Could anyone give me the dates of arrival, and movements in North Africa of the 72nd Field Regiment R.A (Northumbrian T.A) during 1941 & 1942 please.
72nd (Northumbrian) Field Regiment, R.A. (T.A.) HQ, 285th (1st Northumberland), 286th (2nd Northumberland) Btys: Newcastle-on-Tyne The regiment served under command of 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division from the outbreak of war until 27 November 1941. It mobilized at Newcastle-on-Tyne and moved to Winchcombe in Gloucestershire on 21 October to train. It moved to France on 19 January 1940 and deployed with RHQ and 285th Battery at Suzanne and 268th Battery at Voutré. It moved into Belgium on 16 May 1940 and went into action at Ghoy by midday. It was ordered to withdraw to the Escaut at Dottignies on the 17th. It came into action there but soon withdrew to the area of Thumeries and deployed between Pont-à-Vendin and Douai. It was then ordered to Forêt de Nieppe for the anti-tank defence of the La Bassée-Aire Canal. It was ordered to Neuville-St. Vaast on 19 May. It came into action on Vimy Ridge on the same day with RHQ at Roclincourt and 268th Battery south of Thélus. It fired its first rounds on 20 May. 285th Battey moved to Neuville-St. Vaast to cover Arras on 21 May, but returned to Vimy Ridge the next day. The regiment came into action in the outskirts of Ypres near Kruisstraat on 26 May and into the next day. The afternoon it moved to an area west of Brielen after destroying 268th Battery’s howitzers. 285th Battery was used to cover the move to the beaches. It embarked at Dunkirk on 31 May. On return to England, the regiment assembled at Knutsford, Cheshire but then moved to Weymouth as infantry. It ended 1940 at Weston-Super-Mare. It left England on 22 April 1941 and arrived by sea in Egypt on 13 June 1941. It embarked for Cyprus on 24 July 1941 and landed there the next day. It was ordered to leave on 1 November and left on the 3rd, stockpiling all of its equipment for 28th Field Regiment. It arrived in Egypt on 3 November and added 451st Battery on the 7th. It was then detached to 150th Infantry Brigade Group on 27 November. It left Palestine on 29 November and moved with the brigade to Baggush in reserve on 3 December. The regiment moved into Libya with the brigade on 24 January and left command of the brigade on 22 February, when the brigade returned to divisional command. The regiment was joined by 65th Anti-Tank Battery on 9 April 1942. The regiment was captured in Libya on 1 June 1942 while supporting the brigade during the defence of the Gazala line. Due to casualties, the regiment was reduced to cadre on 21 September 1942 and posted to the home establishment.
Hello dryan67, What is your source for the information posted at Message # 2? David, I have the War Diaries for the 72nd Field Regiment, RA, for the period 24 August 1939 to 31 March 1941, but not thereafter; which is a great shame given that they embarked at Liverpool for the Middle East theatre on 21 April 1941. I do, however, have a book that covers its and the 150th Infantry Brigade's exploits/whereabouts between 21 April 1941 and 1 June 1942, when both were overrun by the DAK at Gazala. Please note that, the 72nd Field Regiment, RA, were attached to the 150th Infantry Brigade, 50th (Northumbrian) Division, from prior to the outbreak of WWII until 1 June 1942. It was only when, either, the 150th Infantry Brigade was temporarily detached from the 50th (Northumbrian) Division, or the 72nd Field Regiment, RA, was temporarily detached from the 150th Infantry Brigade, that this otherwise permanent relationship changed (temporarily). The 150th Infantry Brigade = 4th Bn East Yorkshire Regiment, and 4th and 5th Bns Green Howards. I will revert later with particulars sourced from the aforementioned book! Best, Steve.
My source, if I remember correctly, is the divisional history for 50th (Northumbrian) Division: Clay, Ewart. The Path of the 50th. Aldershot: Gale and Polden, Ltd., 1950.
* Thanks dryan67, Some of that information is not in 'The Path of the 50th'. Do you have the book in electronic (e-book) form? Best, Steve.
