6 Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment.

Discussion in '1940' started by tgrubb, May 9, 2014.

  1. tgrubb

    tgrubb Junior Member

    Hi
    My dad and I are very keen to go see if we can find out some more information about his uncle, my great uncle, John Grubb who was in the 6th Battalion Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment. My dad is especially interested in John's escape from Dunkirk and I wondered if anyone could advise whether, generally, the war diaries from this period would shed any light on his movements.

    Before we converge on Kew for the day I would welcome advice on whether others have found that the situation was so confused and chaotic that the diaries hold little information. If it helps he was in HQ Company.

    Thanks
    Tim Grubb
     
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  2. minden1759

    minden1759 Senior Member

    Tim.

    Do you know if he made it all the way with the Battalion to Monte Cassino?

    Regards

    FdeP
     
  3. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    I've moved your thread to the 1940 section of the forum so that Andy will be able to see it as he will have the war diary.
    welcome to the forum & good luck with your research.
     
  4. tgrubb

    tgrubb Junior Member

    Hi FdeP and Owen
    Thanks for the responses. He was, I think, wounded in Italy supposedly (according family legend) after being shot in the posterior by an Italian farmer whilst stealing chickens! I have his service record summary which I will post later when I have access to something other than a kindle. He stayed in after the war and retired as a ?major. My dad remembers very fondly being waited on in the mess at Shorncliffe because he was the sergeant major`s nephew.
    Cheers
    Tim
     
  5. tgrubb

    tgrubb Junior Member

    Hi
    Here is John Grubb's MOD information as transcribed by his brother. Any further information on the content of the Dunkirk war diaries would be greatly appreciated.
    Cheers
    Tim
    Born 12/01/1919 10 Lavernder Grove,Stepney Mothers sister rose house
    Conscription 20/10/1939 Royal West Kent Regt Private
    BEF 1940 France Private Defence Medal
    Dunkirk 1941 Return to UK C S M
    Disharge 08/02/1941
    Re-enlistment 08/02/1941 6 R W K
    1st Army North Africa Tunisa A/Sgt Africa Star & Clasp
    Ist Army 30/11/42 North Africa Sgt Wounded In Action
    CMF 16/12/1943 Italy WO2 Battle Casualty Italy Star
    MELF 04/09/1945 Austria WO2 MELF Comendation
    Cyrenica
    Shorncliffe 1948 U K RQMS
    Malaya 1951-1954
    BAOR Luneburg RSM
    M B E 1956 Buckingham Palace M B E
    U K 1956 Old Park Barracks Dover
    Egypt 02/11/1956 Sailed for Suez
    Cyprus 25/11/1956 Sailed for Cyprus
    Cyprus 1956-1959 Transport Officer Cpt
    U K 1960 Tonbridge Q M T A Bn
    UK 1968 Nottingham Major O C T U ( Universiry
    Died 31/01/1974 Nottingham Ashes interned Shornclife
     
  6. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    Andy will add info about the war diaries when he gets back to his computer.
    He's away from it t the moment.
    He knows about this thread , we were texting last night.
     
  7. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Hi

    We have a potential problem. The 6 RWK's main party disembarked from Cherbourg and landed at Southampton. The MTO's party Captain Nixon left France from Boulogne. Reading the war diary it shows over 500 ORs were taken prisoner including the RSM and 5 CSMs. In short they were not at Dunkirk or near it as a fighting unit.

    Does his records state he arrived back in the UK in 1941?
     
  8. tgrubb

    tgrubb Junior Member

    HI Drew
    The family 'history' states he hid under a boat at Dunkirk. I also have a handwritten list titled 'CRAB Stations' which has:
    12.4.40 - France - HQ COY - 6 RWK
    -.5.40 - Maidstone Kent (Drill Hall) - Remains of 6 RWK - Dunkirk
    -.6.40 - Wark Nr Newcastle - Formed 6 RWK

    Clearly both of these could be wrong - I'm guessing Dunkirk became a generalised embarkation point.

    Any pointers would be gratefully received.

    Cheers
    Tim
     
  9. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Dunkirk is a bit of a general term. I use it myself at times for all things 1940 France for simplicity. I've even heard folk use it for D-Day 4 years later!

    Do you have photocopies of his service records? I'm thinking the details above look like what the MoD used to type up for people. They send photocopies of the original docs now.
     
  10. tgrubb

    tgrubb Junior Member

    No I don't have his service record but I can ask his brother if he knows more. What I have is attached (hopefully).

    Do we know where HQ Coy got off?

    Tim
     

    Attached Files:

  11. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    I would definitely go for a copy of them then. They'll give you a fair bit more info and are well worth the £30 they cost.
     
  12. IKE26

    IKE26 Active Member

  13. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

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  14. chrisgrove

    chrisgrove Senior Member


    Yes, and its sequel The Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment 1951-1961, also by Lt Col H D Chaplin, in which John Grubb is mentioned several times.
     
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