Now believed 1 AA (not 2 AA) Regt RA 1940 query ?

Hi, first post here so please bear with me. My wife has done some research regarding a great great uncle she came across whilst looking into her family history.
His name was Maurice Bush 1061323 2 AA Regt 16 bty. He is on the CWGC database and we think he was killed on 28/05/1940. He is buried in Sage cemetery and thinks to a link on here we`ve managed to order a photo of his gravestone from the excellent photographic record database.
What we cannot work out is why he is buried in a northern German cemetery. We thought he may have been captured in Belgium and transported but maybe succumbed to his wounds, but we can find no listing of him ever being a prisoner of war.
I`ve searched the forums and found some very interesting information but nothing specific on his units actions with the BEF, or why he is buried where he is.
I wouuld be very grateful if anyone can shed any light on this please.
Many Thanks
Dale

 

hello and welcome to the forum
I'm sure forum members will be able to assist


Gunner MAURICE CHARLES BUSH

1061323, 16 Bty., 2 A.A. Regt., Royal Artillery
who died age 33
between 28 May 1940 and 23 June 1940

Remembered with honour
SAGE WAR CEMETERY

have you sent off for his service records

Ministry of Defence | About Defence | What we do | Personnel | Service Records | Making a Request for Information held on the Personnel Records of Deceased Service Personnel

 

Hi Dale and welcome to the forum. Sounds like an interesting query, I am sure one of the AA or BEF guys will be along to help soon.
Good luck and keep us posted.

Mike

 

Hi Dale & welcome,

There is a war diary at the National Archives for 16 Battery, the reference of which is WO167/631. They were with the BEF in France from November 1939 until June 1940.

The fact that there is such a wide date range for your relative suggests that there is no record of what happened to him. The war diary would not tell you much, other than events as they unfolded. As this time was so confusing and chaotic, even these may not tell you much.

As he is buried at Sage War Cemetery, it is a good possibility he was wounded, left for the Germans, evacuated and died en-route somewhere. All supposition.

Not what you would like to hear, but a mystery, which will remain so. There are a substantial number of deaths at that time with the same sort of date range. Sadly, most of them have no known grave.

Regards - Rob

 

Thanks for the replies chaps, it seems to be as I feared. I`ve looked at getting his service records, are there any other forms besides the certificate of kinship which need to be filled in ? I`ve checked my wifes family tree and it seems that Gunner Bush was here great uncle, not great great uncle, so that would make my wife his great niece. I`m not sure if that would qualify as next of kin ?
Would it have been possible that the Germans upon capturing him didn`t inform the Red Cross that he was a POW due to the confusion of the time ?
Thanks for the 16 battery diary reference, I may look into getting a copy.
Once again many thanks for your help chaps.
Dale

 

Hello and welcome.

Because he died over 25 years ago you don't need NOK so she can sign it anyway. Ref proof of death print out the CWGC page which will save you £10 for a death cert.

I'll come back to what the unit was doing later as I've just got back from 4 days at the National Archives.

Cheers
Andy

 

Thanks very much Drew, that`s very informative.
Dale

 

I could have sworn I posted a 2nd reply on this thread last night !

Ref 16 Battery. I checked my books last night and they are listed under another regtiment as of 10th May 1940 in my sources. They could either have been attached or the CWGC has it wrong.

Any RA experts can check to confirm who the battery was with in May 1940?

 

There is a clue in the CWGC description, with the cemetery being located in NW Germany I would suspect he was on his way to a camp when he died - either from wounds or at the hands of his captors. It may be interesting to check how many 1940 graves there are in the cemetery.

Historical Information

Sage was on the line of the Allied advance across northern Germany in 1945 but most of those buried at Sage War Cemetery were airmen lost in bombing raids over northern Euope whose graves were brought in from cemeteries in the Frisian Islands and other parts of north-west Germany.

Sage War Cemetery contains 948 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, 158 of them unidentified. There are also 23 war graves of other nationalities, most of them Polish.

 

I've just had a look through 2 HAA Regts war diary and whilst the May section is missing there is no mention of 16 HAA Bty being part of this Regiment - I think CWGC have got his details wrong.

 

If you look at the 16 Battery casualties for that period, there were 26 listed againt 1 AA/HAA Regt and only one for 16/2 AA Regt, the guy on this thread. He must be wrongly recorded.

I've tried to get a number of men who I feel are shown as incorrect for this period and were told by CWGC, they wanted the service record as proof before changing any.

 

There is a clue in the CWGC description, with the cemetery being located in NW Germany I would suspect he was on his way to a camp when he died - either from wounds or at the hands of his captors. It may be interesting to check how many 1940 graves there are in the cemetery.

18 for the period 10 May to 30 June 1940.

 

Thats a fair amount mate - I bet the Germans were using it for BEF soldiers that died at various locations.

 

At TNA look in the cards in WO353 to see if a returning POW's Q form or Casualty Form mentions the death. Also look in :

WO 361/109 British Expeditionary Force, France: Royal Artillery; coastal defence and anti-aircraft, anti-tank and searchlight regiments; missing men 1941 Jan 01 - 1942 Dec 31
WO 361/110 British Expeditionary Force, France: Royal Artillery; coastal defence and anti-aircraft, anti-tank and searchlight regiments; missing men 1942 Jan 01 - 1943 Dec 31

 

This page from 1 HAA might be of interest:

 

Thats a fair amount mate - I bet the Germans were using it for BEF soldiers that died at various locations.

The figure stays the same for the rest of the year, with the addition of a seaman from HMT Achilleus which was sunk at Dunkirk.

 

Cheers Rob, I've PM'd Slick - hopefully he took Clive's advice and ordered a copy of his records. If nothing else he could sort his unit title out on CWGC.

 

Andy,

The war diary pages you posted clearly shows 15 Battery as being under command 1 AA Regt, but CWGC has a number of men listed under 15 Battery, 6 HAA Regt, that died between 31 May and 2 June.

Total confusion with some of the casualty records post Dunkirk.

 

That would make a nice little BEF project for you Rob

 

Er No thanks.

I've decided to concentrate on writing up my Dad's unit history for a while as I've got a lot of stuff from Kew that's useful.