Did any of your family serve during WW2; if so what did they do?

My dad joined the Fleet Air Arm and was trained as a radio mechanic. He was sent to HMS Spurwing - near Freetown - Sierra Leone (1943 - 44) and Ponam (Admiralty Islands) (1945). He died in 1978 and I have been piecing together his story from photographs and his diary.

 

BEF Dunkirk, Africa, Italy, Crete, Arnhem - KIA 22/09/1944 see photos, account of Dunkirk->
http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/people-ww2/50181-major-peter-hazell-mc-uden-22-9-44-my-father.html#post548521

My father, from proud son

 

My granddad served in both the Royal Fusiliers (1940-43) and the Royal Army Service Corps (1943-46). He was present on Gold Beach on D-Day as a driver.

I am very proud of him but trying to find more information as he died four years ago and never really talked about the war.

Thanks,

Jason

 

My granddad served in both the Royal Fusiliers (1940-43) and the Royal Army Service Corps (1943-46). He was present on Gold Beach on D-Day as a driver.

I am very proud of him but trying to find more information as he died four years ago and never really talked about the war.

Thanks,

Jason

Hello Jason,

Do you know what RASC unit your Grandfather was in?

If he was in 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division, he could have been in any of the following units;

HQ, Divisional RASC (CRASC)*
346th (Inf Bde) Company, RASC*
508th (Inf Bde) Company, RASC
522nd (Inf Bde) Company, RASC*
524th (Divisional Troops) Company, RASC

I will have a look at the landing tables for Gold to see whether all the Companies landed on the 6th or not as I can't remember off hand. This may help narrow down what Company he was in if you do not already have that information.

EDIT: Having checked the landing tables, those units marked with an * landed at least some parties on the 6th.

Alternatively, he may have been in one of the General Transport Companies that operated in the Gold Beach area, which were as follows;

305th General Transport Company, RASC*
536th General Transport Company, RASC*
705th General Transport Company, RASC*

I hope the above information will be of use to you and wish you good luck with your search.

All the best,
Five-Five

 

Hi, I wonder if anyone could help.
My Dad served in WW2, was evacuated from Dunkirk after days on the beach and then later in the war was evacuated from Crete where he was wounded in the arm. He never spoke about the war to me, but my Mum said that he used to shake when he heard the noise of Stukas on news films. She also said that when he was wounded his mates carried him for a while but then decided to leave him as the retreat was so chaotic they though he'd have a better chance with the German doctors. However, some locals found him and took him by back paths to the harbour avoiding all the jams/queues/chaos and he was evacuated. And kept the arm .. he became a bus driver!
But she's not sure what regiment he was in. I always assumed the East Lancs, as he was from Accrington. Bit she says it was a Warwick regiment as he was working away when called up. His name was William Henry Holden. What's the best way to find out what regiment he was in. Anyone know if either the above were at both Dunkirk AND Crete? Thanks, Bill

 

Hi. Grandad on my Mum's side was a bomb aimer with 466 Squadron RAAF. He wasn't an Aussie though. He and the flight engineer were the 2 Poms on the crew. He flew on Wellingtons and then converted to the Halifax. He flew 18 missions before mechanical problems meant that Halifax HX336 was abandoned over Papenburg on 15th Feb 1944 and all the crew were taken prisoner.
Uncle on my Dad's side served in Italy. Don't know much more about him.
Cheers. Steve.

 

Hello - I'm interested in your comment for the above as I'd like to know where the info is available. My Dad was in the first wave on Gold Beach with the 6th Green Howards.
Many thanks
Paul


Hello Jason,

Do you know what RASC unit your Grandfather was in?

If he was in 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division, he could have been in any of the following units;

HQ, Divisional RASC (CRASC)
346th (Inf Bde) Company, RASC
508th (Inf Bde) Company, RASC
522nd (Inf Bde) Company, RASC
524th (Divisional Troops) Company, RASC

I will have a look at the landing tables for Gold to see whether all the Companies landed on the 6th or not as I can't remember off hand. This may help narrow down what Company he was in if you do not already have that information.

Alternatively, he may have been in one of the General Transport Companies that operated in the Gold Beach area.

I hope the above information will be of use to you and wish you good luck with your search.

All the best,
Five-Five

 

Bill, sorry can't help you but noting your comment about your Dad being on the beaches I thought you might be interested in my own Dad's account of what it was like. Take a look at my web site at Book, War Diary story and biography of Bill Cheall - WW2 soldier, Dunkirk, D-Day memoir and war diary, World War 2, army soldier to read more about Dad's memoirs. Dad was a Green Howard but coincidentally was in 1 East Lancs at the end of the war in Germany.
Paul

Hi, I wonder if anyone could help.
My Dad served in WW2, was evacuated from Dunkirk after days on the beach and then later in the war was evacuated from Crete where he was wounded in the arm. He never spoke about the war to me, but my Mum said that he used to shake when he heard the noise of Stukas on news films. She also said that when he was wounded his mates carried him for a while but then decided to leave him as the retreat was so chaotic they though he'd have a better chance with the German doctors. However, some locals found him and took him by back paths to the harbour avoiding all the jams/queues/chaos and he was evacuated. And kept the arm .. he became a bus driver!
But she's not sure what regiment he was in. I always assumed the East Lancs, as he was from Accrington. Bit she says it was a Warwick regiment as he was working away when called up. His name was William Henry Holden. What's the best way to find out what regiment he was in. Anyone know if either the above were at both Dunkirk AND Crete? Thanks, Bill

 

My father served in the Indian Army, with the Brigade of Ghukas in the 2nd Battalion, 7th Ghurka Rifle Regment during WW2. He held a Wartime Commission, was the Battalion Adjutant in the rank of Captain, and finished the war as a Major.

