Hi - have recently recieved my Grandfather's war records. He was in Burma from 1943 to 1946, and served with 178th Field Regiment of the Royal Artillery as part of the 36th Infantry division. He was hospitalised on several occasions, we think for malaria. Does anyone have any info on this regiment - where they were, what they did etc - I would love to try and build up a picture of his experiences. He never spoke about the war other than to say that on one occasion a shell landed in his trench but didn't explode. His records show he drove 11 different types of vehicle as part of his service. Can anyone tell me what these might have been? I would also be interested to find out what he did before going out to India - where were 178th based between Jan 1942 when they were formed and March 1943 when they embarked for India and where did they sail from. As you can probably tell my current knowledge is very limited. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Kate
Hi Kate, and welcome to the forum. The first to join, on the 17th July 1943, was the 178th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery. This regiment had been formed in the United Kingdom in January 1942 from a battery of the 140th Field Regiment and independent batteries. It served under Home Forces and the 49th Infantry Division before leaving the United Kingdom in March 1943 to sail to India. On arrival in June 1943, the regiment initially came under the command of XXXIII Indian Corps before joining this division. It comprised three batteries, the 122nd, 366th (10th London) and 516th Field Batteries. ....... The divisional artillery had been delayed, as most of the division had been flown in and it was not practical to transport the artillery’s guns by air. Therefore, initial artillery support was provided by three Chinese artillery batteries, whose officers were American. However, it was found possible to drop six 3.7” howitzers from 366th Field Battery, 178th Field Regiment, by parachute to come under command of 29th Brigade. The six guns were successfully dropped by parachute on the 18th August and reassembled. The guns had to be towed by American six wheeled 5 ton trucks, which looked a little incongruous towing a small gun behind them. These six guns were the only part of the divisional artillery available for most of the 1944 campaign. http://www.britishmilitaryhistory.co.uk/aqadmin/media/uploads/4e062d76ea893_36%20Indian%20Infantry%20Division.pdf There appeared in some videos which are hold in the IWM NORTHERN BURMA: 36TH DIVISION GUNNERS DIG IN A 25-POUNDER AT PINWE | colonialfilm 25-POUNDERS IN ACTION AT KOTA (11/1/1945) | colonialfilm Hope someone will be able to give you more details Enes
Also little more info about 366th Battery you can find here Extracts Look under titles Guns by Parachute (there are two different articles with the same name both about 366th Battery). And a thread on this forum http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/allied-units-general/15774-366-battery-ra.html Maybe you can try to contact wigjohn by PM.
Hi Kate and welcome to the forum. There are several diaries from the regiment held at the National Archives in London. WO 166/7061 178 Regiment. 1942 Jan.- Dec. WO 166/11310 178 Fd. Regt. 1943 Jan., Feb. WO 172/2310 Field Regiments: 178 Assault Regt.1943 Mar.- Dec. WO 172/4660 Field Regiments: 178 Regt. 1944 Jan.- Dec. WO 172/7425 Field Regiments: 178 Regt. 1945 Jan.- Dec. WO 172/10102 178 Fd. Regt. 1946 Jan.- Sept.
Thanks for your help. I would be interested in seeing the war diaries but need to look at the best way of doing this. I will be in touch. Kate
Hi Kate My grandad was a signaller in the 516 Btty of the 178th Field Regiment. Do you happen to know what battery your grandfather served with? My dad has some photographs of my grandad with various members of the 516 battery and a photo off all the Sergeants taken at the end of the war. He also has some sketchy info on pre Burma training in India etc. Best of all he lives in Glasgow and I work there If you want to get in touch by email or whatever drop me a PM.
Hi The 36th Div. Book is worth a read. You are right to say it was written by the chief doctor of the Div. It is 60 odd pages long, written in 1946. I intend to scan all the pages and post them on the Internet, as soon as I can! I am not at my computer at the moment, so can only post on the forum, I will send you a pm when I get access to my laptop. By the way, what is your grandfathers name? John
Hi Kate, I am normally researching Dutch Forces on Java 45-49 but start research on AFNEI too as it is little known. Several members of 178th Field Regiment lay on the cemetary in Jakarta. Meaning they must have been part of either 5th, 23rd or 26th Indian Infantry Division at the time. Good luck witrh your research Tom
Hi I have obtained the war diary, for 1943 and 1944, of 178Field Rgt RA. (Thanks DREW5233). I want to trace my father in law's travels during WWII. In 1943 he was in 366 battery 178 field Rgt. i'm trying to wade through the diaries and simplfy the returns, onto a spreadsheet to list dates and location for each battery of the field Rgt. It's easy for 1943, but 1944 will take a while to do, as the batteries were seperated in March 44 as they went into action. I have transferred the spreadsheet into a .pdf file. So I am going to try and upload the file, I hope it works! Regards John
Hi My dad remembered the other day that his dad had a very close friend in 178th called Jack Gleeson who (he thinks) was from the Manchester area. They kept in touch for several years after the end of the war. Fodder 76 - I don't know what battery my grandad was in. His war records don't mention it anywhere. I know his principal 'job' was driver so maybe he wasn't attached to anything specific. Kate
Hi Kate There is a 1145856 Gnr. Gleeson J listed at 69 field ambulance station, on 11 March 1944. John
Hi Kate, I am normally researching Dutch Forces on Java 45-49 but start research on AFNEI too as it is little known. Several members of 178th Field Regiment lay on the cemetary in Jakarta. Meaning they must have been part of either 5th, 23rd or 26th Indian Infantry Division at the time. Good luck witrh your research Tom Hi Tom I believe the 178th Field Regiment was transferred into the 23rd Indian Div, with the 158th Field Regiment transferring at the same time from the 23rd Indian Div to the 36th Div. Cheers Steven
Hi, I have recently found out that my grandfather was in the 366th battery in burma from some papers I found in his house after he died. He had written 'memoirs' of his time in the war and I am still in the process of reading through them and typing them up. Any pictures or information anyone has on this battery would be really interesting. Thank you
Hi Danielle Obtaining his war records would be a good place to start. I have lots of info I can send you but am off on holiday tomorrow for a week so I will get back to you when I am home. Kate
Hi Danielle If you look at my previous posts in this thread, I have listed a PDF file containg the were abouts of 178 field Rgt during 1943. I intend to do 1944/45 next John
Since the wardiary for 1946 mention the Dutch unit 1-8 De Haantjes I dicided it might be fun to checj what they write about the 178. Well nothing at all. But they do have a map of the operational area were the main part of 178 Fd Regt operated. Only I cannot figure out how to upload it sorry. But will be happy to supply scanned copy. TijgerB
Only I cannot figure out how to upload it sorry. But will be happy to supply scanned copy. Just follow the instructions: http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/network-information/12816-how-insert-pictures-videos-into-your-posts.html
Hi Kate My grandad was a signaller in the 516 Btty of the 178th Field Regiment. Do you happen to know what battery your grandfather served with? My dad has some photographs of my grandad with various members of the 516 battery and a photo off all the Sergeants taken at the end of the war. He also has some sketchy info on pre Burma training in India etc. Best of all he lives in Glasgow and I work there If you want to get in touch by email or whatever drop me a PM. Hi My father George Henshaw was a Lieutenant in 516 Battery of 178 Regiment. All I know at present is that he was on training in Suffolk in February 1943. He might be in your photos. Regards Rick
