I am trying to find out roughly where my uncle was when he was killed in Burma. His name is Pte. David Southwick 14629908, 2nd Battalion Worcestershire Regiment. He was 20yrs and died on the 5 June 1945. The regiment was fighting around a village Yeyaungma opposite to a feature called the Beetle between 51 - 53 miles map ref. I would love to find exactly where the Worcesters were and the nature of the battle. Apparently he was buried initially by the field hospital and later interred at the WGCC in Rangoon. If anyone has any information or knows of any War Diaries at the N.A. covering this time I would be grateful. Thank you Margaret
Hi Margaret I have the "History of the Worcestershire Regiment, 1922-1950". This places the 2nd Worcesters on the road between Meiktila and Kalaw at the end of May-early June 1945. On 6th May the battalion left Pywabwe and spent the night at Pyintha. By 12th May the battalion was at Nampandet where it was relieved by the 1/6th Gurkhas. One company was at Kyatsaken, six miles "back on the road to Hlaingdet". An attack was planned whereby the 1/6th Gurkhas would advance cross-country and cut the road at milestone 55, 9 miles beyond the foot of a feature known as "the Staircase". That same day a company of the 2nd Worcesters was to occupy the summit of a long ridge overlooking the road from the north at MS 53. The Gurkhas reached the road on 30th May while "A" company 2nd Worcesters headed for its objective known as "Beetle", overlooking the road at Yeyaungma. The company reached the southern end of the feature by the morning of 30th May. The subsequent attack by a battalion of Baluchs was a success. By 1st June the battalion was still at Nampandet with "A" Company in the area of MS 53 and another company at Wetpyue near MS 50. On 4th June the battalion led the brigade advance and reached MS 58 - about a mile or so from Kalaw. "B" Company came under heavy fire and suffered heavy casualties. For the next two days, the battalion held its positions and sent out patrols to the South. The war diary is at the National Archives - WO 172/7675
Hi Margaret, Just in case you have not looked for his CWGC details recently, here is the link. There are new documents in relation to David's burial at Taukkyan on the page which have only been added in the last week or so. http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2087868/SOUTHWICK,%20DAVID%20ARTHUR
Margaret, There are some missing in action reports for the 2nd Worcester's at the National Archives. The file reference is WO361/753, link here: http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C11603343 Although David was stated as killed in action, there might be other men lost on the 5th June or around that time, reports on their status may give you some more information about what was happening to the battalion at that time. Might be worth a look. Best wishes Steve
Thank you Rothy and Bamboo43 for your replies. I shall look into both these N.A. files to see if anymore information on uncle David's regiment around the time he died. Dad was in the R.A. during the war but was lucky and came home. Uncle David is particularly poignant because a) he was only jst 20yrs and b) he is so far that I could nopt afford to take mom & aunty (his sisters) to see where he is buried and aunty was always convinced they had left him in the jungle in his original grave. So i just want to honour his name and sacrifice. Margaret