(I have heard that Joana Lumley's father served in the 6th Ghurka Rifles during WW2).

I also had an uncle, my mother's brother served in the Royal Artillery in Burma as part of the Chindits 'Forgotten army' under Orde Wingate. My uncle never spoke about his war years, it was far to awful for him. He was only 18 or 19 at the time. Sadly he passed away in 2004. My dad on the otherhand would occasionaly talk about his experiences, but alas, passed away in 1994. He disliked the Germans and Japs intensely all his life, and refused to ahve anything either German or Japanese in his house. My dad was a bit more relaxed about German or Japanese products.

Both my Dad, and Uncle were members of the Calcutta Scottish TA unit in Calcutta in the lat 1930s, just before the war broke out in 1939.

 

Uncle Vanya.

2/7 GR had a significant role in the Second Battle of Cassino in Feb 44 as part of 4 Indian Division. Were you aware of your Father's involvement and did he ever speak of his experience in Italy?

Regards

FdeP

 

Hello - I'm interested in your comment for the above as I'd like to know where the info is available. My Dad was in the first wave on Gold Beach with the 6th Green Howards.
Many thanks
Paul

Hello Paul,

Transcribed landing tables for Gold Beach are available from here;
D-Day : Normandy 1944 - GOLD BEACH : British Troops

69th Inf Bde;
D-Day : Normandy 1944 - GOLD BEACH : British Troops

I believe them to be sound, but there may be a couple of transcription errors.

Hope that helps,

All the best,
Five-Five

 

Hello,

Can anyone help with information on the Sherwood Rangers 'A' squadron? My Grandfather was posted to this unit from the 49th Royal Tank Regiment as a Cpl - Driver CII.

I would like to find out about their role in N.W.E and would appreciate your help.

Many thanks in advance.


Graham

 

Had four Brothers: 3 served in the Royal Artillery from 1 September 1939;
1 in the RASC 1940.

They all survived the War but I was wounded at Heinsberg, Germany, 25 January 1945.

Joe Brown

 

Just to add to 2 of my great uncles serving in the war:

My maternal grandad born 1903 was too young to serve in WW1 and too old for WW2 (so my nan tells me), so joined the Home Guard. I think he lived at Erdington, West Midlands at the time, until he married my nan in 1954 when they lived in Worcestershire.
My maternal nan was a child of 2 when WW2 started. (Yes, there was quite an age gap, hence the comment of my grandad being an old grandad)
My mum's maternal grandmother worked as a munitions worker in 1917, possible for the war effort
My great uncle Ernie Cadman's wife was an aeroplane accessories assembler in 1940 when they got married, again, possibly for the war effort.
My paternal grandfather served in the army in WW2, don't know any more info than that, but according to my dad, it was something medical. I know he wasn't a doctor or anything like that, so maybe he was a stretcher bearer or something.

I'm going to do more research now, to see if i can find any service records for my grandad, might be difficult as he survived the war, and i haven't got a lot to go on.....oh i do love a challenge.

Louise

 

My father, Wallace George Lewis. Active service 1939-1946 joined RAOC/REME served in Egypt, Italy, France as part of 8th Army.

 

My Dad ,18 yr old Pvt 3rd Div, 1st Btn The South Lancashire Rgt from Sword Queen White .
France ,Holland Venraij and into Germany ,alway's said "I was one of the lucky ones" .

Uncle Frank (Dad's eldest brother) North Africa and Italy
Dad's Cousin- William Simpson 6th AB 12th Yorkshire
Dad's Cousin -Norman Simpson 6th AB 12th Yorkshire

 

Too many to list, all branches represented: 3 killed while in service, 1 taken prisoner, 1 severely injured; 2 died from complications brought about by wartime conditions & poor medical care one of which after the war. Bar one Uncle, the survivors are all gone now & greatly missed.

 

10 in total served 2 RN and 8 Army.
1 killed in action, Burma, May1945 - 2 bn West Yorks
1 killed in action HMS Harvester, March 1943
Father fought blitz fires, Southampton, London, Portsmouth and Plymouth transferred to fire boat fought dock fires Southampton, London, Plymouth.

We were involved

 

My maternal uncle Ron went away as a trooper in the Divisional Cavalry, 2(NZ) Division, 2NZEF, in 1939.

He was an early member of the Long Range Patrol, which became the Long Range Desert Group.

He was commissioned, and apart from a spell back home in 1943-44, he remained with the LRDG until the end of the war.

An uncle by marriage (Auntie Dulcie's husband) was a sergeant in the 3rd (NZ) Division, which had a brief life in the Pacific.

Cousins of Mum and Dad were in the 2(NZ) Div.

Another uncle (Auntie Rona's husband) was a conscientious objector. His brother was a lieutenant or lieutenant-commander in the RNZNVR.

 

Hi Joe !

I see you say:
Had four Brothers: 3 served in the Royal Artillery from 1 September 1939;
1 in the RASC 1940.
They all survived the War but I was wounded at Heinsberg, Germany, 25 January 1945.
Joe Brown
As the pic below illustrates, we share that family service in common.

Do you have a similar pic to mine that you could share with us ?

Best regards

Ron

ps
If none are available but you have individual pics I would be delighted to produce a "The Brown boys at war" for you
pps
On re-looking at your super website I doubt if you need any help but my offer still stands.