G Battery (Mercers Troop) 5 RHA War Diaries 1940 30 October. HM the King inspects Sgt Gibbons (A Troop) Gun Pit at Colchester and watches gun drills and expresses is happy with all he saw I have not been able to locate where this might have taken place.. G Battery 5 RHA were manning the pillboxes of the GHQ line from Wickford to Dunmow some 25 miles away at this time. The Eastern Command Line ran through Colchester. and this included the pillboxes on the river Colne at Chappel a Village to the west of Colchester All I have been able to find is one comment in a WW2 diary of a local mam living in Chappel in which he writes The King inspected Australian Troops in Lexden ( Suburb of Colchester).(30th October) I have tried Lexden Historical society but they have no record of event. G Battery were manning Pill boxes with 6 pounder A/T guns.does the use of the term Gun Pit indicate that they were dug in which might indicated that it was set up for a demonstration for King. There are IWM photos of 5RHA taken on 29th Oct. Am I jumping to conclusions thinking they might be in area as King was going to be around next day? Are there any detailed list of Kings visits. Sorry lot of questions and suppositions any help will be appreciated.
Hello Redtop Try the Colchester Library and try and see if someone in the local history section can help you! There is a good chance that they might have it mentioned in the local paper (Essex County Standard). On the other hand try and see if the paper can check their archives for you. Regards Arthur
Hi Arthur Thanks for that nudge in the right direction. Have found record of visit in Standard .No location but everything helps.
