History 8th Battalion The Royal Scots 1939-1945

Discussion in 'British Army Units - Others' started by Joe Brown, May 21, 2012.

  1. Joe Brown

    Joe Brown WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Attached is a short history of the 8th Battalion The Royal Scots produced on the computer and which I enclose when replying to any request about the service of a family member.

    Joe Brown
     

    Attached Files:

  2. stevej

    stevej Junior Member

    Joe,
    Did you know a Pvte Ronald Jeffries ? He was in the 8th Bn Royal Scots from late June 1944 (brought in from a holding area) before he was badly wounded early Aug 1944.
     
  3. Joe Brown

    Joe Brown WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Dear Stevej,

    I was sorry to read about Ronald Jeffries. I was at that time serving with the 7th/9th RS and sadly did not know him but would like to know more about him. I am in contact with the small number of Veterans and one of them may have served in the same Company.

    The 8RS at the time he was wounded were heavily involved in the fierce fighting to break out of the Normandy bridgehead and being fiercely opposed with casualties high. He may have been wounded during the fighting around Caumont or Estry.

    If you can let me know what information you have, I will try and find out a bit more.

    Joe Brown.
     
  4. stevej

    stevej Junior Member

    Joe,
    Thanks so much for the reply. Ronald was my Dad (he died in 1962 as a delayed result of his wounds), I was far too young to have asked him anything ! I have some of his details, mostly war diaries info etc which I will get them over to you tomorrow

    Thanks,

    Steve
     
  5. Joe Brown

    Joe Brown WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Dear Steve,

    Deeply sadden by what you tell me. Let me know what you can about your Dad.

    Joe
     
  6. stevej

    stevej Junior Member

    Joe,
    My Dad’s details below :
    Conscripted May 1943 – posted to 70 Primary Training Wing July
    Transferred to King’s Shropshire Light Infantry Aug 1943
    Posted to 2nd Bn Herefordshire regiment Nov 1943
    Posted to 21 Refit Depot, 21 Army Group 24th June 1944, followed by posting to 41 Regimental Holding Unit – no date given
    Transferred to the Royal Scots 8th Bn 1st July – from this point I have the daily war diaries so I think know where Dad was on a daily basis up to the point where he was wounded near Estry on either 11th or 13th Aug (the war diary shows one wounded on the 11th & three on the the 13th. His medical records show he was picked up by a field ambulance on 13th Aug but the family story is that he was not retrieved for 24hrs, so I suppose he could have been wounded on 11th Aug)
    He was evacuated to the UK 20th Aug
    The things I don’t know are :
    When would he have been transferred to France ? Obviously sometime between 24th June & 1st Aug
    The family story is that Dad was promoted to corporal as a battlefield commission but there is no note of this on his records – would this be possible?
    I believe he was a bren gunner – again this is a family story
    Thanks again for your interest. Even if you can’t help it’s a genuine pleasure to have corresponded with you.
    Steve
     
  7. Joe Brown

    Joe Brown WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Dear Steve,

    Thanks for setting out your Dad's Record of Service. It made me feel fortunate that I spent most of my time with people I grew up with having enlisted in the Territorial Army when a new local Battalion was reformed and in which my Dad had served during the Great War. It was only when I was commissioned early in 1943 that I served side-by-side with 'strangers', first doing so at the preliminary training camp and then at OCTU.

    Let me say that the 8th RS were a fine Battalion and although I did not know the young officers that joined after I left, I knew the Company Commanders and the senior captains and NCOs extremely well and they were good men, good leaders and treasured the men they had under their command. It was the way we were trained in the early, uncertain years of the War. We anticipated in those early years we would have to fight on our own soil and we ceased to be civilian soldiers and became as professional as we could be in our ability to be ready to face and defeat the Germans.

    I will text someone who was extremly helpful to me about dates and details about my three brothers when they had to fight their way back through Dunkirk and will ask for his help to try and find the embarkation date of your Dad. It would be very helpful to know his Army Number, when we research between the 24 June and 11 August.

    It would be entirely possible he was promoted either to Lance-Corporal or Corporal but it would have had to be recorded by the Battalion Orderly Room, even in the midst of battle. Unfortunately the former Orderly Room Sergeant who knew everything about Battalion personnel died just about a year ago, as he would undoubtedly have been the chap who was likely to remember. However, if he held that rank it should have been on his medical evacution notes; as it was not, it therefore seems unlikely.

