Hello all. My name's Jon, new member.I'm still trying to find my way around this site so sorry if this question has been asked before or is in the wrong forum. I'm trying to find out which squadron of 2nd Northants Yeomanry linked up with Lt. Powle at the eponymous bridge on 31st July 1944. I believe that 2 troops of Cromwells with ?carrier borne infantry were sent to consolidate the bridge. Thanks Jon
Hi and welcome to the forum. Send me this link in a couple of weeks in a PM - I should have the units war diary by then
The regimental history says it was two troops of C Sqn under Lt K M Dyson and Sgt J Taylor. There's no mention of any infantry with them but they had previously linked up with 159 Inf Bde whose battalions may have something to add to the story.
Thanks Drew and Idler. I'll PM as you've suggested.I'll also try and hunt down C squadron in more detail. p.s. is GMF not dead then? Best wishes Jon
Hi There, My dad was Lt Dyson, he was in C Squadron 2NY, if you find out anything about them can you let me know as I,m are trying to see what he did in ww2. He died about 45years ago and any info would be appricated. What I do know is that he moved to the Desert Rats (7th) afterwards and may have passed through the 1st "Guards" as well. Thanks Pete
Hi and welcome to the forum Pete, good luck with your research. Can you give any more details ie. Army number, photographs ect, Have you applied for his army records, or do you have them all ready?
Hi Pete - as with all officers he should be fairly easy to follow through the units war diaries. Officers tend to be well documented. Cheers Andy
Thanks for the Welcome. I have a copy of his "Notice of Commison" from the London Gazette 28thSept 43 which has a number after his name, would that be his army number. it is 289282, which I have just noticed is pretty much in prder of the listings in the gazette. I do have a couple of pictures I can post when I work out how. I will get back with this.
Hi Drew I have notice you have posted photos of war diaries from 2nd Northamptonshire Yeomanry in other posts, I'm looking at pages from when he landed which is 19June43 to when the unit was disbanded early Aug 43, he then went on to finish in the 7th Armd Div. He may have been in another Div at some point too. He was Lt K M Dyson in C Squadron 2NY but what he ended up in after moving to the 7th I have no idea. I know he was in volved in Operation Bluecoat as he commanded one of the Tanks sent to capure "Dickies Bridge" which is now know as "Bulls Bridge". Any info you can provide would be very useful. Thanks Pete
Are you sure he was with the regiment for for all of this time? His name has a line through it in the June Nominal Roll and he's not listed in July?
To be honest I don't know. I have this info from my brother, but he not telling where he got it. 5/7/44 - Posted from 257 Corps Delivery Squadron (WO 171/885)& attached to 270 Forward Delivery Squadron (WO 171/899). Both of these are responsible for replacing battlefield losses of tanks, armoured cars, scout cars, half-tracks, SPG, etc. They would have been delivered to the Corps, who passed then down to the Division. 270 FDS may have been the FDS for 11th Armd Div, but I cannot be sure. 21/7/44 - Not sure what CTBA means. (Ceased To Be Attached) But at the End of July (30th) he is mentioned in the book "1st and 2nd Northamptonshire Yeomany" by the navel and military press as leading a troop of C Squadron that went and held Dickies Bridge. Any more info would help
This is the full message he sent, if it Helps Here is the rough translation 8/8/43 - His commission is announced in the London Gazette, as per the official procedure. He was in 100 Officer Cadet Training Unit (OCTU) when this was done & was transferred to 2nd Northants Yeomanry upon being commissioned. If you go to http://www.gazette-online.co.uk/ & use the search engine you should eventually find his name, etc. If you have his service number use that as there will be losts of Dyson's in there for many different reasons. I suggest you try from August 43 to Dec 43 to start with as it could take time for the notice of commission to appear. 27/5/44 - 30/5/44 - I thinks this is to do with the embarkation camps pre-Normandy as 2 ARU which is probably related to 2nd Armoured Reinforcement Unit (WO 171/901) . TOS = Transfer of Service - in this case 'on loan' from 2nd NY to RAC. with X(iv) being the inter-unit transfer code. He embarked for Normandy on 19th June 44 (63 years ago today!), disembarking the next day. 5/7/44 - Posted from 257 Corps Delivery Squadron (WO 171/885)& attached to 270 Forward Delivery Squadron (WO 171/899). Both of these are responsible for replacing battlefield losses of tanks, armoured cars, scout cars, half-tracks, SPG, etc. They would have been delivered to the Corps, who passed then down to the Division. 270 FDS may have been the FDS for 11th Armd Div, but I cannot be sure. 21/7/44 - Not sure what CTBA means. (Ceased To Be Attached) 16/8/44 - He was admitted to 179 Field Ambulance, who took him to 3rd Casualty Clearing Station. He was then on Suspension of Service (SOS) as I believe Xii list is a posting to a hospital. The 2NY PTO ref is some note in the regimental orders. 12/10/44 - Transfer of Service from 258 Corps Delivery Squadron (WO 171/885). 11/1/46 - He was then admitted to (84th General Hospital (based in Berlin (Spandau) between Sept/1945 Dec/1946)) & discharged, back to unit on 15/1/46 8/11/46 - Start of his demob with a Class A release. This meant he was demobbed and put on the Class A Reserve was for men who had completed their service in the regular army, and who undertook to rejoin if required in an emergency that did not require general mobilisation. A man could serve no more than 2 years in Section A. 10/11/46 - End of his service as SOS (Suspension of Service) and X (viiia) List is the category for being discharged from the army to Class A Reserve. BAOR = British Army On the Rhine. After this he would still be on the reserve list as a Class B Reserve and could be re-called to the colours if needed, but after the A reserve were all called up. Class B Reserve was for men who had completed their service in the regular army, and who were serving their normal reserve period. (A regular served either 7 years with the colours and 5 on reserve, or vice versa). From Class B he would have joined Z Reserve, which was an emergency force that could be assembled from experienced men. My father was called up to Z reserve in the early 1950's but when they found his hearing had suffered from the guns he was released and did not have to go to Korea. Class Z Reserve was originally authorised by an Army Order of 3 December 1918. There were fears that Germany would not accept the terms of any peace treaty, and therefore the British Government decided it would be wise to be able to quickly recall trained men in the eventuality of the resumption of hostilities. Soldiers who were being demobilised, particularly those who had agreed to serve "for the duration", were at first posted to Class Z. They returned to civilian life, but with an obligation to return if called upon. Although originally abolished in March 1930, it was re-instated after WW2 The numbers like (WO 171/XYZ) are the National Archive references for this units War Diaries. The NWE reference = North West Europe Was your father wounded or injured if so these are the dates he was, or perhaps he was taken ill. My father was carted off with pneumonia in early 1945 following the race across Germany so he may just have been ill. If you don't know what happened the various hospital, CCS and Fld Amb may contain some info on him as there seems to be 'war & peace' on 'returns', etc, for the RAMC! I hope this helps Regards, Ian
http://www.network54.com/Forum/47208/thread/1461581501/last-1461616948/View+Thread https://youtu.be/en3hkuc1QoM?t=2m10s
This is British Pathé clip 2026.02: http://www.britishpathe.com/video/british-enter-hamburg As usual, the still is slightly sharper than the video (still 131): Michel
