Albert Cranko joined the Home Guard on 23rd May 1940, and was Commander of the Eype Company of the Dorset Home Guard. On 21st December 1942 he resigned his appointment in order to join Auxiliary Units, which is somewhat unusual. He is listed as Lieutenant so presumably was either Group or Assistant Group Commander at this time. He then returned to what was now the 1st (Bridport) Battalion Dorset Home Guard on 15th March 1943 and reverted to Captain. On the 1st of April that year he resigned through ill health, but returned on the 28th April as Ammunition Officer to the 1st Battalion.
| Unit or location | Role | Posted from | until |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dorset Group 6 - Bridport Area | Group Commander | 23 May 1940 | 03 Dec 1944 |
Army Major Retired Middlesex Regt & West India Regt. Bridport RDC (Rurual District Council) Billeting Officer
19th September 1908 Commissioned from the Royal Military College Sandhurst into the Yorkshire and Lancaster Regiment.
1st April 1910 Appointed Lieutenant with the West India Regiment
18th October 1914 Appointed Temporary Captain with the West India Regiment
29th December 1914 he was appointed Temporary Major with the 8th Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment
He certainly remained with them until at least 1917, when listed as a Major in the 8th (Service) Battalion.
On 14th May 1917 he transferred from the Service Battalion to be on the General List
By May 1919 he was Captain commanding the 19th Garrison Company on the night of the riot at No.7 Military Prison at Vendroux Les Atttaques near Calais. Troops convicted largely of desertion offences committed after the Armistice refused to fall in when ordered and after the disturbance escalated, troops were called. Captain Cranko gave the order to fire a volley towards the protesting prisoners, who were angry at conditions in the camp and how they were treated, with allegations of poor food, filthy conditions and lack of medical attention. Perhaps intentionally, none of the prisoners were hit, though one was shot in the leg later that night as he attempted to restoke a fire set earlier in the day during the riot. Most of the prisoners were Australian and felt that their own countrymen would have treated them better.
In May 1929 tragedy struck the family. Major Cranko of Little Meads, Wootton Bassett, was running a preparatory school when his wife Winifred and 4 year old son Peter were found drowned in a lake. A bundle of clothes were found in the bathing shelter with a note saying "Help! Child fallen in lake, I'm going in to save him". A witness stated he saw a "Roughly dressed man...hurrying, nearly running. He looked savage at me". At the inquest the Coroner found accidental death for the boy and his mother lost her life in an attempt to save him.
He is recorded as travelling out to New Zealand, arriving on 6th August 1930 in Wellington.
Born in Teignmouth, Devon to William and Annie who lived in Cape Colony (Cape of Good Hope, South Africa). He married Olive Latt in 1933 in Westminster.
WO199/3391
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/28178/page/6763/data.pdf
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/28362/page/3066/data.pdf
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/30175/supplement/6927/data.pdf
https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/728/1/01Front.pdf&n…; (The Australian Imperial Force and British Army discipline, by EJ Garstang)
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ODT19300811.2.18
The Scotsman 05 June 1929