 1934, while serving with the 9^th Field Company at Shorncliffe, Sapper Dyett was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal.[6]  At that time the company was commanded by Major J.F.M. Whiteley, MC, R.E.  Other officers in the company included:

Captain H.M. Taylor, R.E. (2^nd in Command)

Lieutenant P.A. Wood, R.E.[7]

Lieutenant A.N. Clarke, R.E.[8]

Lieutenant R.R.L Hutchinson, R.E.[9]

            The Commander Royal Engineers (CRE) of the 4^th Division was Lieutenant Colonel Eric Herbert Clarke, M.C., R.E.[10]  Lieutenant Colonel Clarke’s headquarters were located at Abbey Field in Colchester.  As the CRE of the 4^th Division he also had under his command the 7^th Field Company at Colchester and the 59^th Field Company at Canterbury.[11]

            On the 23^rd of February 1935 Brevet Lieutenant Colonel R. MacK. Scobie, MC, R.E. assumed command of the 9^th Field Company.  The 2^nd in Command position was vacant at that time and Lieutenant Colonel Scobie only had two other officers in the unit: Lieutenant M.T.L. Wilkinson, R.E. and Lieutenant R.R.L. Hutchinson.

            Dyett was appointed a Temporary Corporal on the 27^th of February 1936 while still serving with the 9^th Field Company.[12]  

Palestine (1936-1938)

            Corporal Dyett and his company got caught up in an Arab revolt in Palestine in 1936.

The 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine, later came to be known as "The Great Revolt," was a nationalist uprising by Palestinian Arabs in Mandatory Palestine against the British administration of the Palestine Mandate, demanding Arab independence and the end of the policy of open-ended Jewish immigration and land purchases with the stated goal of establishing a "Jewish National Home."  The dissent was directly influenced by the Qassamite rebellion, following the killing of Sheikh Izz ad-Din al-Qassam in 1935, as well as the declaration by Hajj Amin al-Husseini of 16 May 1936 as “Palestine Day” and calling for a general strike. The revolt was branded by many of the Jewish population "immoral and terroristic," often comparing it to fascism and Nazism.  Ben Gurion however described Arab causes as fear of growing Jewish economic power, opposition to mass Jewish immigration and fear of the English identification with Zionism. 

            The general strike lasted from April to October 1936, initiating the violent revolt. The revolt consisted of two distinct phases.  The first phase was directed primarily by the urban and elitist Higher Arab Committee (HAC) and was focused mainly on strikes and other forms of political protest.  By October 1936, this phase had been defeated by the British civil administration using a combination of political concessions, international diplomacy (involving the rulers of Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Transjordan and Yemen) and the threat of martial law.  The second phase, which began late in 1937, was a violent and peasant-led resistance movement provoked by British reaction to the movement that increasingly targeted British forces.  During this phase, the rebellion was suppressed by British force of arms.           The role of the Royal Engineers in the operations in Palestine is contained in Appendix B of this narrative.

            Corporal Dyett was promoted to the rank of Lance Sergeant on the 12^th of February 1938 while serving with “D” Company of the 1^st Anti-Aircraft Searchlight Battalion, Royal Engineers.[13]  Dyett received the General Service Medal 1918-1964 with clasp [PALESTINE] for his service during these operations.  His name appears on the medal roll of the 9^th Field Company dated in Brighton on the 10^th of July 1940.  The roll shows him as a Temporary Sergeant[14] but his medal is named to him as a Corporal.  The dates of qualification for the medal with clasp were from the 19^th of April 1936 to the 3^rd of September 1939.  When he was transferred to the 1^st Anti-Aircraft Searchlight Battalion is unknown, but elements of this battalion did serve in Palestine as well during the period in question.  He may have been transferred to the A-A Battalion from the 9^th Field Company while he was still in Palestine, but the medal was awarded to him for his service in the field company.

England (1938-1940)

Upon his return home Sergeant Dyett may have still been serving with the 1^st Anti-Aircraft Searchlight Battalion, as this unit was stationed at Blackdown, Surrey at the time.  He subsequently was posted to the 170^th Tunnelling Company, Royal Engineers, which was forming at Chatham.  This unit had a very interesting history dating back to the Great War of 1914-1918.  In June of 1939 what proved to be the last reunion dinner of the WW1 Tunnellers (Tunnellers Old Comrades Association) took place in London ( less than 3 months before the Germans invaded Poland).

