Hugh Ferguson was born on the 3rd April 1916, according to the 1939 National Register, the son of Daniel & Rachel A. Ferguson (nee Jones) (Holywell Vol. 11b Page 342) who had married in a Civil Ceremony at Holywell in 1901,( HOL/29/E154).
Hugh is seen for the first time on the 1921 Census, living at Old Penlan House, High Street, Connah’s Quay, Flintshire. The head of the household was Daniel Ferguson age 46 years and 6 months, he was a Shipwright at Messrs. J Chrichton Co. Ltd., Dock Yard, Connah’s Quay. His wife, Rachel Ann Ferguson was 40 years 9 months old. Their children were: – Daniel Ferguson, 18 years, 5 months old, single, and employed at J. Price, Brickmaker, Connah’s Quay, but was “Out of Work.” Archibald Ferguson, 15 years, 7 months old, single and an Office Boy at J. Summers and Sons Ltd, Shotton, but was “Out of Work.” Wilfred Ferguson, 10 years, 8 months, Frank Jones Ferguson, 8 years, 2 months and Hugh Ferguson, 5 years, 2 months, made up the family, who had all been born in Connah’s Quay.
We do see him on the 1939 Register, where he is seen living at 13 Church Street, Connah’s Quay, Flintshire, Wales. This source gives us the dates of birth. Daniel Ferguson had been born on the 15th of December 1875 and was a Joiner in the Steel Works, Rachel Ferguson had been born on the16th of September 1880 and was doing “Unpaid Domestic Duties.” Hugh Ferguson had been born on the 3rd of April 1916 and was a Purchasing Clerk in the Steel Works. (J. Summers & Sons, Hawarden Bridge Steelworks.)
We also see that he gets married in St. Deniol’s Church, on the 27th February in 1943 and he is age 26 years old and a Soldier, his bride was Nellie Mildon Darlington, age 25, she was a Typist and lived in Glynne Way, Hawarden, her father was James Mildon Darlington, a Blacksmith. This also confirms his father’s name & a change of occupation to a Clerk. Witnesses were T.J. Ferguson, D. Ferguson, C. Darlington & J.M. Darlington.
Sadly, I have been unable to find any information on his service in the Royal Corps of Signals Ww2, but there is information below of the work that Hugh may have been involved in.: –
ROYAL CORPS OF SIGNALS WW2 Excerpt from the website https://www.royalsignalsmuseum.co.uk/corps-history/
Corps history from the onset of World War Two to the Cold War
World War Two saw 4,362 members of Royal Signals give their lives. We will remember them…
Throughout World War Two (WW2) members of the Corps served in every theatre of war. By 1945 The Corps had expanded to a serving strength of 8,518 officers and 142,472 soldiers – more than today’s entire British Army.
On 1st September 1939 Hitler launched a ferocious, unannounced attack on Poland destroying the Polish Airforce in two days and enveloping and destroying the Polish Forces in just 18 days. Days earlier the Anglo-Polish Treaty of mutual assistance had been signed and so on 3rd September 1939 Britain declared war on Germany. It seemed, despite earlier assurances, that no-one was coming to Poland’s aid. In fact, a party of 12 Royal Signals had been despatched to Poland prior to the outbreak of WW2 to see what could be done in the event of an attack. They had been given false passports and improbable occupations – including a Captain described as a ‘musician’ who could not play a note! The Royal Signals Officers and soldiers arrived in Poland on the day war broke out and so became the first British unit to see action in the Second World War.
With Poland divided, the German-Soviet Pact of August 1939 stated Poland was to be partitioned between the two powers thus enabling Germany to attack Poland without the fear of Soviet intervention, the Signallers destroyed their equipment, split into groups of two and three soldiers and escaped. In Romania one hotel they stayed in was being used as a Gestapo HQ, rather than stay to uncover German plans they fled to Egypt. The Signallers did though learn much about the patterns of modern war with mobility key to success. All their wireless messages were transmitted during darkness, using hand-operated morse keys to send encoded intelligence reports, they always moved before first-light to ensure the Luftwaffe could not pin-point their position. They also learned not put too much trust in supplies, even to Special Operations teams such as themselves; equipment was heavy, complicated and often wrongly packed with key components missing.
