69th Medium Regt Royal Artillery Flint & Denbighshire Yeomanry

Discussion in 'Royal Artillery' started by longlong, Sep 4, 2014.

  1. longlong

    longlong Member

    G'day everyone,

    My father, Gunner Anthony Albert Barwick, from Liverpool, now deceased, served in 69th Medium Regt from 1938 to 1946. He was a bombardier, nothing special but his personal war was interesting to our family.
    Postwar he re-enlisted in the REME and my childhood was spent in Plymouth, London, Newport IOW, Bordon, Germany, Sennelager (6 years 1955-61) and Aden, Khormaksar (2 years 1962-64).

    I have researched his war from his memories/stories, several Dunkirk books, the internet and including all the unit diaries and other stuff at Kew and Chatham Firepower Museum.
    Also I have the Admiralty report on the Dunkirk Evacuation listing all participating ships and all their trips.
    Amongst other places we have visited Dunkirk, Wormhoudt and the site of the Massacre in The Barn.

    Does anyone have any detailed knowledge of the Wormhoudt ambush of D Company 262 Battery (27th May 1940) in which amongst others the 9th Earl of Aylesford, the company commander was killed?

    Does anyone have a listing of the names of the members of the regiment at that or any other time during the war please?

    I have 4 missing pieces of my father's war which I suspect will forever elude me:

    1. What Royal Navy ship did he get off on?. It was around the last weekend of the evacuation, by carrying a stretcher.
    2. The action at Medellin in N Africa when the regt's transport was shelled and the RSM got a MM.
    3. The night at Monte Cassino when a German patrol got up to the 69th's HQ defence trenches. Dad carried a scar on his thigh from that and his pistol jammed.
    4. The date when all his section were killed by a shell on route 6 whilst going on leave from Monte Cassino to Naples.
    Dad was sick in Naples with dysentry otherwise he would have been with them and therefore you would not be reading this.

    I have a word file of several pages detailing the results of my researches.
    But anything will be appreciated, Like the support of the 9th Australian Division at Alamein.

    Thanks
    longlong
     
  2. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Looking at the 1940 diary you'll probably never know what boat/ship he returned to England on. Do you have a copy of his service records? They'll give an exact date he landed.
     
  3. longlong

    longlong Member

    I have his full service record but such things as date of landing are not referred to.

    He couldnt even be sure of which port he landed at, although Folkstone is a strong possibility.
    The closest I can come to the ship is HMS Worcester, high tide Friday 31st or Saturday June 1st, which allowed stretchers to be more easily loaded onto a ship tied up to the mole. The rise and fall of the tide against it was very big and caused big problems.

    Her records state she took on A Coy 2nd Lincs and wounded on that trip.
    Its my closest call, looking at various ships records and including the fact that Gort removed his ban on stretcher cases being evacuated only late in the period, in response to heavy medical officer pressure.
    Dad spent he thought at least one full day on the beaches during which time he collected a permanent brown shrapnel mark under his heart from an air attack. It took a day to walk from Wormhoudt to Dunkirk May28th per the CWG but he always reckoned 27th was the ambush date.

    Dad was an odds and sods, ie not in an organised unit after the ambush. Only formed units were being loaded off the mole in priority.
    That is how the rest of 69th Medium were already off. One of them NOT 242 battery, dad saw slumped dead on the mole from concussion he thought.

    So he queued up and joined a line, grabbed a loaded stretcher and followed an officer with a loaded revolver onto the mole and up to the side of the ship. Then on he hopped with the stretcher!
    The man on his stretcher died before they reached England.

    Regards
    longlong








    .
     
  4. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    As far as I'm aware Folkstone was only used for the 'Little Ships' with RN craft, the Destroyers, being directed to Dover. His service records should say how long he spent in France and or there should be a date he deployed and returned from France with the BEF. All service is listed this way on a page to show medal entitlement.

    Interesting - What's your source of info regarding the tides and mooring problems? I've never come across this before in any of the books and diaries I've read. The beaches at Dunkirk are very shallow and the destroyers couldn't get in close to the beaches for the ferrying smaller craft hence the use of the Mole later after the harbour was bombed - The original Mole went out some distance, further than the one there now I believe so I have always been lead to believe that the water was deep enough for destroyers to tie up. In fact I've seen pics of Destroyers against the Mole at low tide now I think of it with soldiers walking down down gang planks to board them. From the pics I've seen at high tide the deck of destroyers was pretty much level give or take a few feet IIRC.

    Cheers
    Andy
     
  5. mapshooter

    mapshooter Senior Member

    I don't understand the reference in #1` to "D Coy 262 Bty" and the "coy commander" being killed. 69 was an artillery regt, what they may have been pre-war is irrelevant, apart from indicating that their expertise as gunners may have been a bit flaky.

    'The Gunners - A History of Australian Artillery" makes no reference to 69 Med supporting 9 Aust Div at Alamein (or anywhere else), only to 7 and 64 Med Regts RA.
     
  6. longlong

    longlong Member

    I think you will find that that rise and fall above and below decks of the various ships tying up made it very arkward at time of low tide vs high tide.
     
  7. longlong

    longlong Member

    I am quoting my father here. Who had Australian infantry of 9th Divn passing through his gun position. Also October 26th the unit war dia

    Try the 69th's war diary entry 26th October.
     