            A number of the ex-tunnellers from the Great War enlisted, or at least attempted to enlist, in the re-formed 170th Tunnelling Company. One former WW1 officer who did so was Brigadier R.S.G. Stokes, R.E. (Assistant Inspector of Mines on the Western Front in 1916).  There was then some recruitment of enlisted men into the tunnelling companies who already had the specialist skills to become a tunnelling company “mole,” as they were known.  3597973 Lance Corporal Herbert Calvin, originally with the 5th Battalion (T.A.) of The Border Regiment was one such individual. In civilian life Calvin was a coal miner. Presumably because of his mining experience, on the 29^th of November 1939 he was transferred to the 170^th Tunnelling Company as one of the first members of the new unit.  Calvin was captured during the war.  His Prisoner of War Number was 11207 and he was sent to Stalag 4A in Hohenstein, 20 miles east northeast of Dresden.  From his rather high POW Number it would appear that Calvin avoided capture at Dunkirk and was captured at a later date.  He may have been left behind after the evacuation at Dunkirk and was subsequently captured while trying to evade German units in France.          

            In September 1939, on the outbreak of war, the 170th Tunnelling Company was re-formed at the Royal Engineers Headquarters at Chatham, Kent.  It became part of the 1^st Tunnelling Group which became part of the British Expeditionary Force.

The Officers of the 170^th Tunnelling Company

            There are 19 officers in the photograph below.  The photograph appears to have been mislabeled, as there were not that many officers assigned to a tunnelling company.  There were four tunnelling companies (1^st Tunnelling Group)[15] with the British Expeditionary Force in France in 1940.  The photograph most likely is of all the officers assigned to these companies.  The officers whose names appear in bold print served with the 170^th Company and were captured by the Germans during the war.[16]

Figure 3.  Officers of the 170^th Tunnelling Company, R.E.
(Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia)

Officers of 170 Tunnelling Company Royal Engineers at Chatham in early January 1940, prior to departure for France. Identified by Phillip Robinson of the Durand Group (pers. com. 2017) as, from left to right: (inset rear) J.B. Simpson, N.B. Walker; (standing rear) G.A.P. Moorhead, T. Pickering, J.H. Lander, R.G. Laver, D.J. Rogers, L.J. Foss, St J.H.M. Findlay, J.A.E. Paterson; (seated front) A.R.O. Williams, A.S.W. Wood, G.G. McLea, R.S.G. Stokes, G.M. Edwards, N.S. Cowan, D.M. Thomson, R.T. Brandt and T.M. Keillar. Reproduced courtesy of Lieutenant Colonel Phillip Robinson.  None of the officers shown in this photograph were killed at Dunkirk.  Some were taken prisoner, as indicated above.

Officers Captured at Dunkirk

            Captain N.B. Walker, Royal Army Medical Corps (Army No. 107307) was a medical officer assigned to the tunnelling companies of the B.E.F.  His Prisoner of War Number was 687 and he was interned in Camp 8B at Teschen.  Stalag 8B (or VIII-B) Lamsdorf was later renumbered Stalag-344.  It was located near the small town of Lamsdorf (now called Łambinowice) in Silesia. The hospital facilities at Stalag VIII-B were among the best in all Stalags. The so-called lazarett[17] was set up on a separate site with eleven concrete buildings. Six of them were self-contained wards, each with space for about 100 patients. The others served as treatment blocks with operating theaters, X-ray and laboratory facilities, as well as kitchens, a morgue, and accommodations for the medical staff.  The lazarett was headed by a German officer with the title Oberst Arzt ("Colonel Doctor"), but the staff was made up entirely of prisoners. They included general physicians and surgeons, even a neurosurgeon, psychiatrist, anesthesiologist and radiologist.  As an officer in the Royal Army Medical Corps, Captain Walker would have been a prime candidate for assignment to this POW camp.  His very low POW number indicates that he probably was captured at or near Dunkirk in May of 1940.

Figure 4.  Captain N.B. Walker, R.A.M.C.

(Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia)  

Figure 5.  Plan View of Stalag 8B Lamsdorf.

(Image courtesy of the Stalag VIII B 344 Lamsdorf web site)

            It may be assumed that Captain Walker was captured because like many medical officers he stayed behind to treat the wounded in the face of the German advance.

            Lieutenant T.M. Keillar, R.E.[18] (Army No. 109352) was probably an officer in the 170^th Tunnelling Company who was captured at or near Dunkirk.  His POW No. 301 indicates that he probably was one of the first prisoners taken by the Germans.[19]  Keillar was interned at Camp O.4C[20] at Saalhaus Colditz.  He was captured on the 23^rd of May 1940, but he did not arrive at Colditz until the 1^st of August 1941.[21]   

Figure 6.  Lieutenant T.M. Keillar, R.E.

(Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia)

            Lieutenant D.J. Rogers, R.E. (Army No. 106768) also was an officer in the 170^th Tunnelling Company who was captured at or near Dunkirk.  His POW number was 675.  Reid (page 291) shows him as a captain in captivity in Camp O.42 Colditz.  Rogers was captured on the 22^nd of May 1940 and he arrived at Colditz on the 1^st of August 1941.  Reid has an entry for Rogers showing that he left Colditz on the 16^th of March 1943 (presumably he escaped), with a second capture date of the 17^th of March 1943.  Rogers escaped and was recaptured the next day.

Figure 7.  Captain D.J. Rogers, R.E.

(Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia)

            Major Arthur Sharman Walton Wood, MC, R.E. (Army No. 108095) was the officer commanding the 170^th Tunnelling Company.  He was captured at or near Dunkirk on the 23^rd of May 1940 and he arrived at Colditz on the 1^st of August 1941.  Wood escaped from Colditz on the 16^th of March 1943, presumably with Captain Rogers, only to be recaptured the following day.  Reid (page 294) shows Wood leaving Colditz on the 26^th of April 1944.  Apparently his second attempt at escape was successful.[22]  After returning home he served until the 6^th of March 1948 when he relinquished his commission and was granted the honorary rank of Major.

Figure 8.  Major A.S.W. Wood, MC, R.E.

(Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia)

            Wood had seen service in the Royal Engineers during the Great War of 1914-1918.  He went to France in August of 1915 and served with the 170^th Tunnelling Company.  During the war he rose to the rank of Captain and was awarded the 1915-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal for his service.[23]  He was decorated with the Military Cross for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty during the war.  The citation for his award, cited in the London Gazette of 22 March 1918, reads as follows:[24]

T./Lt. Arthur Sharman Walton Wood, R.E.

For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty.  When eleven men were imprisoned in a mine he went down and worked for twelve hours organising their rescue, and made four attempts to reach each man himself.  He only desisted from his attempts at rescue when physically exhausted and suffering from the effects of gas.

            After the Great War it appears that he was demobilized at his substantive rank of Lieutenant and that he was serving in the Reserve of Officers when World War 2 began.  He was called back to service in 1939 and given a Regular Army Emergency Commission with the rank of Captain.  He was subsequently given command of the re-formed 170^th Tunnelling Company.  In the photograph above Wood has the appearance of an old soldier, but he must have been a tough old soldier who was not willing to remain a prisoner of war.  If the Germans had read the citation for his Military Cross they would surely have realized that he was a courageous and tireless officer, experienced at digging tunnels, who would best be incarcerated in the castle at Colditz.   

Figure 9.  Plan View of Colditz Castle.

(Image courtesy of Colditz the TV Series)

            After the outbreak of World War II, Colditz Castle was converted into a high security prisoner-of-war camp for officers who had become security or escape risks or who were regarded as particularly dangerous  The officers of the 170^th Company may have been considered to be high escape risks because of their knowledge and experience with tunnelling.  In many prison camps tunnelling under walls and fences was a popular method of escape.  These were the men that the Germans had to assume would provide the technical expertise for any attempts at escape by tunnelling.  Since the castle is situated on a rocky outcrop above the River Mulde, the Germans believed it to be an ideal site for a high security prison and probably a deterrent to attempts to escape by tunnelling.

            The larger outer court, known as the Kommandantur, had only two exits and housed a large German garrison. The prisoners lived in an adjacent courtyard in a 90-foot tall building. Outside, the flat terraces which surrounded the prisoners' accommodation were watched constantly by armed sentries and surrounded by barbed wire. Although known as Castle Colditz to the locals, its official designation as a German military prison was Oflag IV-C and it was controlled by the Wehrmacht.

            While the camp was home to prisoners of war from many different countries, including Poland, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Canada, in May 1943 Wehrmacht High Command decided to house only British and American officers.  Although it was considered a high security prison, it had one of the greatest records of successful escape attempts. This could be owing to the general nature of the prisoners that were sent there; most of them had attempted escape previously from other prisons and were transferred to Colditz, because the Germans had thought the castle escape-proof.  Although Major Wood was not a young man when he was imprisoned at Colditz he made two attempts to escape, one of them successful.

            The last officer shown in the photograph above is Lieutenant R.G. Laver, R.E. (Army No. 237292).  Laver was not captured at Dunkirk, but he did become a prisoner of war. His POW number was 128958 indicating that he was captured much later in the war.  He was interned at Camp O.79, Braunschweig (formerly O.8F).

Figure 10.  Lieutenant R.G. Laver, R.E.