Shortly after the demise of Poland a GHQ Liaison Regiment known as ‘Phantom’ was established. After a difficult start, Phantom, under the dynamic personality of Lt Col GF Hopkinson, prospered. Phantom consisted of Royal Signals personnel plus a mix from other regiments, all of whom trained relentlessly in Signals techniques. They monitored transmissions from allied and enemy forces and importantly, rather than use intermediaries, they passed the information directly back to HQ. This meant the Commander-in-Chief was continuously updated about the battle and battle positions and could thus plan accordingly – this included telling air forces where to bomb. This wasn’t without error, there are many instances in WW2 of infantry capturing a position only to be bombed by their own air force under the impression it was assisting their own attack.
Phantom proved especially useful during the battle for France in 1940. The subsequent experiences of Phantom in the Middle East, in Italy and in North West Europe demonstrated the need for essential efficient signals at any and every stage of a campaign. Phantom eventually incorporated the J service created by Major Mainwaring in 1941. J had the advantage of listening to chatter from enemy tank crews in forward areas and sending what it gleaned back to GHQ in clear, whereas Phantom encoded its messages to protect their source. J performed a vital service at the battle of El Alamein in October 1942, earning considerable praise from the higher command.
In January 1943 J received an official establishment of one Royal Signals Officer and 49 soldiers.
The work of J included: – identifying bombing targets; giving the results of bombings; supplying information about the movement and numbers of enemy armour; indicating the moral of forward troops on both sides; providing general information to enable HQ to make deductions about changes in enemy tactics and tactical planning.
Helping the USA form SIAM
J became so successful that it was adopted by the US Army and two officers from the now significantly expanded J Service were sent to organise a similar service for the American forces known as SIAM (Signals Information and Monitoring).
In 1944 Phantom and J merged. Phantom and J were in action on the D-Day beaches and throughout the European Campaign. They were especially valuable at the closing of the Falaise gap when converging Allied armies trapped half-a-million men from the German 7th Army and destroyed it. In the confusion of battle it would have been easy to attack each other but their work ensured that wasn’t the case. Phantom anticipated the Radio Village and also supplied a squadron to the Special Air Service Brigade, worked behind German lines and provided patrols for every British and Canadian division and every American corps.
Decoys and deception
Phantom’s duties included providing Bogus traffic for deception – including in 1941 simulating the traffic of a non-existent Armoured Car Regiment in an attempt to persuade Rommel the forthcoming British Offensive would be in the south rather than the north of the battle area. The Luftwaffe was despatched to look for the ‘regiment’ but failed to locate Phantom’s well-camouflaged vehicles.
At the end of the war Phantom was renamed ‘No3 Independent Signal Squadron’ following disbandment in 1948 its role was taken on by Princess Louise’s Kensington Regiment (PLK) and became Army Phantom Signal Regiment (TA). Today PLK are part of 31 Signal Squadron under the command of 71st City of London (Yeomanry) Signal Regiment.
In good company…
Famous Phantoms included David Niven, film star Tan Williams, three future professors, two Privy Councillors, a Law Lord, an Ambassador, a Metropolitan Police Commissioner plus sporting and literary celebrities.
Campaigns of the second world war
Royal Signals were involved in most of the WW2 campaigns with a significant presence in France and Belgium 1940, Norway 1940, Western Desert 1940-1942, Tunisia 1942-1943, Italy 1944, 1945, 21st Army Group, North West Europe 1944-1945.
Hugh died in this area in 1947 as his death was registered in Hawarden (Flintshire (Mold) HAW/31A/40) and he is buried in Connah’s Quay, but I don’t know how he died, but must have been from his War Service as he is remembered on the Commonwealth War Graves Database. Also, his name was put forward for the War Memorial so he was well loved. He had been married just over 4 years.
I believe his mother Rachel A. died in the March quarter of 1951, age 70 and his father Daniel died in the March quarter of 1956 age 80.
If anyone can shed any light on Hugh’s war service or his life, it would be gratefully received, so we can make sure he is not forgotten.
