New Resource 1st South Staffs War Diary 1944

1st South Staffs War diary-March, April and June

  1. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

  2. mikky

    mikky Member

    Thank you very much for posting. this, a remarkable period of a remarkable battalion. "Did we do our stuff Sir?"

    They certainly did.

    Mike
     
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  3. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Although we losing our veterans horribly quickly now, it is astonishing that there are still a number of South Staffs and King's Regiment soldiers still with us. They seem to have a longevity gene compared to other Chindit units.
     
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  4. AB64

    AB64 Senior Member

    Does the diary exist for May 1944? I am running through my service books and trying a bit more in depth research than previously and have found one that I believe was a Colour Sergeant with 1st South Staffs at this point, he was wounded 18 May 1944 so am trying to do a bit more digging - he is 4913791 Ronald Turner
     
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  5. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    I'll take a look for him and come back to you Alistair.
     
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  6. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Here are the pages for May 44' not very much I'm afraid:

    P7960859 copy.JPG P7960860 copy.JPG P7960861 copy.JPG P7960862 copy.JPG
     
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  7. AB64

    AB64 Senior Member

    Thanks for that, it sets the scene a bit but doesn't actually tie down an incident which is a shame but its great to have it. Below is the book, the actual casualty list has him as South Stafford's without a Battalion number but I believe the 1st were the only Battalion they had in the Far East, he was Mentioned In Despatches in 1946 for services in Burma


    IMG_20190601_0001.jpg IMG_20190601_0013.jpg
     
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  8. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Alistair, here are some pages from the 77 Brigade HQ war diary for the 18th May. It seems to me that the Brigade including 1 South Staffs were on their way to Moguang having given up White City a few weeks beforehand. On the 19th May it is said that they and the 1 Lancashire Fusiliers were at a place called Lamai:

    P2770439 copy.JPG P2770440 copy.JPG P2770441 copy.JPG P2770442 copy.JPG P2770443 copy.JPG P2770444 copy.JPG
     
    Last edited: May 21, 2020
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  9. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Here's a little map showing where Lamai is located, might come in useful one day?

    77 Brigade post White City.jpg
     
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  10. AB64

    AB64 Senior Member

    Brilliant, thanks again for these - another one to add to the Service Files wanted list - its a big list and probably not going to happen any time soon
     
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  11. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    That is very true. A couple of family inquirers who I suggested got their soldier's service records came back to me today asking if the MOD offices are still open. Sounds like Glasgow have ground to a halt and are attempting to move over to email inquiries from now on. All to do with the dreaded coronavirus I guess.
     
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  12. Mansell28

    Mansell28 New Member

    Hi, I am doing some research on my great uncle Percy Mansell who was with the south staffs from 1939 and was in 80 column (I think). He survived the war and was one of the very few that was passed fit after op Thursday. He emigrated to Canada not long after the war and did not speak to anyone about the it, like many others. I’ve seen the south staffs war diary but although an incredible eye opening read, I can’t see anything about pagoda hill? (The citation of Lt Cairns’ VC doesn’t correspond with the war diary) So would Percy have fought in this battle?
    Hope you can make sense of this, Matthew
     
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  13. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Hi Matthew,

    It is Steve Fogden here, I thought I should reply to your post, in case you had not realised that me and bamboo43 are one in the same person. I wondered if you had read Mike Calvert's book, Fighting Mad, which has a chapter devoted to Pagoda Hill. As I mentioned during our email correspondence recently, it would be very difficult to say for sure that Percy fought in this battle, although the document I sent you does strongly suggest he was with 80 Column in Burma. If you would like the pages from Fighting Mad in relation to Pagoda Hill, then let me know and I can send them over or post them here.
     
    Last edited: Feb 8, 2023
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  14. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    I have sent the pages to Matthew, but for the sake of tidiness, here are the pages mentioned above:

    149.jpeg 150.jpeg 151.jpeg 152.jpeg 153.jpeg 154.jpeg 155.jpeg 156.jpeg 157.jpeg 158.jpeg 159.jpeg
     
    Last edited: Feb 8, 2023
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