The uncle of a friend was reported missing on the 7th of June 1940 at Dunkirk. He served with the 4th Battalion, the Border Regiment. Can anyone help with details of their movements at this time. He is commemorated on the Dunkirk Memorial. Alexander Thomas Reed Mike
4th Border were part of 25th Infantry Brigade, assigned to GHQ for Lines of Communication duties. They are therefore not quite so easy to research as those battalions who formed part of Division. Brigade HQ diary only runs to May :- http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C162853 There is a 4th Border diary which includes June :- http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C163187 I believe that Drew has copies of both of these.
some great photos of 4th Border Regt on IWM site. 4th Battalion Border Regiment on the Somme Front, May 1940: Soldiers of the 4th Battalion, Border Regiment take up defensive positions by the roadside. THE BRITISH EXPEDITIONARY FORCE (BEF) IN FRANCE 1939-1940. © IWM (F 4529)IWM Non Commercial Licence 4th Battalion Border Regiment on the Somme Front, May 1940: A requisitioned lorry carries men of the 4th Battalion, Border Regiment on patrol. THE BRITISH EXPEDITIONARY FORCE (BEF) IN FRANCE 1939-1940. © IWM (F 4541)IWM Non Commercial Licence THE BRITISH ARMY IN FRANCE AND BELGIUM 1940. © IWM (F 4570)IWM Non Commercial Licence Morris-Commercial CS8 15cwt truck of 4th Border Regiment in the Somme sector, 14 May 1940. THE BRITISH ARMY IN FRANCE AND BELGIUM 1940. © IWM (F 4543)IWM Non Commercial Licence 4th Battalion Border Regiment on the Somme Front, May 1940: A soldier of the 4th Battalion, Border Regiment stands by his requisitioned and well camouflaged lorry. THE BRITISH EXPEDITIONARY FORCE (BEF) IN FRANCE 1939-1940. © IWM (F 4542)IWM Non Commercial Licence
The '53' Arm of Service serial allocated to 4th Border was on a red backgound and the '160' was a red / green diagonal from 5 Reserve Motor Transport Company RASC.
He's listed as Cat C in the Regiments Missing Men file. I know Diane has been doing some work on Casualties so she may know what that means:
It seems quite likely that he was with 'D' Company who appear to have been over-run and either killed or captured. There are a number of 4th Borders on the Dunkirk Memorial for this date. Almost half the burials in Incheville Communal Cemetery (33 of the 68) are unidentified which suggests that identification of the bodies was delayed or impossible - there are not many 'missing' bodies from the land part of the 1940 campaign but there are many 'unknowns' due to the fact that it was to be another four or five years before Graves Registration parties could record things properly. http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/2066958/INCHEVILLE%20COMMUNAL%20CEMETERY If you look at the graves registration reports of the known casualties in the cemetery, you can see which graves are 'unknown' and that some of them are shown as 'Unknown British Soldier - The Border Regiment' There is a good chance that Thomas Reed is one of these.
Rich. Thank you very much, and your learned input is much appreciated. I tend to concentrate on WW1, and WW2 requires a deal more 'graft' and know-how to research. I will pass this information to the family, and I'm sure they will be delighted. Mike
Sorry been away for a bit. What can I say. Thank you all very much. I have sent a link to this thread to the relatives of the soldier. I'm sure they will be delighted with, and very grateful for your expertise. Mike
Here are scans of a series of articles which appeared in the Westmorland Gazette in early 1944, chronicling the adventures of D Coy from 16 may to 8/9 June. Written by an officer who left Incheville before it was completely invested. I'm interested in the Lt. Col. Tomlinson on whom I have done a little research as he was a Levens resident & I'm contactable via Levens Local History Group. Regards, Allan Steward
Hi Mikky. As I had to do an amount of detailed re search around the 4th Battalion, Border Regiment. I hope this is complimentary to what you have gleaned so far. We have to bare in mind that the 4th Battalion of the Border Regiment was not involved in the encirclement of Allied troops in the Dunkirk area, they were further to the west, outside the encirclement. The evacuation at Dunkirk ended on 4th June 1940. The Germans launched their preliminary attack of Fall Rot ( Case Red ) against the Allied forces in the West,over the River Somme on 5th June. On 6th June the bulk of the Allied forces in the west withdrew from the line of the River Somme to the line of the River Bresle. On 7th June the 4th Battalion, who by now were attached to the 51st Highland Division, was engaged in action in the Foret d'Eu, with orders to push through the Foret d' Eu. Here they became engaged with German paratroopers, and hand to hand fighting took place. As they were heavily outnumbered, the companies were unable to advance further and had to withdraw. However D Company had become cut off at Incheville on the River Bresle, and unable to withdraw, but continued to hold their position until 14th June. -- SEE ' Kendal the town of missing men ' On 8th June the 51st Highland Division withdrew from the River Bresle. On 8th June the 4th Battalion returned to the front line, and provided a rear guard for the troops withdrawing from the line of the River Bresle. From here they were constantly in and out of action, until they reached Fecampe in Normandy on 10th June. Here they became engaged with Rommel's 7th Panzer Division. Following this they withdrew to the Cherbourg area, from where they were evacuated, beginning on 17th June as part of Operation Ariel 15th - 25th June. So although a name appears on the Dunkirk Memorial it does not necessarily relate to the specific actions at Dunkirk - at first glance it can be quite misleading to a re searcher. An educated guess would indicate that Alexander Reed became a casualty somewhere in the events of time line mentioned. I hope this is of interest.