Was a divisional history produced after WW2 for them? If so be grateful for title/author etc Thanks in advance......
Details of Division here: 53rd Division Divisional Histories: A.D. Bolland. Team spirit : the administration of an infantry division during "Operation Overlord" : France-Holland-Belgium-Germany, June 1944-May 1945 (Aldershot : Gale & Polden 1948) C.N. Barclay. The History of the 53rd (Welsh) Division in the Second World War (London : William Clowes 1956) P.Delaforce. Red Crown and Dragon : 53rd Welsh Division in North-West Europe, 1944-1945 (London : Tom Donovan Publishing 1996) The last one, the most recent, is in fact the rarest of the breed!
Talking of the 53rd Division, did anyone see the Who do you think you are? program with Rory Bremner the week before last. His Father was in command of D Coy, 1st Battalion of The East Lancs. In the program it was told that his Father was upset that credit was not given to the East Lancs, who he claimed were there first and not another regiment of the same division. Out of interest, do any of the 3 books mention who were credited for being in first?
He means s'Hertogenbosch, liberated by 53rd Welch div October 23/24 1944. Talking of which, if you know of any vets that were there in 1944, s'Hertogenbosch is planning a celebration for their 65th anniversary of liberation.
Thanks 51H. S'Hertogenbosch was the place. My brain said the name but my fingers did not type it. Most of the towns liberated in the South of the Netherlands 1944 will hold some sort of ceremony.
Just been reading up in Div History & Delaforce's book that East Lancs captured their objective on outskirts of the town & 1/5th Welch passed through them further into the town.
Details from C.N.Barclay The History of the 53rd (Welsh) Division in the Second World War (William Clowes, London, 1956) are attached.
Thanks guys....are there many mentions of the 116 Regt RA in any of your wanderings through these books????
New member wetting his toes. I've joined initially to gain a bit more knowledge of my dads movements in the war. he was a lance corporal in the 53rd Welch, specialising in demolitions. His most noted achievement was being given a written award for action at a bridgehead on the river maas. Any pointers would be graitefully recieved. There used to be a photo knocking about the place of his brenn carrier whih his name painted on the front.
Hi Paul - and welcome. Any more details? Unit? Am presuming Royal Engineers if he was involved in that sort of work. Perhaps you can post his full name in case the award became official and he is listed somewhere?
Paul, Thank's for the reply. I'll get the details from my brother as it's hanging on his wall. From memory his superior recieved a gong of some sort for commanding him to undertake the actionwhich is recorded in the regimental history (again my brother has carried out a bit more research than me). He was an infantryman, clearing mines was one of his duties. He also took part in the battle of the bulge and the battle for the reichwald forest. I visited the British cemetary there and found it very moving, line after line of boys.
By a quirk of fate this post was started by me to try and get some info for a relative of an ex-member of 116 LAA and their surname is Lever.... Captain D Lever was his father's brother.......so Paul my old friend thanks very much for putting on the photo......
Sorry to bump this after neartly two months but... I reenact 4th RWF, 53rd Division and have started the research on the 53rd Welsh Division and currently have the following books on them: A.D. Bolland. Team spirit : the administration of an infantry division during "Operation Overlord" : France-Holland-Belgium-Germany, June 1944-May 1945 (Dusseldorf 1945) C.N. Barclay. The History of the 53rd (Welsh) Division in the Second World War (London : William Clowes 1956) P Delaforce – Battle of the Bulge Patrick Delaforce: Marching to the Sound of Gunfire The Red Dragon - RWF history 1919-45 (P.K Kemp + John Graves) Trying to find: P.Delaforce. Red Crown and Dragon : 53rd Welsh Division in North-West Europe, 1944-1945 (London : Tom Donovan Publishing 1996) John H. Roberts. Welsh bridges to the Elbe : the story of the Royal Engineers - 53rd (Welsh) Division, bridge builders of the Northern France and North-West Europe campaign (Oxford : Boldacre, 2000) Does anyone know of any good histories on the Welsh Regiment Battalions that served, and other Battalions? I'm off to the National Archives in a week or two to dig as much as possible and contacting veterans et al for this. Also does anyone know where to find Robert's book online for sale? As I've searched for hours and can't find anything...
Hi Swiper, welcome aboard. (Bump any thread you like, regardless of age). Looks like that Roberts book is possibly a publish on demand job, seems to be getting more common with the academic publishers. Trouble is I can't find 'Boldacre Books', or who they might be an imprint of. Using the ISBN to search - These people say they can supply it for £20: www.gwales.com - 9781898893004, Welsh Bridges to the Elbe Lots of the Delaforce Book on Abe... not cheap. delaforce: red crown dragon - AbeBooks Good Luck, Adam.