1st Bn Royal Sussex Regiment

Hello everyone again, sorry I have not been here for a while as work has taken over my life at the moment.
From random google searches during lunch and the like I have two names I'd like to contact if anyone has their details.

Jeff Spiers He was searching for his uncles war history. I have a picture of my Father with his late uncle Ronald Spiers. It must has meant something to my Dad as it has names included.

Mike Goddings He also claims to have pictures of Ron Spiers, so possibly my Father too.

Unfortunately this information is over 10 years old and I'm unable to join the web site to and try and contact them that way.
I'm still waiting for the information from Glasgow.

Thanks Gus for posting the two files, do you have a higher resolution copies as I'm unable to read them?

Mark

 

Prompted to have a look at my Fathers pictures again, I noticed a list of names on the back.
Sorry some can't be made out.
Pte. Eather
Pte.Goddings
Pte.Champion
L/c Farrett
Pte. Spiers
Pte. Major
L/c Couls****
Pte. Teva***
Pte. Wells
L/c Burchett
Pte. Bunting

This was taken in Salonika.

 

Tiny thing - I think that's probably L/C Jarrett.

 

I'd say your Pte. Teva*** is in fact Pte Twa*** (compare with the almost identical upper-case W in the name below), which I'd give a 80% chance of being Twaites.

L/C Couls***, of course, is highly likely to be Coulston.

 

Thanks for your replies, very slowly we get closer.

The interesting thing is this "Jeff Spiers" is convinced his uncle Ron Spiers died at Cassino? I guess he survived a bit longer!

This picture is of my Father's platoon at some time. He is at the back, fourth from the left.

 

Hello everyone, it looks like my late fathers war history search has hit a wall.
I finally have conformation that he did actually serve, rather than dress up and hang around with soldiers!
It seems the national archives do have his service records, but won't release them!
This was the response after a very long wait.

"
APV000876766, William John Cook, SN - 5573660


We have reviewed this record and are unable to open it because information within this record is exempt under Section 41 of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000 until 2036.


Unfortunately, this means we cannot make the record open to you or to the public in general. "

My sisters were told in the past his records didn't exist!
Has anyone an idea as to how I can proceed?
What won't help is that I don't even know who with or when he signed up. I think it was with the Wiltshire's, but their records are now held by the SAS in Hereford.
Or it also could have been the Wiltshire Yeomanry, whom I know even less about.
He said before joining the 1st Royal Sussex he was in the 7th Army, I think he meant the 7th armored division in North Africa.

Thanks for reading. Mark

 

Mark,

What reason would explain this:

My limited knowledge is that Army Records are / were held by a contractor (DHL?) at a Midlands storage site.

Perhaps it is time to ask the Wiltshire's Regiment, at Salisbury and not @ Devizes (from Wiki). See: The Rifles Berkshire and Wiltshire Museum Note they offer a search facility for their war diaries: War Diaries :: The Wardrobe

 

Thanks David, I'm sure that on my last lot of digging I found out that the Wiltshire Regiment records are now held in Hereford.
What I'd like to know as a starter is when he signed up and to what Battalion he was assigned to?

Mark

 

Thanks Owen, Finally some direction.
I'd love to find the date he enlisted and how he ended up in North Africa.
From his Marriage certificate he was back in England on the 24th of November 1941.
Now a Private in the Royal Sussex Regiment.

Mark.

 

Mark,

Individual service records - as I understand it, not being an expert - are held by the MoD centrally (with a few exceptions) and are now being transferred to the TNA. War diaries are held by the TNA too. Regimental Museums can hold some information, as others here have reported.

The best place to ask what information do you hold that can be accessed in person or by a paid in-house researcher is the Wiltshire Regiment Museum.

AS WW2 reached a peak in 1943-1945 the manpower available for the British Army reduced, so many units were disbanded / dissolved to provide manpower for the frontline, invariably infantry. So a search found men from the Wiltshires went to the Royal Berkshires. I have not looked through the thread, only a few posts and this need for manpower may explain your late father's movement.

 

Thanks David,

I'm pretty confident he stayed with the 1st Royal Sussex for most of the war.
I have a few surviving photos that have helped me track him to an extent,
He rode a BSA M20 in the sand at some time, that picture is lost. Also in Italy or Greece. Though I don't think he was a dispatch rider,
At some later point "Lines Man" is on a picture.
He refused to accept any rank as said he didn't want to be responsible for anyone's death.
All he said about Italy was that he spent most of his time keeping Americans alive!
Followed by if "they hadn't have joined the war, it would have been over years earlier."

I remember many odd stories, but at the time I was too young to question them.

Mark

 

Hi all,

I've got some maps and diagrams from the 1 Bn Royal Sussex Regt for the period in the run up to and including Op Crusader in November / December 1941 and thought I'd post them up as I get to them. The first is from a movement order in the October 1941 war diary (WO169/1748) and shows the desert formation to be adopted for the move:



More to follow.

Regards

Tom

 

In that same war diary, WO169/1748 - 1 Royal Sussex Regt, are some newspaper cuttings of which these are a couple of examples. Again apologies that they are not the best copies:



Was "Parade" also printed in Egypt?

Regards

Tom

 

I no it would be a huge ask Tom, but could you or someone type out the articles?

Mark......in hope.

 

Hi Mark,

I'm afraid the photos I took of the newspaper cuttings back in 2012 are no clearer on my laptop than they appear here. The best bet would be to see if someone who is going to Kew could copy them afresh for you.

There is, however, a typescript copy of a two-page piece written by "an Indian Army Official Observer" a little bit further on in the war diary which I will transcribe next week. I'll post that up when I've finished it.

Regards

Tom

 

Thanks Tom, your a star. I'll be looking forward to reading it.

Mark

 

Unfortunately Tom's copies are not of the complete article I think.

I make a note to pull the WD when I get back to Kew next.

All the best

Andreas

 

Thanks Andreas,

Mark