POWER William Henry 2/Lt

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Surname: POWER;

Forename(s): William Henry;

Initials: WH;

Rank: 2/Lt;

Born in: Crewe;

Previous Battalion: 18 of;

Previous Regiment: Liverpool Regt;

MGC Unit: Unknown;

Other Data: M.C.(GVI) dated 1941 Lt. Colonel, BWM & unilingual Victory Medal Capt., 1939-1945 Star, Africa Star, Defence Medal & War Medal 1939-1945 all unnamed, Efficiency Decoration Southern Rhodesia(GVI) T/Lt/Col. William H Power M.C., Royal Visit 1947 Medallion cased & named Lt. Colonel W.H. Power M.C. (9)

Power was born at Crewe, Cheshire 14/5/1892. Served in the ranks with the 18th King's Liverpool Regiment 2/9/1914 - 7/7/1915. Promoted to Lance Corporal 23/3/1915. Commissioned 2nd Lieutenant 8/7/1915. Transferred to the Machine Gun Corps 23/11/1915. Transferred to the Royal Engineers 23/1/1917. Promoted Lieutenant 1/7/1917. Appointed Acting Captain 2/12/1919. Relinquished acting rank of Captain 4/1/1920 and released. Granted rank of Captain (LG 29/6/1920)

Power served in France and Flanders from May 1916 to November 1918. He served with the Military Mission to Siberia in Russia from January to November 1919

He then married a Russian women. A son Thomas Henry was born at Wolverhampton on 8/11/1920. Thomas was educated at St George's College, Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia and was an engineering apprentice when he attested on 15/11/1940. Power Jnr served with 26 Elementary Flying Training School, and 25 Operational Training Unit at Guinea Fowl and Kumalo Southern Rhodesia, and with 106 Squadron R.A.F. which had as its O.C. Wing Commander Guy Gibson who later won a V.C. for the “Dambuster” raid.

Power Jnr. was promoted Flight Sergeant Pilot. He was posted missing presumed dead when his Manchester aircraft L7485 code ZM, the only aircraft of a group of 21 which failed to return on 16/4/1942 from a mine laying operation in the Gironde Estuary, France. Power was the Second Pilot. His body was reportedly recovered from the Loire Estuary on 24/4/1942 by the Germans and later buried at sea. His name is commemorated on No 5 Group Bomber Command Memorial in the Airmen's Chapel, Lincoln Cathedral, and on Panel 91 at the Runnymede Memorial to those airmen who have no known graves. One of the engines of his aircraft was brought to the surface in 1989 from the sea-bed off Batz sur Mer in the net of a local fishing boat. 106 Squadron was equipped with Hampden, Manchester and Lancaster aircraft. It served throughout the war, flying 5 745 sorties and lost 169 aircraft.

William Henry Power was elected an Associate Member of the Institute of Civil Engineers 11/3/1919. He immigrated to Southern Rhodesia in 1927. Commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Territorial Force Mechanical Transport Section 22/9/1928. Temporary Captain with the Rhodesia Regiment 22/4/1931, Adjutant 1/5/1932. Captain 1/11/1933. Major 1/10/1933. Second in Command of 2nd Battalion Rhodesia Regiment 1/4/1934.

Statistics for Southern Rhodesians serving World War II make for impressive reading. 1579 officers, of whom 233 became casualties and 269 received decorations. Other ranks 4591, of whom, 627 became casualties and 149 received decorations. These are high proportions by any standards.

Power signed up for full-time service on 22/9/1939. Served in command of the 120 strong No.2 Group, Detached Force designated Falls Force at Victoria Falls to protect the Bridge against an anticipated threat from South West African Germans

The seven hundred men of the Rhodesia Regiment later served under General Wavell in the Libyan Desert campaign. Companies were allocated to the K.R.R.C., 11th Hussars, Northumberland Fusiliers and the Cheshire Regiment. Power commanded C Company of the Cheshire’s which included 70 attached Rhodesians. Wavell’s army of 40 000 captured 130 000 Italians at a cost of 700 killed and 2 300 wounded between December 1940 and February 1941. Power was awarded the Military Cross on 10/4/1941 having been recommended for a D.S.O. In all, Southern Rhodesians received 59 M.C. awards. The recommendation authorized by General Wavell, reads as follows -

"During the operations in Egypt & Libya between December 1940 and February 1941 Major Power commanded his company with conspicuous success. His example and energy inspired his men. At Tobruk he was one of the first to cross the anti-tank obstacle on his front, and always - as on this occasion - he never hesitated to expose himself to danger. That his company so successfully carried out the tasks demanded of it, in support of the infantry throughout the operations, was due to his command and leadership"

The Cheshire regiment was then moved to Malta where it was responsible for the defence of the dockyard from 1st April 1941 to 23rd January 1942. During this period the island received 2 710 air alerts, of which 119 bombing attacks were concentrated on the dockyard, an estimated 3 200 tons of bombs being dropped in this area in the month from March to April. “B” Company had their quarters four times destroyed by direct hits.

Power was an Engineer of the Southern Rhodesia Railways, based at Bulawayo at the time of the Royal Visit in 1947. The Royal Party traveled throughout South Africa and Rhodesia in the White Train, and Power presumably had a lot do with this aspect of their visit, and was therefore given the inscribed medallion mentioned. He retired from service in 1955.

He was awarded the Efficiency Decoration in the Southern Rhodesia Government Gazette of 16/7/1943 (or 10/7/1943); GN360/43; F.O. 16135. There were 103 awards of the E.D. with the Southern Rhodesia suspender gazetted between 1933 and 1967. Only two were M.C., E.D.

Power died at Pietermaritzburg in 1970.

His name is mentioned in the following book:
The War History of Southern Rhodesia 1939-45, by J F MacDonald

Documents:
Copy of his Commission as 2nd Lieutenant 7/7/1915
Correspondence with his daughter and with his brother
Correspondence with the British Institution of Civil Engineers
Attestation and service record from the P.R.O. for World War I
Service papers from the National Archives of Southern Rhodesia
Correspondence with the National Archives of Southern Rhodesia
Copy of his Commission as Lieutenant in Southern Rhodesia 22/9/1928
Copy of Colony of Southern Rhodesia Government Gazette 16/7/1943 re award of the Efficiency Decoration

Group offered DNW Feb '21;

END OF RECORD.

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