124th Field Regiment R.A (Northumbrian T.A)

Does anyone have the movements of the 124th Field Regiment R.A (Northumbrian T.A) during 1941 & 1942 please.

 

124th Field Regiment, R.A. (T.A.)
HQ: Newcastle-on-Tyne
287th (3rd Northumbrian) Bty: Blyth
288th (4th Northumbrian) Bty: Newcastle-on-Tyne

The regiment served under command of 23rd (Northumbrian) Division from 3 September 1939 until 22 June 1940. The regiment remained in the United Kingdom when the division went to France from 22-31 May 1940.
It then served under 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division from 22 June 1940 until 1 December 1944. On 28 October 1940 287th and 288th Batteries were designated ‘A’ and ‘B’ Batteries and a new ‘C’ Battery was formed from ‘C’/287th and ‘F’/288th Troops. On 2 January 1941 the batteries were called 287th, 288th and ‘R’ Batteries. At this time it began reorganizing as two batteries. The title (Northumbrian) was added on 17 February 1942. At some time in 1941-42, 489th Battery was added. (Probably from 'R' Battery listed previously) 257th Anti-Tank Battery joined on 9 April 1942 from 65th Ani-Tank Regiment and returned to its regiment on 14 July 1942. 287th Battery was lost at Gazala during May-June 1942. On 23 May 1943, 441st Battery came under command from 58th Field Regiment to replace the lost 287th Battery.
The unit served in the United Kingdom until 22 April 1941, at sea until 13 June 1941, in Egypt until 24 July 1941, in Cyprus until 3 November 1941, In Iraq from 21 November 1941 until 12 January 1942, in Syria from 21 January until 10 February 1941, in Egypt until 21 February 1942, in Libya until 16 June 1942, in Egypt until 5 December 1942, in Libya until 4 March 1943, in North Africa until 27 April 1943, in Libya until 9 May 1943, in Egypt until 29 June 1943, at sea until 10 July 1943, in Sicily until 10 October 1943, at sea until 6 November 1943, in the United Kingdom until 1 June 1944, at sea until 6 June 1944, and then in Northwest Europe.
The regiment served under 55th (West Lancashire) Infantry Division in the United Kingdom from 14 June 1945 until the end of the war.

 

Thank you David.

 

David I am not sure if you are still on the forum but I am writing the history of 124th and I have a copy of all there war diaries and I am interested to know your interest in the Regiment.

 

Hello Keith.

I'm still here!

I was looking for the time they spent in North Africa during 1941,42 and the nomenclature of the batteries during that time.

David Ryan has answered all my questions.

Kind Regards,
David.

 

Are you the same Keith Brigstock that put together this fine document? - 124 th (Northumbrian) Field Regiment Royal Artillery (TA) By Keith Brigstock. - ppt download

Best,

Steve.

 

Does anyone have a list of military personnel from the 124th Field regiment from the beginning of D-Day on wards? My Grand Father served during the war till the end where he changed regiments .
Thank you
Pete. R.E.

 

Hi there sorry I have not been on the Forum for a while and I don't seem to get notifications when others post but Steve Mac I am the person who wrote that document but I have updated it since then. Peter Lugg I have some Names and many Photos of Officers if you are interested.

 

Hello Keith,

Do you by any chance have good information about the 72nd Field Regiment, RA, which was the parent/1st line Regiment from which the 124th Field Regiment, RA, was duplicated/raised, or know anyone who has?

Best,

Steve.

 

Are you still looking

 

Hi Keith. Hopefully you can still get messages here. I am trying to piece together how my uncle, Bombardier Frank A Garner of the 124th came to be captured on 28th May 1942 during the battle of Gazala. From your excellent information and some other sleuthing I believe he was part of either the 287th or 288 batteries. Commonwealth keep or possibly even Knightsbridge box seem likely. Records list him as missing on 28th, in which case a couple of days before the very worst of the fighting. He spent the rest of the war a prisoner in Italy and Germany. Thank you very much. Gordon.

 

Hi does anyone have any details ref war diaries or movements of 124th Field Regiment from 26/06/40 to 20/06/42?
I’m new to the site having recently posted under the RA section. From my dads army records Harold Forden, it states he was posted on the 26/06/40, reported missing 20/06/42. I’m trying to find out where he was for this period of time and what happened to get him captured. Any help appreciated.

 

20 June 1942 is when Tobruk fell and the whole garrison was captured.

 

Hi I thought it was the 21/06/42 when Tobruk surrendered. Thanks

 

If he was captured at Tobruk, he must have been with 287th Battery, which had been detached from the rest of the 124th Field Regiment on the 15th June and attached to 25th Field Regiment with the 11th Indian Brigade.

The 25th Field Regiment was overrun during the afternoon of the 20th June, so his POW date of the 20th would be right, but yes the actual surrender of the garrison took place on the 21st.

Regards,

Steve

 

Thanks for info, his records say captured on the 20th, says missing Tobruk. Is there anywhere I can look for further info on what you posted? Thanks for help.

 

Yes that is the date the histories use. However nearly half of the 4th Durham Survey Regiment RA TA was captured then and the official date of being reported missing was recorded as the 20th. The Nominal ROll for the regiment produced in 1947 states POW 20.6.1942 for each of the 207 men

 

Thanks for the info. Guess it’s hard to know for sure. I’ve just got the date and that he was in 124th Field Regiment. Appreciate the info

 

Unfortunately most of the war diaries for units lost at Tobruk don't include June 1942, so not sure if you'll be able to find anything.

In the case of the 124th Field Regiment the diaries for 1942 covers January to April and then starts again in July (the missing months were probably lost during fighting). For the 25th Field Regiment the diaries cover January to May, so again wouldn't be able to help with any information about the Tobruk fighting.

 

Thanks Steve, I wonder if it’s worth getting the copies of the other months as it would show where my dad was doing his fighting. I doubt he will be mentioned by name but would give me details of what was going on. Ref getting someone to copy them are they pages and pages long or just a summary. Trying to work out what it would cost etc. thanks for help.