14648070 Pte Frederick William TAYLOR, 1st Bn Lincolnshire Regiment - Arakan, Burma, Sumatra

Discussion in 'Burma & India' started by elsasquerino, Sep 5, 2013.

  1. elsasquerino

    elsasquerino Member

    Hello to you all.

    My Name is Dean and my Grandfather served in the 1st Battalion Lincs Rgt during the conflict. I recently received his service records which have (through hours of online research, reading and head scratching) shed a lot of light on where he was and when - He never really spoke about his experiences. I am really struggling to suss out exactly which unit/platoon he was attached to within the battalion. I don't know if there is something obvious I am missing within his records, I am a novice in this field so thought I would ask for some guidance on here.

    One of the photocopies (Army form B102) states he was a 'batman driver' - Specialist Qualifications - Available D406 (and also) Driver D406. A friend suggested it unlikely that a company commander (Major) would have his own vehicle, so my grandfather may have belonged to the HQ company? The same form lists his Regiment as 'Lincoln R 090'

    One final question, His 'Service & Casualty Form, Part II' which as you probably well know lists his movements etc, shows he came home on LIAP following a stint in Bangalore BMH and upon his return there is an entry I cannot get to the bottom of:-

    5/46 - Lincs - Entd (I think) FSCA - 31/12/45 (I gather the Battalion was in Sumatra by now)

    Just in case anyone may have known him personally, his name was Pte Frederick William Taylor - 14648070

    Thanks in advance for any help you may offer.

    Dean Taylor
     
  2. Hebridean Chindit

    Hebridean Chindit Lost in review... Patron

    Certainly from my dad's note there is nothing to suggest which Platoon or Column he was with - I only know he was 13 Platoon 90 Column (1st Cameronians) because of notes he made before he passed on, so you may never find out that info... does sound like he may have been HQ though...

    Your GD's brigade is not in my direct research but I'm sure there will be someone along sooner or later...

    Good luck and welcome to the slippery slope that is this form of research, Dean..

    Kenny
     
  3. elsasquerino

    elsasquerino Member

    Thanks for that Kenny, I'm coming to terms with the fact that this isn't going to be simple haha!
     
  4. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

  5. elsasquerino

    elsasquerino Member

    Thanks Owen. No I haven't, I have only been at it a couple of hours per night for a few weeks - working full time and twin babies suck up most of my time! What could I expect to find? I have a book I found online 'The History of the First Battalion, The Lincolnshire Regiment in India, Arakan, Burma and Sumatra September 39 to October 46' compiled from accounts by Lieut. Cols Sinker & Rossier. It has proved incredibly interesting but not helped a lot.
     
  6. idler

    idler GeneralList

    Entd FSCA is almost certainly 'Entered Field Service Concessional Area'.

    'Concessional Area' alone appears in many India/Burma service records and seems to denote the active area of operations as opposed to the 'safe' areas of India. The meaning is pretty mundane as it relates to concessions in pay, allowances, rations etc. between the front line and 'home' where these were effectively in the same country. The term appears in this modern Indian defence document which is quite likely to be modelled on old Indian Army methods.
     
  7. elsasquerino

    elsasquerino Member

    That's fantastic Idler, Thankyou.
     
  8. idler

    idler GeneralList

    It's a fantastic guess, alright ;)
     
  9. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Hi Dean,

    LIAP explained from another soldiers story online.

    August/September 1945
    Running a Staging Camp in Ulm in Germany
    In September we (that's A Sdrn. 4th Queen's Own Hussars) landed another interesting job, that of running a staging camp in Germany. At that time there was an Army scheme in operation called L.I.A.P., which stood for Leave in Addition to Python. Python was the code name for leave that was given to troops that had done four years or more abroad and were due for home posting, whereas LIAP was now being given to those who had "only" (my inverted commas) done two years and nine months overseas service.
     
  10. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    I'm sure I had the 1st battalions war diaries for Burma, which means I copied them for someone on here. I should know more if I still have them next week.
     
  11. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    dbf likes this.
  12. elsasquerino

    elsasquerino Member

    Thanks everyone, really appreciate you all taking the time to help! Drew that sounds very exciting - fingers crossed. Is it worth me scanning the documents I have? Would anyone be interested in having a look? Maybe in the process someone may spot something I've missed?
     
  13. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    Yes, go on post them on here, you never know what other members may see that you have missed.
    Good luck with the research.
     
  14. Hebridean Chindit

    Hebridean Chindit Lost in review... Patron

    You asked what the diaries could contain... anything from the mundane to the extraordinary... without seeing them first hand I can only go from what I've seen in the ones I have, which could be troop numbers, movements, casualties, orders, etc, or even the amount of wine-orderlies the officers had prior to going in, or it might be bugger all... some could be only a couple of pages; others are inches thick... the 3rd Indian Division diaries (command) are about a foot of paper high...
     
  15. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Now I'm back home - Assuming they have been saved I have copies of the battalions 1944 and 1945 war diaries. It will be a week before I get the hard drive back and some time after before I get to check if that battalion survived.
     
  16. elsasquerino

    elsasquerino Member

    Thanks again, Kenny. Sounds like something I should check out - hopefully Drew can help out there and save me a long trip. Please contact me when you know Drew and we can arrange recompense for your efforts!

    I will Owen, it would be good to have more proficient eyes look it over, you never know. I'll have to dig out my scanner from the room of doom.
     
  17. elsasquerino

    elsasquerino Member

  18. elsasquerino

    elsasquerino Member

    Advance thanks to anyone who takes the time to look at these service records, I really do appreciate any facts, thoughts or theories anyone may offer. If anyone can make out the officers signatures that may be especially helpful to pin down his company/platoon? Would it be his immediate superior? Forgive my ignorance of such things.

    Dean
     
  19. Hebridean Chindit

    Hebridean Chindit Lost in review... Patron

    You'll find a fairly decent explanation for "X" list here...

    http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/15663-x-lists-service-records/

    This is a good place to start searches for convoys... try finding a departure date that ties in with arrival in Bombay - it is possible that he changed ships; my dad did, but I had a head's up with him in that he gave me the names...

    http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/

    BBRC - British Base Reinforcement Camp - the first place almost every soldier went to in Burma, and the origins of the expression Doolally-tap (gone nuts) and the roots of the series It Ain't Half Hot Mum
     
  20. elsasquerino

    elsasquerino Member

    Thanks Kenny, I had stumbled on that x list thread previously... That's what put me onto this site actually. Never even thought about searching for the convoy information, that's a job for tonight!

    Can you make out what the rest of the entry regarding his entry to the BBRC says? If only all these forms had been filled out in the now standard 'block capitals and black ink' :lol:
     

Share This Page