(Image courtesy of Wikipedia)

France, May 1940

            Sergeant Dyett was posted to this company in 1939 or 1940 and went with the company to France with the British Expeditionary Force to initially take part in the “Phony War,” a war that was to become very real within a short period of time. The 170^th Tunnelling Company left England in January of 1940 with a mission to excavate bomb-proof military headquarters in northern France.  The company was part of General Headquarters Troops, BEF, under the Engineer-in-Chief, Major General R.P. Pakenham-Walsh. 

Figure 11.  Major General Ridley P. Pakenham-Walsh.
(Photograph courtesy of WikiVisually)  

            As previously mentioned there were three other tunnelling companies under GHQ Troops in the 1^st Tunnelling Group.  These companies were used to excavate dugouts for the principal unit headquarters.  The largest dugout was for the GHQ at Doullens, which was completed in May of 1940 and consisted of 70 chambers with forced ventilation and anti-gas protection.

            Sergeant Dyett went missing in action in France following the large German offensive and encirclement of the allied forces at Dunkirk.  The National Archives File relative to Dyett shows his rank as Staff Sergeant when he was captured on the 26^th of May 1940 in the vicinity of Ambleteuse, France.  Ambleteuse is a coastal town approximately 18 miles southwest of Calais.  Precisely what he and the 170^th Tunnelling Company were doing there is not known.  Men of the tunnelling companies were experienced in the use of explosives and demolitions, so it is possible that the company was employed on the destruction of bridges and the creation of other obstacles to slow the German advance.  The men probably fought as infantry to protect themselves and to form defensive perimeters in conjunction with adjacent combat units.

            The map below shows that Guderian’s XIX Panzerkorps was the southernmost attacking unit in the German offensive.  The 1^st, 2^nd and 10th Panzer Divisions of Guderian’s Corps swept upwards to Boulogne and Calaise with troops from one of these divisions, most likely from the 1^st or 2^nd Divisions, passing through the Ambleteuse area where Dyett’s company was located when he was captured.  The actions had to be violent, fast-moving and confused, probably giving the men of the 170^th Tunnelling Company little time to effectively react.

            The 2^nd Panzer Division advanced on Boulogne and was involved in a battle with the under-equipped French 48th Regiment on the 22^nd of May. Having overcome the defenders, the 2nd Panzers made a direct attack on the port of Boulogne itself which was in complete chaos.  Later, the division formed the armoured element which flanked the British Expeditionary Force and forced their evacuation from Dunkirk.

Figure 12.  General Heinz Guderian, Commanding General, XIX Panzer Corps.
(Photograph Courtesy of Wikipedia)  

            On the 24^th of May, the 1^st Panzer Division reached the Aa river and established bridgeheads on its north bank at Holque, St Pierre-Brouck, St Nicolas and Bourbourgville. The 2^nd Panzer Division was still busy finishing up the conquest of Boulogne, but the Allied resistance had been decisively weakened, meaning that some of its forces could be pulled out to aid combat elsewhere.

Figure 13.  Friedrich Kirchner, Commanding General, 1^st Panzer Division.
(Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia)  

            The main force of 10^th Panzer Division advanced to the line Desvres-Samer. Guderian's force was strengthened on the 24^th of May, when the 1st SS Panzer Division "Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler" joined XIX Panzer Corps. The 1^st SS Panzer Division was tasked with supporting the 1^st Panzer Division with an attack on Watten, in which it was to be reinforced by the 2^nd Panzer Division after its victory at Boulogne. In the meantime, the 10^th Panzer Division had encircled Calais and began the Siege of Calais. Guderian tasked the 10^th Panzer's commander Ferdinand Schaal with a delayed approach, as 10^th Panzer Division was to be reinforced by heavy artillery from Boulogne.

Figure 14.  General Rudolf Veiel, Commander General, 2^nd Panzer Division.
(Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia)  

            On the morning of the 25^th of May, parts of the 2^nd Panzer Division advanced towards the River Aa's south bank to back up the northwards maneuver. At the same time, the 10^th  Panzer Division's ultimatum to the besieged Allied units at Calais was rejected by Claude Nicholson, the British commander of the Allied forces. Boulogne fell into the hands of the 2^nd Panzer Division as the last remainder of the Allied forces surrendered, even though 4,286 Allied soldiers were successfully evacuated by the Royal Navy. The directive Korpsbefehl Nr. 13 was given out at 11:00 hours on the 25^th of May and assigned defensive duties on the German right flank to the 10^th Panzer Division and the defense of the German left to the 2^nd Panzer Division, separated at Audresselles. In the meantime, the 1^st Panzer Division would defend at St Momelin.  Calais fell into German hands on the 26^th of May 1940.

            Dyett was initially listed as missing in action on the 26^th of May 1940.  His status was reported to the War Office Casualty Section, Casualty List No. 266, dated the 27^th of July 1940, following the evacuation of British troops from Dunkirk.  Interestingly he was listed as a Sergeant Major in the casualty report.

