William Neil “Bill” Forbes

Private · NZ #35079 · T Patrol · MM

What this roll records

HE IS “BILL FORBES” IN A COMRADE’S LETTER HOME. Trooper Ray Porter #14265 photographed a group of them against a truck on the CAIRO–ALEXANDRIA ROAD, MARCH 1941, returning from GIARABUB, and named them on the back for his mother. Forbes stands fourth from the left. WHY IT CARRIES WEIGHT: this is not an archivist reading faces years afterwards. It is one of the men in the photograph naming the others, within days, in a letter to his mother, who had no reason to be misled. THE MATCH IS ON NICKNAME, PATROL AND DATE, NOT ON A SERVICE NUMBER: Porter gives numbers for himself, Job and Nutt but not for Forbes. This roll already held “Bill” as his AKA from a different source, he is T Patrol, and the LRDG collection’s own group photograph puts him at Giarabub in the same month — so it is a strong match, and it is still a match. The message on the back, in Porter’s hand: “Dear Mum, This snap was taken on the Cairo-Alexandria road when we were returning from Gierabub, Mar ’41. Reading from left to right: Self [Ray Porter (14265)], Martin Crawford (in background), Jack Job (508), Bill Forbes, Jack Shepherd and Allan Nutt (14550). Love Ray xxx” THE PICTURE IS NOT COPIED ONTO THIS SITE. The museum marks it “this image may be subject to copyright”, so this roll quotes the words and points at the original, exactly as it does with newspapers it cannot licence. It is on the Online Cenotaph record for Job, and you can see it here: https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/C36002 Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph, record C36002 (photograph and inscription contributed to that record); read 2 September 2026.

Prisoner-of-war camp: Stalag 344 (code 344), POW No. 36257. Source: Germany & German-Occupied Territories Imperial POW Alphabetical List, Section 4 (N.Z.), 2NZEF. Transcription via Zenodo (DOI 10.5281/zenodo.3632116, CC BY 4.0).

Confirmed prisoner of war (LRDG). Unit: 25 NZ Bn. Source: List of 2NZEF Prisoners of War (Imperial POW Alphabetical List). Compiled by Victoria Passau, Auckland War Memorial Museum; Zenodo (DOI 10.5281/zenodo.3860962, CC BY 4.0).

Full name William Neil Forbes; born 14 January 1919 at Wellington. (The roll also records his initials as “W.D.S.”.) Military Medal gazetted 3 August 1944. Prisoner of war: captured 2 January 1942; held at Stalag VIII-B (later Stalag 344), Lamsdorf, and at P.G. 78, Sulmona, Italy. A prison officer (and painter) in civilian life. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.

He embarked as a TEMPORARY CORPORAL with the Infantry Reinforcements, and embarked a second time as a Private. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph, record 88292.

HIS NAME IS SETTLED, AND IT IS WILLIAM NEIL FORBES. This card has carried his initials as “W.D.S.” alongside his forenames since it was built, and the photograph on it is filed under that form. THE INITIALS ARE WRONG AND THE FORENAMES ARE RIGHT. THE PHOTOGRAPH ITSELF DECIDES IT: the picture on this card is published on his Online Cenotaph record, where the museum captions it “Pvt. William Neil Forbes NZ #35079”. It is the same image, and it carries his name and his number. THE MILITARY MEDAL PUZZLE IS ALSO SOLVED. The London Gazette awards it to “No. 35078 Corporal William Neil Forbes” — one digit from the number on this card, which raised the question of whether there were two men. THERE ARE NOT. Service number 35078 belongs to JOHN HENDERSON. The Gazette mistyped a digit, and the Cenotaph records the Military Medal against 35079, this man. AND A COMRADE CONFIRMS IT: Ray Porter #14265, writing home in March 1941 about the men beside him, calls him “BILL FORBES”. WHERE “W.D.S.” COMES FROM, since it is not nothing: it appears in the caption to the LRDG collection’s own T Patrol group photograph on this card, and the photograph file is named from that. It appears NOWHERE on the Cenotaph record. It is kept here as a variant this roll has seen, not as his name. Sources: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph, records 88292 (Forbes) and C36002 (Job), searched and read 2 September 2026: https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/88292 and https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/C36002 The London Gazette, 3 August 1944, page 3605.

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).
• Honours & campaign medals from Online Cenotaph: MM, War Medal 1939-45, NZ War Service Medal. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.
• Additional sources (AWMM Online Cenotaph). Nominal Roll 2NZEF No. 3 (Embarkations 1 Jul 1940–31 Mar 1941), p.155. Unit history: Mason, W.W. (1954). Prisoners of war. External links: London Gazette, 3 August 1944, p.3605 (Military Medal): http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/36637/supplements/3605; The National Archives, Recommendation for Award (WO 373/7/119): http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/Details?uri=D7350747; Germany imperial POW list, section 4 (Zenodo): https://zenodo.org/records/3955186; Italy imperial POW list, section 4 (Zenodo): https://zenodo.org/records/4560909 Also cited: List of 2NZEF Prisoners of War 1941-1945, AWMM Library MS 2009/8.

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