12th Battalion Devonshire Regiment

Discussion in 'Airborne' started by lineman, Feb 13, 2011.

  1. Cee

    Cee Senior Member Patron

    Hi Stephen,

    There's a Rose & Crown pub in Bulford which from the looks of it has a long history and still going strong.

    ROSE and CROWN Bulford | Facebook

    According to their WD The 12th Devons were in Bulford before moving to the Gosfield transit camp for Operation Varsity preparations. The full message is "Rose & Crown - God Send You Back To Me". Horsa CN 140 took off from the Rivenhall Airfield headed for LZ "R" Hamminkeln.

    Invasion Aircraft (1945)-1.jpg Invasion Aircraft (1945)-2.jpg

    Regards ...
     
    Last edited: Feb 26, 2017
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  2. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

  3. Stephbrookes

    Stephbrookes Member

    Yes, my grandad told my mom his best friend (ginger) got shot and killed.
     
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  4. Billbrownx

    Billbrownx Member

    20160606_165104000_iOS.jpg William John Brown (Bill) 5628379

    My late Father (as previously mentioned) was with the 12th Devons but was badged as Army Catering Corps and was attached to the 12th Devons from joining up in 1940 until going to Palestine in 1946 and although badged ACC wore the Devons flash on his tunic and I have his maroon beret!.

    His army Record shows his deployment to the Ardennes 23/12/44 and to Hamminkeln on 24/3/45.

    Mystery # 1: There is no mention in his army record of ANYTHING from late 1943 to 8th August 1944 when he is shown 'Embarked for UK from Northern France' (Family anecdotal evidence suggests that he went in with the 12th Devon's on D Day).

    I know the 12th got as far as Honfleur and there are postcards from there among his wartime box of bits!

    Anyone got any info regarding the Army Catering Corps who were attached to the Devons.

    Mystery # 2: I also have a company photograph (Which I have posted on this site) of him in a company photograph from 1944 titled 'E Company 12th Bat Devonshire Regiment'. But I can find no record of there being an E Company anywhere?
     
  5. Stephbrookes

    Stephbrookes Member

    Found this. Parts of my grandads records
     

    Attached Files:

  6. Cee

    Cee Senior Member Patron

    Billbrownx,

    I'm curious were the postcards written and sent by him from Honfleur or are they blank souvenirs picked up at some point? Did he ever visit Normandy post war for one of the D-Day commemorations? He was obviously in Normandy during the war but when and how he arrived remains a mystery for now.

    Check out the Trux Airborne section on site under "Air landing and parachute battalions" and do a search using "ACC", "cook" or "cater" and you will find some general info on the distribution of cooks in a battalion. Unfortunately there is no mention of them under the 'ANTI AIRCRAFT/ANTI TANK COMPANY" listing.

    There is a 12th Devons 'E' Company listed in the Normandy Orbat on the Pegasus Archive:

    E Company

    Commander : Major Patrick Robson Dobbin
    Second-in-Command : Captain T. Bridgeman

    Anti-Tank Platoon : Lieutenant Albert Edward Germain
    Anti-Tank Platoon : Lieutenant Leslie J. "Trappy" Trapnell
    No.23 Medium Machine Gun Platoon : Captain C. J. Snell
    No.24 Medium Machine Gun Platoon : Lieutenant W. F. Robinson


    Sorry that's not much help

    Regards ...
     
    Last edited: Feb 26, 2017
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  7. Billbrownx

    Billbrownx Member

    Cee thanks for that. No the Honfleur postcards he obviously purchased and bought back with him

    I will follow your other links

    Thanks

    Bill
     
  8. Cee

    Cee Senior Member Patron

    Stephen,

    Is there anything on your Grandad's sheet you posted that you don't understand? On enlistment Ronald was given a service number that falls within a number block of the Royal Armoured Corps (RAC) - 7891869 - 8230000. Perhaps the closest recruiting office or barracks in his locality. For information on X Lists see this Forum topic. Ronald did his basic training at No.14 Infantry Training Centre. See Idler's info on 14 ITC in this thread.

    What confuses me is how he ends up on the Y List on 15.8.44 when the 12th Devons were in Normandy. I thought initially after a wounding or sickness you are put on the X (ii) List and if out for 21 days or more you then go to Y list? At any rate he is not deemed fit for a few months but eventually returns just in time for the action in the Ardennes, if in fact he did go?

    He ends up on the X (ii) list on 14.4.45 while the 12th were in Germany. So perhaps wounded there? His highest promotion is as a paid Lance Corporal. I don't' know what "31D" signifies or where the 14th Holding Battalion was located at the time.

    Regards ...
     
    Last edited: Feb 27, 2017
  9. Stephbrookes

    Stephbrookes Member

    I have a picture of him with the 12th devons. He is on the big one dated oct 1943. I have that pic rolled up!

    As far as we were told he was injured in Germany (he had a scar where he was shot and a cigarette burn where someone gave him a cigarette to help with the pain and it fell out his mouth!!) and he parachuted in??

    We were also told that he was involved in market garden.

    I always thought he was a pathfinder. It's all very confusing!

