Visiting the National Archives today, I came across the 1st Battalion, Duke of Cornwall Light Infantry (D.C.L.I.) diary for 1942. The file reference is WO 169/5006. It has been misidentified in the catalogue as the diary of the 1. Durham Light Infantry (D.L.I.). The error has been reported to Kew and hopefully the catalogue will be corrected shortly. It looks like WO 169/5007 to 5009 are also incorrectly listed as Durhams instead of DCLI. WO 169/5006 is particularly nice as it includes a set of group photographs of the battalion, one is attached of the Anti-Tank Platoon, commanded by Captain C. Evans. If anyone wants a copy of the complete diary to transcribe, give me a shout. Lee
Lee, It would be very nice of you if you can "publish" here the late may-1942 until end of June 1942. The 1st DCLI had a traumatic experience in the first days of June 5-6 when they were alone and unsupported and were overwhelmed by 15th Panzer Division at Bir Harmat. As far as I know there were just a few survivors that afterwards were amalgamated with another battalion remains. Many thanks Eduard
Eduard, just double checked and this diary is not for the whole of 1942 but for January, February, March and August 1942 only. Sorry 'bout that. Lee
Hi Lee, I've just discovered this post, and was just wondering on the likely hood of you still having a transcript of this diary? Dan
