Sam Bradshaw

Richard.

I have a lot of info on 6 RTR's time on the Gothic Line if your father was in B Sqn at the time.

Regards

Frank

 

Hi Richard, I am sorry to say my father had no diaries to my knowledge, most of his recollections were shared within the family simply in conversations in the the latter years of his life.
However, I know he did help various authors of historical books with his first hand accounts of battles and daily life within an armoured regiment.
I am sure there is a wealth of information available within ww2talk, members who can advise many sources of records such as regimental diaries. I myself have never served in the military but I do recall in the 90”s when my dad worked as a volunteer for SSAFA using regimental records to help loved ones discover more background information about their sons / fathers
I wish you luck Richard on your journey of discovery, there is a wealth of information out there, if nothing else the military love keeping records
Best wishes, Sam

 

Richard,

I searched using "6 RTR" site:ww2talk.com and it returned a number of threads - unsure if you just want those for North Africa. You can amend the content of ".." so "6 Royal Tank" may return different threads. You would have to check which ones help and then read them. If only B Squadron is sought use "6 RTR" or "6RTR" + "B Squadron".

See Post 427 for Drew obtaining their War Diaries (in part) in 2013, he may still have a copy - for a reasonable fee. See: Anyone require War Diaries or other files from the National Archives?

Good luck.

 

Thanks Sam, appreciated. I picked up your father's name in James Holland's book but I shall continue with my enquiries. Do you know any other authors he gave accounts to? Regards Richard

 

Thanks Frank. My father seems to have parted company with 6 RTR before they transferred to Italy, which I believe is where the Gothic Line was?
Regards
Richard

 

Thanks for this, David. I shall follow those leads. I actually already have the 6 RTR War Diary as well as my Dad's service record. I might try the Imperial War Museum for photographs - but I do find their website hard to follow.
Regards, Richard

 

Hi again Richard, I know of no other specific books that dad collaborated on.
He did help a retired US merchant naval officer, Jack Carney who intended to write a book about 300 Sherman tanks shipped to North Africa during the war that Jack was involved with as a young seaman. Dad and Jack became very good friends “across the pond”, however, I believe Jack’s book was never published and I know Jack died before my dad.
I see others have posted many other lines of enquiry for you to chase down
Good luck, Sam

 

Hi Richard, apologies for taking so long to reply to your enquiry, I have written an earlier reply but it appears it failed to be “posted “
Unfortunately I have no diaries or photos of dads covering the time of his war years, much of what I know was just passed on as stories during family gatherings.
A Google search will perhaps identify other books that dad shared his recollections with to help the author. I do know that dad made a really good friend of a retired US merchant naval officer, Jack Carney from Maine USA who was writing a book about 300 Sherman tanks that Jack delivered to North Africa as a young man in the early 1940’s. Jack passed away before dad. I’m not too sure if his manuscript made it to print
It has already been said that regimental diaries have a wealth of information and I’m sure this is the way to go
Good luck with your search Richard, of course the www will make things much easier.
Kind regards, Sam