Family connections with South Lancashire Regiment

Discussion in 'Searching for Someone & Military Genealogy' started by Drew5233, Apr 8, 2009.

  1. englandphil

    englandphil Very Senior Member

    St Valentine’s Day, 1945.
    The Assault Crossing of the River Irrawaddy
    The Japanese had reached the high water mark of their march towards India when, in February 1944 they had launched their offensive across the Chindwin, had isolated our forces in the Imperial plain and had surged forward into the Naga Hills, surrounded Kohima and cutting our line of communications by the single road.

    According to the Japanese copybook, our troops should then have retired to avoid encirclement, but we had learned a thing or two by now and the order was ‘stay put!’; so our troops stayed put everywhere, were supplied from the air, broke up enemy offensive, and eventually won the first substantial victory in South-East Asia.

    The garrison at Kohima was finally relieved on the 15th May and thereafter the enemy were cleared from the heights, the 5th Indian Division attacked northwards from the Imphal Plain in conjunction with the attacks from the north and the two forces joined hands on the 22nd June and the road was reopened. The Japanese forces had suffered severely, both from battle casualties and from the virtual destruction of their lines of communications by allied air forces, and the remnants, half starved, ill-equipped and ravaged by disease, were driven eastwards until no organised Japanese formations remained west of the Chindwin. Apart from their valuable strategic gains, these operations were a great stimulus to the morale of our troops, who now had the measure of the Japanese and knew that they could beat them at their own game and on ground of their own choosing, and that, moreover our resources, on the ground and in the air, were infinitely superior to those of the enemy and that our administrative and medical services were capable of coping with the most severe strains which climate and terrain could impose upon them. In a word, the men of the 14th Army had their tails right up and were ready to move on to the next phase, the reconquest of Burma and the total defeat of the Japanese forces in South-East Asia.

    There was much to be one, however, before the stage was fully set for the advance into the plains of Burma, and many of the troops had to learn the technique of jungle warfare for the first time.

    The 2nd Battalion was better off then some un this regard, for it had had the experience of fighting in the Arakan campaign, but there was still a great deal to absorb, especially in the important details of battle drills for the jungle, which had to be practised and perfected again and again, until every man knew the details and automatically applied them. For this purpose the battalion carried out a period of intensive training after September, when the leave period was over, and this merged into company, battalion and brigade exercises leading up to the resumption of the offensive against the enemy which all knew was coming.

    In the meantime the battalion settled into its camp at Kohima, which was on the hillside at an altitude of 3,800 feet and contained no level space larger than a basketball pitch. Despite the difficulties, the ingenuity of the men and the untiring energy or R.S.M. Oliver soon produced a model camp a nearly model camp for the region, with a huge recreation ‘Basha’ containing canteen and supper bar furnished with improvised furniture and lit, with the other main tents and bashas by electric light. There was also a mobile bath unit and this and other amenities were developed to make life in these strange surroundings more bearable. During this period the battalion came to know the other units of the brigade, and warm comradeship was built up with the Indian Army battalions – the 4/5th Gurkha Rifles and the 4/14th Punjab Regiment, which bore generous fruit in the hard fighting they later shared.

    At the end of November the battalion took part in a very strenuous brigade exercise, called ‘Exercise Faith,’ which lasted for three days and involved marching and fighting in some of the most difficult country in the Naga Hills with packs weighing nearly 60lbs. The men were now remarkably hard and fit and in returning from this exercise the battalion was moved by M.T. to a camp in the plain near Imphal, where it learned that it was to be the demonstration battalion in the largest exercise yet to be held on this front. This exercise, known as ‘Earthquake,’ was a battalion attack on a strongly held Japanese bunkered position with the heaviest possible ground and air support and was held on the 5th December before a gathering of several hundred senior officers. It was a very fine battle inoculation for the battalion and the impressive support under which it was launched was a cheerful augury for the future.

