Hi My dad and I are very keen to go see if we can find out some more information about his uncle, my great uncle, John Grubb who was in the 6th Battalion Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment. My dad is especially interested in John's escape from Dunkirk and I wondered if anyone could advise whether, generally, the war diaries from this period would shed any light on his movements. Before we converge on Kew for the day I would welcome advice on whether others have found that the situation was so confused and chaotic that the diaries hold little information. If it helps he was in HQ Company. Thanks Tim Grubb
I've moved your thread to the 1940 section of the forum so that Andy will be able to see it as he will have the war diary. welcome to the forum & good luck with your research.
Hi FdeP and Owen Thanks for the responses. He was, I think, wounded in Italy supposedly (according family legend) after being shot in the posterior by an Italian farmer whilst stealing chickens! I have his service record summary which I will post later when I have access to something other than a kindle. He stayed in after the war and retired as a ?major. My dad remembers very fondly being waited on in the mess at Shorncliffe because he was the sergeant major`s nephew. Cheers Tim
Hi Here is John Grubb's MOD information as transcribed by his brother. Any further information on the content of the Dunkirk war diaries would be greatly appreciated. Cheers Tim Born 12/01/1919 10 Lavernder Grove,Stepney Mothers sister rose house Conscription 20/10/1939 Royal West Kent Regt Private BEF 1940 France Private Defence Medal Dunkirk 1941 Return to UK C S M Disharge 08/02/1941 Re-enlistment 08/02/1941 6 R W K 1st Army North Africa Tunisa A/Sgt Africa Star & Clasp Ist Army 30/11/42 North Africa Sgt Wounded In Action CMF 16/12/1943 Italy WO2 Battle Casualty Italy Star MELF 04/09/1945 Austria WO2 MELF Comendation Cyrenica Shorncliffe 1948 U K RQMS Malaya 1951-1954 BAOR Luneburg RSM M B E 1956 Buckingham Palace M B E U K 1956 Old Park Barracks Dover Egypt 02/11/1956 Sailed for Suez Cyprus 25/11/1956 Sailed for Cyprus Cyprus 1956-1959 Transport Officer Cpt U K 1960 Tonbridge Q M T A Bn UK 1968 Nottingham Major O C T U ( Universiry Died 31/01/1974 Nottingham Ashes interned Shornclife
Andy will add info about the war diaries when he gets back to his computer. He's away from it t the moment. He knows about this thread , we were texting last night.
Hi We have a potential problem. The 6 RWK's main party disembarked from Cherbourg and landed at Southampton. The MTO's party Captain Nixon left France from Boulogne. Reading the war diary it shows over 500 ORs were taken prisoner including the RSM and 5 CSMs. In short they were not at Dunkirk or near it as a fighting unit. Does his records state he arrived back in the UK in 1941?
HI Drew The family 'history' states he hid under a boat at Dunkirk. I also have a handwritten list titled 'CRAB Stations' which has: 12.4.40 - France - HQ COY - 6 RWK -.5.40 - Maidstone Kent (Drill Hall) - Remains of 6 RWK - Dunkirk -.6.40 - Wark Nr Newcastle - Formed 6 RWK Clearly both of these could be wrong - I'm guessing Dunkirk became a generalised embarkation point. Any pointers would be gratefully received. Cheers Tim
Dunkirk is a bit of a general term. I use it myself at times for all things 1940 France for simplicity. I've even heard folk use it for D-Day 4 years later! Do you have photocopies of his service records? I'm thinking the details above look like what the MoD used to type up for people. They send photocopies of the original docs now.
No I don't have his service record but I can ask his brother if he knows more. What I have is attached (hopefully). Do we know where HQ Coy got off? Tim
I would definitely go for a copy of them then. They'll give you a fair bit more info and are well worth the £30 they cost.
Anyone has this book? THE QUEEN'S OWN ROYAL WEST KENT REGIMENT 1920-1950 Lieutenant-Colonel H D Chaplin
Yes, and its sequel The Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment 1951-1961, also by Lt Col H D Chaplin, in which John Grubb is mentioned several times.