155/156th Royal Artillery Regiment Penicuik

Discussion in 'Royal Artillery' started by LinMount, Jun 20, 2010.

  1. Derek Barton

    Derek Barton Senior Member

    Glad to have been some help. Compared to your dad my service was pretty tame although there were one or two momemts of excitement. As to seeing action I suppose when I was in my early twenties I would probably have welcomed it as it was what we were all training for but with hindsight I'm glad I was spared the horrors of war. The service in N Ireland was enough to still affect some of the things I do today.

    It is a very British trait not to talk about war service too much. As well as the often painful memories, especially for someone like your Dad, I think that there is a desire to protect family and friends from the truth.

    I would be only too happy to answer any questions you may have.
     
  2. LinMount

    LinMount Junior Member

    'After dark on the 13th Lt Col Gold and 9 men of 155th including BSM Roadnight, who had just been told of his award of the DCM, were told to try and escape with an official evacuation party. They found a junk and rowed out of the harbour with the city blazing behind them. They were swamped, bombed and machine gunned but somehow reached Ringat in Sumatra in 9 days. They then took a bus to Padang where they were taken on board HMAS Hobart and 19 days later they were in Colombo'

    This part interested me as I know my dad was selected to go to the docks and try to escape back to India but when he got there the docks were ablaze and they had to turn back. They were probably trying to get as many men away as possible.
     
  3. Derek Barton

    Derek Barton Senior Member

    The ones selected for evacuation were usually those whose knowledge and experience was deemed useful. It was felt that if they could get away they could pass this knowledge on to others.
     
  4. China Hand

    China Hand No Longer A Forum Member

    Hi, Lin, strangely I came across this thread just after coming back from a meeting of COFEPOW (COFEPOW - Children of Far East Prisoners of War) in Newmains, Lanarkshire. This was held jointly with relatives of veterans of 155th Lanarkshire Yeomanry - indeed, there were two 90 year old vets there. They have doing a lot of research and gathering info for a slide show/exhibition around Remembrance Day. I should be able to get you a contact for this Lanarkshire group shortly.

    Separately, if you haven't found it already, it'd be worth getting of the book Banzai You Bastards by the late Jack Edwards, published in 1991 - probably need to be second-hand, e.g. on Amazon

    Banzai, You Bastards!: Amazon.co.uk: Jack Edwards, Jimmy Walter: Books.

    Jack Edwards was a Royal Signals chap attached to 155th who was in the same camp in Taiwan (Formosa) as many of them. I met him some 10 years ago in Hong Kong, when he was still working for the Royal British Legion there - a real gentleman.

    It's a great read, albeit harrowing in places as these books always are. It also includes a listing of all those at Kinkaseki, including your father, compiled secretly at the time. The list notes "left 13.11.43 Heito", Heito being, I think, another camp on Taiwan. It gives his rank as L/Sgt, i.e. Lance Sergeant.

    I hope this is helpful !
     
  5. hobbybobby

    hobbybobby Junior Member

    Hi Lin Mount
    I found this article when trawling for information about my father's Regiment. - 80 th Anti Tank regt.
    I see from the replies you already have a copy of "Banzai You Bastards" by jack Edwards.
    You may also be interested in the late Arthur Titheringtons book "Kinkaseki" "One day at a Time"
    Your father was one of the 500 who arrived at Formosa on board the "England Maru"
    his number was 164 and he moved to Heito camp 13/11/43
    I shall check through my fathers diaries and if I come on any more information I shall let you know.

    regards
     
  6. LinMount

    LinMount Junior Member

    China hand, hobbybobby sorry haven't replied sooner but have been deeply buried into my research. Thanks for your posts and the info you provided. I have now read all three books written by POWs who were on Formosa by John McEwan, Jack Edwards, and Arthur Titherington. Three incredible men who survived their terrible time in capture against al odds.

    I have come a long way since first posting and have been out to Tawain to visit the camps where my Dad was interned.

    Hobbybobby what is your father's name? Was he a POW on Formosa? I am in touch with a few people who were connected to the 80th Anti Tank regt and their paths ran parallel with my Dad's regiment the 155th LY. I am always interested in others diaries - its amazing how many men kept them at great risk to themselves.
     
  7. Doreen Clougherty

    Doreen Clougherty New Member

    Hello, My father was also with the Lanarkshire Yeomanry. 155 RA. He was captured 15/02/42 and was in Nagasaki 3b. I have just started to researchand trying to find all the sites with information.
     
