Hi, I am new to this forum and am hoping to get some information on my now deceased father especially from the 27/4/40 to 26/6/40 with the BEF and Dunkirk. Like most fathers of that era he did not like to talk about his wartime experience but I can recall him telling me he landed just before dawn in a glider and I have a second hand story of his Captain finding a cache of champagne and brandy the night before they were scheduled to leave Dunkirk and due to their hangovers they missed the boat the next day which was sunk ( might have been the Lancastria) and ended up getting on a small fishing boat to escape over the Channel. I know nothing of where he was, from the day he arrived to the day he left and would appreciate any assistance to fill in the gaps. Thanks in anticipation, Mal Stevens
Hello Mal, Welcome to the forum. 73 LAA Bty were part of 23 Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment. The regiment arrived in Ceylon from the UK on the 1st July 1942, moving to India 31st March 1944. (Source: Orders of Battle – Joslen) No mention of the regiment being in France in 1940. Are you sure of the Battery? Richard
Mal, Welcome aboard. A PM with research tips will come soon. You need to apply for your late father's service record, even if for the army there is a long wait. If you have more information please add that to help the experts here and to stop duplication. This source shows the history of the 73 / 73rd Light AA Battery: 23 Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment RA(TA) - The Royal Artillery 1939-45 Gliders were used by the British and US forces in the landings in Sicily in July 1943 and the June 1944 D-day landings in Normandy. See: Military glider - Wikipedia . Tthe Lancastria did not leave from Dunkirk. See: RMS Lancastria - Wikipedia
Mal When the BEF were in France, 23 LAA Rgt were with 65 AA Brigade in Southampton. Definitely not in France. The incident with the glider might refer to sometime after February 1945 when the Regiment had become 23 Parachute LAA/A-Tk Rgt in India. As an airborne unit it is quite possible the guns were landed by glider. Derek
Welcome Mal, you really do need his official service records as suggested above, or else risk researching the wrong unit, only available from one place Requests for personal data and service records: a detailed guide - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) Do you have a service number, what was his full name?
Hi Mal I could be wrong but I do not believe gliders were used by the BEF as I think they became operational later in the war. Also many ships sank during the evacuation of Dunkirk. But the Lancastria wasn't one of them. It sank off Saint-Nazaire. Hope this helps Gus
Firstly I want to say thanks to you all for your help. I did receive my fathers service record 20 years ago in photocopied format and although it is comprehensive it does not give locations and it seems he must have moved around quite a bit as many different Battery No’s are mentioned.I have tried to add some screenshots of photos of his records to include in this post but am having no luck at the moment as it seems photos cannot be downloaded. I will try to find a way to download them. In the meantime I do have his service No.1535632 and documentation of him being awarded his BEM. He was posted to the BEF and disembarked into France on the 27/4/40. Then there is mention of posting to IG B.D. ( ?) and 73 AA on 11/5/40 signed off by by a major commanding 535AA . I have been living in Australia since 1968 so it is difficult for me to physically follow up his history but I do appreciate all of your assistance
73 AA was a Heavy AA Regiment that was in France with the BEF. At that time they were known as Anti-Aircraft Regiments. The "Heavy" was added a little later when Light AA Regiments were formed. For brief details of 73 HAA see their page on my site. 73 HAA Regt
Tony, Derek, Gus , David and Richard, Thank you all once again for your advice and information. I can see now that I might have confused information and that my fathers account of landing by glider might have occurred later in the war. I seem to recall he said he landed in a field in Belgium. He was a driver and mechanic and I can remember him mentioning Matador trucks and I even went for a drive in one with him at the age of 3 when he was demobbed at Arrowe Park on the Wirral peninsula. I think I might have solved the upload file hurdle so here goes:-
