Gardner Brothers of Windermere in WW2
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(1 & 2) Holy Trinity Churchyard, Winster, Cumbria.(Driver Ted Gardner, RASC was buried here in April 1944)
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(3) List of the 1939 - 1945 casualties
Trumpet Terrace War Memorial, Cleator, Cumbria
(Ted Gardner is one of those listed on this memorial)
(Ted Gardner is one of those listed on this memorial)
For additional information click on 'Comments' below
posted by ritsonvaljos at 4:58 pm
1 Comments:
Additional information
(1) Introduction
Driver John Edward ('Ted') Gardner, RASC and RSM George Walter Gardner, Border Regiment were two brothers who both lost their lives during the Second World War. Ted Gardner died in the UK on 20 April 1944 and was buried in Winster Churchyard village near Windermere, Cumbria (previously Westmorland).
George Gardner, who died in Sicily on 10 July 1943, was buried in Syracuse War Cemetery, Sicily. George Gardner is also commemorated on Ted’s CWGC headstone in Winster Churchyard. Their parents were Thomas and Mary Eleanor Gardner of Bowness-on-Windermere (on the eastern shore of Lake Windermere).
(2) Trumpet Terrace War Memorial, Cleator, Cumbria
Among those listed on the 1939 - 1945 names of the Trumpet Terrace War Memorial, Cleator, Cumbria (previously Cumberland) is Driver John Edward Gardner, R.A.S.C. (Died 1944). Although not listed on that memorial, his brother, George W. Gardner, Border Regiment, also died in WW2 during the Airborne assault of Sicily in 1943 [see below].
George and Ted Gardner’s parents were Thomas and Mary Eleanor Gardner of Bowness-on-Windermere (now Cumbria). Ted Gardner was also survived by his wife, Elizabeth Edna Gardner (known as Edna) and by a son, also known as Ted.
(3) Winster (Holy Trinity) Parish Churchyard, Windermere, Cumbria
(a) Holy Trinity Church Burial Register
Ted Gardner's burial as recorded in the Holy Trinity Parish Church Burial Register (1813 - 2003), and referred to at the Cumbria County Archives, Kendal Records Office, gives the following information:
Page 48 No 379
Name: John Edward Gardner.
Address: Bellman Cottage, Winster (died at Meathop Sanatorium)
Buried: April 22nd 1944.
Age: 32 years.
Ceremony performed by: Rev Kenneth Harper, Curate of Windermere
Burial Plot No: 177
(County Archives Reference: WPR 50/6 / Reel JAC 1744)
(b) Churchyard Monumental Inscription
The headstone citation and location of Ted Gardner's grave can also be found in the Kendal Records Office ('Monumental Inscriptions - Winster', S.M.H., 1995, No 67). I was able to use this to immediately identify the exact location of the headstone within the churchyard. The inscription reads as follows;
T/119395 Driver J.E. Gardner
Royal Army Service Corps
20th April 1944
+
His brother George RSM Border Regt (Airborne)
Was killed in Sicily
July 10th 1943 Aged 37
(4) WO1 (RSM) George Walter Gardner, Service No 3594598
Regimental Sergeant Major (WO1) George Gardner, Service Number 3594598, was born in Lancashire and served with the 1st (Airborne) Battalion The Border Regiment. He lost his life during the Airborne assault of Sicily on 9 - 10 July 1943, aged 37. George Gardner is buried in Syracuse War Cemetery, Sicily (Grave Reference: II.C.6).
There are a number of photographs of RSM George Gardner held by the KORBR & Border Regiment Museum, Carlisle. He is also commemorated in the Border Regiment Roll of Honour for WW2, on display in the Regimental Chapel at Carlisle Cathedral.
(5) Driver John Edward Gardner, Service No T/119395
Driver John Edward Gardner, Service Number T/119395, 429 General Transport Company, RASC, died while on service in the UK on 20 April 1944. He is buried in Holy Trinity Churchyard, Winster, Windermere, Westmorland (now Cumbria). According to the CWGC citation, Ted Gardner's widow Edna was also living at Windermere at the time of his death.
However, Ted Gardner's family were also linked to the village of Cleator, Cumberland (now Cumbria) which is about 60 miles by road from Windermere. Ted Gardner is commemorated on the Trumpet Terrace War Memorial, Cleator (where his name is listed as 'John E. Gardner'). At the time of writing this article I do not know exactly when the Gardners lived at Cleator, although it would appear that Ted's widow and son were living in Cleator village in 1945.
The following 'In Memoriam' for Driver Ted Gardner appeared in 'The Whitehaven News' Birth, Marriage and Death Columns on 19 April 1945 (page 7):
"ROLL OF HONOUR
Gardner - In loving memory of a dear husband and Dad, Ted, who died April 20th 1944.
Friends may think we have forgotten
When they see us smile,
But they little know the heartache
That lingers all the while".
Ever remembered by his loving wife and son Edna and Ted and all at Cleator".
(6) A tribute of Remembrance
Ted Gardner and George Gardner were brothers from the Windermere area in what is now Cumbria who died while they were serving their country during the Second World War. In the course of researching this article, I visited Holy Trinity Churchyard where they are both remembered on the CWGC headstone of Ted Gardner.
In front of this headstone in Winster Churchyard were three poppy crosses. Someone had taken the effort to visit this small village churchyard to place them there at Remembrance time. The sacrifice of Ted and George is still remembered.
May they both rest in peace.
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