1st Battalion Tyneside Scottish, The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment). 1940

Incidentally, Lance/Cpl Laidler, the Piper to the Last, was Mark Knopfler's (Dire Straits) uncle, his mother's brother.

Just thought worth to share.

Welcome to the forum piccadilly!

Mark Knopfler wrote a song about his uncle Freddie called 'Piper To The End'.

Best,

Steve.

 

Welcome to the forum piccadilly!

Mark Knopfler wrote a song about his uncle Freddie called 'Piper To The End'.

Best,

Steve.

Mentioned here:

http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/1940/27506-mark-knoplfer-dire-straits-bef.html

 

Mentioned here:

http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/1940/27506-mark-knoplfer-dire-straits-bef.html


I did a search before posting my message and couldn't find that post you have linked; not surprising as 'Knopfler' is spelt incorrectly in the post/link!

Best,

Steve.

 

Hopefully this is the best place to post this?

Main Page - 70 Brigade

Heres a `New` website dealing with `70th Infantry Brigade` its still under construction and I find it a little hard to navigate but if you can fathom it out I`m told theres some very interesting stuff in there.Its founder I believe has been funded by a Heritage grant.I cannot see where the index is but the site claims to hold personnel lists for these units I`ve managed to access a few using `Random page`in the left column


Jim

 

Per above some of the personnel lists can be found by entering the unit name eg 10 DLI,11 DLI,Tyneside Scottish ETC,in the search box I`ve tried posting the links direct unfortunately they expire and give you a blank page
Jim

 

is there any way of printing this inf off this web page.

 

Has anyone any ideas, on how to obtain lists of names of soldiers who enlisted,given army/reg -number then distcharged as unsutible,ie,underage for example.

 

is there any way of printing this inf off this web page.


Right click and save to your PC then you can print it off.

Ref your 2nd post I'm not sure what you mean-Can you be a bit more specific? Are you researching a relative?

 

Hi folks,
Due to some current time off work I thought I would do a bit of digging into my Grandad's history. All I knew was that he was in the Black Watch and was captured outside Dunkirk and spent the rest of the war in a POW camp.

Having dug a little further I believe he was 1st Tyneside Scottish (Black Watch). His army no. Was 4457962. Private Harry Pickford.
I am trying to find out the following and was wondering the best way to go about it?
1, When and where he was captured.
2, What POW / work camps he was at (the info I have is stalag XXB prisoner no. 6953, although I have been told off my 90 year old Nana that he worked on a farm)
3, What medals he would've won? He was buried with them in 1981 so I have no idea as I was only 7 at the time.
The reason I want to know this is that I'm the only one in our family that has any interest and I'm looking to buy some copies and mount them in a display case and give this to my Nana for Christmas to show that someone is at least thinking about him still.

Sorry for the long winded post and any help would be greatly appreciated.

Best regards

Steve

 

Hi Steve - I would apply for a copy of his service records. The link below will help you.

service records sar form requests

 

Hi folks,
Due to some current time off work I thought I would do a bit of digging into my Grandad's history. All I knew was that he was in the Black Watch and was captured outside Dunkirk and spent the rest of the war in a POW camp.

Having dug a little further I believe he was 1st Tyneside Scottish (Black Watch). His army no. Was 4457962. Private Harry Pickford.
I am trying to find out the following and was wondering the best way to go about it?
1, When and where he was captured.
2, What POW / work camps he was at (the info I have is stalag XXB prisoner no. 6953, although I have been told off my 90 year old Nana that he worked on a farm)
3, What medals he would've won? He was buried with them in 1981 so I have no idea as I was only 7 at the time.
The reason I want to know this is that I'm the only one in our family that has any interest and I'm looking to buy some copies and mount them in a display case and give this to my Nana for Christmas to show that someone is at least thinking about him still.

Sorry for the long winded post and any help would be greatly appreciated.

Best regards

Steve

Hi Steve - I would apply for a copy of his service records. The link below will help you.

service records sar form requests

Welcome to the forum Steve.

As Andy advises you should apply for his service records - these cost £30 and it can take up to 12 months to receive a response. Ask for his FULL service records.

