1st Bn Royal Sussex Regiment

Discussion in 'British Army Units - Others' started by Paul Reed, Feb 19, 2004.

  1. Melchy

    Melchy Junior Member

    Glad you liked it. I'm not sure when he joined up but I'm pretty sure he was in N Africa, and then Italy. Wounded at Cassino and finished off as an officer's batman after he recovered. We know he visited 'his' officer regularly after the war but don't know who he was.
    here's a few more pictures, most have no details of when/where but the few that do I have written below.

    cheers
    Stuart/Melchy

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    "1st Bn Royal Sussex Regt vs Greek Army May 1945"

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    "my mate Johhny Reed, Kavalla 10/04/1945"


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  2. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Fantastic!

    Something that always amuses me is the randomness of their berets.

    Brilliant,
    Andy
     
    Mark Cook likes this.
  3. Paul Reed

    Paul Reed Ubique

    These are great photos - thanks for posting them.
     
  4. Ken Smith

    Ken Smith WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Hi Paul, Ken Smith (DCLI) here. Was in the Royal Sussex Reg in 1943, armoured div with a "PANDA" head on the insigna, cannot remember the number. The div was broken up some weeks before D Day and we were scattered to various regiments. I was given a Leicestershire Reg. hat badge, never saw the regiment. Eventually posted to the DCLI. Proberbly not of interest but there! Regards, Ken.
     
  5. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

  6. Paul Reed

    Paul Reed Ubique

    Thanks for that Ken - I remember you saying you were briefly with the Royal Sussex.
     
  7. Nigebe

    Nigebe Junior Member

    Have you tried 1st Bn The Royal Sussex Regt 3rd Bn The Queen's Regt I am also interested in this regiment as my late father was in it along with his brother from 1935-46, serving mostly in the middle east.

    I have posted a couple of photo's on this site regarding him,and put some others here for you. My late father was ....307 Cpl Ernest Bean he served with B Company 1st Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment from 18th Jan 1935 untill demobbed 23rd Dec 1946. From his pay book and what records I have he served at these locations over dates shown:

    Home: 18/01/35 untill 01/12/36
    Jerusalem: 02/12/36 untill 13/10/37
    Egypt: 14/10/37 untill 16/11/37
    Cyprus: 17/11/37 untill 15/12/38
    Egypt: 16/12/38 untill 06/11/43
    Home : 06/11/43 untill 25/03/46

    The rider on the white charger is my late uncle George who was taken POW at Dunkerk and served the rest of the war in I believe Stalag 8.


    Hope these details are of help to any one looking for information on The Royal Sussex Regiment, if any has any other info I would like to hear from them.
     

    Attached Files:

    Owen likes this.
  8. herosson

    herosson Baby Boomer

    Great pictures! I wonder how many of these men were survivors of Monte Cassino? The Sussex were the troops my Dad (2nd Battalion QOCH) went in to relieve at Point 593 during the 2nd Battle, I think.
     
  9. Nigebe

    Nigebe Junior Member

  10. Leslie Deacon

    Leslie Deacon Junior Member

    Here Les "the bat" Deacon
    ......I do the admin on : 1st Bn The Royal Sussex Regt 3rd Bn The Queen's Regt
    To all...Please visit us (multitudes of info on 40 pages)
    To MELCHY...I have identified some persons in your pics.
    To PAUL...I have now over 1000 strong photographic nominal roll of the Regiment.
    I think its time for us to compare some notes (with your agreement, of course!)
    To NIGEL...thanks for the plug ! and all you have done for us.
    To herosson........Its important not to forget the "Royal" when addressing a regiment.
    I was a member of the Royal Sussex Regiment from 1961 to 1973
    Good to be here, great site !
    best regards
    Les
     
  11. red ling

    red ling Member

    Hello,
    My father also served with !st Bat The Royal Sussex/4th Indians until Dec 1940 after Sisi Barani when the regiment was moved to Sudan and replaced by The Australians (seeThe First Victory by George Forty) There also is a good book by Major Roy Rees "Age Shall Not Weary Them" which is a good reference for the 1st Bat until 1946
    If you click on my Avatar I have 2 albums of my fathers photos that you may find interesting
     
  12. Melchy

    Melchy Junior Member

    I notice in some other threads that extracts of the war diaries are shown, is there a way of getting a copy of the whole diary for WW2 on cd(s) and if so does anyone know where from? I'm not sure where the original diaries are kept but I'd love to get the chance to read through them one day.

    Leslie, It'd be great to have a look but the link doesn't work anymore?
     
  13. PooleSimon

    PooleSimon Junior Member

    Hello all. I'm a complete novice to this, but am hoping someone on here may be able to help.

    My grandfather has recently been diagnosed with a serious illness. Before he passes, he would love to know more about his brothers, Cecil and Reginald Poole. Both served in the 1st Battalion Royal Sussex regiment. Cecil, he thinks, was possibly a bandmaster, and Reginald may have been an RSM. There ia also a possibility that his other brother Joseph Poole may have served.

