Looking for Green Howards photos/book recommendations

Discussion in 'British Army Units - Others' started by Bazooka Joe, Sep 26, 2011.

  1. Bazooka Joe

    Bazooka Joe Member

    Excellent stuff! Thanks a lot Rob!
     
  2. Jasperr

    Jasperr Junior Member

    Where are the pictures if anyone have then share over here.

    I hope i got the pictures from here soon.
     
  3. paulcheall

    paulcheall Son of a Green Howard

    You can see several Green Howards photos of my Dad here and none suggest he ever wore a cloth backing to the badge, even in dress uniform which he only ever wore once! Dad kept all his memorabilia in top order but there is no cloth badge backing with his badge.

    I'm attaching a pic or two, incl one of a certain James Mitchell which illustrate the point further.

    For more general Green Howards pics I suggest you explore the Pics tab on my site, together with the News tab. I will soon be posting some more pics sent in by families of Dad's comrades. If you want to be notified when they are posted I suggest you follow my War Blog .

    Thanks

    Paul


    I'm still looking for wartime photos of the Green Howards.

    I've seen a few on the Imperial War Museum site which appear to show that they wore a cloth backing to their cap badges (at least with GS caps). I'd be very interested if anyone had any photos which could confirm or deny this for certain?
     

    Attached Files:

  4. Bazooka Joe

    Bazooka Joe Member

    Thanks for the photo of James Mitchell, I hadn't seen that one before. Interesting photo, possibly post war, or very far away from the RSM (since he's wearing a beret rather than the wartime issue GS cap).

    Take a look here. There are a few photos which suggest some sort of backing was worn

    Inmagic DB/Text WebPublisher PRO found 19 records
     
  5. paulcheall

    paulcheall Son of a Green Howard

    Thanks for the photo of James Mitchell, I hadn't seen that one before. Interesting photo, possibly post war, or very far away from the RSM (since he's wearing a beret rather than the wartime issue GS cap).

    Take a look here. There are a few photos which suggest some sort of backing was worn

    Inmagic DB/Text WebPublisher PRO found 19 records
    You're welcome J. I see what you mean - maybe there were times when there was a cloth backing but I can't help any more.
     
  6. astie

    astie Junior Member

    Hi troops,
    As you can see from the thread title I'm looking for WWII photos of The Green Howards. I've had a look around the net without much luck (I did find a couple on the IWM site) but I'm sure there must be many more out there. Do any of you have any you could post, or know of anywhere I can get hold of some?

    I'm also interested in reading "The Story of The Green Howards 1939-1945" by Captain W.A.T. Synge, but am unwilling to shell out 200 pounds in order to do so! Does anyone know if this can be obtained at a reasonable price anywhere?

    Failing that, does anyone have any other recommendations as to worthwhile reading (both internet links and real books) on the Green Howards in WWII (particularly 6th and 7th battalions).

    Thanks in advance for any assistance.
    Regards
    Joe

    Hi Joe..... I know this is late on since your post but I have just uploaded a few pics of my grandfather when he was with the Green Howards.... they are in my info space. Hope they may be of interest to you....There is also one of Bayonett training
     
  7. paulcheall

    paulcheall Son of a Green Howard

  8. TTH

    TTH Senior Member

    Besides Cheall's and Hastings' books, I can also recommend the following:

    Geoffrey Powell, The History of the Green Howards (London, Arms & Armour, 1992)
    (Modern book, well written, but not as strong on WWII details as some because it covers the regts entire history.)
    W.A.T. Synge, The Story of the Green Howards, 1939-1945 (Richmond, Green Howards, 1952)
    (Good, thick regtl history, with useful appendices. More honest than many regtl histories of the period.)
    C. MacDonald Hull, A Man From Alamein (London, Corgi, 1973)
    (This a novel, based closely on Hull's own experiences as an officer with the 6th Green Howards from Dunkirk to the NWE. It isn't a great novel, but it offers many insights and several of the characters are obviously disguised versions of well-known battalion figures.)
     
  9. TTH

    TTH Senior Member

    As a follow-up on Synge: I don't know where you are, but if you're anywhere near London then the British Library and IWM should have copies. You might want to look at inter-library loan if you're further away. I used ILL for much of my research, and I must have photocopied 60 pages out of Synge. If you want your own copy, try abebooks. I got some hard-to-find military memoirs & unit histories from them. They were in excellent condition, too, and got to the States surprisingly fast. (I stumbled on the Hull book at a London bookstall--sometimes you get lucky!)
     
  10. Bazooka Joe

    Bazooka Joe Member

    Thanks for the recommendation TTH, I've just ordered "A man from Alamein". I'm in Denmark, so quite far away from the British library. I'll keep trying Abebooks.

    It would be nice if they'd reprint Synge's book!
     
