Hi, Thanks you Drew and Lee for the offer of going to Kew, but i was in London and anaged a very brief visit to Kew on tues, last minute !! Got some pics of my late fathers war diary (lots od q's there )...but i came across some Anzio pics. Large file so can someone advise how to post "rar" filees please ? or ? here are two, anyone know what unit that is and the truck ? cheers Derrick
Got tracks on the rear wheels does that make it a 'Halftruck' with a 'HQ' Id plate couldnt make out the Div sign , followed by a Sherman Self propelled 105 .
It could be my fathers unit - 24 Field Regt RA - as they were at Anzio and equipped with M7 Priests (105mm SPs). I'm not sure if any other RA units were at Anzio?
Paul - surprised you don't know if other RA units were at Anzio- apart from your Father's 24th SP's - probably in 46th Div - the 56th Div also had a few batteries in 64th Field - 90th Field - 113rd Field -65 th Field - 67 A/T unit and 100LAA - that's alot of noisy stuff from one division.. Cheers
While there were many units of RA at Anzio seems that, as Paul said, 24th Field Regiment RA was the only one equipped with Priests. White sign above letters "HQ" on the Leyland Retriever (if I'm not wrong) could be the two swimming ducks sign of 22 Battery from that regiment. But its hard to say, it also could be something else.
While there were many units of RA at Anzio seems that, as Paul said, 24th Field Regiment RA was the only one equipped with Priests. White sign above letters "HQ" on the Leyland Retriever (if I'm not wrong) could be the two swimming ducks sign of 22 Battery from that regiment. But its hard to say, it also could be something else. Sol, just out of interest, what were the others equipped with? Was it towed guns or another SP such as the Bishop?
Paul - surprised you don't know if other RA units were at Anzio- apart from your Father's 24th SP's - probably in 46th Div - the 56th Div also had a few batteries in 64th Field - 90th Field - 113rd Field -65 th Field - 67 A/T unit and 100LAA - that's alot of noisy stuff from one division.. Cheers Apologies, part of the sentence seems missing from my previous post; I blame the iPad. What I meant was that I don't believe any other RA units at Anzio were equipped with M7 Priests.
Sol, just out of interest, what were the others equipped with? Was it towed guns or another SP such as the Bishop? Ger, I don't have list of all RA units at Anzio but of those which took part in the initial landing only 24th Field Regiment RA used Priest while all others used towed 25 pdr. I'm talking here only about field regiments. Seems that some of them are later exchanged their 25 pdr for Priest like 19th Field Regiment RA but that was done couple of months after the landing (in jun 1944). Only two regiment used Bishops in Italy, 121st and 142nd but both regiments were converted to Priests during 1944.
Same photo could be found in IWM collection but without any mention of the identity of the unit. An Albion lorry and Sexton 25pdr self-propelled gun come ashore at Anzio, January 1944. A DUKW is alongside the jetty. But caption is wrong as obviously it is Priest not Sexton SP and I still believe that truck is Leyland Retriever not Albion. Also same photo appear in Concord's "British Armor in Sicily and Italy" where unit was identify as 24th Field Regiment RA.
Paul - Thought there was something odd about your posting - read as if your Father's battery that was the ONLY RA unit at Anzio - others read it differently of course .... Cheers
Zola1. What Regiment was your father in an Anzio? FdeP Hi, He was'nt at Anzio, but was with the RE from Salerno March 44- Mestre nr Venice Oct 45, he travelled up Italy and endured that terrible winter of 44. So much for the Sunny Italian weather eh ... Here are some more pics cheers Derrick