bamboo43 submitted a new resource: 1st South Staffs War Diary 1944 - 1st South Staffs War diary-March, April and June Read more about this resource...
Thank you very much for posting. this, a remarkable period of a remarkable battalion. "Did we do our stuff Sir?" They certainly did. Mike
Although we losing our veterans horribly quickly now, it is astonishing that there are still a number of South Staffs and King's Regiment soldiers still with us. They seem to have a longevity gene compared to other Chindit units.
Does the diary exist for May 1944? I am running through my service books and trying a bit more in depth research than previously and have found one that I believe was a Colour Sergeant with 1st South Staffs at this point, he was wounded 18 May 1944 so am trying to do a bit more digging - he is 4913791 Ronald Turner
Thanks for that, it sets the scene a bit but doesn't actually tie down an incident which is a shame but its great to have it. Below is the book, the actual casualty list has him as South Stafford's without a Battalion number but I believe the 1st were the only Battalion they had in the Far East, he was Mentioned In Despatches in 1946 for services in Burma
Alistair, here are some pages from the 77 Brigade HQ war diary for the 18th May. It seems to me that the Brigade including 1 South Staffs were on their way to Moguang having given up White City a few weeks beforehand. On the 19th May it is said that they and the 1 Lancashire Fusiliers were at a place called Lamai:
Brilliant, thanks again for these - another one to add to the Service Files wanted list - its a big list and probably not going to happen any time soon
That is very true. A couple of family inquirers who I suggested got their soldier's service records came back to me today asking if the MOD offices are still open. Sounds like Glasgow have ground to a halt and are attempting to move over to email inquiries from now on. All to do with the dreaded coronavirus I guess.
Hi, I am doing some research on my great uncle Percy Mansell who was with the south staffs from 1939 and was in 80 column (I think). He survived the war and was one of the very few that was passed fit after op Thursday. He emigrated to Canada not long after the war and did not speak to anyone about the it, like many others. I’ve seen the south staffs war diary but although an incredible eye opening read, I can’t see anything about pagoda hill? (The citation of Lt Cairns’ VC doesn’t correspond with the war diary) So would Percy have fought in this battle? Hope you can make sense of this, Matthew
Hi Matthew, It is Steve Fogden here, I thought I should reply to your post, in case you had not realised that me and bamboo43 are one in the same person. I wondered if you had read Mike Calvert's book, Fighting Mad, which has a chapter devoted to Pagoda Hill. As I mentioned during our email correspondence recently, it would be very difficult to say for sure that Percy fought in this battle, although the document I sent you does strongly suggest he was with 80 Column in Burma. If you would like the pages from Fighting Mad in relation to Pagoda Hill, then let me know and I can send them over or post them here.
