Trying to trace any records of the 2nd Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers during service in Austria during 1945 as part of the occupation forces. My Great-Uncle Sjt Frederick Gilligan, MM served with this battalion and was killed by accidental gunshot on 1st October 1945
Hello and welcome If you can, try and get to Kew to get copy of the war diary, he may be mentioned in it. WO 170/5018 is the Catalogue No. at National Archives Kew for the War Diary for 2nd Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. It covers dates Jan.- Dec. 1945 Detecting your browser settings Also attached, his recommendation for MM. It rather helpfully gives his Company as well as Platoon No. WO 373/14-ir1665-pgs362-3
Nice one Diane, I was looking in 171, so I guess the Skins just kept moving up North then? Is that right? Steve.
Steve, Sorry can't confirm. Looks likely though, doesn't it? Gilligan, Conor is researching this regiment. Try messaging him to see if he can help. Click on Saintconor's username for options. His thread with some photos from another member, pg 2, here: http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/allied-units-general/27749-royal-inniskilling-fusiliers-photos-2.html
Steve, Sorry can't confirm. Looks likely though, doesn't it? Gilligan, Conor is researching this regiment. Try messaging him to see if he can help. Click on Saintconor's username for options. His thread with some photos from another member, pg 2, here: http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/allied-units-general/27749-royal-inniskilling-fusiliers-photos-2.html Thanks Diane, Just being nosey really, being too logical as usual!
Some background info for others to read Royal Hibernian Military School - Lives of the Hibernians Another good find Phil Gilligan - is this your webpage? Just nosey - there's a lot of us like that here Regards Diane
13757 Gilligan The 2nd Skins - as I recall- were part of 38th Bde of the 78th Division and were based primarlily at Spittal in the SW corner of Austria rounding up and looking after the bad guys in the early days after May '45 - many of them moved on to Vienna and part of their tasks was the mounting of the guard at AFHQ which was in the Schonbrunn Palace - after a whole battalion of Pioneers had cleaned it up after the Russians who didn't know what a toilet was. They also were on the various patrols with the Russian - American and French through the city in jeeps - this was known as the BS patrols. The Agile and Sufferin battalion were involved in the deaths of a couple of Russians and were moved back to Spittal for their sins. Many of the 78th Div took part in the Vienna Tattoo in June of 1946 at the Schonbrunn Palace grounds where thousands of Viennese were entertained by the British Army and more than 10,000GBP's was raised to send many children into the country for fresh air and good food... Cheers
I toured Vienna in 1985 with my wife's Austrian family. Had a fascinating insight into the 'other sides' perspective at the end of the war. Schonbrunn Palace is a wonderful historic building, but the big memory for me were the gardens to the rear. Huge and well maintained lawns and horticultural delights arranged in perfect symmetry with gigantic Roman Eagles looking down upon the whole scene from their lofty pedestals. I have to say the atmosphere within these gardens was somewhat Nurembergesque! The Viennese hated the Russian occupation with all the well documented Soviet abuses applying. My wife's Grandmother once defended her Great Dane dog with a shotgun, else, he was for the cooking pot. I guess she was lucky to survive that encounter? One Uncle I chatted with told me that he had never known his father, who served on the Eastern front in WW2 and although they knew he had not been killed in action, had never returned to Austria after the war. I took that to mean he ended up POW to the Russians! It seemed to me, even at the time, that war and it's consequences are no different across all the nations, regardless of whose side you may have been on. Bamboo.