49th LAA Regt and also 1st Div Uniform Patches

Giberville

Thanks for showing us the pic of the Bofor, I haven't seen it before.

With reference to your comment that the site was exposed, in my experience they were always exposed in this manner as they needed to have 100% allround view of thieir targets at the obvious risk of their own exposure.

Ron

 

Anthony, nice pics thanks for sharing!
Which battery was your uncle with? I'm just having a photo professionally restored where my grandfather is pictured with a hundred or so other servicemen. I'm not quite sure if it's from his basic training or one of the 49th batteries before being shipped off to war. Will share it as soon as it's ready (i'm told a couple of weeks).

 

here's a portion of how it looks right now. i'm told they can make it look ten times better.

 

Jamie,
My uncle was in 280 Battery. He arrived in North Africa 8.11.42 and served with 49th LAA in Sicily and Italy. I have his records. One interesting item he gave me as a child was an Algerian banknote signed by all his gun crew. I researched the names and found that 2 of them were killed during the war. I would very much like to find out what happened. The war diary does not record their death.

I have another photo showing a Bofors...

 

hmmm... interesting. i'm starting to believe more and more that my grandad was with the 90th battery as you mention your uncle was with the 280th and his recorded date of arrival is 8.11.42 and my grandfather arrived 22.11.42. I'm currently reading Ken Ford's book and it mention's 3 waves of initial landings.... i guess the 90th landed with the 3rd wave.

 

btw...great pic of the bofors! What was your uncle's job? in charge of firing? Imagine the kick coming of that thing! I would guess my grandfather was a driver, since he was in a DVR TNG battalion for basic training...

 

Jamie,

I will be interested to see your photo when it is ready.

One of the casualties from my uncle's pals (Gnr Richardson) was buried in Catania cemetery in Sicily. I visited in 2005 and took this photo. I wonder if any of his relatives are still alive?

I have been trying to find my notes/war diary entries for the landings to help you out but I am having no luck (I have piles of research). If I find them I will post. I would imagine that a battery would arrive together, although different elements (90 battery, RHQ etc) may have landed on different days.

My uncle was a sergeant in command of a Bofors gun (at least that it what I am led to believe). I am relying a lot on remembered conversations from the 1980s when I was a boy! I remember my uncle coming for Christmas most years and I would pester him to tell me about his war experiences. Not surprisingly he wasn't very keen.

Anthony

 

does anyone know if 1st Division wore a similar kind of patch? If so what did it look like?

 

Thanks, i'm looking for the combination of 11th Bn Lancs Fusiliers as part of the 1st infantry division in 1944-45. Just a basic white triangle or something like a combination below?

 

just bought one off ebay which is a white triangle on a red background. Do you know if that was typical?

 

The red (and other colours) around the triangle came in 1943. Red represented Staff and Infantry; other variants known are yellow (armour), blue (signals) blue/yellow vertical (RASC).

 

Anthony,

Here's the photo "almost" restored. The restorer still needs to work on the brightness and give me a digital copy. This is just a scanned copy to 600 dpi

So I am "guessing" this is a picture of 90th Bty of the 49th LAA prior to being shipped overseas. I'm still trying to figure out where it was taken. Likely to be somewhere in Suffolk or then Scotland (possibly) Arbroath. The other guess is 280th Bty of the 49th LAA. I counted 276 men (8 officers and 268 ORs)

Can anyone identify that building?

Jamie

 

Jamie.

I suspect that the writing in the Service Record could be 2 rather than 11. 2 Lancs Fusiliers was a battalion in 78 Inf Div and that would logically be where he would go. There was not 11 Lancs Fus in Italy.

Regards

Frank

 

Indeed, as Owen says they served with 1st Division.

War Diary for them at TNA too.

 

Yes was with 11 Lancs, 66th Bdg in late '44, after transferring from the artillery (after a short illness). He was shipped over to Haifa with 1st Div where he spent the remainder of the war and until July 1946 between Palestine and Egypt with 11th Lancs and later 1st Div Sigs.

 

Jamie,

Thanks for posting the picture of the battery - it looks like it has been restored well. The building is very distinctive, perhaps someone will recognise it? A rare photo - perhaps it is possible to email it so I can see the faces, uniforms clearly when you have a digital copy?

Anthony

 

Here's the final version.