Trying to find out about my fathers war service My fathers name was Leonard William Hancox service number 14855902 joined 17/5/42 and his discharge book denotes 4th. Para Bn. any help would be greatly appreciated Mr.S.C.Hancox
Hi, As this topic is about 12th Para you ought to have started a new topic. The starting point in your search ought to be to obtain his Army service record via this link - Requests for personal data and service records: a detailed guide His record will confirm his unit and you can then look to obtaining the unit War Diary fir the relevant period. You may need to return to the forum for help to interpret the military shorthand in his service record. I’ll ask a moderator to move this to a stand-alone topic. Good Luck Steve
Steven. 4 PARA were in 2 Independent Parachute Brigade that were originally part of 1 Airborne Division. The Division landed by sea at Taranto on 9 Sep 43 and advanced up the heel of Italy. Two of the Brigades were quickly withdrawn to start training for Normandy but 2 Parachute Brigade stayed behind. My interest in them as a battlefield guide is that they were at Cassino for a time. They had the grim job of holding Cassino town after the Third Battle in Mar 44 and before the Fourth and final battle in May 44. Being an Independent Brigade, they were effectively 'rent a mob' and were used to plug holes. That is why they were at Cassino. Regards Frank