    A rifle section would be commanded by a Corporal and there would be a Lance-Corporal as second-in-command. There was one Bren Gun in each Section and the Lance-Corporal would take charge of it along with a Bren Gunner and someone who assisted the Bren Gunner. Being a Bren Gunner meant your Dad would operate in that small team of three. There is a strong likelihood he may, in the midst of battle, been told to take charge of the Bren Group? However, I can assure you that the job of Bren Gunner was always given to a good shot and someone with initiative and plenty of savvy to operate under great pressure either during defence or in a skirmish or an attack.

    Steve, if you know your Dad's Army Number, please let me know and will try and find out when he arrived in the Normandy bridgehead.

    Meantime, send regards and thanks for letting me know about this Royal Scot who served with our 8th Battalion. I chair the few remaining Veterans and will certainly ask around but memories are fading: faces we can remember and they are always young, but names often eludes us!

    Joe
     
  8. stevej

    stevej Junior Member

    Joe,
    Thanks for this - I am sure that Dad was a bren gunner (or at least attached in some way), though all his papers, even his discharge certificate, refer to him as as a private.
    His army number was : 14654808
    Thanks again,

    Steve
     
  9. stevej

    stevej Junior Member

    Hello again Joe,
    I hope you are keeping well. I've a further question for you - is there any way of finding out which company within 8RS my father would have been in?
    I'm on holiday in Normandy in just over a weeks time so I'm planning to visit as many of the battlefield areas as I can.
    Thanks again,

    Steve
     
  10. Joe Brown

    Joe Brown WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Dear Steve,

    I am now in France! Spending time with my daughter and son-in-law in the Aveyron. Weather superb and great to have breakfast outside! Hope you have an enjoyable as well as an interesting time following in the footsteps of your Dad.

    I have asked several 8RS Veterans but they could not help. It is difficult to recall names
    After so many , many years. I would like to contact others but my generation aren't users of the Internet and it is not so easy to get in touch.

    So far failed to find out more about the Refit Depot or the Holding Unit, but have an excellent document on the 21st Army Group which
    I have scanned but not had time to read the document in detail : it may help.

    Typing this on a sun-drenched terrace, not very well as I am fighting the sun reflecting on my iPad screen ... Enjoying being very lazy.

    We must keep in touch and pleased if you let me know about your visit to Normandy. I know you have a copy of the 8RS War Diary and hope that guides you well.

    Kind regards,

    Joe Brown.
     
  11. stevej

    stevej Junior Member

    Thanks Joe,
    Make sure you keep the French weather nice for my visit !
    All the best
    Steve
     
  12. Hannawicks

    Hannawicks New Member

    Corporal Joseph Flanagan 6979266
     
  13. Hannawicks

    Hannawicks New Member

    Does anyone have information on Cpl Joseph Flanagan service number 6979266? He was my grandfather and fell 15/09/44. I proudly wear a poppy tattoo commemorating his sacrifice and that of every young man who fell in this terrible war.
     
  14. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    Hi Hannawicks

    Welcome

    I would suggest the best place to start would be to obtain a copy of his service records - link - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/requests-for-personal-data-and-service-records#how-to-apply-for-service-personnel-records Once you have these start a new thread solely for him that way all the information for him will be kept in one thread.

    The other reason is that this thread is quite 'old' and our member Joe Brown passed away last year.

    TD

    Edited to add:
    Name: Joseph Flanagan
    Given Initials: J
    Rank: Corporal
    Death Date: 15 Sep 1944
    Number: 6979266
    Birth Place: Eire
    Residence: Liverpool
    Regiment at Enlistment: Royal Irish Fusiliers (Princess Victoria’s)
    Branch at Enlistment: Infantry
    Theatre of War: Western Europe Campaign, 1944/45
    Regiment at Death: Royal Scots (Royal Regiment)
    Branch at Death: Infantry
     
  15. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    Post deleted


    TD
     
  16. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

  17. idler

    idler GeneralList

    TD,

    Unless I'm missing something, I think your error is erroneous: Royal Scots aren't Scots Guards, so it would be the normal MoD records office.
     
  18. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    You could well be right there - I always mix that bit of info up - I will delete that post

    TD
     
  19. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    From the battalion war diary

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    Owen likes this.
  20. apster

    apster New Member

    I am looking for any information on the war service of 14584697 Private Peter Gilding, 8th Battalion Royal Scots. Killed 26th June 1944 age 19 and buried in St.Manvieu war cemetery, Cheux, Normandy.
    Thanks
     

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