Hi I am trying to research my fathers war record he enlisted to fight in the 2nd WW, although he was from southern Ireland and married to my English mother as he said "If a country is worth living in its worth fighting for" he was enrolled in the 3rd Div R.A.C Reconnaissance and went to France on D Day and was a Bren Gunner towards the end of the war he was shot through his arm by a sniper whilst firing his bren he maintained that a few more inches it would have been his head after the war had ended and he had recovered he was posted to Egypt on peace keeping and I think he was in the Military Police until he was demobbed, he received the Palestine medal 1945-1948 in the late 1980s I have a 1939-45 War medal of his with no ribbon . I remembered him having two or three star medals as well but these have been lost I have applied for his war record and hope to replace the lost medals that he is entitled to. The main reason for this post is to esquire more into the roll of the 3rd division was it part or connected to the any other Recce Division ? I have a map showing his route through France with the Recce badge and the symbol red pyramid upturned in a black pyramid I have posted 3 photos one being a group photo that looks to be outside a Officers Mess the photo has a lot of water damage and wondered if a copy my have been kept for official records, any information on any of the above would be greatly received, as I am new to the army protocol, many thanks Neil
Welcome Neil. There are a few more pictures of 3 Recce taken at the same location as yours in this thread http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/recce/21453-recce-photo-id-3rd-division.html. I don't know if there are any of these photos lurking in any museum. I've contacted the Tank Museum in Bovington (Reconnaissance Regiments were part of the RAC) but they say they have pictures of vehicles but nothing in the way of group photos. Regards Richard p.s. 3 Recce's War Diaries are here http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/unit-documents/32429-3rd-reconnaissance-regt-nf-war-diaries.html These should give you an idea of the Regiment's role.
Neil, Hello and welcome to the forum. Our members with Reconnaissance Corps Connectioons appears to be growing. Regards Tom
Neil, Hello and welcome to the forum. Our members with Reconnaissance Corps Connectioons appears to be growing. Regards Tom Quite right too! The more the merrier. Lesley
Welcome to the forum Neil - enjoy! The 3rd Recce was formed from the 8th Battalion Royal Northumberland Fusiliers. It was the Recce Regiment of the 3rd Infantry Division, which landed as the assault division on Sword Beach on D-Day. It fought all the way from the Normandy Beach all the way through to Germany and the German surrender. You will find the thread that Richard refers to at Message #4 and the War Diaries link that he posted very good sources of information. Best, Steve.
Hi thank you for your response have looked at the photo in your link and the building in my fathers photo that I have posted looks as the same pillars, I under stand yours were taken in Germany.Many thanks
Hi Mitch, My father name is Neil John McKelvey Cpl 14268057 R.A.C taken from his Palestine Medal 1945-1948 when he was posted to Egypt, did the 3rd Division get posted to Egypt or would he have been seconded to another division ?
Hi all I am not sure if I am putting this on the right forum,I was just going by the title 3rd Division Reconnaissance 1944 1945 which my Grandfather was in. A/Cpl Birch E Tpr Metcalfe SR 3 Recce’s war diary states[FONT="], “Patrol from B Sqn makes contact with enemy between Oeffelt and the river. 2 men lost – believed to be prisoners.”[/FONT] A/Cpl Birch E was my Grandfather,he was in "B" squadron 3rd reconnaissance regiment. Sadly he passed away a week before his 90th birthday in January 2012. We knew he was a prisioner of war but he never spoke about it,its only since he died and finding his papers and letters that we are now learning about his life in the army. We have a letter from his Lt to his mother explaining just what happened on the day he was taken prisioner, I will photocopy it and add it to this page. Metcalf who was taken prisioner with him became a lifelong friend,and we had the pleasure of meeting him at my Grandfathers funeral. Any infomation I come across I will post on here. I have just scanned a photo of the "B" squadron, I will put it on shortly. When i work out how to.
Hi Gail welcome to the forum. Follow this link on how to post photos http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/network-information/12816-how-insert-pictures-videos-into-your-posts.html Cheers Paul
I have just read your posts and I am trying to trace anyone with information on 3rd Recce C squadron who landed on sword beach on 7th June 1944. They sailed from Tilbury Docks and landed in armoured vehicles at sword Beach. My dad was one of them and he says that after the beach they were stuck for a week held up by the Germans and trying to avoid being bombed by the Allied forces who were bombing the coast. Eventually he made it to Caen. My dad is still alive and we are going back to Normandy for the first time since he was landed and wandered if there is anyone out there who will be in caen or just here who landed with him on that day 69 years ago.....??? Thx n rgds...SHARKEY
