BARNES

Ronald

No further information currently available

BENTLEY

Cecil J

No further information currently available

BENTLEY

Doris L

No further information currently available (discharged)

BOGGIS

Basil

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BUNTON

Dennis V

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BUNTON

Jack

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CLARKE

Eric

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CLAYDEN

Stanley

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COOTE

Gronway

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DAFF

Ronald

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DURRANT

Kenneth A R

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DURRANT

Raymond O V

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GIBBS

Lilian

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GIBBS

Stanley

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GRUNDY

Beatrice

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GRUNDY

Dorothy M

No further information currently available

GRUNDY

George

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GRUNDY

Percy

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HALL

Charles A

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HARDY

Frank

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HARRISON

Derek

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HARRISON

Geoffrey

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HAYES

Frederick E

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HINTON

Joyce

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HOY

Harold Cecil

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KILLINGBACK

Dennis

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LING

Raymond

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PONDER

Basil Walter

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ROBSON

Bruce

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SHARDLOW

Gilbert

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SHARDLOW

Leonard

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SMITH

Claude

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TURNER

Arthur

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TURNER

Peggy

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TURNER

Percy

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UNDERWOOD

Frank

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WESLEY

Jack

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WILLETT

Charles

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WILLETT

Edward

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WILLETT

Joan

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WILLIS

Rose

No further information currently available (discharged)

WOOLEY

Frederick J

No further information currently available

WESLEY

Dorothy

HAYLOCK

Keith R

Acting Corproal 23091051, 'B' Comapny, 1st Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment. Killed when a forest fire swept across their position near Prevassa in the Troodos Mountains during operation 'Lucky Alphonse' 17th June 1956. Aged 19. Resident Steeple Bumpstead, Essex. Buried in Wayne's Keep Military Cemetery, Nicosia, Cyprus. Plot 21 Row A Grave 4. Funeral of those who died in the forest fire incident laid to rest in a mass grave 20th June 1956 in Wayne's Keep Military Cemetery, Nicosia.

THE EOKA conflict in Cyprus is certainly one of Britain's "forgotten wars". It lasted between April 1, 1955 and officially ended on December 24, 1959. At its height, more than 30,000 British troops were assigned to combat EOKA, the Greek Cypriot terrorist organization commanded by Colonel George Grivas of the Greek Army and funded by the Orthodox Church led by Archbishop Makarios.

During the hunt by the 1st Bn The Norfolk Regt in Cyprus for EOKA terrorists, and particularly for Grivas, OPERATION ALPHONSE commenced in June 1956. After a week it was decided that mortar and machine gun fire be brought to bear on certain valleys in the cordon area with the aim of forcing terrorist groups to keep on the move and thus be more likely to give their presence away.

Whether or not mortar fire was the cause will never be confirmed but it was at the time believed by some members of the Battalion to have started a forest fire on 16 June. The next morning, 17 June, a strong wind blew up and the fire spread at an alarming rate. All patrols and cordon parties in the area of the blaze were deployed to help put it out but it was impossible to do so. It burned at a frightening speed, rushing up new valleys and re-entrants as if they were chimneys. One Pl Commander who was involved said that the fire spread on occasions at a speed of at least 30 miles an hour. It was a terrifying experience. It seemed that those who fled before the fire perished whereas those who ran at right angles to its path or even into still smouldering areas through which it had passed, survived.

At mid-day a fire-fighting party from B and D Coys, together with a Pl from 1st Bn The Gordon Highlanders, were trapped in their vehicles in the flames and 21 men were killed or died afterwards from multiple burns. The Bn lost 5 men, Cpl K R Haylock from B Coy, Pte R Beaumont, Pte CJ Gosling and Pte WG Wright from D Coy and Pte Billy Woods of HQ Coy.