Clare - not a problem as that is what we are all here for….. bearing in mind that there MIGHT be some stupid answers - there are NO stupid questions… well maybe one or two Cheers
Hoping this falls into the 'no stupid questions' catergory!! Service records indicate that Jack Hunt was admitted to hospital (either 15 or 25/12/43) in 'ME' but his unit has changed from 8RTR to Xii - and alongside 'admitted hosp to xii'? When he is discharged back to unit 23/1/44 - he is back with the 8RTR again. Is the Xii - because of being in hospital - or another unit that was attached to for that short time??
He is wounded in action - further into the war - but the entry I am referring to - simply states hospital - which makes me wonder at what may have caused a month stay in hospital?? Thank you for any advice
Hi The X list is just how army administrators categorised the reasons why individuals were taken off the unit strength. Xii means he was evacuated on medical grounds. Long spells in hospital could be many things and not all due enemy action. Many in middle east were struck down with violent stomach upsets or dysentry, known as jippy tummy. Some caught jaundice, sores, boils, burns, hepatitis, fevers, malaria and diptheria. Sadly, and amazing considering how meticulous army administrators can be, as far as I know, the actual reason an individual was admitted into hospital has not been kept anywhere. Gus
Gus And that debilitating disease named Impetigo. Disgusting living conditions at Cassino caused me to pick up this one and I was taken out of action exactlly as if I had been hit by one of the regular doses of shell or mortar fire. Ron ps Apologies for deviating from the original thread title (what's new?) and have started another thread to deal with the subject here: http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/50410-does-anyone-know-about-sickness-statistics-in-ww2/
C Stevens The entry on his records would be similar to SOS 8th RTR - TOS X(ii) - which means that he was Struck Off (ration) Strength 8th RTR and Taken On Strength Hospital X (ii) then on discharge from whatever - he would be TOS 8RTR - OR TOS X(iv) = awaiting to be transferred ... Cheers
Hi All - is there a typical number of men in say a Tank Regiment like the 8th at any given time - and would they be further grouped ?
CStevens Your question of How many men in a Tank Regiment - very quickly was around 650 men - however this was varied as there were TWO TYPES of Tank regiments 1) Heavy Assault and - 2 ) Lighter Armoured….two different jobs….think of the RAC cap badge - Mailed fist = Assault….four arrows = pursuit... An assault regt stayed very close to infantry in attacking an enemy defence line..creating a hole for the pursuit regts to enter and create mayhem in the enemy's rear and consisted of an HQ and three squadrons of 15 Tanks in 5 Troops of three Tanks each -plus an HQ of four Tanks - each tank having five men…..OR 95 fighting men plus two echelons to bring up supplies when needed - spare crews - fitters etc making up the 225 approx. men per squadron... An Armoured regt also had an HQ and four squadrons of four troops plus an HQ with another four Tanks…their Infantry would follow in trucks in order to keep up and more infantry to hold the territory gained. Late in the war they brought out Battle Tanks which made all Tank regts into "Armoured " - which they are to-day Cheers
No arguments at all with the info supplied by other members above, concerning the size and makeup of Armoured Squadrons but when I did a recount of faces shown in the "A" Squadron official photo I could only find 125 men. It might very well be that the Regiment was well under establishment at the time because men had been posted home under PYTHON and had not yet been replaced but the figure still appears to be low Ron
In May '45 Every regiment was way understrength owing to the fact that reinforcements had basically dried up owing to losses - especially in the NWE campaign and the main reason that 1st Armoured Div had been broken up allowing 4 QOH to operate with their Kangaroos as troop carriers and had little need of spare crews and heavy echelons as it is obvious that your "A' squadron had their full complement of Officers plus one which I suspect was the C.O….. Liap and Python had been in full swing for some months and probably 20 odd men were in the Uk at that time I do know that 16/5th were also affected and everyone was "acting " in someone else's rank…..half a troop was looking after three Tanks with little maintenance being done….the regiment was at full strength only in 1947 prior to the move to Lybia... Cheers
Thank you re above answers. One more question - am I correct in saying you cannot tell what Squadron - a man was in from his service records. I have ordered a book called the 'Armoured Odyssey' and there is a lot of talk about 'B'Squadron 8th RTR as that is with whom the author served. ????
Clare the author Major Stu - was in command of "B" squadron and so he writes about his experience with them and does mention a few names but usually no one is mentioned as belonging to any Squadron other wise books would be full of names and no text…mainly only Officers were named if they were KIA or WIA - peasants seldom mentioned - officially Cheers
But can I assume that if my Great Uncle was in the 8th RTR - then he would 'follow' the same sort of timings for Battles etc as the 'B'Squadron ?
Clare Usually the case in an Armoured Regiment as we in the Assault regiments would go off with a troop of three tanks with a company of Infantry to sort out a small skirmish - my last battle was of two troops of six Tanks with two very depleted Infantry companies..and as the saying goes - We wuz whupped - losing five Tanks and umpteen Infantrymen..which didn't help the reinforcement problem Cheers
