1st Bn The King's Regiment, (Liverpool), Chindits.

Mike,

It was forum member High Wood that posted the photograph not me.

 

sorry got a little excited ! thank you high wood ,mike

 

We now know of the existence of 'Dehra Dun' photographs of three of the four Companies of 1/King's mentioned in the Defence Medal Roll, Namely A Coy, C, Coy and H.Q. Coy. The were all taken in 1945 but not necessarily on the same date. I suspect that more than one photograph was taken of each Company during their time at Dehra Dun as soldiers were repatriated and others drafted in from other units. It is a pity that we do not have a more precise date for each photograph.

The photographs of A and H.Q. Coys can be seen elsewhere on the thread.

This particular photograph appears to have been sent to a Mr A. Jones, of Winton, Eccles, Lancashire, who appears to be second from left in the third row. Unfortunately the address is not complete.

 

Is there any chance that James Henry Suddery is the same man as the Jim Suddery wounded with 13 Kings in 1943?

 

I'm hoping it will be:

 

Well, he sure looks the same doesn't he.

 

I'm hoping that T. Dennett will turn out to be Thomas Dennett, the twin brother of another Longcloth man and sadly a casualty:

The Dennett Twins

 

A little searching seems to indicate that Cpl. Feeney. P. is 5114040 Cpl. Peter Feeney, of the13th battalion. He was a member of the Burma Star Association and emigrated to Canada after the war.

 

Known as Pat (probably politically incorrect today) on the operation, Feeney was Lt. Stibbe's runner as part of No. 5 Column.

 

It certainly looks like him. I will post a better photograph when I receive the original photograph.

Thomas Dennett would appear to be the soldier in the blue circle. Cpl. Peter Feeney is directly below Thomas Dennett.

 

A close up photograph of "C" Coy.

 

on the strength of this picture i have contacted the family of Len love service number 5730167 a ex Dorset regiment man who like my father Kenneth Douglas rose 5730257 were transferred to the kings . this is the only Chindit that i know my father found after the war. due to my lack of pc skills the story i have is under . what regiment did father go to India with . thanks mike

 

Mike,

this would appear to be Leonard Love. I will post a better picture when the photograph arrives. How did you find out Leonard Love's Army Number?

Simon.

 

high wood it was a surprise to me to ! as written in [ what regiment did father go to India with ] i traced lens son a few years back and tried to glean all i could about Len . seems a lot was lost in a house fire years ago but he still had the Dorset and kings shoulder badges. any way he gave permission for his name to be included on here with the understanding if any thing came up i would pass it on . well your photo did ! i contacted him and just said no chance you got fathers service number ? . well he reeled it of faster than i could write it down !. i would love the best picture you can upload of Len as his son does not do computers and i would pass it on ,mike

 

High resolution with relevant surnames. Slightly less than half of the men are visibley wearing medal ribbons and I assume that those men who are not wearing them are post Operation Thursday reinforcements. A significant number of those men wearing medal ribbons appear to have served on the first Wingate expedition, Operation Longcloth.

 

If this is the same Pte H. Smith who appears on the C Company Defence Medal Roll with the Army Number 1811189, then he is Henry Robert Smith, formerly of the Royal Artillery. His Royal Artillery attestment entry shows that he transferred to the 1/King's Regt. on 12th November 1944.

 

HW, thanks again for posting the image of C Company on the thread. It has enabled me to finally visualise several of the men that feature on my website. It is always a precious moment when a soldier's face can be placed against his story.

 

Hi,
Apologies for trawling up a post from so long back in this thread, but I just wanted to share that I am the grandson of Fernley Ralph Nicholas (or "Nic" to pretty much everyone. Even I only discovered his real name a decade or so ago. Much of my - clearly naive - childhood was spent believing he was Nic Nicholas, as he never told us otherwise. He did have a wicked sense of humour though). I've just started the process of trying to gain his official records, but just wanted to share that he did survive the war and return home to Plymouth, raising a family before his death in the early 1980s. He never spoke of his experiences openly to us, but speaking recently to my mother (one of his three daughters), she told me that she knew that the family at one point did receive a memo saying that he was MIA, a while before a letter from him arrived confirming that he was in fact safe and well (dates unknown to me unfortunately). We also know that he suffered a leg wound from being shot at some point, and my auntie does still have his medals. I unfortunately am unaware of any of the exact details beyond that, but am just starting the process of searching for what I can find, so shall share any findings that may prove helpful to your endeavours here.

Would you be aware of any other details regarding him?

Also, just want to say a big thank you to all involved in collating the information here. It is clearly a huge amount of effort to do so, but it has been a fascinating read and clearly a great help and comfort to many relatives of the men that were involved. Many thanks and much appreciated.

 

Hi DuncanFx,

I think I'm correct in saying that we do not hold any other information about your grandfather. In one way for this thread, it is almost more exciting when a new soldier comes to light in this way. I wonder if you have a photograph of him that you could post on the thread? It is always a great moment when we get to see the man in question.

More generally, you might wish to read the book, Prisoners of Hope, by Mike Calvert. It tells the story of 77 Brigade in 1944 and covers at least in part, some of the experiences of the 1st King's.

 

Hello Duncan,

I have checked the casualty lists again and can find no official record of your grandfather being reported missing. This is not uncommon in the Burma theatre. It is certainly possible that that he was temporarily "missing" after an action in the jungle but rejoined his unit shortly afterwards. It may have been reported in a Column's radio messages to the rear H.Q. but would not have been reported in the Casualty Lists if he was found within a short space of time.

I would have expected a gun shot wound to be mentioned but again, if it took place during the abandonment of the Blackpool Stronghold it may have overlooked in the chaos.

Simon.