    ‘Earthquake’ marked the end of the intensive training period, for the 14th Army was mow moving into position for the next phase, and at the beginning of December 1944, the 7th Indian Division was ordered to concentrate in the Kabaw Valley with the object of crossing the Chindwin behind the 19th Indian Division and advancing into the plains to the north of Mandalay. The news was received in the 2nd Battalion with satisfaction, and morale rose higher than ever with the prospect that all the hard training of the past few moths was now going to be put into practical use against the enemy.

    Leaving Imphal on the 7th December under stringent security measures, the battalion moved by M.T. down the Tamu Road as far as the 13th milestone, and then marched on into the Kabaw Valley. As the troops penetrated further eastwards the main task was that of road-making to enable the heaviest vehicles to negotiate the steep, twisting roads leading down to the Chindwin River, and the battalion put in some very hard pioneering work in the Thanan – Tinhe Road before being ordered, on the 18th December, to move to a new concentration area 6 miles south of Tamu. This move was carried out in three stages – the Yu River – The 13th milestones on the road Moreh – Thanan – Thanan, and the whole battalion was concentrated in its allotted staging area by Christmas morning. The Country through which the battalion was now moving was generally depressing, consisting for the most part of the gloomy teak forest of this part of Burma, with its great trees and heavy jungle undergrowth which produced a constant twilight by day and Stygian darkness by night. The tracks, too, littered with the evidence of the hasty retreat of the Japanese and, moreover, the area was particularly bad for typhus.

    Despite all the drawbacks, however the arrangements for Christmas Day were excellent and a first class diner with many little unaccustomed luxuries was provided, as well as a mobile cinema, a huge bonfire and a singsong organised by the indefatigable R.S.M. Oliver, all of which were much appreciated by all ranks. It was evident to all that great events were impending and it was well know that the main advance against the enemy had commenced. The role of the 7th Indian Division was now changed, and it was ordered to concentrate as rapidly as possible south of Kalemyo, and thereafter its task was to advance down the Gangaw Valley and establish a bridgehead over the Irrawaddy near Pakokku.

    It is now necessary to digress in order to place the general picture of the operations, which followed, in their true perspective.

    The year 1944 was, generally speaking, a year of defensive campaigning. With the blunting of the Japanese spearhead aimed at India, however, the time for the allies to take the offensive had arrived and, after the relief of Kohima and the reopening of the road to Imphal, the enemy was pursued throughout the monsoon and was driven, battered and hopelessly outgeneralled, over the Chindwin.

    The first strategic aim for Supreme Allied Commander, Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, was the reestablishment of overland communications with China, and the second was the reconquest of Burma and the destruction of the Japanese armies. The land route to China was restored by the American led Northern Area Combat Command, in which General Dan Sultan led a mixed American Chinese force powerfully assisted by the British Special Forces (Chindits), under General Lentaigne, and these operations enabled the new Ledo Road to be linked up with the old Burma Road to Kunming.

    This having being accomplished, the enemy had to be brought to battle, and it was appreciated that his main forces should be made to fight in the open plains of central Burma where our resources in armour and un the air would be able to be employed to the best advantage. It was thus clear that Mandalay would be the key and, important, for the capture of Mandalay would be, possession of the complex of airfields to the south of Mandalay would be even more important, for the campaign must, to a very large extent, depend on air supply, and this demanded many airfields along the axis of our advance. (In this connection it is worth noting that the weight of stores flown in for our armies in Burma exceeded the weight of bombs delivered by the allied air forces in Germany.)

    Very briefly, the plan of General Slim, commanding 14th Army, was for his 33rd Corps to cross the Chindwin somewhere about Kalewa and then to press on to the Irrawaddy and Mandalay from the North West, and for his 4th Corps to strike the Irrawaddy much further south and below its junction with the Chindwin. This latter movement was to be carried out with maximum secrecy over a distance of about 350 miles across country entirely devoid of roads.

