11422906 Gnr Thomas Pyper 128 Field regiment service record ( Help needed)

"Just two Dutch lasses that we liberated !" 128 Field Regt. RA.

Hello, I suppose you get lots of enquiries from folk asking about their Grandad's roll in the second world war . In my case other than a few words directly from family members when they were alive. I've nobody else left to ask ! I doubt Grandad would have told me much anyhow , but as I've got older I've realised that I'd like to know more about his time during the war which must have shaped the man he was in later life ( which as most of the family would agree was " A bad bugger ! " ) He drank, he fought , he got into trouble and he cared nowt for authority, I might add that he was also very funny even if he rarely smiled. I've recently received his service record and can see that he was a Gunner in the Royal Artillery and was sent to N.W.E. on the 8th June 1944 as part of the 21 AG in the 128 Field , he returned home ten months later on the 22 April 1945 and was admitted to a military hospitable suffering from " Shell shock " ( Disseminated sclerosis ) and 80 % deafness before been deemed permanently unfit for for military service . I realise now that the effect of all this must have had a great bearing on his behaviour in later life and it's only now that this is beginning to be properly understood. I'd really like to know how I could follow his journey through France , Belgium and Holland during this time to help me understand a little of his experiences . As I said previously , he didn't give a lot away but " Just two Dutch lasses ! " that we liberated " was how he described this photo to my Gran ! Any help would be appreciated .

 

Sorry , pressed the button too early , please see above for my full post !

 

Welcome aboard.

Please add your subject's full name and his Service Number.

The RA became a corps with a million plus members, so individuals rarely appear in online research - unless they got a medal, wounded and died.

I usually check whether a subject’s name or number have appeared here before.

As the subject is Royal Artillery others may post up his Tracer Card, which is available online (££ may be req’d).

Please post up the Service Record and the experts here may be able to help interpret the scrawl. See: How to Start a new Thread / Edit Post / Upload Image

If you search online with his unit(s) if known or later, so for example: "XXth Field Regiment" site:ww2talk.com that will identify a small number of threads mentioning them. If you drop the 'th' more will be found, some may be duplicates. At a glance most refer to D-day and beyond.

A summary for his unit is on this "go to" site (run by a member): 128 (Highland) Field Regiment RA (TA) - The Royal Artillery 1939-45 I note it was a Scottish TA regiment and served in North Africa before D-Day.

Searching the National Archives for the subject or unit(s) can identify those who were awarded honours / medals and the existence of War Diaries – which rarely mention individuals soldiers. They do give context and details of activity.

Some research tips next via PM and good luck.

 

Welcome to the “what did my grandad do in the war” gang, David. Many of us, like yours truly, on here start that way I’m sure - and then never leave!

I can see you’ve already had some great help, I’m sure once you provide some more details about your grandfather, and/or post his service record, you will receive a lot more.

Some other links you may be interested in:

128TH (HIGHLAND) FIELD REGIMENT R.A. | Account | 51st Highland Division Website

Account of Battles in Sicily Campaign from 128th Field Reg. R.A. | Account | 51st Highland Division Website

Action at Sferro Hills, Sicily, 1943 | 51st Highland Division

128 field regiment ra | WW2Talk

51st (Highland) Division - Wikipedia

 

Dave,

Your first post thread has been deleted.

I urge you to edit the thread title to: your subject's name, unit - help please. That will attract more attention hopefully.

Only you can do this. Go to the first post and in the lower left corner is 'edit' hit that and it will give you the option.

 

I've merged posts & edited thread title .

 

Thank you for all of this , service record to follow !

 

Thank you I will post service record as advised

 

Further to my initial post , I now include my Grandfather's service record. I think I've got my head around a fair bit of it, although some of the abbreviations still have me puzzled . I also think I have spotted a mistake which is unfortunate . On page 4, the military history sheet clearly shows his service of 319 days in N.W.E between 8.6.44 and 22.4.45 but on page 7 the more detailed entries of his service show him being assigned to the 128 Field on the 2.?J ? 44 and the next entry shows Emb UK for N.W.E. 8.6.45. As the day and the month correspond with his military history entry into N.W.E, and given that he was returned home to the Y list on 23.4.45 and was admitted to hospital soon afterwards this would seem to be a mistake ( Perhaps somebody writing the entry in 1945 ? ) Why isn't anything simple ? Although I am interested in his earlier service and time in Gib. My primary focus at the moment is on his service between the 8th June 1944 ( D Day +2 ) and 22.4.45 when in the words of my Gran " He was blown up ! " I have followed the links previously provided and I'm beginning to understand a little of his role during this period but any further help and guidance would be much appreciated .

 

OP has posted the service record in a new topic here -

11422906 Gnr Thomas Pyper 128 Field regiment service record ( Help needed)

I’ll ask a MOD to close that topic and add it to this thread.

Steve

 

OP also started this topic -

"Just two Dutch lasses that we liberated !" 128 Field Regt. RA.

I’ve asked a MOD to close this topic and copy the post over on to the existing thread.

Steve

 

Steve,

Owen has already merged those two threads.

 

Wasn't me.

 

Owen,

See Post 5.

 

Yeah but the OP started another one.

 

Who ever did it it ....Thank you