    Thanks for your input, I really appreciate it xxx
     
  10. Cee

    Cee Senior Member Patron

    Stephbrookes,

    If you have it check the Military History section in Ronald Treece's service records. It will tell you the periods he spent in NW Europe. If he took part in all the campaigns the 12th Devons were engaged in there should be three - Normandy, Ardennes/Holland and Germany.

    I've never actually heard of a 12th Devon man parachuting into Normandy or Germany, though I suppose it is not beyond the realm of possibility. If he was on the Y List in August of 1944 and later it is highly unlikely he would have took part in Arnhem Battle beginning September 17th, 1944. I suspect it's one of those unconfirmed family legends that arise when not a lot is known about a soldier's war service.

    Regards ...
     
  11. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    Cee
    Just reading some bits & pieces

    The 12th and 50th Battalions The Devonshire Regiment in World War Two - The Keep Military Museum, Dorchester, Dorset
    On D-Day the 12th Battalion landed in France – one company by glider, the rest by sea – and fought in the Orne bridgehead and throughout the campaign in Normandy. After three months back in England, the 12th were rushed back overland to help halt the German thrust in the Ardennes in December 1944. In early January they fought near the villages of Tellin and Bure. After a spell in the Netherlands in late January and February 1945, the 12th were again withdrawn to England to prepare for their part in the crossing of the Rhine.

    In the airborne part of the assault across the Rhine in late March 1945 the task of the glider-borne 12th Devons was to capture the village of Hamminkeln.


    TD

    edited to add:
    Just found these bits:
    12th Battalion The Devonshire Regiment
    The 12th Devonshires were one such unit, with the exception of their "A" Company, for which enough aircraft had been found to transport them to LZ-W on the evening of the 6th June with the remainder of the 6th Airlanding Brigade.

    The Rhine Crossing

    As part of Operation Varsity on the 24th March 1945, the 6th Airlanding Brigade was to land each of its battalions on separate drop zones around the village of Hamminkeln. The 12th Devonshires were ordered to land at LZ-R, to the south-west of the village, and then proceed to secure the two western roads leading out of Hamminkeln, thereby cutting off the possibilities of retreat or reinforcement of the garrison, before assaulting the village itself. To assist them in this endeavour, the 3rd Airlanding Anti-Tank Battery, minus three of their 17-pounder guns, were placed at their disposal.




     
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  12. reddevon

    reddevon Member

    26 Anti Tank platoon
    [​IMG]

    25 Anti Tank Platoon
    [​IMG]

    and a photo from a group of 12th Devons in Germany 1945 with Fred Daley (top hat ) and Bill Brown with the accordian.
    [​IMG]
     
  13. reddevon

    reddevon Member

    oops it seems that i have posted the same photo twice, lets try again.
    [​IMG]
     
  14. brithm

    brithm Senior Member

  15. Stephbrookes

    Stephbrookes Member

    Hi everyone! Hope you are all well.

    I have another question!

    Did the 12th devons have a 'R' company? Or residue company??
    Or what is the R company??

    12th devons,
    R Company
    Bulford.
     
  16. reddevon

    reddevon Member

    I have never seen any mention of R or residue company in any of my stuff.
     
  17. Stephbrookes

    Stephbrookes Member

    I'll send you a picture of a letter to my grandad dated 1945.

    That's the address on the letter.
     
  18. Cee

    Cee Senior Member Patron

    Hi Steph,

    There was a 1st Reinforcements Company according to the Normandy Orbat on the Pegasus Archive:

    1st Reinforcements Company
    Commander : Major G. Edecombe-Palmer
    Second-in-Command : Captain P. R. Meldon
    Officers:
    Lieutenants John Basil Edward Kittow, D. H. Triggs, Samuel McBride Barrett, R. A. Farrup, L. Bargery, J. H. S. Henderson, Ernest Haydn Wild, Ronald F. Brixey, J. C. Box, and R. W. Allanson

    Regards ...
     
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  19. Pegasus2075

    Pegasus2075 Active Member

    [​IMG]

    Duxford May Air Show has already booked the Red Devils Parachute Display Team. May be planning some kind of recognition for the 75th Anniversary of the Airborne Brigade. The picture above is from a A400 Atlas tail that has been applied this year at its home base of Brize Norton. Would be nice if a flypast is being organised. Will update the forum if I have any more info.
     
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  20. brithm

    brithm Senior Member

    reddevon asked in post #70 if anyone knew who the passengers were in Lt-Col. Gleadell's Horsa for Operation Varsity I came across a small article on Glider 188 in an August 1985 Pegasus Journal

    Horsa Glider 188:

    No. 1 Pilot Major Maurice Priest
    No. 2 Pilot S/Sgt. J.W. Taylor

    Lt-Col. Gleadell
    Fred "Tubby" Jolly (Gleadell's batman)
    Ronald Brixey (Intelligence Officer)
    Sid Manley (Signaller)
    Ivor Tremer (Regimental policeman - hit by flak)
    Tom Higgs (Gleadell’s jeep driver)
    possibly Jackie Sullivan (Manley's oppo)
    & a jeep

    Priest and Taylor from 'G' Squadron flew together for Operation Mallard and Arnhem this info came from a Swedebasher journal Winter 1984.

    Hope this is of help to all
     
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