Figure 15.  German Armor Attacks at Boulogne and Calais, South of Dunkirk.
(Map courtesy of Military History Matters)  

Other Prisoners of War

            On the 5^th of October 1940 Dyett was reclassified from previously missing to Prisoner of War and his name was placed on Casualty List No. 326.  He had previously been shown on Casualty List No. 266 as Missing.  This time his rank is shown as Regimental Sergeant Major.[25]

            The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) lists the following men of the 170^th Tunnelling Company as having been killed or who died as a result of the action at Dunkirk in May of 1940 about the time of Dyett’s capture:

·         2036119 Sapper William Henry Sheppard, R.E.  Sapper Sheppard died at Dunkirk[26] on the 22^nd of May 1940, aged 29.  He was the son of Henry and Bertha Sheppard and  husband of Alice Maud Sheppard, of North Shields, Northumberland.  He is buried at the DOUAI COMMUNAL CEMETERY Row L. Grave 14.

·         3856756 Sapper Walter Heyes, R.E.  Sapper Heyes died at Dunkirk on the 25^th of May 1940, aged 20.  He was the son of Edward and Annie Heyes, of Farnworth. Lancashire.  His death is commemorated on the DUNKIRK MEMORIAL Column 25. 

·         1063036 Sapper Frederick Arthur Taylor, R.E.  Sapper Taylor died on the 19^th of November 1940, aged 34, of wounds received at Dunkirk.  He was the son of Arthur and Ethel Taylor and husband of Ada Taylor, of Ackworth.  Sapper Taylor is buried at HEMSWORTH CEMETERY Grave 2592.  

 NOTE:  The columns of the Dunkirk Memorial are shown in Figure 23 below.

            The action in the vicinity of the 170^th Tunnelling Company’s position appears to have begun on the 22^nd of May, with the most losses being suffered on the 25^th of May.  The fighting appears to have continued in the company area until the 26^th of May when the last man was killed in action and Dyett was taken prisoner.  How many of the company made it into the Dunkirk perimeter and were evacuated is not known.  The total number of men of the company who were captured also is not known.

Figure 22.  Men Evacuated from Dunkirk.

(Image courtesy of Royston Colour)

            The Dunkirk Memorial is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission memorial to the missing that commemorates 4,505 missing dead of the British Expeditionary Force, most of whom fell prior to and during the Battle of Dunkirk in 1939 and 1940, in the fall of France.

Figure 23.  The Dunkirk Memorial.

(Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia)

Chelm, Poland (1940-1945)

            The initial German report of men captured indicated that Dyett was sent to Stalag VIII-B Lamsdorf, a German Army prisoner of war camp later renumbered Stalag-344, located near the small town of Lamsdorf in Silesia.  This camp initially occupied barracks built to house British and French prisoner of the Great War.  Dyett was listed as Prisoner of War No. 12501.[28]  A second report from the Germans indicates that Prisoner of War No. 12501, 1864177 Warrant Officer 1^st Class  V.G.C. Dyett, was moved to Stalag 319 in Cholm [Chelm], in Poland.

            Prisoners of war were fenced in under open skies with no food and little water at Chelm.  In November of 1941 many froze to death.  Beginning in the summer of 1942 Chelm became a transit camp of a very short stay for prisoners of war.  It became known then as Stalag 319 until the spring of 1943.  On the 8^th of September 1943 when Italy surrendered, Italian army units in Greece were disarmed by the Germans and about 13,000 were sent to Chelm.  During January and February of 1944 there was another influx of about 20,000 Red Army captives.  The Chelm POW camp was evacuated in late April of 1944 and liberated by the Polish army on the 22^nd of July 1944. 

Figure 24.  A Stick Pin Worn by German Guards at Chelm.
(Image from the author’s collection)  

            Prisoners of war kept at Chelm were supposed to remain there for only about four to seven days, but in practice they usually spent a few weeks there.  In Stalag 319, Chelm, there were a few French and Belgian prisoners, about 1,000 British (Dyett probably among them) and for a short time about 13,000 Italians.  Initially about ten percent of the total number of POWs were listed as “workers.”  In a German government report dated 1 June 1942, 50 percent of the POWs were listed as “workers.”  The war cemetery contains the remains of 60.000 prisoners of war who perished in the camps of Stalag 319 A and C.[29]

            In 1943 while he was a prisoner of war, Dyett became eligible to receive the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal.  He did not actually receive the medal until about 1947.[30]  It also appears that while in captivity he had been promoted to the rank of Warrant Officer Class I once it was known that he was in face a prisoner of war.

