Hello all, I am trying to compile as much information as I possibly can on the 54th Heavy Regiment (RA) during WW2, as this is where my Grandad completed his wartime service. I was hoping anyone had any members of their family who served in this regiment and possibly had pictures, diaries or letters from their time in the regiment. Or if anyone has anyone they can pass me on to, this would be really appreciated as well.
Just in case not done. Try the three threads which are tagged: 54 heavy regiment ra | WW2Talk Using "54th Heavy Regiment" site: ww2talk.com brings back a couple more and possibly some imagery.
Yes I have already looked at these, not much information helpful to me so far. It just seems that this regiment isn't very 'popular' and not many records exist. I am waiting on two more war diaries for this regiment so hopefully this will give me some better information.
Noted. Have you checked: 54 Heavy Regiment RA - The Royal Artillery 1939-45 and 54 Super Heavy Regiment RA - The Royal Artillery 1939-45 The author / owner is often here. You can get a 1944 Military Medal commendation, provided you register which makes it free: Recommendation for Award for Clifford, James Rank: Gunner Service No: ... | The National Archives Have you got the photo of three men when in Italy? See: https://twitter.com/irishbrigadeww/status/1746837881396838537 An online search can identify several old school obituaries for officers and it appears it was Spike Milligan's unit in North Africa. See: https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=9780241958100&i=stripbooks&linkCode=qs
Tom. Heavy Regiments tended to be gathered together as Army Groups Royal Artillery. In this case, 54 Hvy Regt RA was part of 1 AGRA supporting operations in Italy. Planners allocated AGRA regiments to Infantry or Armoured Divisions in order to beef up their artillery firepower when required - each Division has three integral Field Artillery Regiments which gave them 72 guns but this was often not enough. Get hold of Gary Tankard on this site and he will get you the War Diaries for 54 Hvy Regt RA so that you can follow their progress throughout the war. Regards Frank
IWM has a series of eight photos of members of 54th Heavy Regt loading and firing a 9.2-inch howitzer at Larkhill on 20 March 1941. Find an object | Imperial War Museums
