I am currently researching all those men named on my local Village War Memorial (Flamstead in Hertfordshire) ...... http://flamsteadpc.btck.co.uk/Documents/FlamsteadWarMemorial Amongst these is Sapper Douglas Arthur Batchelor who served with the 2nd Field Company Royal Engineers and died on the 6th May 1944. He is commemorated on the Rangoon Memorial. I have been told, by a distant relative of his, that he died when the Transport Aircraft he was supposedly travelling in was lost - but I have no way of substantiating this. Whilst I have been able to discover quite a bit about Sapper Batchelor the individual, I have not been able to find out how he might have died or what his unit were doing on that day in Burma. It would be a great help to me if anyone on this site has any information on this unit and what they were doing in early May 1944.
Flamstead, Not sure if these will help you, but here are the references for Missing in Action reports for the RE in Burma. WO361/388 WO361/389 WO361/390 All these documents are to be found at the National Archives. Detecting your browser settings Good luck with your research. Steve
2nd Field Coy RE Regular; 3 Sep 1939: Mersa Matruh; mobilized with 7th Infantry Division, transferred to 6th Infantry Division 3 Nov 1939; relieved 13 Jun 1940. Came under Command Troops, Egypt 30 Jun 1940 and then XIII Corps 31 Jan 1941. Assigned 6th Division 19 Feb to 30 Apr 1941. Returned to 6th [later 70th] Infantry Division 29 Jun 1941 to 21 Feb 1942. Served with 16th Infantry Brigade on Ceylon and India (26 Feb 1942 to 1 Mar 1943) and then with 14th Infantry Brigade in the Arakan from 7 May 1943. Assigned 70th Infantry Division 27 Jun to 24 Oct 1943. Assigned to Special Force from Oct 1943 and moved to Jhansi; reorganized into eight commando platoons 7 Nov 1943 for LRP role. (Platoons moved into Burma with 16th Infantry Brigade 20 Jan 1944 and returned to India between 12 and 28 May 1944.) Redesignated 2 Jul 1944 as 2nd Field Coy (Special); reconstituted 9 Aug 1944 in Bangalore. (Four platoons allotted to infantry battalions.) Relieved from Special Force 15 Jan 1945, redesignated 2nd Field Coy RE, and reorganized as a normal field company. Assigned 36th Infantry Division 22 Jun 1945 in Poona. Disbanded Sep 1945+. Also, maybe this help a little BBC - WW2 People's War - Memoirs of a Chindit
Steve & Sol, Many thanks for that information - it's all much appreciated and helps us to better understand what might have happened to Sapper Batchelor.
RA Casualty Card says he was killed in an air crash. Now to find out the details of this...... Born 15 April 1924 in Flamstead Enlisted: 19 Nov 1942 Sapper 14345461
Found Batchelor in the RE lists for Chindit 2 casualties. He is placed with four other men also killed on the 5/6th May, possibly in the same aircraft? Might give you something to go with. See below:
Interestingly, one of "my men" killed at Lion Box on 7th April 1944 serving with 864 ME Company RE, John Dewar Rawson, is recorded on the CWGC and the casualty lists as being a Sergeant with 2 Field Company RE. A pre-war soldier, he had been with them in north Africa but why was he mentioned as a Corporal by his CO of 864 and on the Part 1 orders casualty list of 864 dated 5/5/1944? Was he "busted down" to Corporal and moved from 2 Fld Coy and missed going with the Chindits? Maybe his documentation hadn't yet caught up with him at 864? He was due for repatriation as a time-served overseas man so maybe this has something to do with it. Anyway, had it not been for my research which revealed the true circumstances of his death then it could have been a real "head-scratcher" for those researching the Chindits of 2 Fld Coy!! Lionboxer
Sadly, researching attached personnel to Chindit columns, such as RE, RA, RAMC and RCOS is almost always difficult. These men hardly ever feature or are mentioned in war diaries and details of their Chindit unit, almost never mentioned on their service records.
