1st Bn, Northamptonshire Regiment - George John Arthur Lantaff

Good morning,
Yesterday, I received my Grandfather's Service records. I knew that he was killed in Burma in Jan 1945, but knew little else about his service. Having only just found this site, I'm hopeful that there will be users out there who will be able to help me decipher some of the info and point me in the right direction for more information.
I will search later to find the most appropriate threads, but thought I would say hello for now and thank you for a very interesting site.

 

Morning Andrea,
Welcome to the forum. There are some excellent decipherers here on WW2Talk. Perhaps you should upload some of the pages for us to look at, that is probably the best way forward. Looking at the details for George on the CWGC, it shows that he was originally buried at Mandalay War Cemetery (see attachement), before being moved down to Taukkyan after the war. This might be a strong clue as to where he was fighting at the time.

Good luck with your research.

Steve

 

Many thanks Steve for your speedy reply. I will certainly do that. I'm at work at the moment, but this evening I will scan some information in.
I actually have quite a lot of personal information - letters my Grandad sent my Gran from India, the original letters from the War Office and his Commanding Officer and the Padre announcing his death. I am hoping that I may be able to find official war diaries or similar? And to try and get a bit of an understanding of how he would have spent his time between enlisting in the TA in 1939 and his deployment to India.
Will try and structure my questions a little better later when I'm back home.
Many thanks.

 

Andrea, hello and welcome

Your grandfather is listed on the Army Casualty List No 1678, dated 10 February 1945. A total of 14 1st Northamptonshire men are reported as being KIA, although with varying dates

Burma
Killed in action
14612819 Aveyard A/Cpl W 19.1.45
5384441 Bateman L/Cpl VY 5.1.45
1074844 Branchett Pte AG 20.1.45
6028172 Cooper Pte SF 20.1.45
5116252 Gittings L/Cpl F 20.1.45
5886295 Lantaff Pte G 8.1.45
4969624 Lester A/Sjt SH 20.1.45
14577824 Nichols Pte G 20.1.45
11416594 Nunn Pte EJ 5.1.45
6468114 Olive L/Cpl HA 17.1.45
4984495 Patrick L/Cpl CH 20.1.45
14659992 Pond Pte DE 8.1.45
14715833 Rayner Pte EC 17.1.45
5890800 West Pte RA 20.1.45

Later in the list are 43 men of the same battalion who were wounded, again various dates around the same time.

Good luck with your research.

 

Thanks so much. I actually found that casualty list, but only yesterday! I should have found this forum sooner!
I had a look again last night at my Grans letters. The first was from his CO. Further letters are from the Padre who said that, sadly, the CO who had originally written had also been killed. Very sad. He doesn't appear on that casualty list - how might I find him?
Thanks.

 

A search of the CWGC for the Northamptonshire Regiment at Taukkyan War Cemetery results in:

Capt Peter Ralph Cherrington, 165833, died 20.1.45
Capt John Miller, 85663, died 18.2.45
Lieut James Patrick Walkden, 327223, died 15.2.45

Officers are on a different Casualty List, but all the above are mentioned.

This assumes, of course, that they were buried in the same cemetery, the obvious question – have you any names or dates (even the dates of the letters?

 

Many thanks Tony! It was Capt Cherrington that wrote to my Gran!

The letter is quite frank and describes how my Grandfather was killed, but also described his character and his final words. It is very moving. He went on to say he was going to send a photo of where my Grandfather had been buried. The letter a few weeks later from the Padre was in response to a letter my Gran had obviously sent to Capt Cherrington, where she was informed that he had subsequently been killed too. The Padre explained that they had all now moved on, but he described where my Grandfather had (originally) been buried. She was eventually sent a photo of his first grave (which I have).

 

Found this:
Bonhams : A Second World War D.S.O. pair to Captain P.R.Cherrington, Northamptonshire Regiment,

 

Oh my, thank you so much. That describes the actual day my Grandfather was killed (8th January). The letter mentioned the counter-attack and Hlwede and Budalin. I will have a look tonight at exactly what it said.

Very much appreciated.

 

Welcome to the forum Andrea.
I see you are in good hands already. Good luck with your research..

Lesley

 

My late father, Private (later Corporal) Jack Hone was a friend of George Lantaff's and close by when he was killed. You can see his picture as he is my avatar. It would be interesting to compare his account of your grandfather's death with that of Captain Cherrington's. My dad was also nearby when Cherrington was himself killed.

 

Seriously?! That's incredible! I only joined this forum yesterday and it has already far exceeded my expectations of what I was likely to find out...

I'd love to share the information I have and compare with your late fathers account. What's the best way for us to do that?

 

Fabulous find Tony!

 

Mark,

This must be one of the most incredible responses I've seen to a request for information on the forum since I have been a member. I hope that you and Andrea can share some new information.

Steve