  11. paulcheall

    paulcheall Son of a Green Howard

    What I love about the continuous research I do on Dad's book is the way little gems of information connected with it just keep tipping into my lap, such as the other day when I found a pic of Alfred Krupp's flattened munitions factory in Essen, Germany. I recalled that Dad had stood next to this same scene at the end of the war! I was well-chuffed to find the pic.

    Here's another one for anyone interested in C M Hull - He happens to be mentioned in Dad's book but take a peek at the following link where he is mentioned as a platoon officer. Major Petch was in charge during Dunkirk and he mentions in his newly discovered diary that:

    "One of my platoons under Claude Hull was lost in the night and reached the sand dunes. Many of the remainder of the Company fell out through exhaustion and only 37 out my original 100 faced the enemy and held their flank. The shelling was much heavier than at any previous position and the main road was littered with casualties of the Lille area and troops rushing to Bergues and then on to Dunkerque. Hull returned but not his men."

    Read the full diary record at Fighting Through - From Dunkirk to Hamburg - War Diary and autobiography of Bill Cheall - WW2, Dunkirk, D-Day memoir and war diary

    Also read Major Petch's letters, in which a number of soldiers's names will be recognised by Green Howards fans. My Dad was Major Petch's batman at the time of Dunkirk.

    If you want to savour Major Petch's correspondence from the start - and it's really quite entertaining and fascinating - go to this war letters link

    Paul

    PS Can anyone please explain what a Trackback is and how to use them?!




    QUOTE=Bazooka Joe;509704]Thanks for the recommendation TTH, I've just ordered "A man from Alamein". I'm in Denmark, so quite far away from the British library. I'll keep trying Abebooks.

    It would be nice if they'd reprint Synge's book![/QUOTE]
     

    Attached Files:

  12. Stig the Roadie

    Stig the Roadie Junior Member

  13. Anzac13

    Anzac13 Member

    Hi does anyone have a link or info on a nom roll of the 1st Bn GH 1944?
     
  14. Anzac13

    Anzac13 Member

    Hi there Joe
    I just got some photos of my Uncle who I am researching (he was in 1st Bn GH) and on the back was Schoningen May 1946 and also some wooden dogs he made which had Celle Germany 1946 which is 100 km's north north west of Schoningen in Germany.

    I can scan one of the photos for you if you like. Maybe you can reconise someone from the photo for me. I think he was in the MT section at this point as when he was released he was a Cpl in the MT section. (according to his release cert)
    Cheers
    Simon
     
  15. DouglasAlan

    DouglasAlan Member

    Hi Bazooka Joe,

    My late dad (C.S.M. Douglas Gray M.M. 1921-1991) served with 7 G.H. from 1939-1945.

    I post this link to the memorabilia taped to the inside front of his photo album, I don't know if this helps with your badge query?
    rgds

    https://www.dropbox.com/s/yp6pgvjnz6bbpkw/Dad-memorabilia.jpg
     
  16. Mr Jinks

    Mr Jinks Bit of a Cad

    Dead links removed.
    Kyle
     
    Last edited: Jun 15, 2021
  17. Mike_F

    Mike_F Member

    Simon.
    Would love to see photo's from Schoningen. My dad was there around that time and I have a few photo's as well.
    Erm, excuse my ignorance but what is MT section?? Motorised transport maybe ?

    As for Celle... I might be mixing up Celle and Berlin here but my dad was sent to Celle/Berlin to be part of the "guard of honour" for some army "big-wig" who was visiting. someone like the overall commander of northern Germany at the time.. but I may have that wrong.
     
  18. Brian Smith

    Brian Smith Junior Member

    By coincidence I live next door to a veteran from 7B GH who served 1939 to 1946. Always full of stories his daughter got him to write them down and she has produced a short book of his life. The war years are mainly about comradeship and loss rather than any technical elements but follow him from recruitment in Bridlington to Dunkirk, North Africa, Sicily and Europe before returning to UK to help train new recruits. Also covers his return to Holland after the war and meeting up again with the family he was billeted with for a short time.

    Only a limited number of copies of the book for family and friends produced and he is away at the moment but if you are interested will see if I can get a copy for you to borrow. Just another angle on the events.

    Brian
     
    Chris WIlletts likes this.
  19. Jonesy123

    Jonesy123 Junior Member

    Dear Brian. Do you know if he ever mentionned the battle for Gheel.
     
  20. Chris WIlletts

    Chris WIlletts Active Member

    @bazook
    Hi Gents, here is my collection of 7th Green Howard Books that contain mentions and photos of 7th Green Howards. My collection keeps growing, but each book adds a piece to the story. The personal accounts are the best finds. paulcheall does a fabulous job with his book + Pod cast.
     

    Attached Files:

    Charley Fortnum and 4jonboy like this.

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