Help Required Royal Nothumberland Fusiliers deployment information

I would be very grateful if any of you would be able to supply any service / deployment history i.r.o my Uncle.

I have the following information taken from his soldiers release book (Army Book X801), Record of Service card (W5258) and Paybook.

Name: Joseph Davidson
Army Number: 4277471
membership number on paybook 7784520
Enlisted at: Newcastle
Date of enlistment: 24/07/1940 to 26/02/1946
Rank: Fusilier
Arm of Service: - Infantry
Regiment: Royal Nothumberland Fusiliers
Unit: 2nd Independant Machine Gun Company

There is also a thankyou card from BL Montgomery Field Marshall metioning the 21st Army Group BAOR 1946

 

No.2 Independent MG Coy formerly part of 4th Battalion RNF. No.2 Coy was part of 11 Armd Div.

For further info I would recommend either the regimental history by Barclay where the above info came from or the units war diaries which are held at the National Archives. Give me a shout if you are interested/want the company war diaries.

Cheers
Andy

 

Welcome to the forum Stokell - enjoy!

This is from memory, so I will confirm later when back home…

The 2nd Independent MGC was one of three which were formed out of what was salvaged from the 50th Recce Regiment, which itself had previously been the 4th Bn Royal Northumberland Fusiliers.

The 4RNF had been the Recce battalion of the 50th (Northumbrian) Division and fought in Flanders with the BEF. It then morphed into 50th Recce and stayed with 50 Div when they were sent to N Africa in April 1941. However, they were then transferred to the 22nd Armoured Brigade in November 1941, where they took part in the ill-fated Gazala/Knightsbridge battles of late May to early-June 1942 and were overrun; their CO - Lt.Col. E.P.A. des Graz – being killed in action on 6 June 1942.

It looked like the 4RNF would be struck from the Nominal Roll and the survivors dispersed to other units, but following representations from some of its Officers the Army allowed it to retrain as an MG Battalion – the three Companies seeing service as Independent MGC’s in NW Europe with the Armoured Divisions; I know one was with the 7th Armoured Division (The Desert Rats) and another with the Guards Armoured Division.

I will confirm the 2nd Independent MGC deployment and reading material for you this evening.

Best,

Steve.

 

With the dispersion of the 4th Bn RNF during the winter of 1943/44, Z Group as it was known then and later renamed No.2 MG Coy were mainly in Yorkshire and moved to Aldershot at the end of March. They then moved to London and embarked on LST 307 at Victoria Docks on 12th June and reached Normandy on the 14th. The troops landed at Arromaches (area) the following morning.

 

Hello again, Stokell,

The book Andy (and I) refer to is 'The History Of the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers in the Second World War' (CN Barclay). The 2nd Independent MGC was part of the 159th Brigade, 11th Armoured Division, from circa early 1944. There are about 15 pages in this battalion history devoted to this Company, either generally or specifically. There is no indexed mention of your uncle in the book.

Interestingly, your uncle's service number is from the Royal Northumberland Fusilier block of numbers and given that he enlisted on 24 July 1940, he must have had service with the RNF before the creation of the Independent MGC's. He would have missed service with the BEF, but may well have been with the 4RNF and then 50th Recce - the latter in N Africa; or indeed, one of the other RNF battalions. In the round, I don't think you will find out all about your uncle's war by just looking into the 2nd Independent MGC and you will almost certainly need his full service records to find out about his journey/units.

Have you got his full service records?

Once you know his service history (journey/units), the aforementioned book will give you a general description of the actions he was involved in and if you wish to delve further, Andy is one of our members who can obtain War Diary information - see his link (red) at the bottom of Message #2.

If you need the link to the MOD for service records, let me/us know!

If you want quotes from the aforementioned book, again let me/us know!

Best,

Steve.

 

Iam trying to trace my Uncles WW2 Campain history with a view to knowing what campain stars he would have been entitled to.

He died in 1988 and my grandma said as far as she was aware her brother on return from Germany in Febuary 1946 never did claim his medals.

His Army Form W5258 Record of Service states his Regt./Corps was RNF from 24/07/40 to 26/02/1946.

The details from his Paybook and Soldiers Release Book Class A are as follows:

Name: Jospeh Davidson
DOB: 01/10/11
Army Number: 4277471
Rank: Fusilier
Arm of Service: Infantry
Unit: 2nd Ind Machine Gun Company Northumberland Fusiliers
Date of Enlistment: 24/07/1940

There is also a signed message of thanks from B L Montgomery Field Marshall Commannder in Chief indicating he was in the 21st Army Group when he left service.

Any help or pointers from you would be appreciated.

 

The 4th Battalion, Royal Northumberland Fusiliers was then placed into suspended animation on April 25th, 1944 and the personnel were used to form three independent machine-gun companies. No. 1 Independent M-G Company served under Guards Armoured Division from March 24th, 1944, No. 2 served under 11th Armoured Division from March 18th, 1944 and No. 3 served under 7th Armoured Division in Northwest Europe from February 1st, 1944. All served until the end of the war with these divisions.

 

Grrrrr just posted loads of stuff and its disappeared ! :mad111:

I even 'copy' it incase it didn't post and that's disappeared too!

Anyway I have the Regts history if you want something specific looking up and let me know if you want copies of the units war diaries listed above by Owen.

Good luck
Andy

 

*
I thought I remebered seeing this name before... http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/37069-help-required-rnf-depolyment-information/?hl=4277471

If he was with the 4th Bn RNF throughout, he would have been entitled to North Africa with 8th Army Clasp and France & Germany Stars.

His medal entitlement should be stated on his Service Record.

Best,

Steve.

 

Sorry I`m confused is this a duplicate post/question or has the original somehow been reanimated with new dates when the forum changed????

http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/37069-help-required-rnf-depolyment-information/


Confused

Kyle :frown:

 

*
Isn't that what I said at Message # 7?!

 

I applied for my Father's medals in 2006 - 60 years after he was de-mobbed, and 14 years after his death.

The process involved simply making a request via ...

Armed Forces Personnel Administration Agency
(Joint Personnel Administration Centre)
Ministry of Defence Medal Office
Building 250
Royal Air Force Innsworth
Gloucester GL3 1HW

... the query led to a need to have a Certificate of Kinship to be completed which effectively passed my Mother's rights to apply for the medals, as Next of Kin, to me.

... in addition I had to supply my Father's Death Certificate.

Finally, the appropriate medals were issued directly to me - new issue - apparently there are still something like 60,000 applications of the type every year.

There was a complication of a Mention in Dispatches which I identified by searching my Dad's surname in back issues of The London Gazette online - then I applied for that to be issued too.

It's a simple, efficient process, and the Ministry of Defence Medal Office were just brilliant.

Good Luck,
Ted