I have my granddad's army record. I am hoping to get some help interpreting a small part of it. William Harry Jones 812378 He joined up in 31 to the Royal Regiment of Artillery and was in India until 39 and then was in the BEF in France I'm trying to work out what happened to him and where he was between landing in France on 21.10.39 and being evacuated from Dunkirk on 3.6.40. From what I can see he was in the 1st Heavy regiment 16th battery but am struggling with the details - particularly those on the left - I don't know what these mean and those relating to his rank. It's making it hard for me to take the next step and find out more details. Can anyone help? And if anyone knows what he may have been involved with, I'd love to hear from you Many thanks Karen
Here's a good place to start: http://www.ra39-45.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/hvy/index.html And this for the 8" Howitzer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BL_8-inch_howitzer_Mk_VI_%E2%80%93_VIII#World_War_II
Hi Karen, I don't know if you saw my post, but my grandfather was in 1st Heavy Regt RA (28 battery).He also joined the army in the early 1930's and was in India (Rawalpindhi - now Pakistan). What information do you have? Do you have photos? Personally, I don't have much. I know there is one photo somewhere within the family of my grandfather in India, but that is all. All the best.
Hi Karen Basic translation: Far left column - date of entry Far right column - date action took place 15/3/39 Posted to 1st Heavy Regt RA 3/7/39 Promoted & appointed to Temp/Lance/Sgt 3/8/39 CO reverts him to Bombardier 18/9/39 He requests to be demoted to Gunner 21/10/39 Proceeds overseas & appointed --- in charge 29/2/40 Appointed Unpaid Lance Bombardier 27/3/40 Leave till 9/4/40 4/6/40 Evacuated 17/6/40 posted to "Y" list (holding unit in waiting for posting) See JeanMic other thread for my summery of the regt etc Best Rob
Hi Jeanmic, I'm Karen's mum who wrote the original post about William Harry Jones 812378. She's had to move house a couple of times and now I've found the post and reminded her about it she's been unable to log on or open a new account for some reason. She thinks her grandfather may have been in Rawlpindhi as she remembers seeing photos of bungalows so she'll try and find out and get back to you on this. We have a few family photos and a couple of military ones as well. He told his sister that he stopped off in Gibraltar on the way back from India in Feb 1939 to fight in the Spanish Civil War but we have no proof of it. I've only just started looking through the information from the other replies on this post so I'll get back to you soon.
I've got a bit of free time on Monday and Tuesday so I'll look in the BEF war diary regarding his time in France. Cheers Andy
That's great thanks Andy. Also thanks to Phil and Rob for your input, I appreciate your help. Regards Val.
Coincidently I had scheduled a post today about some possible 1 Heavy Regiment images on my Facebook page: The France and Flanders Campaign 1940 | Facebook
This is a terrific coincidence. I was trying to find out about the 1st Heavy regiment in WW2 up to Dunkirk. My father was an 18 year old R.A.F. wireless operator (after Dunkirk all WOPs trained to be WOP/AGs and got temporary flight sergeant status. The day after he and his "classmates" completed their 6 month course, they were marched down to Aldershot station from Farnborough and sent off to Southampton and thence to France and Belgium. In my dad's case, he and his oppo on the course were sent to the 1st Heavy regiment in Belgium (? Ithink). I immediately came across this thread last night. I have my dad's last two log books and I went up to my bedroom, opened the post Dunkirk one and here is the result of the scan I took of the very last two pages. Bottom right hand corner
Hi Drew - not sure if youre still online as this was posted a few years ago. Many thanks for sharing - my Grandfather, Frederick Watts, was part of 1st Heavy Regiment and was evacuated around 1st June. Im trying to find out more details about him - do you have any more info you could share please?
Well, time flies and I only saw this post a few days ago, 4 years later! I can confirm that my Grandfather was also in Gibraltar. I believe there was garrison artillery there. I was told that my Grandmother went out to visit him, although I find that far-fetched. Regarding participation in the Spanish civil war, to my humble knowledge that doesn't sound right. The Sapnisih civil war would have been coming to an end when 1HA 28 battery was in Gibraltar, but regular UK troops did not take part, becuase the UK had a non-intervention policy.
Hi Anthony, I am just back from Dunkirk where I visited the beaches and the memorial museum. Thanks for the information about your father. Really interesting. The experts on this forum know more than me, but I understand that 1 HA was positioned on the Dyle river in Belgium in 1940. I don't think they fired a shot, but this is just my understanding of the whole thing.