  8. longlong

    longlong Member



    I'd make the point that a book on Australian Artillery is hardly likely to extensively mention English regiments?
     
  9. longlong

    longlong Member

     
  10. longlong

    longlong Member

    G'day everyone ,
    To those gentlemen who have added comments to my original blog, thank you.
    I am still finding out how this site works so my responses are disjointed and not complete

    You saw my outstanding points in my original submission.
    I have extensively investigated my fathers war, with some input from him and his patchy memory, his service record,69th war diary 2nd Warwicks, 2nd Lincs unit war diaries etc and many, many books on and around the subject of Dunkirk particularly.
    I with him attended several Dunkirk Veterans pilgrimages where he led a battalion until they disbanded.

    Does anyone have anything to contribute to those points I asked about, more in hope?

    I know its unlikely but I entered this site in the off chance someone would have a bit to say about D troop 242 battery at Wormhoudt & Capt the 9th Earl of Aylesford .
    And those other probably never to be answered blanks in my dads record. Sure, the ship name is almost impossible as I said and I have searched at lot. But you never know.

    If it was on his service record I would have it, but it isnt. he wasnt in a formed unit, the rest of 69th were taken off and landed wherever, dad was part of the unled rabble but he used his initiative, at 19yrs and got off!.

    The structure I quote, 241 and 242 battery A,B,C &D troops are as they were and are referred to in the war diary. Lt Col John D'Arcy is unlikley to be wrong about his own unit (nor my father). re Alamein, 26th October the war diary states they supported 9th Division. Dad had 9th Divn aussie infantry passing through his gun position. I quote Dads memory, a corporal to his section "right, now this time we're going after watches"!

    Prewar 241 and 242 batteries were at separate North Wales coastal sites.

    I didnt set up this blog to engage in nit picking comments, only to find out if at all possible a bit more detail.

    But it doesnt appear to be out there.

    So thank you gentlemen.

    long long
     
  11. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Oh well....I posted to help and was interested in your resource regarding the Mole and the tides which you haven't answered. I'm guessing you know much more than me about Dunkirk so I'll bid you good luck.

    Cheers
    Andy
     
  12. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    long long

    If you read many other threads/ posts on the forum you will see that many are a process of elimination to assist forum member queries.
    It is not nit picking, it is trying to help you further and Andy will be able to assist you (plus other members) with their extensive knowledge or connections.
    I understand your frustrations on trying to find info.Many member on here including myself hit brick walls but maybe with you post on here further info can be gleaned now or in the near future.


    regards
    Clive
     
  13. mapshooter

    mapshooter Senior Member

    I still haven't had an answer to my question at #4.

    A formation passing a gun position has approximately zilch to do with whether or not the unit on said gun position was supporting the formation passing by. Its useful to remember that artillery is a indirect fire system and can engage targets anywhere in its range, that's what arty C&C is all about. This is not nit-picking, it's basic military knowledge (well perhaps not to private soldiers in obscure infantry units, whose knowledge of the wider army was probably limited and not entirely correct).
     
  14. mapshooter

    mapshooter Senior Member

    Re UK regts supporting 9 Aust Div at Alamein. The RAA history states that 9 Aust Div was part of 30 Corps and supported by its own divisional artillery plus 66 Mortar Coy RE, 6 troops from corps field regts, 7 Med Regt RA, and one bty from 64 Med Regt RA. Seems pretty clear to me, 69 Med Regt did not support 9 Aust Div. And written by a professional historian with access to all the records. I know which story I believe!
     
  15. palawrence

    palawrence Member

    My father served with the 69th Medium Regiment during this period. Info that I have for him (although he wasn't injured, at this stage!) is that he was amongst the last to be evacuated, on the Isle of Man Steam Packet "Tynwald". He embarked at Folkstone 30th May 1940.
     
  16. minden1759

    minden1759 Senior Member

    Palawrence.

    If he stayed with 69 Med Regt RA throughout the war then that would place him at Monte Cassino.

    Regards

    Frank
     
  17. palawrence

    palawrence Member

    Hi Frank.
    I am unsure he went To Monte Cassino, I am awaiting further info. I do know that in December 1943 he was court marshalled (failure to salute!), and in early 1944 he was selected for training with a raiding force. This turned out to be in the Dodecanese, and he ended up in Force 281 Signals. I have his 281 flash.

    Peter
     
  18. ruabon boy

    ruabon boy Member

    Hi Kevin, Did your father ever talk about a Cyril Croft Smith, because I think I remember a Tony Barwick, wife and son often coming to see my mother Renie down at Piddinghoe in Sussex. My father died in 1953,, but I remember my mother saying that Tony was one of his closest friends. Would be nice to catch up if Tony was that mate.
     
  19. palawrence

    palawrence Member

    As an aside, have you seen this:

    Gunner Anthony Albert Barwick British Army 69th Medium Regiment, 242 Battery Royal Artillery The Wartime Memories Project

    Peter
     
  20. ruabon boy

    ruabon boy Member

    No I wil try and get it thanks, I think that I have just found a photo of my father and Tony at Tony's wedding in 1942. How can I get in touch with Kevin dose anyone one have any idea where he is or an e-mail adress. thanks
     

Share This Page