CANTLEY, William, J.

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Rank: 
Corporal
Unit / Base: 
7 Commando
'Layforce'
Regiment/Corps: 
Royal Engineers
Service: 
Army
Number: 
1881409
P.O.W. number: 
95632
P.O.W. camps: 
Stalag 4B, Mühlberg Germany
Stalag 3A, Luckenwalde Germany
Stalag 8B (Stalag 344), Lamsdorf Poland
Born: 
Saturday, December 16, 1905
Birthplace: 
Omagh
Died : 
December, 1998
Place died: 
Sussex
Corporal William Cantley was reported missing in Crete on 2 June 1941, later found to be a prisoner of war.
  • 4 October 1939 enlisted aged 33.
  • 12 October 1940 attached No.7 Commando 
  • 11 November 1940 (short lived commando restructuring) 3 Special Service Battalion. 
  • 31 January 1941 attached 'Layforce' embarked UK for the Middle East.
  •  June 1941 prisoner of war during rearguard action at Crete.
  • 13 May 1945 liberated.
Sources
Casualty Lists 1939-45 / National Archives file WO417/28 and WO417/34.
POW Lists / National Archives file WO392/1 (Stalag 344) and WO392/11 (Stalag 3A).
British Army, Royal Engineers Record Cards, 1900-1949.
German Record Cards of British POWs / National Archives file WO416/57/36 (Stalag 4B).
Registers of Deaths in Brighton Dec. 1998.
 

Notes
Casualty Lists show his unit as No. 3 SS Bn.  This Unit was formed by merging No 4 and 7 Commandos. It was short lived and by Feb 1941 the units had been redesignated back to individual Commando units. However in the interim period on the 31st January 1941, all of No 7 Commando, with some men from No 4 Commando, had sailed for the Middle East as part of Layforce.

Linked content: 
'Rearguard action on Crete'
Archive pages : 
No 7 Commando
Layforce
Prisoners of War

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