76097 Lt George Vincent SIMSON, 7 Royal Tank Regiment: 20/05/1941

Can anyone help with information prior to the officer being killed on 20/05/1941 in Sudra Bay Greece
Thanks in advance

https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/937083/george-vincent-simson/
LIEUTENANT GEORGE VINCENT SIMSON
Service Number: 76097
Regiment & Unit: 7th Royal Tank Regiment, R.A.C.
Date of Death: 20 May 1941
Age 24 years old
Buried or commemorated at SUDA BAY WAR CEMETERY
Grave Reference: 13. D. 2.
Location: Greece
Additional Info
Son of Lt.-Col. George Henry Lindsay Simson and Catherine Comyn Simson, of St. Andrews, Fife; husband of Margaret Jean Simson. M.A. (St. Andrews). Winner of Awards in St. Andrews University Golf and Automobile Clubs, 1938-1939.
Personal Inscription
LOVED SON OF COLONEL AND MRS. SIMSON. HE DIED TO SAVE US FROM TYRANNY

 

Various spellings for the bay and naval anchorage in Crete: Souda Bay and Suda Bay. See: Souda Bay - Wikipedia

CWGC indicates he was re-buried @ Suda Bay 7/9/1945, from Rethymnon. See: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/f...ls/937083/george-vincent-simson/#&gid=2&pid=2

Service Number always helps! As others come here having found it here. His is: 76097 and he was with 7 RTR or 7th RTR.

The Service No. has not been here before your post.

In 2011 Andreas had the 7 RTR War Diaries, so you could ask him for them.

One 4 & 7 RTR history skips over Crete. From: 1941 – 1942

Some Matilda Infantry Tanks from 7 RTR were on Crete: Same tank, same name, same regiment - 2 census numbers? and in more detail: Missing-Lynx-Matilda on Crete question

There was an 'After The Battle' on the tanks. See a short thread: Matildas on Crete (ATB 175) and another: Australian first use of Matildas - Retimo, Crete.

Enough back to other stuff. Good luck.

 

From the index to the British Newspaper Archive (scan only so confirm to full article or other source)

1936 lived at Sillwood, Windmill Park Road, St Andrews.
June 1939 resident at 7 Playfair Terrace, St Andrews. Occupation an economist.
He was a graduate.
Son of Col George Henry Lindsay SIMSON & Mrs SIMSON of 3 Pilmour Links, St Andrews, Fife.
grandson of the late Henry Bruce SIMSON Indian Civil Service, of Brunton, Markinch, Fife.
married at Wool, Somerset 20 Sept 1939 to Margaret Jean PLANT.
Wounded in the early stages of the Libyan Campaign.
His wife gave birth to a son at Poulton-Le-Flyde, Lancs March 1941. He was a Lieutenant RTR by then.
Confirmed as killed June/July 1942.
Remembered on a war memorial dedicated in St Andrews 1949.
Results for 'george vincent simson' | British Newspaper Archive


Travers

EDIT: I now realise Wool is in Dorset. Newspaper report of the marriage was in a Somerset paper.

 

Inching on:

From: Then and Now: 1941-2018, a water well in a WW2 battlefield and “Gnome III”, one of the 9 Matilda IIs of the 7th Royal Tank Regiment’s B Squadron – WW2Wrecks.com and a little more: Then and Now: 1941 – 2018, the battle of Rethymno in Crete, by Andreas Sfakianakis – WW2Wrecks.com

There is a website (currently down) that refers to two Matilda tanks in the Rethymnon / Retimo sector. Probably taken from the Order of Battle in this book: Diggers and Greeks: The Australian Campaigns in Greece and Crete by Maria Hill, pub. 2010 and not currently available, though mixed reviews shown: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Diggers-Gr...146&linkCode=qs&qid=1709065997&s=books&sr=1-1

There is an online official history, which briefly mentions 7 RTR: IV: Retimo, Heraklion, and Creforce | NZETC (Probably the source for the above paragraph).

A 2009 thread elsewhere refers to a good Australian article on the Retimo action, the web link alas failed. See Post 6: Battle of Crete airfield question - Axis History Forum See: https://www.army.gov.au/about-us/history-and-research Not listed, so you'd have to ask them!

Wiki refers briefly to the tanks position: Battle of Rethymno - Wikipedia

Finally he was the only death from 7 RTR on Crete, using CWGC.

 

From the Casualty Lists reported to the War Office 19/20 December 1940 for Egypt.



https://www.ancestry.co.uk/discover...95e58a6f0&_phsrc=wqA14&_phstart=successSource

Entry in the London Gazette (Commission ?)
ROYAL TANK CORPS.
George Vincent SIMSON (late Cadet Lce.- Corpl., Glenalmond (Trinity Coll.) Contgt., O.T.C.).
Page 3978 | Issue 34523, 21 June 1938 | London Gaze...

 

Entry in the Red Book of Scotland


https://www.ancestry.co.uk/discoveryui-content/view/56506:62525

 

Simson's son was George Henry Lindsay Simson; alas so far only a Lincolnshire 1943 Probate entry found on a genealogical website.

His wife - shown as Margaret Jean Plant Foulds - died 14/5/1993 (b. 26/5/1916) and is buried at Poulton New Cemetery, Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire.

 

It appears he was with the 3-tank detachment that 7 R.T.R. sent to Crete.



All the best

Andreas

 

Thank you. I really appreciate your knowledge and help. Jigsaw of memorial almost complete. About to post one last request to all you intelligent and helpful people