Hi, my main purpose for using WW2 Talk is for family history purposes. My uncle was in 2nd Bt, SWB, and was killed in action 29/08/1944. He is buried in St. Desir Cemetary in Calvados. I will start poking around to see what threads there are re this battalion. If anyone knows of any photos in existence, I would be very interested.
Hey mate, The 2nd Battalion 24th Regiment of Foot South Wales Borderers WW2 Re-enactment Group Thats the 2nd Bat SWB reenactors website and has some shots of the Battalion in the second world war, you should be able to find what you're looking for here mate Jonny
Was he one of the lads who drowned in the Seine when their lorry fell off the float? I mentioned it once before. Reading Patrick Delaforce's book on the Polar Bears re:La Mailleraye, I read a lorry with 15 South Wales Borderers failed to stop on a floating pontoon and went straight to the bottom, all drowned.Rather sad. Funnily enough I was looking on Geoff's Serch engine only the other night for 2 SWB deaths at that time. Only 9 come up. Geoff's Search Engine 001 BLACKJ8644312ND BN 29/08/1944SOUTH WALES BORDERERS 002 DAVIESCS39109722ND BN 29/08/1944SOUTH WALES BORDERERS 003 JOHNSONEW3909462ND BN 29/08/1944SOUTH WALES BORDERERS 004 JONESWE40761162ND BN 29/08/1944SOUTH WALES BORDERERS 005 JOSEPHJ39092232ND BN 29/08/1944SOUTH WALES BORDERERS 006 KINNERSLEYMC39104112ND BN 29/08/1944SOUTH WALES BORDERERS 007 MEEKTJ40744512ND BN 29/08/1944SOUTH WALES BORDERERS 008 MORRISKAC147210222ND BN 29/08/1944SOUTH WALES BORDERERS 009 TIDEYAH39094932ND BN 29/08/1944SOUTH WALES BORDERERS
Those names match the research results that I have under taken (with rank, ages and cemetery grave reference); 864431 Private John Black age 30 29/08/44 St. Desir War Cemetery II.F.1. 3910972 Lance Serjeant Colwyn Stanley Davies age 27 29/08/44 St. Desir War Cemetery I.A.10. 3909046 Serjeant Ewart Wesley Johnson age 31 29/08/44 St. Desir War Cemetery III.C.14. 4076116 Private William Edward Jones age 35 29/08/44 St. Desir War Cemetery I.A.12. 3909223 Lance Corporal John Joseph age 24 29/08/44 St. Desir War Cemetery I.A.11. 3910411 Private Malvyn Cyril Kinnersley age 25 29/08/44 St. Desir War Cemetery I.A.14. 4074451 Serjeant Thomas John Meek age 37 29/08/44 St. Desir War Cemetery I.A.9. 14721022 Private Kenneth Alexander Charles Morris age 18 29/08/44 St. Desir War Cemetery I.A.13. 3909493 Corporal Arthur Henry Tidey age 24 29/08/44 St. Desir War Cemetery III.D.7. Should anyone have "names rank and numbers" of any members of the Second Battalion South Wales Borderers who sailed and landed on D Day I would be grateful to receive the information. I am trying to create a complete list of those who embarked on that great journey through France and beyond! Alan Williams (son of Private T. H. Williams 14676499 of "B" Company)
My grandfather was a Borderer. After Norway they went in different directions and some of his very best 'butties' ended up on the D day beaches. He and other close friends went to North Africa and Italy in a unit which they had trained youngsters. They were in 90th Light Ack Ack Regt. I enquired at the regimental museum several times over the years but the latest staff didn't realise Borderers had been sent to the Royal Artillery so weren't able to help. However for 30 years I researched and met many of his friends and wrote a history of his war. He lost his friend John Cody known as Buffalo Bill a few months following d day landings. Dai Edwards was a sergeant who landed along with posh price, I will try and find their numbers for you as they tended to refer to each other by number like 62 Jones and all 6 Richards. It was nothing but a privilege to sit with them at reunions in Brecon and laugh at what they got up to. I do know they landed with bikes and said plenty about fighting a war on a bike on a beach.
Any information regarding old South Wales Borderer will be well received and another piece in the jigsaw! Just returned today from an exploration of Normandy and the Bocage! Its remarkable how much ground they covered during June, July and August 1944, with so little to see on the ground today. With only memorials at Anselles, Vaux sur Aure and Bayeux Cathedral to register those remarkable men and their journey. Disappointed to see that the latest published maps as well as those in the Battle of Normandy Museum and D Day Museum don't even recognise the fact that the Battalion was established on the bridge at Vaux sur Aure on the night of the 6th with patrols into Bayeux overnight!
I would dearly love to visit but there are so many places my grandfather got to and I haven’t been there yet. Yes it is a shame about the maps have you registered this with the Museum? Surely they should make some acknowledgement. I think anything that happened like that should be remembered and displayed. I wonder what the reason is for it being missed? Note that the Borderers who went to Normandy bar a few were in Norway and their stories of no food but plenty of white paint were great. They certainly had a lot of respect for the Norwegian people and the men who ferried them about in the little puffers. I have focussed a lot on this theatre of war back when I started there wasn’t much around but of course talking and corresponding gave me s lots of info including the curator of the Bodo museum at the time. John Cody who was shot in the chest by a sniper and is buried in Geel and he had a wife and baby. I went to see her and Sgt Edwards and my grandfather also went. She only ever got a telegram saying he had been killed so all those years later when we visited she was thrilled, overcome everything really and to meet the person who was with Buffalo Bill as they called him was so personal for her and her son. The stories of the loss was poignant. I would love to go like I said.
