Royal artillery gunner in italy?

Ive recently discovered that my grandad,robert smith dilworth, was a gunner in the royal artillery in ww2.
Apparently he was training commando's at spean bridge until 1944,then he was sent to italy and whilst guarding polish POW he was hit by shrapnel from a grenade which was thrown from a train.He was hospitalised in italy and had a metal plate put in his forehead.
He also stayed at the grey ladies house in bursledon around 1940.
He was a pt instructor and was also a boxer.
Is there any way of finding out which regiment he was in? i know nothing about looking for military records unfortunately.
I also know he was made sergeant but for some reason he had his stripes taken off him after only a couple of weeks! Nobody knows why!
Id be very grateful for any pointers anyone could give me.
I do have a couple of photos of him in uniform if thats any help..cant make out the badge though sadly
All the best to you all
Ally

[kfz]

Sounds like a right character do you have any further information , number, anything???

[Owen]

Ally
Welcome to the Forum.
Check out this thread and get his closest next-of-kin to apply for his Service Record.
http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/searchi...s-address.html
Sound like Grandad got about abit.
Lost his stripes for being a naughty boy???
You've already answered your own query about him. ROYAL ARTILLERY.
Love to see the photos though.

[52nd Airborne]

Originally Posted by angellize69

Ive recently discovered that my grandad,robert smith dilworth, was a gunner in the royal artillery in ww2.
Apparently he was training commando's at spean bridge until 1944,then he was sent to italy and whilst guarding polish POW he was hit by shrapnel from a grenade which was thrown from a train.He was hospitalised in italy and had a metal plate put in his forehead.
He also stayed at the grey ladies house in bursledon around 1940.
He was a pt instructor and was also a boxer.
Is there any way of finding out which regiment he was in? i know nothing about looking for military records unfortunately.
I also know he was made sergeant but for some reason he had his stripes taken off him after only a couple of weeks! Nobody knows why!
Id be very grateful for any pointers anyone could give me.
I do have a couple of photos of him in uniform if thats any help..cant make out the badge though sadly
All the best to you all
Ally

Welcome Ally

It should be on your Grandfathers Army Service Record as to why he lost his stripes.

Contact one of the services listed below and they will send you the relevant forms for you to fill in. Three notes of importance:

1. You need to be the next of kin or have a letter of authority from the next of kin to carry out the search.
2. If your Grandfather has passed away, you will need a copy of his death certificate.
3. There is a £30 charge (Non returnable) to do the search, so the more information you are able to provide on your Grandfather, the more likely you are to get a successful result.

Veterans Agency
Norcross
Thornton-Cleveleys
Lancashire
FY5 3WP

Tel: 0800 169 2277

Veterans Agency. Supporting ex-Servicemen and women

or contact the Army Personnel Centre directly.

Army Personnel Centre
Civil Secretariat
Historic Disclosures
Mailpoint 400
Kentigern House
65 Brown Street
Glasgow
G2 8EX

Tele: 0141 2245125
email - disc4.civsec@apc.army.mod.uk

Good luck on your quest.

Thank you for your replies.
I will get my nans permission and death certificate and apply for his records asap as im driving myself insane looking for any details for him online.But i have been reading alot of other peoples accounts and personal diaries and i admit im very ashamed of how little i know about WW2 and how our men and women suffered.
I cant wait to find out more about his life before i knew him so to speak.He was a wonderful grandad who made me the slightly mad women i am today!
I just wish id found out more about his history before he passed away.
Anyway thanks again for all your help.
Id like to show you the photo i have of him but dont know how....more help needed please

[scottiow]

You need to click on "go advanced " below and scroll down to Manage attachments. Browse to find your file and click Upload. Then post.

Try and upload in Jpg format. You can see the file type by looking at the file name or properties.

All the best

scott

Thank you Scott.
Hopefully ive attatched 2 pics of my grandad.
Ally

[Owen]

Great photos.
One on left is pre- or early-war as he is in Service Dress with collar dogs of flaming grenade with UBIQUE motto.
One on right is late or post war in Battledress with tie.
No sign of any stripes so he never did get his stripes back at all it seems.

No he never did get them back...the naught boy! I wish id known about it when he was telling me off when i got drunk aged 14 or the time he caught me climbing out of the bathroom window to meet my boyfriend!
Thank you for helping me out with the uniform and badges. I dont suppose the collar dogs give anything away as to which battery( i think thats the right term) he was with.I know he was a gunner but there were many differant batteries werent there. Please excuse my ignorance.

[Owen]

Ally,
Sorry nothing I can see in the photos to help find anymore than you know already.
That should be in his Service Records.....be patient.