            On the 30^th of July 1945 Warrant Officer Class I Dyett was reclassified from Casualty List No. 326 (Prisoner of War) to Casualty List No. 1821 (non-Prisoner of War) when he was returned to British control.

            Three men of the 170^th Tunnelling Company who were captured at Dunkirk were not as fortunate as Dyett.  They did not survive their captivity.  The Commonwealth War Graves Commission provides the following data on these men:

Figure 28.  Krakow Rakowicki Cemetery.
(Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia)

Home (1945-1975)

            After returning home Sergeant Major Dyett re-engaged in May 1947 to complete 22 years of service.[31]  This probably was a formality as he already had served for 22 years by this date.  However, since he had been a prisoner of war he could not actually go through the process of re-engaging prior to this time.   He probably was hospitalized for a period of time after his return home and treated for malnutrition and/or other ailments that he suffered from while his was a POW.  He probably also was granted a period of recuperative leave and war leave prior to this discharge from the Army.

            The 1964 and 1965 Electoral Registers shows Dyett residing in Walthamstow in northeast London.  Vernon Charles George Dyett died at Waltham Forest in Greater London during the first quarter of 1975 at the age of 67, his early death mostly likely due to poor health caused by spending more than five years as a prisoner of war in the camp at Chelm.

__________________________________________________________________________

            The following sections are presented in tabular form to summarize Dyett’s promotions, appointments, military training and qualifications and the medals that he was awarded during his time in the Army.  They are provided to give the reader easy access to these aspects of his military career.  The tables are followed by sections dealing with his marriage, personal information and post-service life.

__________________________________________________________________________

5.  PROMOTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS

            Dyett received the following promotions during his time in service:

NOTE:  Given Dyett’s status as a prisoner of war from 1940 to 1945 it is very difficult to trace the dates of his promotions after he was captured.  He appears to have received very fast promotions from the rank of Temporary Sergeant to Regimental Sergeant Major, all during the latter half of 1940.  His rank of Warrant Officer Class I (Regimental Sergeant Major) was taken from casualty lists.  There is no way to know how accurate these lists were.  Two questions immediately come to mind. 

1)      Did he continue to receive promotions while he was a POW?

2)      Why was he promoted to the rank of Regimental Sergeant Major?  Serving in the 170^th Tunnelling Company, he could have been the unit’s Company Sergeant Major (Warrant Officer Class II) unless he had been reassigned from the company to work as the RSM under the Commander Royal Engineers of a division or as Sergeant Major of the 1^st Tunnelling Group.  This question might be resolved if a copy of his service papers were available.

6.      MILITARY TRAINING AND QUALIFICATIONS  

Military Training

            Other than his recruit training in 1925 and 1926, it is difficult to know what other training he may have received without access to his service records.  Prior to being assigned to the 1^st Anti-Aircraft Searchlight Battalion he may have attended a course at the School of Electric Lighting at Gosport.  Also, since tunnelling companies provided a specialized service during wartime, he may have attended a course of instruction in this field as well.

Qualifications  

            Without his service papers it is not possible to know what qualifications Dyett might have obtained.  He certain was qualified in the basics of field engineering while he served in the 9^th Field Company and perhaps he was also qualified in the field of searchlight operations or maintenance.  He certainly must have qualified as a senior non-commissioned officer in a tunnelling company.  

7.      MEDALS, AWARDS AND DECORATIONS

            Warrant Officer Class I Dyett received the following medals during his time in service[32]

NOTES;

1)      Warrant Officer Dyett was not entitled to the Defence Medal because this medal was not issued to prisoners of war.

2)      Both the General Service Medal and the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal are in fine condition and appear to never have been worn by Dyett.  This is understandable given his POW status and discharge from the Army soon after his release from captivity.       

Figure 29.  The Medals of Warrant Officer Vernon Charles George Dyett, R.E.
(Photograph from the author’s collection)  

Authorization for his award of the 1939-45 Star is given by Army Regulations at the time from which the following excerpt has been taken regarding the eligibility of prisoners of war.

Figure 30.  Eligibility of POWs for the 1939-45 Star.
(Image courtesy of Kimberley John Lindsay)  

8.  MARRIAGE, FAMILY AND PERSONAL INFORMATION

            Vernon Dyett married Mary E. Crewe in Barnsley, Yorkshire in the fourth quarter of 1931.[33]   No record has been found of the Dyetts having any children.  

 9.  RELEASE FROM SERVICE

            Vernon Dyett was released from service in 1947.  His total service was reckoned as shown in the tables below:

NOTES: 

1)      Without his service papers the periods of service obviously are approximate.

2)      His years in captivity as a POW has been counted as Service Abroad.

3)      His actual date of discharge is unknown, his number of years of Total Service is approximate.