Hello David, The 72nd Field Regiment, RA, embarked on the Empress of Asia at Liverpool on 21 April 1941, along with the 5th Bn Green Howards and the 150th Field Ambulance. The rest of the 150th Infantry Brigade, including a party from Divisional HQ, travelled on the Empress of Russia. The convoy (convoy WS 8A) assembled in the Clyde and set sail via Freetown and Durban for Suez on 26 April 1941. The Empress of Asia was a ‘lame duck’ and spent much time adrift of the rest of the convoy, being forced to berth in Capetown before moving on to Durban. This was during the Bismark episode when the escort was much reduced in the Royal Navy’s attempt to track down and sink the German predator. The 72nd Field Regiment, still aboard the Empress of Asia, arrived at Port Tewfik on 23 June 1941, 10 days after the rest of the 150th Infantry Brigade. They then moved in MT to Quassassin, nr Ismailia, where the Brigade remained for around two weeks before being dispersed between Bagguish, Fuka and Daba in the Western Desert. However, the 72nd Field Regiment remained at Quassassin. The rest of the 50th (Northumbrian) Division arrived at Port Tewfik (as part of a different convoy) a couple of weeks later but, instead of joining the 150th Infantry Brigade in the Western Desert, were sent off to Cyprus. During the second week of August 1941, the 150th Infantry Brigade moved to Cyprus where it rejoined the 50th (Northumbrian) Division. On the 3 November 1941, the 50th (Northumbrian) Division embarked for Haifa, with the 150th Infantry Brigade going into camp at Jalama at the foot of Mount Carmel. The Division had to leave its new vehicles and equipment in Cyprus for and inherited the dilapidated ‘kit’ of, its relieving force, the 5th Indian Division. In mid – November, the 50th (Northumbrian) Division was ordered to move to Iraq, but due the state of the inherited ‘kit’, the 150th Infantry Brigade, who were to be the last to move, were stripped of anything serviceable to make the other two brigades – 69th and 151st - mobile. It was intended that the 150th Infantry Brigade would follow later, however, its orders were changed. On 30 November – 1st December 1941, the 150th Infantry Brigade left Haifa for Amryha, nr Alexandria; personnel by rail, guns of the 72nd Field Regiment by road. The 150th Infantry Brigade remained at Amryha for one week before moving to the Western Desert, in bivouac at Bagguish, near the old Western Desert HQ. The next Brigade move was on the 22 December 1941 to the desert railhead at Bir Thalata, moving into camp again. On 5 January 1942, the 72nd Field Regiment was ordered to Tobruk, with the intention of moving to the forward area, but they remained at Tobruk due to supply issues. Instead, they were withdrawn to join the forces investing Halfaya, where a German garrison of 800 were holding out. When the Halfaya garrison capitulated on 18 January 1942, the 72nd Field Regiment rejoined the 150th Infantry Brigade at Bir Thalata. At about this time the Divisional Commander, Maj-Gen Ramsden, flew in from Iraq and put the 150th Infantry Brigade on 12 days notice that it was to rejoin the Division in Iraq. However, on 25 January 1942, the order was reversed and the Brigade moved instead to Bir Harmat. After a 12 hour stop here, the Brigade moved again along the ‘F’ route to the area of Garet el Auda. The 285 Bty was sent, with the 4th Bn Green Howards, 15 miles further west of Garet el Auda to the area of Bir Tengeder. On 2 February 1942, the Brigade was withdrawn to Bir Hachiem, in the Gazala position. Here the Brigade constructed a lot of the all round defences – trenches, gun pits and minefields – that were to serve the Free French Brigade so well during the Gazala battles in late May/early June 1942. Over the period 15-17 February 1942, the Brigade swapped sectors with the Free French Brigade, located at Bir Geff, where again the Brigade constructed all round defences. Here, after a few days, the rest of the 50th (Northumbrian) Division fresh from Iraq replaced the 4th Indian Division. A great deal of aggressive patrolling of mixed arms took place during its time here, the 285 Bty being involved in the attack on the Martuba aerodrome on 20-22 March 1942. The 286 Bty was also involved in an attack on the Ras El Eleba on 20 March 1942. On 21 April 1942 another regrouping of the forces in the Gazala position took place, with the 150th Infantry Brigade handing over Bir Geff to a brigade of the 1st South African Division and taking over the Ualeb position from the 200th Guards Brigade (sometimes referred to as 201st Guards Brigade - as redesignated); the latter who moved to the Knightsbridge position. The Ualeb position was on and near the Rotunda Ualeb, and situated between the Trigh El Abd and Trigh Capuzzo. It was here on the 1 June 1942 that the 150th Infantry Brigade and the 72nd Field Regiment, amongst other units, were finally overrun by the DAK. The above information was derived from '150th Infantry Brigade (50th (Northumbrian) Division) in the Middle East June 1941 - June 1942', written in August 1944 by officers of the brigade that had been taken prisoner at the Ualeb position and ‘The Path of the 50th’ (Ewart Clay). The former book is a wonderful source of information on the 150th Infantry Brigade's actions at Gazala; the best I have found. Best, Steve.
