6980447 John Gerald MELAUGH, 2nd Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, A company

Hello all,
I stumbled upon this site today and would very much like to become a part of it. My father was in the Inniskilling Fusiliers from 1939 - 1946. He was part of the rearguard during the Dunkirk evacuation and was captured and subsequently a POW until the end of the war. His father was also in the 'Skins' and lost a leg at Hill 60 during the 2nd battle of Ypres. Sadly, I lost my dear dad 2 years ago and learned little of his experiences during the war. I would dearly love to share any information with anyone in a similar position.

 

Welcome to the forum.
Plenty of interest in 1940 & PoWs here.

 

The best thing to do is post as much info as you have.

I'd assume 2nd Inniskillings in 13th Brigade (5th Div) which is quite well documented. If you can find out his date of capture, it would help.

 

Hello and welcome - I have the Bn's diary for 1939/40. As Rich has said if you know the date he was captured there maybe some clues in the diary as to what he was doing at the that time.

 

This map from the regimental history may be of interest?



Skins Map | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

Hi!

Welcome to the forum.

Its good to have you with us.

 

Thanks to all of you for your replies. I' m fairly sure he was in the 13th Brigade but I don't know his date of capture, only that he was captured in Belguim as part of the rearguard action during the Dunkirk evacuations.

 

Can you post his full name and someone may be able to look him up in a PoW book?

If he was captured in Belgium it would have most likely been before any troops started evacuating at Dunkirk. Do you have a copy of his service records? Getting a copy of these is the best place to start if you wish to do some serious research.

The 2nd Bn. Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers were indeed part of 13 Bde within 5 Div. The Division moved into Belgium on the 15th May and moved back into France on the 19th May.

Regards
Andy

 

Drew, I don't. I asked him if I could request them before he died and he made it clear that he'd rather I left it alone. His full name was John Gerald Melaugh and I do know that he escaped twice (recaptured) and also he was the best person I've ever known.

 

Ref his records you can apply for them yourself now he has passed away. The link below has all the info you need. If you want to apply for them I would give them a ring as they will send you the correct forms in the post for you to fill in.

Army Personnel Centre - British Army Website

Regards
Andy

 

Thanks Andy. I forgot to ask was there room for sentiment on this site If not, I apologise to all you blokes.

 

Derry - welcome to the sentimental forum with the emphasis on the mental - this includes the odd fight or two in which the Skins were always in the middle of - incidently the 2nd Skins joined the 78th Div in Italy - either before they came back from Egypt or after in August '44 in time for the Battles of the Gothic Line -they replaced the 6th battalion Skins which had been in 38th bde since they joined 78th from 6th Armoured Division ...in North Africa in March '43.
Cheers

 

Hope this helps (Thanks to Drew for the pointer) Fusilier J G Melaugh Innis Fus Reg Number 6980447 held at camp Stalag 3A PoW number 12427
There are only two MELAUGH listed unfortunately to confuse things the other one is a L/Cpl J Melaugh Reg No 6976776 Innis Fus also in Stalag 3A PoW number 8811.Perhaps a relative

Jim

 

In September 1944 both men are listed as in Stalag 20B.

The name of L/Cpl J. is spelt differently in 1944; "Melaiegh". Unfortunately official records do contain mistakes like this one.

 

Thanks so much to you both. How did you find this information?

 

My money is on this chap with the matching middle name and Brian's info - Fusilier J G Melaugh Innis Fus Reg Number 6980447. Shame we don't have a date of capture.

 

Thanks so much to you both. How did you find this information?


The info comes from my own database of POW lists, Published and non-published.

 

You may find all you need in a Liberation Report IF he made one.

The National Archives File would be WO344/216/2

 

Brian - Do you know if a soldiers Service Records record the date of capture on them or a similiar date like date of notification by the Red Cross etc ?

 

I would think so Andy; but not positive. These are given on Liberation Reports if one was made.
Less time waiting for the latter.