Gunner John Carruthers, R.A.
Killed in action in the Middle East, June 1941
Photograph: Courtesy of 'The Whitehaven News'
For additional information click on 'Comments' below.
posted by ritsonvaljos at 10:31 pm
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Killed in action in the Middle East, June 1941
Photograph: Courtesy of 'The Whitehaven News'
For additional information click on 'Comments' below.
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Additional information
Some biographical details
Gunner John Carruthers, R.A. (1920 - 1941) from Whitehaven, Cumberland (now Cumbria) served with the Royal Artillery during WW2. Before the war, John Carruthers had been a Territorial and took part in the 1940 Norwegian campaign. He was killed in action in the Middle East on 17 June 1941. His final resting place is at Tobruk War Cemetery, Libya (Grave Ref. No. 4.A.2).
Gunner John Carruthers was the son of John Carruthers and Alice May Carruthers (née Beck) and the husband of Florence Carruthers (née Calvin). John Carruthers had been mainly brought up by his maternal grandmother, Mrs Beck, who lived at Devon Road, Hensingham, Whitehaven.
John Carruthers and Florence Calvin had married shortly after his return from Norway and prior to his being posted to the Middle East in late 1940. Their family home was at 71 Scotch Street, Whitehaven. He is commemorated on the WW2 memorial of St James' Parish Church, Whitehaven and the Borough of Whitehaven WW2 'Book of Remembrance'.
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"A void of comradeship"
When Mrs Florence Carruthers received the news that her husband had been killed in action she wrote a loving tribute to him, which appeared in the 'Family Notices' section of 'The Whitehaven News' on Thursday, 3 July 1941:
CARRUTHERS.
Gunner John Carruthers, beloved husband of Florence Carruthers, 71 Scotch Street, Whitehaven, killed in the Middle East, June 17, 1941, aged 21 years.
I miss you in the evening most,
The time we held so dear,
When twilight softly gathers
And the dusk is drawing near.
And though my hands are busy,
Yet my heart is lonely still,
And there's a void of comradeship
That only you can fill.
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CWGC citation
This is the Commonwealth War Graves citation for Gunner John CARRUTHERS:
Name: CARRUTHERS, JOHN
Rank: Gunner
Service No: 907157
Date of Death: 17/06/1941
Age: 21
Regiment/Service: Royal Artillery,
51 (The Westmorland and Cumberland Yeomanry)
Field Regt.
Grave Reference: 4. A. 12.
Cemetery: TOBRUK WAR CEMETERY, Libya.
Additional Information:
Son of John and Alice May Carruthers;
Husband of Mary Florence Carruthers, of Whitehaven, Cumberland.
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Dedication
This article is dedicated to the memory of Gunner John Carruthers, R.A.:
A comrade whose memory will never die.
----------------
Acknowledgements
Cumbria County Archives & Local History Centre
(Whitehaven Records Office)
The Whitehaven News
Mr Stuart Nicholson
(Parish Archivist, Church of England Parish of Whitehaven)
+++++++++++
Epitaph:
The epitaph on the headstone of Gunner John Carruthers in Tobruk War Cemetery reads as follows:
"Weep not, dear friends,
I could no longer stay
For Death has summoned me away".
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