4611239 WOII Ernest McNEA, DCM, 1 DWR: 01/03/1944

Hi

to all the nice people on this forum. I need some help if possible please? The above chap does not have a number in the Roll of Honour of The Regimental History of the Duke of Wellington's 1919-1952 by C.N. Barclay.

The more I read of his work that he has done regarding the 1DWR is fabulous in my useless opinion and ( not even got passed the month of February yet). A Brigadier that one must doff ones cap. How the hell he came across the diaries of Lieut.-Colonel B.W. Webb-Carter Bar to D.S.O. I don't know? Anyone got a idea?

I may well have knocked Brigadier C.N. Barclay, C.B E., D.S.O. in the past. I have. The lesson to learn is that you read all of his books before you do. I'm getting distracted. Can anyone please provided me with McNea's citation? Probably need to read more into the War diaries, and the History..

One last question if you all don't mind. Which Cemetery is he buried in? Anzio, or the Beachhead?

Many thanks in advance to you all.

Regards,
Stu.

 

Blimey. Was just off to my pit.

I must thank dbf and Tony. Much reading to be done.

Regards,
Stu .
Happy chap.

 

Hi Tony,

What is your source for his picture? I mean which local newspaper?

Many thanks for your time..

Edit. Sorry if I've not seen it.

Regards,
Stu

 

Fairly certain that you are correct. Ernest McNea's mother's maiden name was Hodgson and Bernard McNea married Emily Hodgson Q4 1908 in Halifax.
In the 1921 Census:


This is Bernard's 'Register of Effects' following his death:


Family trees on Ancestry confirm the family.

 

The Halifax Daily Courier & Guardian, Friday, May 5, 1944

 

Stu,

I took this when we in Anzio a couple of weeks back.

Regards,
Gary.

 

I did note that on CWGC paperwork and the casualty list, his name had originally been stated as McNer, it looks to me that his headstone was as well - has it been casually altered? Perhaps a referral to the CWGC would be in order?

 

Gary,

I was going to take a photo of his headstone whilst I'm out in Anzio in a few weeks. You have seriously saved me some time of which is most appreciated . I got sidetracked with taking quite a few of 2 Foresters, 2 North Staffs and other regiments. I did come across a Officer from 1 DWR. 12 Feb 44 . Benson off the top of my head.

I will make good use of it. One thing that I did notice was quite a few headstones seem to be covered in much moss, even more so to right of the cemetery.


I walked into the cemetery with no intension of taking any photos and came away with many.

Edit.. 67 in total from the Beachhead and around 145 ish from the Anzio. One or two have turned out a bit blurred.

Regards,
Stu

 

Here is what its says on 94 and 95 of the History of the Dukes:

On the 25th March the following immediate awards were announced: Military Cross, Major P.P. Benson (killed in action 12th February 1944), Major T.F. Huskisson (wounded in action 12th February 1944), Capt. N. Wimpenny, Capt G.H. Hall; Distinguished Conduct Medal, C.S.M.McNea (died of wounds 1st March 1944); Military Medal, Pte. J. Baker, Pte. E. Paull ( missing 4th February).

Wonder which POW camp they ended up in ? Will have a look.

Webb-Carter speaks highly of C.S.M. Ernest McNea along with C.S.M. Selway on page 93.

Regards,
Stu.

 

On the night of 24th February the 33rd relieved the 1st Irish Guards in the sector known as the Wadis.
The Commanding Officer's diary continues as follows:

"We had gone through Campoleone, and the almost miraculous extrication of the Battalion from there after being surrounded. We had fought the battle of the Railway Bed. We were punch-drunk or, in the new phraseology, 'bomb-happy.' Every company Commander, three seconds-in-command of companies, the Adjutant, the Signal Officer and the Mortar Officer were casualties. John Streatfeild, the I.O., (Intelligence Officer) and Jim Sills as a sort of man-of-all-work kept Battalion H.Q. going for me. A large draft of reinforcements, good lads, but quite untried, had arrived but were not assimilated. The weather was terrible. The steadily contracting beachhead was almost back to the Campo di Carne line, which had been taken the first day. If the Boche got behind that line and into the thickly wooded country beyond, the beachhead forces could hardly retain their hold.

"To this cheering background of events I had heard the day before that we were to relieve the Irish Guards in the wadis to the left of the Flyover Bridge. I had been up to the Guards Brigade H.Q. in the woods behind the Flyover and heard the bleak description of the positions we would occupy. They were, I gathered, quite inaccessible by day, as they were in full view of the German O.Ps. (Observation Posts). The Guards were sustaining a steady stream of casualties, and a sort of running fight went on day and night. Its at this point that I should mention a book on one of the Officers of 1 Irish Guards. It was recommended to me by Frank de Planta, and is a fabulous book. Major D.M. (John) Kennedy M.C. A tribute by Robert Jocelyn Earl of Roden ( and its cheap)!

