Kenneth Bramall "Unknown Resident"

Trooper KENNETH BRAMALL

Service Number: 4464005

Royal Armoured Corps 9th Queen's Royal Lancers

Died 23 January 1942, Age 25

Buried at Benghazi War Cemetery, Libya 2. C. 13.

Son of James Arthur and Harriet Bramall; husband of Jessie Edith Bramall, of East Lulworth, Dorsetshire.

All records relate to Kenneth Bramall. However, I cannot find a solid association between his parents, wife, and Totteridge.

Sweetheart Brooch

Kenneth Bramall was born in 1917. The available records provide limited details of his early life. We know he was from Rotherham, as his name appears on the Rotherham War Memorials. His connection to the Rotherham area suggests he likely grew up and lived there before joining the military.

Kenneth Bramall served as a Trooper in the 9th Queen's Royal Lancers, a regiment within the Royal Armoured Corps. The 9th Queen's Royal Lancers was a cavalry regiment with a distinguished history dating back to its formation in 1715. By World War II, the regiment had been mechanised and operated as an armoured unit.

Initially deployed to France in 1940, the regiment was involved in the Battle of France before being evacuated back to England. They were then sent to North Africa in 1941, where they played a crucial role in the desert campaign, particularly in the First Battle of El Alamein in July 1942 (after Kenneth Bramall's death).

The 9th Queen's Royal Lancers were deployed to North Africa and played a significant role in the Western Desert Campaign against German and Italian forces. Kenneth Bramall's service in this theatre came during a critical war period when control of North Africa was heavily contested.

On January 23, 1942, Trooper Bramall was killed in action during operations in Libya. While the specific circumstances of his death are not detailed in the available records, this period saw intense fighting in the North African theatre. The early months of 1942 were challenging for the British forces in Libya, as they faced the formidable German Afrika Korps, commanded by General Erwin Rommel.

General Sir Richard McCreery later described their actions: "Throughout that long withdrawal from Knightsbridge, when the fluctuating Battle of Gazala had finally swung against the Eighth Army, past Sollum and Matruh to the Ruweisat Ridge, only seventy miles from Alexandria, the 2nd Armoured Brigade with the 9th Lancers always there but often reduced to only a handful of tanks, fought on skilfully and with gallant endurance and determination".

After North Africa, the regiment served with distinction in Italy in 1944-45, forming the spearhead of the British Eighth Army in the breakthrough to the River Po.