Can anyone help me discover the fate of the young man listed below STEWARD, Edward John Gunner 961447 B Bty 4Reg Royal Horse Artillery commemorated EL ALAMEIN WAR MEMORIAL age 27 KIA May 12th 1941
Hi Owen The information I got on B battery appears on the CWGC entry for Steward?? and thanks for that Harkness = now I am trying to find more information on the circumstances of his death
Impossible to be precise as the data posted above does not tally with known history. As already pointed out, B Battery RHA was NOT part of 4th Regt RHA at that time. Secondly, 4RHA was involved in a series of skirmishes on 12 May 1941 against various elements of Gruppe Herff. These skirmishes occcured in what was known as the 'Western Desert'. The Western Desert is part of Egypt. Cyrenaica (see the post above) is part of Libya. If he was killed in Cyrenaica, he was not fighting with 4RHA at the time. Nevertheless, taking a punt, on 12 May 1941, B Troop of C Battery, 4RHA was part of formation called UVOR Column. UVOR Column had a bit of a set-to with what appears to be a small tank force under the command of Major Hohman west of Sofafi. UVOR Column came off a bit worse for wear with German documents recording the capture of a Major, 3 O/Rs and several guns (25-pdr and 2-pdr ?). It seems part of the 25-pdr troop was overrun. I'd suggest that is event in question. But impossible to confirm based upon the information provided. MarkNote 1 (for information) UVOR Column consisted of:- B Coy, 1KRRC; C Bty, 4RHA less 1 tp; 1 tp from D Bty, 3RHA. UVOR Column was under the 'direction' of HQ 4RHA which was itself undercommand 7 Armoured Brigade Group. MarkNote 2 (for information): Nominally, 4 RHA consisted of 2 batteries: C Battery and F Battery. Each battery consisted of 2 troops each of 6 25-pdr field guns. On 12 May 1941, 4RHA did not operate as a single formed unit but was broken down and combined with various infantry and anti-tank sub-units to form 'coulumns'. A troop / C Bty was under command PAUL Column / 7 Armd Bde Gp B troop / C Bty was under command UVOR Column (see above) / 7 Armd Bde Gp F troop / F Bty was under command CALI Column / 7 Spt Gp G troop / F Bty was under command BEAM Column / 7 Armd Bde Gp
Hi MarkN That information is brilliant. I think you may well have identified the incident in which he died. I have asked the CWGC to check what they have to see if their information i.e. B Battery has been used in error and it should be as you suggest B Troop C Battery. I will let you know if I get a reply. Thanks again for taking the trouble to help me out Mark