"In the evening the Battalion set out. With a rather defiant gaiety the troops climbed in to the troop-carrying lorries. I got in my carrier with John Streatreild. It was as usual, full of the 22-set and its attendants. Going past Brigade H.Q. I saw the Brigadier standing by the road. He wished me luck. I felt that we needed it. Dusk was drawing in as we drove up the too familiar Rome road. Soon, in the gathering gloom, we turned up a track into the woods and bumped along in the mud and pot-holes which were the twin components of the improvised road forming the channel of communications.

"About two from the Flyover we debussed. The Germans selected that moment for a bout of harassing fire in the woods, and the inevitable confusion of the debussing in the dark was complicated by a number of casualties. As the shelling died down the companies were formed up and began the march to the rendezvous where the guides from Guards Brigade H.Q. were to meet us. Still in my carrier, John and I pushed on. We wanted to get the cumbersome 22-set as near as we could before burdening the carrying party with the whole apparatus. The mud soon put an end to this optimistic project. Leaving John to grapple with the set, I ploughed on through the mud on foot to the R.V. There I meet Brigadier Archer Clive who commanded the Guards Brigade. Beside him, calm and immaculate, was Lt. Geoffrey Hood, the Brigade liaison Officer, of the Irish Guards who was to lead us up to the positions. Behind the veneer of the rather elaborate calm sustained by everybody that night, there was, I think, a thread of hysteria. We were all tired, & rather shaken.

"It was pitch dark. Reliefs were always an edgy business, both for the relieved and the relieving units. The Companies were late at the R.V. and, heavily loaded by the 22-set, Battalion H.Q. was later still. At last we were going and Geoffrey disappeared into the darkness with Noel Wimpenny and A Coy. The track now rapidly deteriorated and soon became a mere mud-bath. The [rather pampered personnel of Battalion H.Q. groaned under the weight of their loads as floundered about in the thick slimy black clay]. The Germans then began to shell heavily the Campo di Carne road. We had to cross this to get the wadis and the ever-haunting fear, on relief nights, loomed large. Would the troops be caught in the open? It was difficult to judge amongst the trees the exact position of the shelling, and I sent a message through to the leading companies to halt.

"Pushing up the track to the fringe of the wood it was possible to see that the fire was coming down further to or left, just on the line of the road. It was terrifying sight and it made a lot noise. The Boche knew a relief was being carried out somewhere in our sector that night and his artillery was diabolically active. At any moment it might shift to our area. There was no option but to plug on. Geoffrey left his attendant Guardsman to guide Battalion H.Q. and pushed on with the leading companies. We gained the road and at last could walk without lifting about a hundredweight of mud on each foot. It was pitch dark, but to our left the vista was balefully illuminated by the heavy defensive fire being brought down by the Boche on the road about 500 yards away. We advanced down the road for about 200 yards towards the barrage: here a track bore off to the right and to the culvert where Andrew Scott, the C.O. of the Irish Guards, had his H.Q.

"There we turned off the main road and plugged up the track. It was dotted with shell-holes. At regular intervals along its first 100 yards were the derelict carriers of the Irish Guards, all knocked out whilst trying to bring up rations the night before. As we passed the last I heard an ominous whistle and, with John, dived into the small ditch beside the track. The mortar shell burst on the track about 100 yards away. 'Its about 500 yards to go still, sir,' said the Guardsman guide unemotionally. He had remained in the perpendicular position and, feeling rather abashed, I climbed up and joined him on the track. It seemed an age, but at last we reached a small bridge over a little gully, which formed a culvert. This was our R.V.

"The leading companies were already filing off to the right across country to take over positions there. I climbed down the bank into the little gully, and edged past a wrecked jeep trailer, into a culvert. Here was the R.A.P. and also Andrew's H.Q. That imperturbable officer, wrapped in a duffle-coat, presented his usual robust and faintly Regency appearance. The little culvert was crammed. The M.O. (Medical Officer) was dealing with a couple of recently wounded Guardsmen, and the R.A.P. occupied half the space; the rest contained the elements of the headquarters of both battalions, Dukes signallers taking over from the Guards and my own officers trying to contact their opposite numbers. Andrew and I sat on a stretcher propped up on empty ration boxes and discussed the situation (has they would). I must say having visited one of these WADIS, they go on for ever and are rather deep. Its not worth thinking about what the size of the rats grew too. At least the trenches of World War 1 was man-made. The position was fluid in the extreme and the whole area was cut up by long deep wadis, heavily overgrown, which changed hands nightly. A grotesque hide-and-seek had been played for days in these wadis. The Irishmen would debouch from one particular wadi and assault an enemy-held one, and on their return would sometimes find the Boche in occupation of their own positions. The Guardsmen were on top all right, but deadly tired. In my opinion, the 1 Irish Guards had there back-side smashed to bits.

