Princess Louise's Kensington Regiment

Discussion in 'British Army Units - Others' started by DavidP, Aug 14, 2008.

  1. Jeffrey Hughes

    Jeffrey Hughes Junior Member

    I wondered if by having my photos under my profile was a mistake which is why I posted the photos. Thanks Owen for the compression. I tried to post them all at the same time but I wasn't smart enough to figure it out. Hopefully, your dad will have a speedy recovery. You're so close I wonder if we could meet with our dad's. It may spark some conversation we could both benefit from. I have told my father that his children and grandchildren are very interested and have been very impressed by what I have discovered so far. I'm like you too, never prepared when the info starts and have a horrific memory.
    One thing he did say the other day was that the British had warm rations and the Americans did not, so they often shared with the American troops who were so happy to get warm food.
     
  2. Jeffrey Hughes

    Jeffrey Hughes Junior Member

    The first photo of the soccer players has my dad far left and Wakefield far right. Did your dad have a nickname? My dad's was "Spike". Someone knew another Hughes from his home town and he said they all called him spike so the name stuck.
     
  3. Jeffrey Hughes

    Jeffrey Hughes Junior Member

    a couple more photos I found but I don't have names
     

    Attached Files:

  4. Jeffrey Hughes

    Jeffrey Hughes Junior Member

    David, I have sent the photo of our dad's to the Kensington Museum. A fellow there by the name of Stephen Bland is going to publish a few of the photos in Feb/ March of this year. I will send you a link when I get one.

    jeff
     
  5. smith022

    smith022 Junior Member

    When I told my dad that I had heard from Jeff whose dad was in D Company as well he let me borrow his pictures to add to these pages. When you have the time then have a look, if any names or faces are familiar let me know.
     

    Attached Files:

  6. smith022

    smith022 Junior Member

    Had a great chat with my dad tonight. Got a couple of stories out of him voluntarily - and I had a way to record some of the details. One story was of the QM Sgt, he had baggy pants apparentely, they nicknamed him "slackass" and the nickname stuck. Here is another pic, it is of the company Christmas card, don't know what year. The pic did not scan very well. I also have a copy of the 78th division's Victory March book, I will try to scan that in at some point.
     

    Attached Files:

  7. alisonshorrock

    alisonshorrock Junior Member

    He may have been captured at St Valery en Caux in June 1940. My great uncle, Joe Gribben, was also a machine gunner from the Kensingtons who was captured at St Valery and then marched (plus cattle truck on train and coal barge) to Poland. He was a prisoner at BAB20 in Upper Silesia, Poland and died (was shot) just a few months before your grandfather. He was buried near Kosle but then transferred to Krakow war cemetery.

    I got lots of help from Steven Bland who runs a small Museum of the Kensington Regiment in Croydon. He loaned me a book about the movements of the Kensingtons with the 51 Highland Regiment up to their capture.

    Regards

    Alison
     
  8. Johnny Canuck

    Johnny Canuck Junior Member

    Been a while since I checked the forums thank you for the information. This confirms the telegram that my mother still has to this day. I will go to Italy and visit his grave. Drew where do you find the Regiments History? Is it available for public viewing? Thank you again.
     
  9. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

  10. Johnny Canuck

    Johnny Canuck Junior Member

    Drew, thank you for the information. Much appreciated.

    Regards
    Johnny Canuck
     
  11. Jeffrey Hughes

    Jeffrey Hughes Junior Member

    Drew, I bought the book you mentioned and I was pleased to see it was signed by the original owner and when we were browsing through it this fell out. I have attached the photo which may be of interest to someone. Well maybe not. I'll have to figure out how to post an image again
     
  12. Jeffrey Hughes

    Jeffrey Hughes Junior Member

    [sharedmedia=gallery:albums:633]

    if you can't see the image clearly, it is a letter to L/CPL S E Bowdrey, 6207342 dated 20th Feb 1943 and he was getting a reply from his own letter looking for books he had ordered. These were books to learn German and German grammar.
     
    Drew5233 likes this.
  13. bexley84

    bexley84 Well-Known Member

    Jeffrey,

    Very nice find - wonder if L/Cpl Bowdrey ever used his newly learnt German later... in Austria in 1945 ?

    A slight repeat of an earlier post but I was recently re-reading Colin Gunner's account of his time with 7 Platoon, 1 Kensington Regiment during 1943 and 1944 in Italy before he transferred to the Faughs...describes a number of hair raising (if I had any) battle periods,and is a pretty evocative account of that period.

    I'm not meaning to unduly market this particular vendor but you can see the book here...no doubt you'll be able to find it being sold by others.
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1870157141/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    best
     
  14. minden1759

    minden1759 Senior Member

    Richard.

    A good steer.

    Thank you.

    Regards

    Frank
     
  15. Tom Canning

    Tom Canning WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Having spent some time in Orvieto in the past few years..the cemetery is to be found on the road towards Todi and is a very small graveyard….can be found on the

    LH side of the road- but can be missed so slow down...

    Cheers
     
  16. Paul Ravenscroft

    Paul Ravenscroft Junior Member

    Drew - thanks very much for this infrmation. Paul
     
  17. Paul Ravenscroft

    Paul Ravenscroft Junior Member

    Drew - sorry one more question. How do I get hold of a copy of the regiment history that this extract comes from?

    Drew - thanks very much for this infrmation. Paul
     
  18. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

  19. Marion Lewis

    Marion Lewis Member

    Does anybody know my dad please? His name was Leslie Kenneth Lewis. He may have also been known as "Chas", "Charlie" or "Lew" Lewis. He sadly passed away unexpectedly on Boxing Day 2013 and I am eager to trace his army details i.e. which company he was in or any other information anybody may b able to give. I know that he was in Sicily, North Africa, Italy (Monte Cassino) and Greece, he was a driver and drove Bren Gun carriers. Thank you.
     
  20. Marion Lewis

    Marion Lewis Member

    Sorry - I forgot to add that he was a driver and also drove Bren Gun carriers. Thanks
     

Share This Page