6 AGRA & Illustrated History

I am trying to trace the activities of my Grandfather, Edgar Joseph Parker, Ser No. 2364076, Royal Signals Corp.
I have his Service record which shows that on 24/6/43 he was transfered from 13 Corps Sigs to Eigth Army Tps Coy. I guess he was detached from Royal Signals Corp to Royal Artillery. The next entry reads:
ME/5046/H/43 6. AGRA S/S (8. Army Tps) Moved. Tripoli to 'H' Force ME L/Cpl 18-7-43
I have searched the web but can not find any mention of 'H' Force. Any information on 'H' Force would be most useful.
I believe he stayed with 6 AGRA until 9-11-45 when he was posted to 35 Sig Park.

 

Hi Kev + welcome
Try the war-diaries of 6 AGRA at the NA Kew.
wo169/9408 - Mar-Dec 1943
Later in the war the Signals Section had their own diaries, and there was a separate 6 AGRA CB (Counter Bty) unit.
Rob

 

Hi Rob,
Thanks for that. I've asked for an estimate of cost for the diary.
Also found a couple of entries for 1944 and 1945 for 6 AGRA.

Kev

 

Whilst I'm waiting for info from NA, I've been doing some scanning.
Here are the pages from a book left to me by my grandfather.
The last page has some signatures. I think they are:
R Reed, W Spracklen and H Clemmel. Does anyone know of these guys?
I'd be interested to find out.
If anyone wants copies or better resolution pages, please let me know.

Cheers. Kev.

 

Having problems uploading pdfs. Will try one at a time.

kev

 

Here are the contact sheets

Kev

 

I've finally managed to scan all the pages, keep the size down to a workable level and kept as much detail as possible.
Hope everyone can use it in some way to maybe 'fill in some gaps' in their history records.
If anyone wants individual pages or better quality pictures, please PM me and I'll forward them on.

 

Thanks for sharing the booklet.

 

One of the artists :
974269 Gunner George MEDDEMMEN Royal Artillery
31st January 1920 - 2004
Enlisted in the R.A. in 1939

The Meddemmen Family Tree Site

Meddemmen, George, 228 Battery CP and Cookhouse near Castel del Rio - IWM - VADS: the online resource for visual arts

 

Also :
Frank Clifford Ward
5th March 1914 - 13th October 1998
Suffolk Artists
Independent Obituary


Teacher residing in Ashford, Kent in 1939



After the war, in Epstein's studio, Ward met Winston Churchill. They had encountered each other before in very different circumstances during the Allied advance through Italy, when Ward was serving with 6 Army Group Royal Artillery (6 Agra). 6 Agra saw some of the fiercest fighting. Its story is told in The Guns of 6 Agra, published at the end of the campaign and profusely illustrated by Ward.

His sketching was mainly linked to topographical preparations for heavy bombardments, often under cover of darkness. "The drawings had to be exact. If not, your friends might be killed," he recalled. The Imperial War Museum holds some of his wartime sketches, bought by the War Artists' Advisory Committee when he was in Italy. One of the best is of Churchill with Brigadier Julian St Clair Holbrook, 6 Agra's commander. Holbrook allowed Churchill to fire a round, the Prime Minister autographing the shell "with his personal greetings".

 

My dad had this book.
The guns of 6 AGRA. Now in my eldest brother's possesion. Thanks for posting.
My dad was Gunner E H Bradbury
504 battery,75th Highland Heavies.