17th Field Company Royal Engineers

Discussion in 'Royal Engineers' started by MarcD, Jul 4, 2013.

  1. mark abbott

    mark abbott Junior Member

    I have just sent off to the MOD for Frank's service papers. No doubt a serious delay will occur before I receive anything HOWEVER, I will post anything interesting when they finally arrive!! I have established that his son recently passed away.
     
    peter crush likes this.
  2. peter crush

    peter crush Active Member

    Hi Guys, sorry but with COVID, a family bereavement and an operation I've been out of action for a while.

    Looking through my mother's papers I found some correspondence between my father and members of 17FC including pictures of many headstones (presumably of 17FC members). I have also seen further references to the squadron leader.

    After Christmas (and COVID permitting) I'll post a summary of what I find.

    Have a great Christmas. Let's hope 2021 is better than 2020!

    Peter
     
  3. Arty

    Arty Member

    Hi Peter,

    Good to see your still alive and kicking.

    I've finally spent a few shekels on a subscription to British Army Casualty Lists 39-45 (via findmypast.com). I've been noting any 17 Fd Coy casualties as I find them (for June/July 44). You may want to add details to the info you've collated - I'm happy to forward what I've found thus far.

    Regards
    Arty
     
  4. mark abbott

    mark abbott Junior Member

    Peter

    Hope all is now well?

    It certainly would be of interest to see the correspondence etc you refer to.

    As yet nothing further heard about Frank's service papers!

    All the best

    Mark
     
  5. mark abbott

    mark abbott Junior Member

    upload_2021-2-24_14-12-46.jpeg

    Michel

    You state this is a 17 Field Company vehicle. What makes you so sure? Is there a definitive list of the numbers displayed on the vehicles?

    Many thanks

    Mark
     
  6. The 3 Br Inf Div Formation sign is visible above the AoS Serial 51, therefore the vehicle belongs to the third Fd Coy RE in 3 Div, which was 17 Fd Coy (and thus the AoS Flash is the RE's Cobalt blue).

    Michel
     
    mark abbott likes this.
  7. mark abbott

    mark abbott Junior Member

    upload_2021-2-24_16-39-23.jpeg

    So this will be a 17 FC vehicle?
     
  8. Yes, for the same reasons :D
     
    mark abbott likes this.
  9. mark abbott

    mark abbott Junior Member

    Thank you Michel
     
  10. mark abbott

    mark abbott Junior Member

    I believe this is the half track that Sgt Faulkner and Lt Crush were wounded in. See earlier posts.
     
  11. mark abbott

    mark abbott Junior Member

    Having played around with some filters, the "51" can clearly be seen on the half track. Photo credit Peter Crush.
     

    Attached Files:

  12. Clearly not the same half track as on the film clip (or IWM photo B6644). 17 Fd Coy had more than one half track :D

    Michel
     
  13. Old Git

    Old Git Harmless Curmudgeon

    Reading through this very interesting thread chaps and much impressed with the collaborative work and detail that is happening here.

    Peter Crush, you mentioned earlier about first Seaborne troops arriving at Pegasus and you half remembered a Para Officer's account of this. It is quoted at length on pg 30 of Robin Neillands 'Battle of Normandy 1944'. Neillands gives the source of this as 'a letter to the author'. The Para officer is John Butler of 7 Para. He mentions that the section of Sappers arrived in a White Scout Car (Similar to the halftrack but wheels only) and a Bren Carrier. He seems to indicate the section was led by a Sgt and had arrived at bridge without incident by avoiding the roads and following a tram line that ran parallel to the canal.

    I'm very interested in this section of Sappers if anyone has any additional info on them?

    Edited to rectify an error, must remember to wear my glasses next time!
     
    Last edited: May 5, 2021
  14. Old Git

    Old Git Harmless Curmudgeon

    In my previous post I mistakenly ascribed the John Butler quote to '1 Suffolk' in Normandy' by Eric Lummis, (read the notes without my glasses and got the wrong chapter note, doh!).

    I followed that up with this post below giving a link to a text version of that book. Seem superfluous now but I shall leave here for now.

    Just did a search on Google for 1 Suffolk in Normandy and discovered that dear old Brian Guy posted the text of the booklet, alongside the text of 1 Suffolk on D-Day (both by Eric Lummis) on Arrse before he died. See link below...

    D. Day, With the 1st Suffolks. Unpublished Version.
     
    Last edited: May 5, 2021
  15. mark abbott

    mark abbott Junior Member

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: May 20, 2021
  16. mark abbott

    mark abbott Junior Member

  17. Josh Darby

    Josh Darby New Member

    Hi all! this thread is fabulous. Wondering if I could have some input regarding my Great Granduncle!

    His name was William Henry Day - Sapper 731406 - 17 FC.. He seems to have gone missing
    Notes on Forceswar records say - Casualty List No. 284. Original source records date Missing between 10th May and 16th June 1940. Suggesting he went missing in Dunkirk.

    The rest of the records I have found are pretty vague and dont really say where he actually went missing, if they found his body etc.

    Wondering if anyone could help? Newbie to this !
     
  18. Paul Simpo

    Paul Simpo Member

    My great uncle was in the 17th Field Company Royal Engineers and died of wounds on 20th August 1944. Does it mention in War Diaries what was taking place on that Day? I don’t know what platoon he was in.
    Owen Cooper, Sapper. 1875695.
     
  19. Sean50

    Sean50 Junior Member

    Hello all

    Just discovered this thread whilst looking for other bits and pieces.
    Tommy 'Pat' Paterson (Lt Crush's driver) was a good friend of mine and it's nice to see his and other familiar names. He wrote out a Word doc called "My Story" which I would presume is the same as his diary that Peter Crush mentioned. I only have this on a floppy disc so need some means of accessing it.
    Tommy first revisited Normandy in the mid-90s, then every year until his death, usually driving down to Portsmouth from Stockton in his Nissan Micra. His last visit was for the 60th anniversary, he died two weeks before a planned return in 2005.
    He spoke frequently and fondly of Ted Crush.

    To put a face to a name, this is him, in 1945 and in 2004 at the unveiling of the Royal Norfolk Regiment monument.

    Cheers

    Sean


    Tommy i.jpg Tommy ii.jpg
     
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  20. Graham Anstey

    Graham Anstey Member

    What an amazing thread this is!

    My father Spr John Anstey 2071053 (see my avatar) moved from "(B) Coy No2 (FB) DBRE" (I think in Edinburgh) to 17 Fd Coy RE in March 1941 and was with them until he was posted to Egypt in 1942 to join 4 Fld Sqn RE attached to 7th Armoured Div. If anyone has any info on the 17th during this time I'd be very interested in finding out more. Information seems to be very scarce, and I'm not able to get to Kew at the moment. He later saw action at El Alamein and through to Tunis, then the Salerno landings where he was injured and returned 'Home' where he stayed serving the rest of the war.

    As a sidenote, he had a close friend called Bob Pagan who we visited when I was a small child. I'm now wondering whether they served together as we children were sent to play outside so they could chat.
     

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