10.  POST SERVICE LIFE  

            No information about the post service life of Vernon Charles George Dyett has been uncovered during this research.

11.  ADDITIONAL FAMILY INFORMATION[34]  

Parents  

            Vernon Dyett’s father, John Redman Charles Dyett, died in Portsmouth, Hampshire in December 1938, probably while Vernon was serving in Palestine.  His mother died on the 18^th of June 1955, also in Portsmouth.  Her residence at the time was 57 St. Chads Avenue.

Figure 31.  57 St. Chads Avenue, Portsmouth, Hampshire.
(Photograph courtesy of Google Earth)  

            Vernon and his sister Vera received the notice of their mother’s death.

Siblings  

Reginald John William Dyett

            Vernon’s brother, Reginald enlisted as a Sapper in the Royal Engineers in 1927, Army Number 1866393.  By April of 1935 Reginald was a Lance Corporal serving with the 24^th Field Company.  Reginald received a Short Service Commission as a Lieutenant (Quartermaster) on the 19^th of September 1951 (Army Number 210266) and subsequently rose to the rank of Major.[35]

            The London Gazette of 24 November 1964 reported that “REGULAR ARMY RESERVE OF OFFICERS Major (Q.M.) R.J.W. DYETT (210266) having attained the age limit, ceases to belong to the Reserve of Officers, effective 27^th November 1964.” 

Figure 31A.  The Medals of Major Reginald John William Dyett, R.E.  
(Photograph courtesy of Mr. Stuart Gase)    

            Reginald married Dorothy Grace Dowley (1914-1986) in Portsmouth in December of 1940.  It is not known if they had any children.  Reginald died on the 5^th of December 1973 in Romsey, Hampshire.  Dorothy died in April of 1986 at Portsmouth.

Victor Redman Howard Dyett

            Vernon’s brother Victor was commissioned a Lieutenant (Quartermaster) in the Royal Engineers on the 3^rd of December 1942.[36]  He was promoted to the rank of Captain, Regular Army Short Service Commission, and appointed a Temporary Major on the 3^rd of December 1945.[37]

            Victor was awarded the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal on the 9^th of April 1948 and by 1950 he held the substantive rank of Major.[38]  On the 6^th of March 1950 Victor was appointed an Acting Lieutenant Colonel and was serving as a Staff Officer in the Western Command.[39]

            Victor married Phyllis Mary Wilson (1906-1978) at Darlington, Durham in December of 1938.  It is not known if they had any children.  Victor died on the 28^th of December 1981 at Fairland, Bristol, Gloucestershire.  Phyllis predeceased him in March of 1978 at Weston-super-Mare, Avon.

Vera Sarah Mary Dyett

            Vernon’s sister Vera married Roy Cecil Wooton Whitling (1903-1989) in Portsmouth in December of 1934.  It is not known if they had any children.  Vera died in Barnet, Middlesex in 1971 at the age of 64.  Her husband died in Hatfield, Hertfordshire in July of 1989.

Arthur Ronald Gilbert Dyett

            Arthur joined the Royal Navy on the 14^th of September 1931 and served as a Warrant Engineer for 12 years.  He married Berta Helena Wilson in June of 1942 at Darlington, Durham.  It is not known if they had any children. 

            Arthur died at Portsmouth in July of 1994.  Berta died in Portsmouth in January of 2002.

Sturdee Vincent G. Dyett

            Vernon’s brother, with the unusual name of Sturdee, married Alice Smith at Portsmouth in March of 1947.  It is not known if they had any children.  Sturdee died at Portsmouth in January of 1996.  The date of Alice’s death is not known.   

APPENDIX A.

The Dyett Paternal Family Tree

Figure A-1.   

   APPENDIX B.  

Operations of the Royal Engineers in Palestine, 1936-1939  

The History of the Corps of Royal Engineers, Volume VII, pp. 237-240.  

 REFERENCES  

Army Lists  

1. The Monthly Army List, October 1935, p. 23.
2. The Army List, 1952.

Army Orders  

1. Army Order 247 of 1939. Award of the General Service Medal 1918-1964.
2. Army Order 27 of 1947.  Award of the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal.

Books  

1. BLAXLAND, G.  Destination Dunkirk: The Story of Gort’s Army.  Military Book Society, London, 1973.
2. GORDON, L.L.  British Battles and Medals.  Spink & Son, Ltd., London, 1971, pp. 332, 343 and 347.
3. HAYWARD, J.B.  Prisoners of War, British Army, 1939-1945.  Polstead, Suffolk, 1999.
4. History of the Corps of Royal Engineers.  Volume VII.  The Institution of Royal Engineers, Chatham, Kent, pp. 237-240.
5. REID, P.R.  Colditz: The Full Story.  Macmillan London, Ltd., London, 1984, p. 288.

