RA Attestations - A.C. Smith & Bill McCulloch (or is it Bryden?)

Could anyone with access to the genealogy sites or RA attestations please kindly have a look for these two gents to help solve a puzzle. Both men were with 130 Field Regiment RA in the ill-fated Arakan operation of 1943. I've found short memoirs for both and hope to find a bit of background information on them.

A.C. Smith

His service number was possibly 920298 (guessed from a nominal roll of the Regiment in 1944). He mentions Dunkirk, so possibly transferred to 130 Field along with my grandfather in the 60-man ex-BEF cadre from 139 Field Regiment in August 1940.

I'm trying to work out if he was one of the original 139 Field TA mob from the Lewisham area (the Second Line unit that formed from 91 Field Regiment in the TA expansion) or if he was one of the older pre-war reservists from the north of England. Would also very much like to find his first name and age.

Bill McCulloch (or Bill Bryden?)

He turned 18 in April 1939, and the same month joined the Territorials (probably 79th Field Regiment, later transferring to its own Second Line, 130th Field Regiment). His hometown was probably Kilmarnock, Scotland. He was placed on the X-list after the First Arakan and ended up being transferred to the Royal Scots.

I'm not sure if McCulloch was his real name and Bryden a pen name? Can't find either on the very few nominal rolls.

His short book - called Shell Shocked: From Arakan to Mandalay by Bill Bryden - was published in 2004. The same text was also included as a section in the book 130th Field Regiment R.A. and its Burma Campaign (published 1996). However, in the 130 Field history the section is credited (repeatedly) to Bill McCulloch, and in the foreward and dedication the author names himself as Bill McCulloch too.

 

And if possible, would the attestations reveal which regiment these two 130 Field men originally joined pre-war? Don McLeod was another ex-BEF man who transferred in to 130 Field:

888603 Donald McLeod
958570 Ron Perry

 

Many thanks Harkness, those are very helpful.

Any ideas on how I could unravel the Bill McCulloch/Bryden question? I'm interested in the backgrounds of all of these men, but he's the biggest mystery. I wonder if Bryden was a middle name used as a pen name?

William McCulloch (or William Bryden?). Born April 1921, possibly in Kilmarnock, Scotland.

Thanks to the attestations, I now know the others to be:

Alfred Charles Smith
Donald McLeod
Albert Ronald (Kirtland?) Perry

Would love to know where they were born and their ages if anyone is able to somehow track them down.

 

Bill McCulloch (or Bill Bryden?)

First name(s) William Mcculloch
Last Name Bryden
Title Mr
Sex Male
Age 89
Birth year 1921
Birth date 14 Apr 1921
Death year 2010
Death date 07 May 2010
Place Selkirk
Area Galashiels
Geo direction Scotland (South & Central)
Postcode area TD
Postcode district TD7
Postcode sector TD7 4
County Selkirkshire
Country Scotland

First name(s) Alfred Ronald K
Last name Perry
Title Mr
Sex Male
Age 94
Birth year 1917
Birth date 26 Jan 1917
Death year 2011
Death date 09 Apr 2011
Place Pontypool
Area Newport
Geo direction Wales (South)
Postcode area NP
Postcode district NP4
Postcode sector NP4 5
County Monmouthshire
Country Wales

 

That's brilliant, thanks Guy. Wouldn't have guessed at 'McCulloch' as a middle name.

Is there an RA attestation for William Mcculloch Bryden in late April 1939? I'm eager to find his service number.

 

This is the only William Bryden that enlisted in 1939.
'McCulloch' would have most likely been his mother's maiden name.

 

That’ll be him as OP mentioned his transfer to Royal Scots in the initial post.

Steve

 

1939 REGISTER
78 Greenhill Road, Pontypool U.D., Monmouthshire

Name - DOB - Occupation - Marital status
John Perry - 08 Sep 1870 - Steel Works Labourer, Heavy Worker - Married
Sarah J Perry - 18 Feb 1875 - Housewife, Unpaid - Married
Alfred R K Perry - 26 Jan 1917 - Fitters Labourer At Steel Works, Heavy Worker - Single
Hubert R J Perry - 11 Nov 1911 - Steel Works Labourer, Heavy Worker - Single

 

BRYDEN, WILLIAM MCCULLOCH
Age: 89
Mother's Maiden Name: BRADFORD
Death: 2010
District: Selkirk


Parents' marriage:

BRYDEN, WILLIAM MCCULLOCH
BRADFORD, JANE ANDREW
1915, Blythswood

 

The Brydens

William McCulloch BRYDEN & Jane Andrew BRADFORD

 

First name(s) Alfred Ronald Kistland
Last name Perry
Birth date 26 Jan 1917
Baptism date 28 Mar 1917
Place Griffithstown
County Monmouthshire
Father's first name(s) John
Mother's first name(s) Sarah Jane

 

Fantastic, thanks all. That's definitely the man - his short memoir mentions being a signaller for an ack-ack unit for a time, before being sent off to the the Royal Scots. That solves the mystery with him!

If anyone has time to look, can I very cheekily ask if there's anything similar on the backgrounds of Alfred Charles Smith and Donald McLeod.

I can't stretch to the death cert/service record route, but if they hailed from the SE London area it would pretty much confirm the suspicion that they were part of the ex-BEF transfer from 139 Field in 1940 (unless they were part of the bunch of tough reservists from the north-west who replaced the under-19s before going overseas - they were mostly ex-miners and farm hands apparently).