7 Somerset Light Infantry NW Europe 1944/5

I may have assumed that Grandad was 7th Btn. I now realise that 4th Btn were also in NW Europe as part of 43rd. The service records we have only provide the dates that he served in NW Europe and do not detail the battalion.

I can't seem to find this detail, any ideas?

 

Mark

It might be a good idea to scan all the service records you have and post them onto this thread.

JB

 

Mark

It might be a good idea to scan all the service records you have and post them onto this thread.

JB

They're with my Dad but he is local so I hope to have them later this afternoon. I'm not sure whether what I'm referring to as Service Records are in fact the detail I could get from MOD but we'll see. It does include periods of leave and reasons. I'll just scan and post what I have.

 

Thanks again Owen. I'll hold fire on buying anything further yet.

 

I now know for definite he was 7th Btn for at least some of his time. I have some personal letters he wrote to my Nan with a return address detailing 7th Btn. Unfortunately, there are not very many and in most cases although there is a date it doesn't always include the year. In some cases there is a return address which includes a Company so I also now know that he spent time in A Coy, B Coy and C Coy. I'm not sure if it would have been the norm to move around like that. In some instances the last line of the address is BLA, but I don't recognise that abbreviation.

I will cross refer the dates to his service record to try and determine his Company at different times and also see if there is any type of detail in the letters which might provide some clues.

The other piece of good news is that I have managed to scan the his "Soldier's Service and Pay Book" as well as his "Regular Army Certificate of Service".

11/10/1944 7th Btn C Coy BLA.
11/01/1945 7th Btn, C Coy BLA. He refers to his being wounded, I think it must have been some months earlier.
(no date) 7th Btn A Coy Ventnor, I.O.W. He had been boxing.
5th May (no year) B Coy Ventnor I.O.W.

I will upload these as attachments in later posts but I need to reduce the file sizes as each page is around 5-10MB. The problem with reducing files size is that clarity diminishes to the point of rendering the document useless.

 

Here follows images of Grandad's "Soldier's Service and Pay Book".

This may help someone with better research skills than I to decipher useful detail.

 

...and the Certificate of Service.

 

I see he served in Gibralter. 2 SLI were then

Thanks. As I understand it, in 1939 SLI only had two permanant battalions, the 1st were in Poona, India whilst the 2nd Btn were a garrison regt in Gib. The battalions of SLI were growing and by the time of the Normandy Campaign there were ten. The battalions that saw action in NW Europe were the 4th and 7th (both as part of 43rd in separate brigades) and a Parachute regiment formed from the 10th.

As Grandad enlisted into the SLI in 1935 it makes sense that he would have been in one of the original territory regiments. The fact that his service record places him in Gibralter he must have been 2nd Btn until the Normandy Campaign, at which time he would have formed part of 4th or 7th. The letters confirm he was 7th. I also have some training records of his as part of 43rd which place him there.

It's adding up.

Thanks again.

 

P.S. I have a despcription of some film from IWM which has footage of 7th Btn walking in single file between towns. They're running me a private copy onto DVD for just £28.50. Would be nice to spot him - little chance, but just maybe.....


And two more videos too:

GOVERNOR OF ALGECIRAS VISITS GIBRALTAR. FEBRUARY 1942, GIBRALTAR. | Imperial War Museums

GOVERNOR OF ALGECIRAS VISITS GIBRALTAR. FEBRUARY 1942, GIBRALTAR. | Imperial War Museums

 

Can anybody please give me their opinion whether I would find out more detail in applying to the MOD for Grandad's Service Records or whether the Service Book and Certificate I have uploaded earier in this thread provides the same data of 'Service Record' from MOD.

Bottom line; I don't want to waste anybody's time preparing a service record if what I already have is the service record, but is there more to be had?

 

Hallo from Geilenkirchen,
I just came across the picture from Freeman on the web site. I have a correction to it. The picture was taken in Bauchem, 1Km North-West of GK. The destroyed building is the old school at the intersection "Pappelweg" and "An der alten Schule". Have a look on Google Earth. The soldiers on the pictures are from the 5th Dorsets not the 7th SLI. The 7th SLI took Niederheid and later moved up to the Hochheid woods.

 

Adding this just in case Freeman pops back in!

I am interested in what the IWM was like - I am also looking at a corporal who was in 12 Platoon, C Company at the time the film was made.

Cheers

Pete

 

My grandfather. Charles Courtney Skelton. had only been in the Somerset Light Infantry for 1 week after being transferred from the Durham Light Infantry. He was killed in Neiderheide on the 18th November 1944 in Operation Clipper.

Has anyone got any details about that day/his death?

 

The SRY War diary has...

28th August 1944...

C.O. + O.C. “A” Sqn met 214 Inf Bde Cmdrs at VERNON. Plan discussed for increasing the bridgehead. “A” Sqn is to sp 7 Somersets. “C” Sqn the D.C.L.I. and B Sqn is in reserve. A Sqn had a difficult time with their Inf. as they had to operate through a very thick forest. Likewise “C” Sqn , but they ???? gained their objectives.
At 1530 hrs orders were received to ???? as a Bde for a new Operation, and we all had to be concentrated in an area 2 miles East of VERNON within an hour. This was a very “tall” order as both A + B Sqns were involved in a battle and C did not arrive until 2230 hrs. C.O. attended Conference at Bde H.Q. at 2045 and was told that Bde is to adv on to AMIENS with 11 Armd Div on our left and 7 Armd Div coming up behind.