I don't suppose your cousin has anything that might provide Joseph's service number? I wish I had acquired this escape map when it was up on eBay about 5 years ago. It belonged to an officer of the Royal Engineers on Operation Longcloth. 009.jpg It's not likely as we have this scarf on his behalf, he would have lost it by now if we had not taken it in. I'll have to speak to my father and see what he can tell me, perhaps his dad's sister can shed some light....
21 when the war started so may well have been in from the start... won't be surprising if he did serve in Africa too... it is always possible that he did not start up in the 2nd KORR's... my dad started up in the Seaforths... As for scumbags, do what I'm planning to do... move to an area with a lower crime rate...
Haha, I already live in the middle of no where, so crime is next to none. I'm am going to assume that when I get his records all will be revealed about when and where
Spoken to the curator of the Kings own museum and have received this:- Dear Mr Jones, Thank you for your enquiry. Our website has some information on the 2nd Battlaion in Burma in 1944, which includes photographs: http://www.kingsownmuseum.plus.com/ww2-2ko.htm http://www.kingsownmuseum.plus.com/burma.htm http://www.kingsownmuseum.plus.com/gallerywwtwo108.htm Further information can also be found in the Third Volume of the Regimental History, full details of which can be found on our website. We do not hold service records of soldiers who served with the Regiment in the Second World War these are retained by the Ministry of Defence and can be accessed through the Army Personnel Centre: http://www.kingsownmuseum.plus.com/apcglasgow.htm I am afraid as you have not supplied me the name of your grandfather I cannot check our records to see if we have anything on him. You will really need to find his full name and army number if you wish to obtain details from the APC in Glasgow. I hope that this information is of assistance. Peter Donnelly Curator King's Own Royal Regiment Museum I have since provided the name, but nothing was found. I have sent the forms off to Glasgow, they have told me they are currently working on requests from November, so dont expect a quick response, it will also take longer due to not knowing his service number, but they are sure this will not stop them finding anything.
Dear Mr Jones, Thank you for your enquiry. I am afraid we have nothing in our lists relating to Joseph Thomas Jones. If you have contacted Glasgow it would be good just to wait until they reply and see what the come up with about his service, which will be more than we would ever have about a soldier of the King's Own. The references on our website and the books I mentioned would be of interest with information on the 2nd Battalion in Burma. Glasgow should have the information you want about him. Best wishes Peter Donnelly Curator King's Own Royal Regiment Museum
After speaking to my father, I now know my grandfather was declared "fit" after the Chindits left Burma and did not succumb to ill health whilst in the Jungle. I also now can confirm he was in trouble for hitting an officer whilst in the UK.
Hi Anthony, Always good to hear these small anecdotes as it helps build a picture of the man. He must have been very strong to come out of that campaign in anything like decent health. As a glimmer of hope on the horizon, just lately I have heard of service records coming back a bit quicker than the first estimate, so fingers crossed. Steve
Thanks for the glimmer Steve. I also know he was a boxer in the army also and was rarely defeated. I'm not sure if that'll come back anywhere. He weighed 7st on his return home. I believe the average weight loss was 3st
As promised the pictures of the escape map. The scarf has print on both sides, it has Northern Burma on one side and Central on the reverse. It is slightly worn but is in good nick.
Very nice... heirloom stuff that is... One favour, Anthony... if you could study the section that has Myitkyina, Lake Indawgyi and the railway line (maybe shown) slightly down from Myitkyina and post an enlargement of that up that would be great... if there is a scale on the map, the area circa 80 miles south from Myitkyina... This is where I mentioned keeping them flat to help preserve them... a frame with glass on both sides so it can be reversed...
I've left this with my father at the moment. I'll pop back and see him this week and see if I can focus on that area for you
DOOB, Thank you for posting the pics of the silk map. My Dad mentions in his diary sewing his into his trousers just before they were flown in to Burma ...it took him over an hour.You are very lucky to have yours, and hope it lasts for the next generation to know what it was. He was in 77bgde as a junior officer and it didn't seem to be an unusual item.
Your welcome. I have not seen another one of these, so can only assume they are now rare. I hope I can get it mounted to save it getting destroyed over the years to come.
After some intense searching through my uncles house, we have found his release book. We now know his service number was 4194794. Is there anywhere on the internet that I can use to find more information or is it still a case of waiting on Glasgow?
Original enlistment shows The army number: 4194794 indicates that the soldier's original unit or date joined was: "Royal Welch Fusiliers" http://www.corpsofmilitarypolice.org/tools/armynumber?query=4194794
That's a great tool, thank you. This might help me to narrow down some information. I can only assume from this that he was then moved? to the kings own?