C.H. “Harry” Brough
Signalman · #3653935
| Rank | Signalman |
|---|---|
| Service number | #3653935 |
| Known as | “Harry” |
| POW / KIA | PoW — Dodecanese, 16 Nov 1943 |
What this roll records
Deeper background (2026): he was Charles Henry Brough, 1921–2005, of the LRDG’s Signal Troop in North Africa. Captured after the fall of Leros in November 1943, he escaped from the prisoner train carrying him to Germany on 8 December 1943, cutting his way out through a roof ventilator with wire-cutters he had kept hidden. He had served before the war with the 1st South Lancashire Regiment, and graffiti he left at Dover Citadel in 1938 is what later led a historian to his family. After the war he settled at Glossop, Derbyshire; his grandson holds his medals and papers. His rank of Signalman is confirmed in The London Gazette (supplement to issue 37194, p. 3859, 24 July 1945) against service number 3653935. Sources: Kent Online, https://www.kentonline.co.uk/dover/news/citadel-graffiti-mystery-leads-historian-to-war-heros-family-243424/ and The London Gazette.
Checked CWGC 27 Jul 2026 by service number #365395: no casualty record found (i.e. survived the war). Definitive rank would require UK service record (National Archives, WO series) - not free/online.
Dodecanese operations, 1943: prisoner of war 16 Nov 1943. Source: Roll of British & Rhodesian PoW and KIA (Appendix V), compiled by Jim Patch, LRDG (UK) Association. Appendix V lists as Sgm. C.R. Brough, SN 3653935.
Service number corrected to #3653935 per O’Carroll (Appendix V); this Roll previously recorded #365395.
Aegean/Dodecanese operations, 1943: listed as Signalman Brough, service no. 3653935; taken prisoner of war, 16 Nov 1943. Source: Brendan O’Carroll, ‘The Long Range Desert Group in the Aegean’ (Appendix V, Roll of British & Rhodesian PoW and KIA).
Rank not found online. British Army enlistment number - WWII service records are not published online. Where to look: MOD Army Personnel Centre, Historic Disclosures, Glasgow (next-of-kin application), or TNA WO 416/WO 417 series for POW/casualty listings.
See him in the full roll →Where this comes from
- Missing info added from the LRDG Preservation Society’s Troopers roll.
- AKA added from the LRDG Preservation Society’s Troopers roll (missing information).
This page is part of the Long Range Desert Group roll of members at lrdgarchive.org. If you hold rights to anything on it and would like it credited differently, or taken down, please see Sources and Copyright. It will be dealt with promptly.
Not By Strength But By Guile