Has anyone ever heard of any 3rd Hussars being on a troop ship which sank? This is something I remember my mother telling us when we were children. I have sent for both the war diaries , and my father's army records, but they will take a while to arrive. There is a large section of his diary, from June 41 to March 42 which is totally illegible and if this story was true, it probably took place during that time. For at least some of that time, they were in Crete, and my father was not part of the Hussars who were sent to Java. Many thanks, if any of you have ideas.
I've found three files at the National Archives that may shed some light or could be a total red herring and have nothing to do with a ship sinking. They are from the Missing Men series of files which were basically a department employed to identify if men were PoWs or dead and if the later how they were killed. They could be accounts from their time in captivity. WO 361/1643 Far East: Java and Sumatra; statement by Lieutenant J H Chadwick, 3rd The King's Own Hussars WO 361/1667 Far East: Java, Sumatra, Singapore; statement by Corporal J Dartnall, 3rd Hussars WO 361/1688 Far East: Java and Sumatra; statement by Lieutenant R J G Dallas, Kings Own Hussars The last one may or may not be the 3rd Hussars. The National Archives labels files quite poorly sometimes. I think I would try and ID the ship first if possible as there may be a file under the ships name. Certainly wait for the diaries to see if there are any clues in them.
I hate it when I can't work CWGC's search engine ! Can someone look for all the WW2 casualties and list them here?
Hi Maisiefosse I don't know if this is relevant to your father but 17 men, three tanks, two lorries and two motorcycles of the 3rd Hussars were sent to Norway (arriving 14th May 1940) on board the Polish liner Chobry (in British service as the HMT Chobry) which lifted off the Irish Guards from the area they had been holding and took them south to Narvik where the Chobry was bombed and began sinking. Those on board got off and the 3rd Hussars fought with the Irish Guards with their small arms. Regards LMG
Thanks LMG, My father was in the Hussars from 1939 when he joined as a 'Militia man' doing a sort of national Service, so it's likely he would have known about this. The vague memories which we have from things our mother said refer to his time either in the desert or later in Cyprus or Syria, when other members of his company went ahead somewhere and a boat sank, while he remained behind, either because he had an injury, or because he was required as a driver. When I get his Army records I might find out something.
Hi maisiefosse, A number of 3rd Hussars POWs, around 30, were lost aboard the Suez Maru on the 29th November 1943. http://www.roll-of-honour.org.uk/Hell_Ships/Suez_Maru/index.htm
Thanks for this Bamboo43. What a terrible event. My father may have known some of these men, as he joined the Regiment in 1939.
A bit of info to add to this thread, now that I have some of the war diaries of the 3rd KOH: During the hasty evacuation of Crete in 1942, the HMS Orion was torpedoed and many lives lost. Some of the 3KOH were aboard. '[SIZE=10pt]HMS Orion[/SIZE] During an attack on a German convoy headed for Crete on 22 May, she was damaged in a duel with its escort, the Italian torpedo boat Lupo. On 29 May 1941, during the evacuation of Crete, she was bombed and badly damaged while transporting 1900 evacuated troops. Around 360 lives were lost, of whom 100 were soldiers.' Anyone any advice on how to locate casualty names? Thanks
Hi maisiefosse, On the CWGC website, I could only find the Navy personnel lost aboard the HMS Orion. However, there is this file at the National Archives, that might give some answers: http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C11430058
Here are three possible casualties from that date range: 001 PENLINGTON GW 7893645 3RD KING'S OWN HUSSARS 28/05/1941 - - 29/05/1941 ROYAL ARMOURED CORPS 002 RICHARDSON BG 551619 3RD KING'S OWN HUSSARS 28/05/1941 - - 29/05/1941 ROYAL ARMOURED CORPS 003 TAYLOR GE 404540 3RD KING'S OWN HUSSARS 28/05/1941 - - 29/05/1941 ROYAL ARMOURED CORPS
There's also these two WO 361/159 Casualties at sea, Mediterranean (evacuation of Crete): missing personnel on HMS Hotspur, transferred to HMS Orion WO 361/988 Middle East: Greece, Crete; 3rd The King's Own Hussars, Royal Armoured Corps; missing personnel
Hi, My father volunteered to go to Norway. He was on the the Chrobry when it was hit. The Wolverine or Stork picked up survivors.