1st & 2nd Fife and Forfar Yeomanry

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Unfortunately Steele Brownlie only mentions your uncle once more, when he is talking about the casualties suffered during Goodwood and the air raid on the Ranville Glider Field, where he was killed.

The regimental leaguer, initially, consisted of precisely nine tanks, out of the sixty or so that had started in the morning. Gradually others came in, but the losses had been very heavy. Nobody said very much, except things like: “You know so and so’s had it.” There were explosions and flashes to the north, an air attack on the Glider Field, where our Echelon was and where some of those wounded during the day had been taken. Killed were Ian Forbes, Kenneth Mathewson and Sgt Watson; wounded were Eric Spittal, Philip Noakes and Sgt Bobby Wann. The surviving reserve crews brought up spare tanks, and the whole night was spent replenishing, reorganising, repairing, and getting set for the next day. Once more, sleep did not figure on the programme.

 

Ron Cox who was a radio operator/loader in C Sqn mentions your uncle in his memoirs. Your uncle was originally an officer in C Sqn when Ron joined the 2FFY at Chippenham in 1943. He later mentions coming under temporary command of you uncle after his tank had been knocked out during Goodwood. Ron was later wounded in the same air raid that killed your uncle. Extracts from Ron's memoirs attached.
He wrongly refers to your uncle as being the Adjutant, when by the time of Normandy he was actually in charge of the Recce Troop in HQ Sqn.

 

Thank you so much for responding to my post. This thread of ww2talk has been really informative.

My grandmother always had my uncle's pictures on the table by her chair so he was a very familiar part of my childhood but like many of that generation who had seen active service they didn't talk much about their experience. My father was a career naval officer who was in active service from the start of the war to the the Japanese surrender but only occasionally gave out snippets of what he had been through.

I think my grandparents though desolate in their loss of Kenneth, was grateful having lost relatives in WW1 and with both their sons in the army and their daughters in the WRENs that only one member of their immediate family was killed in active service.

Uncle Neil who was also in Normandy, and later commanded the Fife and Forfar, told me much later that he had actually gone and found his brother's body which must have been a dreadful experience.

Thank you again for the information, I am som glad that I can pass on to future generations and their sacrifice will not be forgotten

Alastair

 

Your Uncle seems to have been popular with both his fellow officers and the men. It’s a tragedy that having survived the 1st day of fighting in Operation Goodwood, he should be killed in a rare German (?) air raid that evening.

Attached are some photos of him which you may or may not already have.

The first one is circa 1942 when he was still in C Sqn. He is sitting on the right, with a Valentine in the background.

The second one shows the CO Lt Col AJB Scott accompanying HRH King George VI during an inspection of the 2nd F&FY at Chippenham, on the 25th January, 1943.

The Crusader II nearest the camera is a ‘Loch’ possibly ’Loch Tummel’ belonging to C Sqn and is the Close Support variant armed with a 3 inch howitzer. The crew is thought to be Lt K Mathewson, Jock Oliver, Phil Levy and Duncan Noakes. (IWM H26779)

For some reason the entry in the Regimental War Diary for this day makes no mention of the King but rather cryptically refers to him as a “Senior Officer”;

‘Early in the week we were warned of another inspection by a "Senior Officer” on 25th Jan. and much paint was lavished on the tanks. Preparations for such a parade were complicated by the absence of personnel on 48 hrs leave and the fact that all guns which had not fired were taken out to the Stanford Battle Area and fired on 24th Jan, from which B Sqn did not get back until after dark. However, such an early start was made to the Brigade parade ground that there was ample time to touch up the tanks and fly our pennants in the breeze. Towards 1500 hrs we began to think that something might have gone wrong, but just before it started to rain, the Senior Officer arrived, passed in front of and among us and was gone.’

The third one is of the HQ Sqn Recce Troop which your Uncle commanded, at Aldershot in May 1944. He is sitting centre, in the second row.

Rob

 

Rob

I am grateful to you for providing this additional information and the photos which I hadn't seen and will share with family members.

It seems appropriate as the 80th anniversary of his death to honour his memory by finding out more about him and the 2nd Fife and Forfar yeomanry. I have been listening to some of the oral history tapes at the IWM and they are fascinating, the more so because other family members or connections are mentioned, and this thread ties in so well.

Thank you once again

Alastair