4th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment

Hi all, does anyone have the war diaries copied for 1940. My father was evacuated at Dunkirk. Part of 150th brigade, 50th (Northumbrian) division
Thanks
Peter

 

Drew5233 has all the infantry regiment war diaries for 1940.
Ask him.

 

Thanks heaps. Hi from Australia

 

PScott,

To contact Drew5233 add a post on this thread if you need his help: Anyone require War Diaries or other files from the National Archives?

Yes, you have added a Profile Post, that may work.

As you have only two posts you cannot use the Private Message (PM) option here. More in the next passage.

PM explanation

If you hover over the name of the member in their avatar it will show a new text box and within is the date of their last logged visit. Some members "flag" their interest in a thread, which means they get a system alert. Once you have posted five times - a measure to stop spam - you can send a private message (PM) to members using 'Start a private conversation' accessed via your avatar. Such messages depend on their email given at registration is still valid. You can receive and reply to a PM already.

An online search with: "4th" + "East Yorkshire" site:ww2talk.com id'd a mass of threads here. You may have to use other terms such as "East Yorks" or simply "4".

We always recommend applying for the subject's full service record (except the Scots Guards). Yes, it may take a year to arrive - either from the MoD or National Archives (TNA). It is not available online and is the definitive record. There is nothing you can do about the wait. The records were never intended to be read today. See: Get a copy of military records of service

Could you (if known) please add his full name, Date of Birth and Service Number? It will help others to help you. Note, images and scans are not indexed.

Guidance on uploading / scanning is within: How to Start a new Thread / Edit Post / Upload Image

Wiki can help, not always reliable, though the references are useful. For example: 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division - Wikipedia

If he remained with the 4th East Yorks they were captured in the Gazala battle(s), in North Africa on 1/6/1942. See: 150th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom) - Wikipedia

 

Hi, thanks for that, I'm new to all of this and I still don't quite understand how to proceed.
My Father was John Robert Scott born 3 Oct 1914 his number was 6010776 he joined in 1934 and served in the 2nd then in India in 1938 in the 1st Btn, returned to England in 39 then serving in the 4th
I already have his full service record from the national archives.
Can you explain a little more how to proceed?
Thanks heaps
Peter Scott

 

PScott,

Thanks for the update. Simple things first. His name and number have not appeared here before.

Timeline construction If you have Service records etc create a document with a table for the dates and events in chronological order first and where the information came from. This will enable you to identify the more important entries first (dates of wounding, promotions, embarkations and disembarkations). You will learn more if you do most of the research yourself, but don't be afraid to ask questions about service record entries and things you come across on this forum. Adapted from Post 4 in: Help researching relative - Ivo William (Bill) SMITH, 42nd Battalion AIF

You can - if willing - scan and upload the record - so the expertise here can help.

Was he taken prisoner in North Africa? If he was there are additional resources and options - plus members whose focus is POWs. It is likely if he was a POW he would have been held by the Italians till September 1943. If he did escape then he would have been taken prisoner by the Germans, another area of expertise..

 

Hi,

Cannot recall where this came from so compliments to whoever transcribed it.

Regards,

Graeme

 

Thanks

 

Service record uploaded (I Hope)
Left out Africa Star award

 

I am sure someone can tell you the eligibility required for the Africa Star.

Skimmed through the record and yes he was a POW in Stalag 8B / Stalag Vii B. I note he was freed before VE-Day 8/5/1945 by the Russians and arrived in the UK 30/3/1945. Wiki states:

There is a lengthy Wiki, which indicates satellite work camps and when British POWs arrived. See: Stalag VIII-B - Wikipedia and Stalag VIII B (344) Lamsdorf / 1939-1945 / Camps / Centralne Muzeum Jeńców Wojennych

The camp was at Lamsdorf in Silesia, then part of Germany and after WW2 became part of Poland, with the new name Lambinowice.

Lots of information online, e.g.48000 British POWs held there, captured on all fronts. See: British POWs in Stalag VIII B Lamsdorf | PDF | Prisoner Of War | Military

Back to his record I will transcribe it, others in the queue, so it may be a week or so.

 

Thanks for that, really appreciate it.
He does have the Africa Star I just omitted the paper work to reduce the size of the file
He escaped from a working party and was hidden by a Polish family till the Russians arrived. Don't know anything about his time in the Italian pow camp.
Dates line up with Gazala. I've found out that the 4th BTN was destroyed there with many captured. Thanks again
Peter

 

Hi, does anyone have any comments on my Dad's service record I uploaded?
Thanks
Peter from Australia

 

Working on transcription today.

 

Great thanks

 

Peter,

Attached is the transcript. Even though the Service Record was only five pages hopefully it will help. I have added some research and will check for the Italian aspect later today - as I have researched the German Army taking control of POW camps before.

Others here focus on Italian POW camps etc. Though without a known camp that could be difficult (see next post it may be possible without a camp name / number)..

With the advent of the 'Cold War' soon after WW2 ended I doubt the Polish family were able to keep in contact.

Did your father fully recover from his wartime experience?

 

Peter,

There are two threads here regarding officer POW camps in Italy. the focus being New Zealand officers:

https://ww2talk.com/index.php?threa...-nz-camp-co-clayden-shuttleworth.76359/page-1 I think only the few posts on pg. 1 will give you the wider context up to and just beyond the Italian armistice

Italy 1943: the 'Stay Put Order'

British Other Ranks were held in separate camps to the camps mentioned in the two threads (unless they were officer's orderlies)..

A year ago our resident expert, Vitellino, on Italian-held POW posted this to enable a search:

You can use the PM option to ask for her help.

 

Peter,

The latest post are not in date order!

When your rather was taken prisoner (POW) under an German-Italian agreement all POW became an Italian responsibility and they were shipped back to mainland Italy. IIRC the entry port was Bari, with a nearby came before dispersal to camps elsewhere in Italy. The camps held British and Commonwealth, plus numbers of Greeks, French and Poles.

Italian POW camps were all prefixed PG and then numbered. They sometimes appear as PGnumber or PG space number.

Did you father ever retain any document with a PG number or talk about that time?

 

Hi David, no I have no other documents so that period is a bit of a blank.
Greetings from New South Wales
Peter