In addition, you could apply to the International Red Cross to see if they hold Records - this is free, but can take 12-18 months. You could also apply for a copy of his liberation report (if he completed one), which are held on file at the National Archive - these are usually under £20 and take a few weeks; see link:

http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/searchi...searchers.html

Whatever you receive post onto the forum, with any questions you have and someone will be along to assist with insights/answers.

By the way, your Grandad's service number is from the Durham Light Infantry block 4435001 - 4523000. Per my first Message on this thread (No 4), the 1st Bn Tyneside Scottish began life as the 12th Bn Durham Light Infantry; a duplicate of the 9th Bn Durham Light Infantry.

Was your Grandad from the Gateshead area or if not specifically, the North East of England?

Best,

Steve.

 

This is my first post in what is a truly staggeringly useful and interesting forum.

John "jackie" Peirs was my great uncle and died in the Ficheux action and is buried in the Bucquoy Road cemetery. I visited his grave several years ago. I was wondering how I could find the recorded, official circumstances of his death. Family legend has it that he reached the front after only 6 weeks training, only to be sent back by a sergeant as he and his mates were too green to be of any use. On the way back with two fellow raw recruits, two were shot by snipers and killed, one being Pte Peirs. The survivor made it back alive and told this version of events to the family.

Does this match any known versions of events? Is it a realistic scenario? It doesn't seem to match the version told in this thread where all hands were actively involved in the action.

TIA

 

Hello and welcome to the forum. There may be info in the Black Watch 1940 Missing Men file at the National Archives although I suspect it will mainly focus on the 'main' BW battalions - A case of you'll never know until you look and I've not got around to copying it yet.

I have some more info on the Bn that I've not posted yet (Regt History) that may contain a clue.

I see no reason at this stage the the story could be true or untrue. Ref the 6 Weeks Training bit you could confirm this by applying for a copy of his service records from the MoD.

Andy

 

Deleted

 

Thanks for the quick replies. I see no reason to doubt the family's version of events, however I've never heard it first hand and the story may have been changed over the years. Jackie was the weakest child of a large family, by all accounts, and probably shouldn't have been there.

 

Hi Guys,

Apologies for the delay in replying. It's been a strange year what with health issues and moving from the North East up to Scotland.
Since my previous post I have sent off for details through the Red Cross and received a response this weekend almost a year to the day from when I sent in the request.

My Grandfather (Henry Pickford, Not Harry) was captured on the 20th May 1940 at Ficheux (unwounded). I can also see a note on the card which says "I am well"
He arrived at Stalag XX A on 6/6/1940 (according to a capture card dated 9/6/1940 and a list dated 12/6/1940)
Arrived at Stalag XX B on 7/10/1941 coming from Stalag XX A (according to a list dated 14/10/1941 and a list dated 15/10/1941)

Steve Mac, he was from Spennymoor, County Durham

At least I can better understand his last movements before he was captured now.

Thanks for the help.

Best regards

Steve

 

Hi this is my first post, I have been looking for information about my great uncle private Albert Foster. I was astonished to find him named in the post by Tim dated 14th February 2011.

My mum and dad have a photograph of him in his uniform and one of his headstone in France. I always think of him at this time of year, his brother my grandad Norman Foster was in the DLI and survived the war.

Jubilee33 my great uncle and grandad were from Newfield which is a couple of miles from Spennymoor, which is where I'm from.

All the very best.

Gaz

 

Hi Gaz,

Apologies for the late reply-Any chance you can post the picture of your man on here?

Cheers
Andy

 

Hi Andy,

My parents have the photo, they live in the north east, I'm in Cumbria. We see each other regularly. Next time they are over I will ask them to bring it and post it on here. If memory serves me we'll there are two other gentlemen from the same regiment on there which someone might find interesting.

I'm away firearms training for the police force for the next few months, as soon as I get the opportunity to put it on here I will.

All the best, Gaz.

 

'I've been trying to dig up my grandfather and a list of names from 1940 - 1941 of those who served in Iceland in 1st Tyneside Scottish (The Black Watch) Royal Highland Regiment
whit the surname Norman or name Norman from Edinburgh
Yours sincerely, Einir