"The real trouble was the maps were useless; (did they have any detailed maps of the all of the wadis that was useful)? it was impossible to see by night, with the result that no one knew really where they were in the labyrinth of wadis. Continued on next post. How did that happen?

 

Page 90- 93 continued.
Geoffrey came in to report that all companies had moved off to their positions and to ask permission to go back to Brigade H.Q. We thanked him for his good work and he walked calmly out into the night on his journey back along the shell-haunted route.

"Meanwhile at the wadi later called 'The Boot,' because of its shape on the map, A and B Coys had arrived and were taking over. The catastrophe, the fear of which had always lurked behind every relief, befell us that night. As the troops of both battalions were actually out in the open in the act of handling over the exiguous slit trenches, a concentration of heavy shells and mortar bombs crashed into 'the Boot'. Casualties were caused to both battalions, and Noel Wimpenny (O.C. A Coy.) was half-dazed by a near miss. The hand-over, which beyond anyway to be a sketchy proceeding, had to be hurried. It would have been madness to keep two sets of troops in a position where only dubious protection existed for one.

"The main body of the Irish Guards marched off and a few officers and N.C.Os remained behind to pass on what information they possessed to the distracted Dukes' officers, pushing their men into position in the blackness and locating the wounded by the moans. A few concentrations fell round the culvert, but fortunately did no damage to C Coy (Capt. Hall), which was taking over the positions there. Andrew had done all he could, and during a lull in the shelling he moved of his H.Q. As he left he asked me to keep a particular eye on Sergeant Moriarty of the Irish Guards who had had not yet left 'the Boot' and who, Andrew said, he had done particularly good work. Is this 2718497 Lance-Sergeant Moriarty, M. (D.C.M.)? It seems it to me. Which cemetery is he buried in? Also, can anyone provide his citation please? Page 588 ITALY 1st Bn. Irish Guards Killed or Died of Wounds. Gary, what's the odds of you having his headstone? At almost that moment the lifeless body of that gallant N.C.O. was toppling into an empty slit trench; he was hit by a fragment of mortar shell.

"The wadis had been the scene of some of the heaviest close-combat fighting in the beachhead. The boot, The Starfish, The Bottaccia! As relief followed relief through February, March, April and May, 1944, each wadi got its separate name reputation and memory of horror and suspense. Platoons and companies of every regiment in the beachhead disappeared in the sinister labyrinths which, unsuspected from any distance, suddenly yawned at one's feet as one stumbled, half lost, through the clinging mud.

"This, our first tour, was destined to be worst of all. The weather was bad and the Boche, who in this area seemed to have troops to spare, and thus more frequent reliefs, was at this stage rather in the ascendant. His patrols were all around us at night, and the quick staccato rattle of his Schmeisers would be heard at night behind us and to each flank.

"The bringing up of supplies each night was a recurrent nightmare. Carrying parties got lost; jeeps got bogged, and then, as the cursing troops heaved at them, down would come the mortar shells. Phlegmatically sucking an empty pipe Jim Sills was the presiding genius of these hideous performances, and it was largely due to his unostentatious courage that the companies got fed at all. Some stupendous things were done by all ranks. One thinks of the heroic death of C.S.M. McNea; of the devotion C.S.M. Selway; of the dashing leadership of Charles Gomm. Jim Sills was Major H.J.T. Sills, Headquarters Company Commander. Almost imperceptibly the situation improved. Our patrols gradually gained ascendency, our snipers made the enemy cautious, and though it all the indominable courage of the British soldier shone as ever. The Wadis. No soldier of the 1st Division or (any other Division for that matter) who fought at Anzio will never forget them."

I've yet to find out what happened to the Pte. J. Baker, and Pte. E. Paull (missing 4th February 1944). I don't think they ended up has POWs. More help on this is needed.

Regards,
Stu.

 

Tony, well spotted.

I think it will be wise to ask Janet Kinrade Dethick.. I'm sure she has enough contacts when it comes to the CWGC. I will email this lovely lady to see if she can (it must be corrected)! Someone has put some kind of tool to It if you ask me? The keepers need a polite reminder that quite a few headstones need to be cleaned. What they clean them with, I really don't know.

I'm not having the excuse of what's been going on in the World over the last few years. They worked outside.

Here is the headstone of Major P.P. Benson MC that was taken on the same day has C.S.M. Ernest McNea. Tuesday, 17th May, 2022. Its been replaced.

Regards,
Stu.

 

Stuart Avery

Is this the DCM recommendation for Moriarty?

All the best

Steve

 

Hi Steve,

it seems that way. Hope you are both well? I can't see any other Moriarty. I think you have more of a interest in the Scots Guards. I do recommend that you buy the book on Major D.M. (John) Kennedy M.C. A chap that loved his horses, and also loved killing Germans. One hell of Irishman.

Thanks for your time.
Regards,
Stu.