| Chaps, I have put a few pics on my gallery page. Lots more to follow, apologise for camera shake, but the museum has the bulders in and they only let me through because RSM Batchelor was mentioned and funnily enough the waters parted.
I am being given a book to peruse that was privately published on Northampton regt and held in central library, apparantly only copy around.Will be taking any pics and details I can tomorrow.
A Paul Robinson from the Northampton Regiment Association is due to get in touch to help me with any searches so this looks like it will be going on for a while so bear with me.
The Abington library has builders in, managed to get to memorial section, which is quite a peacful place, all the names are on walls around central alter. Donnie your uncles name not on wall becuase its just to guys who lived in Northampton, however he is remembered in the memorial book on the alter, I have more pics to put up for you when Ive sorted thru them.
Only other part of museum I could get to was on Zulu wars, New Zealand, West Indies ww1 and yeomanry regt from ww2. All fascinating stuff and good items in there but the stuff I really wanted, the medals, pics, dioramas and vets first hand accounts etc is in sectioned off areas. I am hoping Mr. Robinson will be able to get me private access while the building work is ongoing. Nothing is ever simple but I will keep at it until I have stuff on Hart force, Rsm Batchelor and any other related info.
Cheers.
Attempt to rush Mateur fails:
in the north the advance continued towards Bozerta.
A small motoized column under a company commander of the 5th Northamptonshire regt, Major V.Hart, attempted to push east of Djebel Abiod to Mateur, hoping to reach this road junction before the enemy, but more than a week had passed since the landings at Algiers and Kesselring's transport aircraft had been arriving at the rate of 50 sorties a day in response. With Mateur only a few miles ahead Major Hart ran into a blocking position with an armoured core and was scattered and obliged to abandon its trucks. Piecemeal, the survivors returned painfully towards 36th brigade, advancing along the coast road behind.
Extract from History of the second world war weekly magazine from 70's |