Census

1911 Census of England and Wales.  

Documents  

1. Demjanuk Trial.  Jerusalem, February 16, 1987 to April 24, 1988.  Summary of English Language Transcripts.
2. The Einsatzgruppen Case.  Military Tribunal II, Case No. 9, The United States of America against Otto Ohlendorf, Heinz Jost, et. al., Part IV.
3. The Demjanjuk Trial (Jerusalem, February 16, 1987 – April 24, 1988): Summary of English-language transcripts.

Internet Web Sites

1.      Lyell Special Publications: Tunnelling Companies Royal Engineers in World War II: excavation of bomb-proof facilities in France, Gibraltar, Malta and the UK.
https://sp.lyellcollection.org/content/473/1/201  

2. Majdanek Concentration Camp.

https://www.scrapbookpages.com/Poland/Majdanek/Majdanek.html  

3. Wikipedia: Stalag VIII-B

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalag_VIII-B  

4. World War 2 Talk: 170^th Tunnelling Company

http://ww2talk.com/index.php?threads/170-tunnelling-coy.31822/  

5. HMY Victoria and Albert (1899)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMY_Victoria_and_Albert_(1899)  

6. 1936-1939 Arab Revolt in Palestine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1936%E2%80%931939_Arab_revolt_in_Palestine  

7. Military History Matters

https://www.military-history.org/articles/dunkirk-disaster-1940.htm  

8. REID, P.R.  Colditz: The Full Story (2015)

https://books.google.com/books?id=rPSzBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA288&lpg=PA288&dq=t.m.+keillar+colditz&source=bl&ots=ZVPP62x6nj&sig=ACfU3U0CBhnxjcU3KH2HXxUpYxvM3ieegQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj7qOf5m
__nAhWDQEEAHVZ1BbYQ6AEwAHoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=t.m.%20keillar%20colditz&f=false  

9. Colditz: The TV Series

https://colditzthetvseries.wordpress.com/locations-sets/  

10. History of Stalag 8B 344 Lamsdorf

https://www.lamsdorf.com/history.html  

London Gazette  

1. The London Gazette, 19 August 1915, pp. 8017 and 8018.
2. Supplement to the London Gazette, 19 November 1917, p. 11951.
3. Supplement to the London Gazette, 22 March 1918, p. 3612.
4. Supplement to the London Gazette, 29 December 1939, pp. 8575 and 8577
5. Supplement to the London Gazette, 5 March 1948, p. 1620..
6. The London Gazette, 9 April 1948.
7. Supplement to the London Gazette, 4 July, 1952, p. 3630.
8. The London Gazette, 16 September 1955, p. 5275.
9. The London Gazette, 24 November 1964, p. 10105.

Medal Rolls  

1. Medal Index Card, Arthur Sharman Walton Wood, R.E.
2. General Service Medal Roll, Palestine 1936-39, 9^th Field Company, Royal Engineers.

Family Trees  

1. bonsaitree Family Tree

https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/14194418/person/28097892692/facts  

2. Paulette_Denise Family Tree https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/77710573/person/36425773568/facts?_phsrc=iWN2069&_phstart=successSource

 Periodicals  

1. The Sapper, November 1928, p. 121.
2. The Sapper, January 1933, p. 172.
3. The Sapper, January 1935, p. 501.
4. The Sapper, April 1935, p. 584.
5. The Sapper, July 1935, p. 666.
6. The Sapper, June 1936, p. 301.
7. The Sapper, April 1938, p. 251.
8. The Sapper, May 1947, p. 172.
9. The Sapper, July 1947, p. 207.
10. The Royal Engineers List, October 1934, p. xx.
11. The Royal Engineers List, October 1935, p. xx.

Registers  

1. Births Registered in July, August and September 1908, p. 167.
2. Marriages Registered in October, November and December 1931, p. 288.
3. Electoral Register, Walthamstow, 1964 and 1965.
4. Deaths Registered in January, February and March 1975, p. 201.

Research Web Sites  

Forces War Records (FWR)

https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/  

War Office Files  

1. WO 100/502: Award of the General Service Medal 1918-1964 with clasp [PALESTINE].
2. WO 102/28: Promotion to Warrant Officer Class II.
3. WO 102/43: Long Service and Good Conduct Medal.
4. WO 416/106/438: Report of Capture.
5. WO 417/15: Report to War Office Casualty Section, 27 July 1940.
6. WO 417/19: Report to War Office Casualty Section, 5 October 1940.
7. WO 417/95-1 Release from POW status.

ENDNOTES