John Crilley
Lance Corporal John Crilley
d.31 Jan 1945 aged 29
The Crilley family were originally from Liverpool. The 1921 Census shows them living on Tarbock Street.
John was born in the early 1920s to George (3/3/1912) and Margaret Crilley (11/3/1887) in Liverpool. By 1939, the family had moved to 15 Halifax Lane, Luddenden.
John had two elder brothers: Alfred, born in 1915, was employed as a Blanket Sewer, and George, born in 1912, was employed as a Dyer Labourer.
His sister, Margaret, was employed as a Cabinet Weaver and married Cecil Tisson in 1942.
By 1939, at the age of 19, he was employed as an electro-plater at Exchange Tin-Plate Works, Hebden Bridge.
John enlisted in 1940, joining 42 Commando Royal Marines and rose to the rank of Lance Corporal.
The regiment served in India and then Burma.
John’s brother-in-law, Cecil Tisson, was killed in action in France in 1944.
John was killed in action in Kamgaw, Burma on 31st January 1945 at the age of 25. Kamgaw was the site of a key battle in Burma during World War II, involving amphibious landings by British Commandos of the Third Special Service. The battle involved securing villages and establishing a beachhead for larger forces.
He is remembered at Taukkyan War Cemetery, Rangoon.
His personal inscription reads:
‘AS HEARTS THAT LOVED YOU DO NOT FORGET, IN MEMORY YOU ARE WITH US YET’