3657623 Frank Stuttard. 2nd Battalion South Lancashire Regt Burma

Good day.

I am attempting to put together a family history for my Grandson.
My father in law, Frank Stuttard enlisted in 1939, did some training at Altcar Camp Nr Formby.

We know he was involved in the Madagascar invasion and we know he was near Imphal on on 17 March 1944.
(we know this because his best friend-Cpl Victor Stevenson 3655939 was killed on that day and Frank buried him.)

I would be grateful for any help with his service in Burma. We have an indication from Frank that he was at the Admin Box but little else.

sadly Frank died some years ago.

Thank you

 

2nd South Lancs Regt was in the Arakan on 17 March 1944, and at that point was still under 29th Infantry Brigade Group, 36th Indian Division. They weren't inside the Admin Box itself, but were part of the force that fought to relieve it. 36 Div had spent the latter half of 1943 undergoing extremely tough training in Combined Operations at Poona and was expecting to be used in an amphibious assault against Akyab, but was instead deployed to help halt the Japanese counter-offensive (codenamed 'Ha-Go').

I don't have the battalion war diary and the Brigade and Division diaries aren't very detailed for that day, but these pages might be of interest to you as they give a good description of the battalion's attack on Point 1301 on 17 March. First pair are from 130th Field Regiment (artillery unit in support) and the second are from D Company 2 Mancs (36 Division's machine gun company).

 

The attack on Point 1301 by 'A' and 'D' Companies, 2nd South Lancs, is covered in the regimental history.

 

The CWGC concentration report for Cpl. Victor Stevenson shows he was originally buried at Akyab War Cemetery after his death on 17th March 1944, and before his remains were moved to Taukkyan War Cemetery in May 1952.

 

Hi Tom

The best route is to order his records from the MOD. That will tell you where he was and which units he was in. It will tell you when he was hospitalised (almost all were due to malaria, dysentry etc even if they weren't wounded). It is a bit of a wait and you can research and get War Diaries in the meantime but that is the nearest you will get to confirmation of his involvement unless you are very lucky.

Was he in the Burma Star Association? There records and Dekho are online and sometimes they are mentioned. You could also try to read any memoires or Regimental histories, such as the one posted above.

Good luck with the research!

 

Many thanks for this. The reference to 4 fatal casualties ties up with Franks story. He spoke of losing 4 men on 17th.
Frank related that it took some days to recover the body of his friend Victor. When they did so the body had been stripped of personal items including a watch and a photograph of Frank and Victor.
Soon afterwards, on entering a Japanese bunker following an attack Frank found the photograph pinned to a timber support. A search of the bodies revealed Vics' watch.

 

Many thanks for your input. The reference to fatal casualties ties in with Franks own account of that day.
Apparently Victors body could not be recovered for some days due to enemy fire. When recovery was effected it was found that the body had been stripped of personal items including a watch and a photograph of Victor and Frank taken in India.
A few days later upon entering a newly attacked bunker Frank was amazed to see the photograph pinned to a support. Upon searching the enemy bodies Frank also found Vics' watch !

 

Thank you gentlemen. Your information provides confirmation of what was obviously a hard fought action.
I first met Frank in 1967 shortly after I had enlisted in REME. As is so often the case with those who had fought during the two World Wars he was a most gentle man, always helpful, friendly and polite to everyone. He very rarely discussed his service time with anyone and NEVER when ladies were in earshot.
A gentle, unassuming man who was obviously as tough as old boots.

Thank you again

 

Hello I was just wondering if you were able to tell me what book this is from? I'm doing some research on my Grandfather's movements in WW2. Like most he never spoken about what happened when he was away. All we know is that he was in the South Lancs and he travelled by boat to South Africa before moving on to Burma. We know he was away from early 1942 as he missed the birth of his 2nd child in April that year. From my research that would tie in with the movements of the 2nd Battalion and I'd love to have an insight into what he went through. (I've tried looking for "History of the South Lancashire Regiment" as your photo would suggest but to no avail...

Thank you and best wishes

Mark

 

Mark, the book is titled "The South Lancashire Regiment" by Colonel B.R. Mully, published by The White Swan Press, 1952. It's quite hard to find and expensive. I got mine from a French online seller, of all places.

Steve

 

Thank you so much!

 

Mark,

I can summarise the journey of the 2nd S. Lancs from the U.K. as follows:

When the Second World War began, the 2nd Battalion, The South Lancashire Regiment was stationed in India, at Bombay. On 5th June 1940, it embarked at Bombay for the United Kingdom where it disembarked at Liverpool on 17th July. It now joined the 29th Independent Infantry Brigade, which began training for amphibious assault operations. While at Crowborough, Sussex, in April 1941 orders were received to move to Inverary to undertake special training before heading overseas.

After six months of intensive training, the 2nd S. Lancs, forming part of the 29th Independent Infantry Brigade, left Galashiels to embark at Glasgow for overseas service. The Battalion boarded a Polish liner, the Sobieski, on 19th March 1942 and the ship joined convoy WS 17, which assembled off Oversay on 23rd March. The convoy sailed south, stopping at Freetown to take on fuel and water and was split into two sections for the onward journey to South Africa. The Sobieski, together with other ‘assault’ ships, split from the main convoy to form convoy WS 17A and sailed on 9th April. The Capetown ships arrived on 18th April and those for Durban on 22nd April, among the latter was the Sobieksi.

It seems that men of the 2nd S. Lancs were able to enjoy shore leave in Durban before leaving on 28th April 1942. It was only once at sea, that it was learned that the troops, part of Force 121, were to seize the port of Diego Suarez, Madagascar, from Vichy French troops. The 2nd S. Lancs landed on 5th May 1942. During the campaign which followed, one Officer and 23 Other Ranks of the Battalion were killed, and three Officers and around 65 Other Ranks wounded. Nearly all members of the Battalion suffered from dysentery and malaria at one time or another during the campaign.

On 15th October 1942, the Battalion embarked at Tamatave for South Africa. Disembarking at Durban on 24th October, the men went to a camp at Pietermaritzburg where they spent a week reorganising before going to the transit camp at Durban. The Battalion remained in South Africa for the next two months, training and enjoying leave. It embarked upon the Devonshire on 8th January 1943 and sailed for Bombay where it disembarked on 28th January and went by train to Poona (Pune). Here it was learned that the 29th Brigade was to form the nucleus of the Indian Expeditionary Force which was expected to launch amphibious landings in South East Asia. As part of this force, the Brigade joined the 36th Indian Division.

 

That's great thank you so much for this, I really appreciate it! I have managed to track down a copy of the book too. He was drafted in June 1940 so I'm guessing he will have joined them for their training on arrival back into the UK from Bombay. His papers indicate he was with them until October 1945 after which he joined the Kings Regiment before being discharged in April 1946. One of the few things he told my dad was that when they had leave whilst they were away travel time was allowed on top of their official leave so they used to pick the longest train journey to maximise their time away from it all, I can hardly blame them considering the conditions they must have faced.

Thanks again for your help with this!