78th Division - Capture of Longstop, 22 - 26 April 1943

Discussion in 'Higher Formations' started by Gerry Chester, Mar 11, 2008.

  1. RickGlanvill

    RickGlanvill Junior Member

    Welcome to the forum Rick. My father also served with the 78th Div. Have you any photos you would like to post?

    Note to mods: do you think this should be moved to the 78th British Div (Battleaxe )thread?

    Lesley

    My mother may have. I’ll ask her. Happy for the post to be moved to the best home.

    Rick
     
  2. Battleaxe78

    Battleaxe78 New Member

    Hello All

    My Father Bertie Hemsworth was a Sargent in the Royal West Kent regiment and part of the 78th Divison serving right through from 1939 to the end.

    My brother has various photos and i have an original copy of the "The Road Home" which is a booklet that appers to have been issued as guidance to those taking the overland route home from Austria to England. Not certain if this is of interset but would be happy to scan and add if so - please let em know.

    He was not one to talk about his experinces but i know that some nights when my brother came home late they would sit and talk with him telling some stories, some funny some not but I believe that the Gaums? would feature in some of these. My hope is to get my Brother to write these down and again if of intertset perhaps they can be shared here.

    Alan
     
    Paul Reed likes this.
  3. Recce_Mitch

    Recce_Mitch Very Senior Member

    Welcome to the forum Alan. Of course we would be interested, post away.

    Cheers
    Paul
     
  4. Ron Goldstein

    Ron Goldstein WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Alan

    There has been much written about the Guams on this site but new material is always welcome.

    As Paul says, post away !

    Ron
     
  5. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    It's spelt Goums . ;)
     
  6. minden1759

    minden1759 Senior Member

    Alan.

    If you were not aware, your father would have been in 6 RWK at Monte Cassino and his Commanding Officer at the time was Paul Bryan who went on to become an MP. 6 RWK took over from 1/4 Essex in The Castle during the Third Battle and had a really tough time.

    Regards

    FdeP
     
  7. Ron Goldstein

    Ron Goldstein WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Owen

    Of course it is !

    Having said that, I went back to a posting on the BBC site which told of my first meeting with these colourful characters and I see that I spelt their name wrong way back then !

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/54/a3757854.shtml

    No problem................

    I can always rely on Owen to put me right :)

    Ron
     
  8. RickGlanvill

    RickGlanvill Junior Member

    For family reasons it has taken me too long to return and post on this forum. A quick recap: my grandfather, Percy Horace Boddington, was a corporal/sergeant RAOC driver with the 78th. I now have his service record – and the medals he was too upset to collect. I did note he was on leave during the time of the Cairo riots, and have no idea whether he was involved. It would have been very out of character if so, but he did temporarily lose his acting sergeant status shortly after those events. The pitiful scenes he witnessed in Italy – especially of human remains and what he considered the butchery of generals’ tactics – left indelible scars on him, and my mother said he returned a different man. But he had a few more tender memories of being with the CMF. He talked about getting out early to buy hen eggs in a local village. And he kept an edelweiss flower in his service wallet. If anyone has any interest in his service record let me know and I will share. Cheers
     
  9. Ron Goldstein

    Ron Goldstein WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Rick

    A suggestion ?

    Post your grandfather's records to the Photo Gallery then you can always add a link to them to cover any query you wish to make .

    Click on my avatar and have a look at my own Gallery and you will see what a convenient storage place the Gallery can become.

    As far as the Cairo riots were concerned, any participants that I ever knew always considered their involvement as a badge of honour

    Best regards from a former 78 Div chap who was completely understanding of the cause of the riots at the time in question.

    Ron
     
    4jonboy likes this.

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