Queen's Own Yorkshire Dragoons

Discussion in 'RAC & RTR' started by Christ0Stones, Jan 5, 2016.

  1. minden1759

    minden1759 Senior Member

    Cee.

    No wonder he was awarded the MM. If he was taking supplies up to the 3 Carpathian Division, part of II (PO) Corps, the mules would have walked from Madras Circus at the very top of the Cavendish Road to the forward infantry positions on Snakeshead Ridge. That was a very risky business. Trucks took stores as far as Madras Circus but from then on it was mules - all under German observation during daylight hours.

    I tip my hat to him.

    Regards

    Frank
     
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  2. Cee

    Cee Senior Member Patron

    Thanks so very much Frank! I knew he was in the Cassino area, but had no idea where. This will give me a lead to follow.

    Regards ...
     
    Last edited: Jun 18, 2017
  3. minden1759

    minden1759 Senior Member

    If you have not been, you really should.

    Frank
     
  4. Only just seen this forum...
    I was trying to do research on QOYD as we had a museum display here in Doncaster a few years ago, but was returned to the Fitzwilliam family.
    My uncle was in the regiment `B`Squadron, prior to WW2 and was sent out to the middle east when the war began.Eventually sent to Crete, The African desert and Italy where he was wounded and shortly after repatriated.
    He was to return to Italy to marry an Italian girl, but family illness stopped him from achieving his happiness
    I have his A3 sized portrait,pre war, his spurs and crop, all his regimental badges,dress cap,medals,multitude of photos, some on horseback and the February 1942 regimental photo in the desert prior to disbanding and mechanisation.
    He broke many horses for the regiment as he was an expert rider/cavalry man
    I may have more artifacts than the official museum in York
    Mike
     
    Last edited: Sep 14, 2017
    Jake Holliday and Cee like this.
  5. Jake Holliday

    Jake Holliday Member

    Hi Michael, that's fantastic! Do you know what troop he was in?

    Jake
     
  6. Have all his records/service book but no mention of a troop only B squadron
    He finished either as S/mjr or warrant officer....cant remember, ...as he died in 1977, but I have a photo of him outside the officers mess with all the other high ranks
     
  7. Cee

    Cee Senior Member Patron

    Hi Mike and welcome,

    Sounds like a wonderful collection you have of your uncle's wartime experience. Did he have the same last name as yourself?

    Regards ...
     
  8. No . Woffenden
     
  9. Jake Holliday

    Jake Holliday Member

    Ah right! Where abouts was he from? My Great Grandfather was from Castleford, but I believed he lived in Goole at the beginning of the war. He certainly did afterwards.
     
  10. From Doncaster, as most Queens Own were Yorkshire men, and he joined the TA in the early thirties, then QO before war broke out. He won his spurs at rider training and went out with his own horse, when a knock on the door at midnight told him to prepare for sailing to Palestine.When on board tending the horses, he heard a voice from behind him...and it turned out to be one of his best friends with the Scots Greys Regiment, who were also being shipped out to the Middle East.
     
  11. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    Hi Mike

    Looking through the military databases from Ancestry there seem to be quite a few Woffendens that served pre 1920.
    It might be worth a look when there is a free trial on

    TD
     
  12. No, he was the only `server`, and that was thirties on-wards....relatives were either greengrocers,masons or miners......and some came across from Italy with some of the first ice cream maker/sellers. Woffenden a derivative of Uffendini.
    When wounded after Italian landings he was taken in by a wealthy Italian family who wrote a letter,stuffed it into a small keg,full of fruit,sent it via red cross to grandmother who in turn took it to the Massarella family(ice cream) for translation,They asked if it was OK for them to nurse him rather than field hospital, as they had no quarrels with the British, and had taken a shine to him. Hence intending to go back and marry the Italian girl. Turned out they wanted to celebrate the enemy leaving, went to a field with shovels, dug up the hidden gold plate cutlery etc and had a party.Also turned out that they were Lombardy (bankers) relatives and they took my uncle to the Vatican, saw the Pope and had a crucifix blessed by him......the crucifix being where I am sat now
     
  13. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    Interesting as there is a number of Woffendens that were in Yorkshire Regiments pre WW1 and during WW1, also in the RFC (RAF) and Gloucester Regiments.

    As it is a fairly unusual surname its not difficult to search for the name

    For example there are 30 results just in the database "All British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920 results for Woffenden"

    TD
     
  14. Sorry, not related..born 1911
     
  15. Hi Phil,

    I was very interested by your post - I am trying to do some research on the very charge you mention, on the action with the jebel Druze.

    The link you posted only went to a pictorial document. Have I just been incompetent and missed something or would you be able to post the link to the account of the charge again?

    Regards,

    Jonathan
     
  16. Cee

    Cee Senior Member Patron

  17. Thanks very much Cee. Those are great links.

    My interest in this stems from a project I am looking at on 1st cav div in wwII (as mounted troops). Pointers such as yours are gold dust. Thanks once again.

    J
     
  18. Does anyone here know about the acquisition process the army used to acquire the horses for 1st cavalry division in 1939?
    Clearly the majority were requisitioned hunters, but this means the horse owners were being compelled to give up their animals, and so there must be a bit of a story there. I've tried to find accounts from the points of view of the horse owners, but there is very little out there.
     
  19. Cee

    Cee Senior Member Patron

    Jonathan,

    Yes the acquisition and transportation of the horses to Palestine would be a fascinating subject to delve into. Jilly Cooper covers it briefly in her book "Animals at War" as does the biography of Bruce Hobbs, "No Secret So Close", which I suspect is already familiar to you. There may be official documentation at the NA. I'm not sure where you would find anecdotes of civilians having to give up their horses?

    Animals In War - J Cooper-1.jpg Animals In War - J Cooper-2.jpg Animals In War - J Cooper-3.jpg

    The Hobbs biography also goes into detail on the last mounted action fought by the British Army against the Vichy French Druse. The Yorkshire Dragoons had their final regimental parade, the last of its kind in British military history, at Azzib towards the end of February 1942. Apparently the various sub-units were stood for final photographs.

    Regards ...
     

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