    They all would have served between 1935 and around 1945.

    I would be most grateful if you could point me to the best place to find out more about them.
     
  14. minden1759

    minden1759 Senior Member

    Simon.

    If you were not aware, 1 R SUSSEX were part of 7 Indian Infantry Brigade, 4 Indian Infantry Division at Monte Cassino during the Second Battle which included the bombing of the Monastery.

    Regards

    FdeP
     
    Cassino1944 likes this.
  15. dada49nz

    dada49nz New Member

    Hi all
    My Dad was Len Smitherman he was in The 1 R Sussex, he was at Cassino and 'Stuart/Melchy' he is in one of your photos, the 4th one down in the middle!
    Regards Dawn
     
  16. gmyles

    gmyles Senior Member

    Hi

    I am just finishing off some work on OP KELSO, the British landings at SALONIKA on 7th November 1944. The Order of Battle was:

    Reconnaisance Force (SCRUMFORCE)

    Detachment SBS
    Detachment LDRG
    Detachment 9 CDo
    Detachment RSR

    Pre-Assault Force (FLYFORCE)

    HQ FLYFORCE
    Detachment of 9 Commando
    1 x Medium Machine Gun Section
    1 x Section, Raiding Support Regiment
    Detachment, 579 Army Field Company, Royal Engineers.

    Assaullt Force (SCRUMFORCE)

    9 Commando
    RSR
    579 Army Field Company, Royal Engineers

    Occupation Force From Greece (KELFORCE)

    HQ 2nd Independent Parachute Brigade (2 Para Bde)
    2 Para Bde Signals Company
    5th Parachute Battalion
    300th Anti-Tank Battery, Royal Artillery
    2nd Parachute Squadron, Royal Engineers
    127th Parachute Field Ambulance
    751th Company, Royal Army Service Corps (RASC)
    2 Para Bde REME Workshops
    1st Independent Parachute Platoon
    2 Para Bde Provost Unit
    2 Para Bde Postal Unit
    2924 Squadron, RAF Regiment
    Detachment, Security Intelligence Middle East (SIME)
    Detachment, 3rd Forward Observation Unit (FOU)
    Detachment, Field Survey Section, Royal Engineers
    Detachment, 3rd Corps Movement & Transport
    Detachment, Army Film & Photographic Unit (AFPU)
    Detachment, Inter-Service Liaison Department (ISLD) (the cover name for MI-6)
    Detachment, Allied Military Liaison (Greece), AML(G)
    Document Section
    Press

    Occupation Force From Italy (KELFORCE)

    1st Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
    12th Field Company, Royal Engineers
    992 Docks Operating Coy, Royal Engineers
    7th Indian Infantry Brigade Transport Company, Royal Indian Army Service Corps
    Bomb Disposal Section
    Detachment, 4th Indian Infantry Division Signals
    Detachment, 4th Indian Infantry Division Provost Company
    Detachment, 2nd Battalion, 11th Sikh Regiment

    The troops from ITALY departed TARANTO on 2nd November 1944, on board SS Samfleet and 6 smaller vessels.

    Mission was to secure and hold the city until relieved by 7th Indian Infantry Brigade (GLISSFORCE).

    Hope this helps

    Gus
     
  17. Ianelkins

    Ianelkins Member

    My great grandad got promoted to captain of the 1st battalion towards the end of the war. Iv got loads of this stuff which is taking forever to sort through.
     
  18. Les Newman

    Les Newman Junior Member

    I joined the 1st Bn Royal Sussex Regt. in Italy November 1945, I was batman to Lt Peter Wyndham. He was
    appointed an Observer on the Greek elections in 1946, I also went with him as Driver-batman,and a Greek
    interpeter joined us in Salonika,our job was to make an inventory of residents in various Villages.this job was to
    take us about 3 months when after we returned to our unit,and from Trieste we left for Palestine,where in 1948
    I was demobbed under group no.64 after serving 3 years.
     
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  19. harrops3

    harrops3 New Member

    Hello Stuart/Melchy (& Paul & all)

    I've finally acquired my (deceased) Grandad's WWII Service record and learned he was part of both the 1st and 2nd Royal Sussex between 1944-1947 - and was flabbergasted to see an almost identical photo posted here as we have within the little pile of pics we inherited... if i can fathom how to upload/share them in the forum i will. I'm guessing my grandad/Melchy's grandad might have been in same company judging by the pics.

    My Grandad was Robert 'Bobby' Harrop (Service No. 14635357) - & transferred (from RWK) to 1st R.Sx on 15-Sep-44 (CMF), and then to 2nd R.Sx. (CMF) 31-Dec-46... and stayed with them until transferred back to PTC Chichester 20-May-47.

    Other than the cryptic service record, and vague notes as to 'Italy' and 'Malta' on the pics - we don't know what he did ... can anyone recommend good sources for Btn. histories?

    thankyou for sharing your pics and info here -
    best regards to all
    Martin



     
    Drew5233 likes this.
  20. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    Martin,

    Which battalion of RWK?
    I may be able to help with some paperwork.
     

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