To be honest, I am not sure where all of the information came from. I will do some investigating. I think that I also included some information from the Royal Artillery official history, Years of Defeat as well as Joslen's Orders of Battle.
Ummm... Whoever wrote that may have had trouble counting... The actual numbers were: German Off 57 OR 2,069 Italian Off 178 OR 3,222 Total All ranks 5,526 All the best Andreas
* I would appreciate that... My Uncle Fred - one of dad's brothers - served with the 72nd Field Regiment, RA, being KIA on 31 May 1940. So, I have a personal interest in this regiment. However, probably as a consequence of it being overrun at Gazala on 1 June 1942 and thereafter being struck off the nominal role, no regimental history appears to have been written and there is a general dearth of information about it. Therefore I am interested in any source of information about 72nd Field Regiment. Best, Steve.
* Hello Andreas, As mentioned in that same post, the '150th Infantry Brigade (50th (Northumbrian) Division) in the Middle East June 1941 - June 1942' was written in August 1944 by officers of the brigade that had been taken prisoner at the Ualeb position and wholly from memory. It was the third time that they had written the story. The first book was confiscated by the Italians in PoW Camp in Italy. The second was dumped whilst on the run following their escape from the PoW Camp in late 1943. The third was written in exile in Switzerland, over two years after capture at Gazala. The spokesperson for the writers, Lt-Col WE Bush, acknowledges that because of the passage of time between the actions and the drafting, there could be 'minor' (my choice of word) inaccuracies. Best, Steve.
From The Winston Specials by Archie Munro, "The Empress of Asia had a permanent list to starboard due to unskilled trimming, apparently many of the trimmers and stokers had joined the Merchant Navy to avoid being conscripted and had never been to sea before." It goes on to say many stokers deserted at Durban and their places were taken by troops on board. Sources quoted, 50th Div. History and an article in Sea Breezes by John Nicolson, July 1988
* Hello Reme, The stoker desertion story is correct. However, I did read somewhere else that the stokers were not British (mainly), but cannot find the authority for this 'statement' at present. Apparently, Capt. 'Ticker' Whittaker, 5th Bn Green Howards composed an amusing song about the slowness of the 'Asia', which the writers of '150th Infantry Brigade (50th (Northumbrian) Division) in the Middle East June 1941 - June 1942' wanted to include in the book. However, when the book was written in August 1944, Capt. Whittaker was still PoW in Germany and the song is probably now long forgotten. It would have been interesting to hear the song... Can you imagine floating along in a ship, adrift of the convoy, the Bismark and U-Boats on the prowl... what do you do? Compose an amusing song about your predicament, what else... You've got to admire the spirit... Best, Steve.
Theres a site dedicated to the Empress but no mention of deserters: http://www.empressofasia.com/ Click on suez canal 1941 for a crew list.
Hello David, Here is a link to the Wartime Blog of Oliver Perks, who joined 72nd Field Regiment, RA, at Weston-Super-Mare in February 1941. He was wounded in the Martuba aerodrome raid in March 1942, so missed the Gazala debacle. His recollection of events fits with those at Message # 6 - Blogs 1 to 5 refer. http://www.oliverperks.com/blog1.html Oliver was later Commissioned and served with the 90th Field Regiment, RA, which also served with the 50th (Northumbrian) Division in NW Europe. It was permanently attached to the 231st Infantry Brigade, which was the 150th Infantry Brigade's replacement in the Division. Happy reading! Best, Steve.
