226414 Joseph Robert Francis SMALLEY, 10 Rifle Brigade: ItalIan Campaign

Discussion in 'Italy' started by Joseph 1921, Jan 4, 2020.

  1. Joseph 1921

    Joseph 1921 Member

    C8EA3765-8425-4C2C-B9E8-DFB29707E211.jpeg Hello all,
    Casualty
    My uncle Joseph Robert Smalley joined the Rifle brigade in 1942 he was a 2nd lieutenant and was captured in Italy in October 1944 and died in stalag V11A in December 1944. He served in the 10th battalion (2nd battalion The Tower Hamlet rifles) and I believe became part of the 61st infantry brigade.
    I was wondering if anybody could advise me on the battalions movements and in what area of Italy he may have been captured and would I be right in assuming he would have been in North Africa before the Italy campaign? For interest I have added a photo of him on the left the others are unknown to me.
    I am new to researching and would be grateful of any guidance.
    Many thanks in anticipation, Steve
     
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  2. Tony56

    Tony56 Member Patron

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  3. Joseph 1921

    Joseph 1921 Member

    Many thanks Tony56 for the sound advice steve
     
  4. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

  5. Joseph 1921

    Joseph 1921 Member

    Thank you Owen for the advice....Steve
     
  6. BFBSM

    BFBSM Very Senior Member

    You should also consider obtaining the Battalion War Diaries from the Nation Archives at Kew:


    WO 166/4517 INFANTRY: 10 Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own).1941 Jan.- Nov.
    WO 166/8846 10 Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) 1941 Dec.-1942 Oct.
    WO 169/10288 10 Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) 1943 July- Dec.
    WO 170/1470 10 Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) 1944 Jan.- Dec.
    WO 170/5064 10 Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) 1945 Jan.- Mar.
    WO 175/518 10 Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) 1942 Oct.- 1943 June

    if you are unable to get to Kew yourself, there are members here who may be able to help, specifically Drew5233 and PsyWar.Org .
     
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  7. Joseph 1921

    Joseph 1921 Member

    Thank you BFBSM, I’m not far from Kew so will definitely take that advice on board.
    Thank you again...Steve
     
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  8. Craig day

    Craig day Member

    Hi Joseph, I dont know if you have been to kew yet so I uploaded the war diary entry for the day your uncle was captured
    Regards
    Craig
     

    Attached Files:

  9. Craig day

    Craig day Member

    Hi Joseph, following some further digging it looks like a 2nd officer was captured in 2/10/44 but its not clear, the reason I started looking again is because the monthly casualty return states the only missing officer for the month of October was Lt Mathew
    Regards
    Craig
     

    Attached Files:

  10. 51highland

    51highland Very Senior Member

    Find my Past has him posted as Missing, 26/10/44
     
  11. Joseph 1921

    Joseph 1921 Member

    Hi Craig,
    Many thanks for your efforts and no I have not got to Kew yet because I have been waiting since January for his military records!!
    They cashed my cheque in August and emailed to say they were very behind and have heard nothing since.
    Thank you again.
     
  12. Craig day

    Craig day Member

    Well done 51highland although the war diary page has no missing officers on the 26th Oct, I'm guessing my first post was right, strange he's not on the casualty list though, maybe because it was so late in the month.
    More digging looks like he was taken on strength on 6/6/44 and given a platoon command the same day, (exert from the Officers return for end of June 1944, whole page to large to upload)
    Craig
     

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  13. Joseph 1921

    Joseph 1921 Member

    Hi Craig,
    That’s great info. What does taken on strength mean?
     
  14. Craig day

    Craig day Member

    Hi Steve
    its the day he joined the battalion, his army records will show his movements (if you can read and decipher them).
    My dads took 6 months to come, if you need any help with what they mean give me a shout, I spent ages (with the help of the kind
    people on here) trying to decipher dads
    Craig
     
  15. Joseph 1921

    Joseph 1921 Member

    Hi Craig,
    I really appreciate your help with my search.
    As and when I get his records I will contact you and take you up on your kind offer.
    I guess there is more delay with these records due to Covid-19.
    Many thanks again, Steve
     

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