  8. dryan67

    dryan67 Senior Member

    Here is a little summary of the service of the Lanarkshire Yeomanry, which should complement the earlier entries:

    The Lanarkshire Yeomanry
    RHQ

    40, Bloomgate, Lanark
    Precedence
    13
    Royal Artillery
    15 February 1940
    Battle Honours
    None

    Lowland Area, Scottish Command – 3 September 1939 to 15 February 1940

    The Lanarkshire Yeomanry was based at the small market town of Lanark and recruited from the counties of Lanarkshire and Dumfrieshire. It was embodied on September 1st, 1939 with a horse-strength of 593 at the small Lanarkshire market town of Lanark. It mobilised on September 13th and during the following month it heard that it would have to change its role. The commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Alan Murdoch, was given a choice of field artillery or anti-tank artillery and chose the former. In February 1940, it was augmented with regular Royal Artillery non-commissioned officers.

    Royal Artillery Service

    It became the Lanarkshire Yeomanry Regiment, R.A. (T.A.) on February 15th, 1940 at Lanark with ‘A’ and ‘B’ Batteries. The regiment was retitled as the 155th (Lanarkshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment, R.A. (T.A.) on April 15th, 1940. ‘C’ Battery was added on January 14th, 1941.

    In March 1941, the 155th left the port of Gourock on board the bound for India. The regiment arrived in India on May 5th, 1941 from the United Kingdom and proceeded to Kirkee to come under the command of the 9th Indian Infantry Division. It then spent time acclimatizing. In May 1941 ‘A’ Battery left to form the 160th Field Regiment with the title ‘Lanarkshire Yeomanry’ Battery. The regiment was at sea from August 24th to September 2nd, 1941, when it arrived in Malaya. It served there under the 11th Indian Infantry Division from October 1st, 1941 until captured in Singapore on February 15th, 1942. It was located under the division at Sungei Patani on November 29th, 1941. It was most famous for its performance at Slim River. Two miles below the bridge, at about 9:30, the Japanese met their match: a regiment of field artillery [‘B’ Battery of the 155th], moving forward to support the 28th Indian Brigade. The Japanese overran part of the surprised artillery column; but then a howitzer detachment got its 4.5 inch piece into action. At a range of only thirty yards, it knocked out the leading tank and impressed upon the others the wisdom of withdrawal. In this action the CO, Lt Col Murdoch was killed and the Adjutant, Captain Charles Gordon Brown, who had moved to the front line to command the detachment, which took on the tanks, lost an arm but won an MC. A few days later, another officer of the Battery, Captain Andrew Sewell won an MC in a separate action. It was then placed into suspended animation after its capture.

    The 156th (Lanarkshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment was formed as a duplicate at Strathaven on April 15th, 1940 with ‘A’ and ‘B’ Batteries. Its batteries were based on the Lanarkshire towns of Lesmahagow and Strathaven. After training it moved south to Portsmouth. It served under the Southern Command in September 1940. ‘C’ Battery was added on January 14th, 1941 and the batteries were renamed ‘P’, ‘Q’ and ‘R’ on March 11th, 1942. These were then numbered as the 591st, 592nd and 593rd on January 1st, 1943.

    The 156th was sent to India during the summer of 1942 and left there from Bombay on August 9th, 1942 for Iraq. It came under the command of the 5th Infantry Division on August 29th, 1942 in Iraq and remained with it until the end of the war. It was located in Iraq until September 28th, 1942, in Persia until January 31st, 1943, in Syria and Egypt in transit until June 28th, 1943, and in Sicily from July 10th, 1943. It arrived in Italy on September 3rd, 1943, in Egypt on July 3rd, 1944, in Palestine on July 13th, 1944, and left Palestine for Italy on February 8th, 1945. It was then in Italy from February 15th to 27th, 1945 and then in Northwest Europe.
     
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  9. ozzy16

    ozzy16 Well-Known Member

    post deleted. Graham.
     
    Last edited: Jun 11, 2019
  10. Doreen Clougherty

    Doreen Clougherty New Member

    Hello, I was very interested in your post. I didn't realise there COFEPOW in Newmains. My father served with the Yeomanry and spent 3 years in Nagasaki 3b.t. He died at the age of 57. due to illness he picked up in the camps. My mum died in 1999 but had been a member of the FEPOW. It was lovely to hear there are still 2 survivors. It is my intention to join the above and would appreciate if you could keep me up to date with any meetings. I live in Clydebank. Thank you
     

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