War diary for the King's Royal Rifle Corps

Discussion in 'British Army Units - Others' started by Oldleg, Oct 13, 2017.

  1. Oldleg

    Oldleg Well-Known Member

    Does anyone have a copy of the war diary for the King's Royal Rifle Corps for August 1944? I want to find out where Richard Ridley James 174456, Douglas Reid 6898319, Charles Sydney Van Wesemial 6846960. I want to find out exactly where they died and then make sure that there is a memorial of some description erected in their name, if not I will do what I can to get one erected.

    John Woodward 6898253 was killed the same day at Fleury La Forêt and I want to know if they were anywhere near there when they died.

    They were all killed the same day, August 30th 1944.

    Can anyone help?
     
    Last edited: Oct 13, 2017
  2. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    It would help if you said which battalion of the KRRC you are after.
    I looked up Maj James , L/Cpl Reid & Rfn Van Wesemial , they were 12th Bn KRRC whereas Woodward is 2nd Bn KRRC
     
  3. Oldleg

    Oldleg Well-Known Member

    Sorry Owen, I completely forgot, thank you for pointing that out.
     
  4. MS57

    MS57 New Member

    Oldleg

    I stumbled across your post whilst doing a bit of amateur research on this. Given that you posted this back in October and are clearly far more experienced than me you may have found all this out already.

    Charlie Van Wesemeil was my grandad's brother. He took me to his grave when I was a nipper and told me that Charlie had been killed just outside Beauvais. He was in a vehicle with an officer when it was shot at by a tank or self-propelled gun. Charlie is buried next to Maj. James.

    Amongst some other bits I did find this which may shed some light:

    8th Armoured Brigade et la Libération de Beauvais - Picardie 1939 - 1945

    I obviously can't account for the provenance of the information.

    It would be interesting to see if you got any further.
     
    dbf likes this.
  5. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    Hi MS57

    Welcome to the site - I'm sure Oldleg will pick up your post

    For Oldleg I note from the CWGC site that all three appear on the same concentraion sheet - namely

    [​IMG]

    and that map reference denotes where they were first buried

    Latitude : 49° 25' 46'' N
    Longitude : 2° 02' 07'' E
    49.429543,2.035172 - Map of Cities in 49.429543,2.035172 - MapQuest

    TD
     
  6. Oldleg

    Oldleg Well-Known Member

    Thanks for this guy's. I haven'the got any further. The problem being is that I don't have easy access to the resources I need other than using forums such as this.
     
  7. Oldleg

    Oldleg Well-Known Member


    Did Charlie keep a diary at all?
     
  8. dryan67

    dryan67 Senior Member

    I have attached a history of the 8th Armoured Brigade, which should help regarding the action on August 30th, 1944.
     

    Attached Files:

    dbf likes this.
  9. MS57

    MS57 New Member

    Morning All

    Sorry my email notifications were going through to my spam. Thanks for the all the information, that document was a very interesting read.

    He may have done but my grandad dies a few years back. I'll ask my nan and get back to you. TD yes there is a small memorial at those coordinates which mentions the 30th August
     
  10. Nick James

    Nick James New Member

    Hi just found your comments. I am heading out to Beauvais tomorrow with my father Nigel Ridley James, son of Major Richard Ridley Hastings James. I have been to my grandfathers grave many years ago but my dad has never been. Also found the memorial you mentioned just to the north of Goincourt on the N31 using google maps. Great technology. Thanks for all the information you have collated.
     
  11. Ramiles

    Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY

    26th June 1944, 26d6m1944...

    24L War Diary -
    ‘A’ Sqn (24th Lancers) to exploit South Eastwards towards Le Manoir and Tessel Bretteville in support of the 12 KRRs.

    In the late afternoon it was decided to abandon this direction of attack as being unprofitable and the Regiment accordingly moved back and round to the left flank, leaving ‘C’ Sqn still in its positions on the Western side of Tessel Wood. On the left flank the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry were putting in an attack on Rauray. The Regiment moved up behind them in support but it was found to be unnecessary as the attack was going well and later in the evening the Regiment withdrew to a defensive position in the area Parc de Bois Londe.

    -- x --


    FB_IMG_1677961887048.jpg

    Screenshot_20230304-203501_Gallery.jpg
     
    Last edited: Mar 4, 2023
  12. Ramiles

    Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY

    SRY War Diary : 15th July 1945
    Officers cricket team played officers of 12 KRRC at Hannover. Regiment beaten by 68.
     

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