Geoffrey Ellwood Greenaway

War Service

Geoffrey Ellwood Greenaway served with 40th 7th Battalion The Kings Regiment (Liverpool). He died on 24th September 1943 aged 25 and was buried in Salerno War Cemetery grave 11.B.48.
Pontefract & Castleford Express 27 November 1942 p2 (with photo)
“WOUNDED IN EGYPT
Mr & Mrs J E Greenaway of Pontefract Road, Ferrybridge, have received official notification that their eldest son Trooper Geoffrey Ellwood Greenaway, aged 24, of the Royal Tank Regiment, was wounded in the first stages of the Battle of Egypt. Trooper Greenaway has been in the Forces for just over two years and has been overseas for about nine months. He was educated at The Kings School, Pontefract, and as a boy was a corporal in the 1st Knottingley Company of the Boys’ Brigade. While a member of the Brigade he was selected to carry from Snydale to Pontefract, one of the five messages of congratulations on the occasion of the Jubilee of King George V. The messages were carried by a relay of runners of the Brigade from John O’ Groats to the Albert Hall, London, and each boy ran five miles. Trooper Greenaway was a member of the Ferrybridge Cycling Club, and before joining the Forces was a clerk with the LMS Railway at Sheffield. His younger brother, Eric, is a flight mechanic in the RAF, of which he has been a member for five years.”
Pontefract & Castleford Express 23 March 1943 p1
“RECOVERING FROM WOUND
Mr and Mrs Greenaway of 56 Pontefract Road, Ferrybridge, have received word that their son Trooper G E Greenaway of the Royal Tank Regt was wounded at El Alamein in October, and after six months in hospital and at a convalescent depot, he is quite recovered. In his last letter to his parents he wrote “I am getting plenty of food, and feeling fine, and hoping it will soon be over.” His younger brother is serving in the West African Forces as a flight mechanic.”
Pontefract & Castleford Express 29 October 1943 p3 (with photo)
“KILLED IN ACTION
Mr and Mrs J E Greenaway of 56 Pontefract Road, Ferrybridge, have been notified that their son Trooper Geoffrey Ellwood Greenaway, of the Royal Tank Regiment (known as Monty’s Foxhounds) was killed in action in the Central Mediterranean on September 24th. In a letter his Lieut., says “After a very trying morning, when things appeared to have quietened a great deal Geoff and his driver decided to dismount from their tank for a few minutes. Without warning the road on which we were sitting was very heavily mortared, and Geoff had no opportunity of gaining his tank’s protection, but was killed instantaneously, his driver being badly wounded. We buried him the same day in a very pretty spot by the roadside. Geoff had been with me since last June, and I found him extremely cheerful, pleasant and well behaved young man; it was a great pleasure to have in my troop. He was a fine lad and we miss him greatly.“ Trooper Greenaway was wounded at El Alamein during the big offensive last October, and was in hospital for six months. Before he joined the Forces he was a clerk with the LMS Railway at Sheffield. He was a member of the 1st Knottingley Coy., of the Boys Brigade, and of the Ferrybridge Cycling Club. His younger brother Eric is a Flight Mechanic in the RAF serving with the West African Forces.”

Family information

Geoffrey Ellwood Greenaway was born in the second quarter of 1918 and his birth was registered at Barnsley. He was the son of James Edwin Greenaway and Annie Greenaway nee Ellwood, who married in the second quarter of 1914 and their marriage was registered at Pontefract.

Salerno War Cemetery