    Seventh Indian Division, in which was the 2nd Battalion of the regiment, was part of 4th Corps and when it when it was switched down the Gangaw valley it had over 300 miles to cover before It reached Pakokku and the Irrawaddy, and the plan stipulated that the division was to establish its bridgehead by the 15th February, which meant that it must cover the distance in less than six weeks. At this time a large part of the division was still in Kohima, so that it had a very long ‘tail’ as the advance began. The country to be traversed was extremely difficult, consisting as it did mainly of the thick teak forest and much broken ground which offered the enemy ample opportunities for demolitions and delaying actions, while the tracks had to be improved before wheels could use them and the many small rivers had to be bridged.

    The great march was an experience which will never be forgotten by those who took part in it and by the time it was over the battalion was at the top of its form, fighting fit and a thoroughly trained and integrated machine working like clockwork with the maximum efficiency and the minimum of trouble, everyone knowing his job and doing it instinctively. Although details of the overall plan were not, of course, known to everyone, it was soon apparent that this was no ordinary march, because the battalion was continually on the move, never staying in one place for more that twenty-four hours. To make it Colonel Hayes-Palmer decided that all marching should be done as far as possible at night in order to take advantage of the coolness and, although most of the men never got accustomed to sleeping during the heat of the day, the routine of marching by night was accepted as normal procedure. March discipline and the drill of making and breaking bivouac reached a high standard and orders were reduced to a minimum. Another thing the C.O. insisted upon was that every officer and man should at once dig his individual slit trench at any halt of over an hour’s duration and, as Lieutenant Colonel T. W. M. Mitchell says in his valuable account of this period of the 2nd Battalions activities, ‘It was almost possible to see the battalion disappear before one’s eyes in a remarkably short space of time!’

    All superfluities were drastically reduced and loads on both the man and animal and mechanical transport were cut down to the minimum. Nevertheless, the normal pack carried by the man weighed at least 40 lbs. And with a few small luxuries, often reached 50 lbs. The rest, a change of jungle green battle dress coat and trousers, boots and socks, towel and small personal things, were rolled in the groundsheet and mosquito net and formed the familiar bedding roll, or ‘bistra,’ which was carried in the battalion MT. Motor Transport was, however, strictly limited and all came to depend to a great extent upon that wonderful animal, the pack mule, who with his Indian driver, the Drabi, has always been such an essential and beloved component of the Army in India. They did all that the infantry soldier did and at the end of the march, while he slept or rested they had to go on working, looking after the mules and taking rations and supplies to detached companies, before they could take their well earned rest. No praise too high for the devoted Drabi, and the extent of the efficiency of the mule drivers of the 2nd battalion is shown by the remarkable fact that in covering a distance of 1,800 miles with full loads only four mules were lost.

    A tribute must be paid to the great part played by the battalion’s padre at this time. To quote Lieutenant Colonel Mitchell: ‘the battalion was particularly fortunate to have the Rev. A. L. Heaver, M.B.E., as the padre. Known to all ranks at “The vicar,” he was a much-loved figure. Carrying everything the men carried on their backs, with a battered bush-hat and a constant flow of good humour, he marched every step of the way. Although not of a tender age and far from physically fit, he never once showed signs of fatigue or bad temper. At the end of a march, sometimes after covering a distance of well over 20 miles, “The Vicar” would be waiting for each company as they arrived, with tins of “blighty” cigarettes open and distributing handfuls to the men as they passed. The debt of gratitude, which the battalion owes to Padre Heaver, cannot be measured in words. His sympathy and understanding and his unfailing good humour in the worst conditions were greatly responsible for the high morale of the battalion.’

    Arriving at Gangaw on the 20th January, 1945, after having marched just under 200 miles from Tamu, the battalion went on through Mawle to Tilin, where it had a rare rest of three days and, incidentally, received the novel addition of six elephants to its establishment. From Tilin the battalion marched to Thanbya-A-Aing, and here it parted company with the 114th Indian Infantry Brigade, continuing the march on its own with a battery of Indian Mountain Artillery. The other two battalions of the brigade moved south easterly towards the Irrawaddy at Pakokku and became engaged in heavy fighting a week before the 2nd Battalion.

    At Myitche, on the 7th February, the battalion had the misfortune to lose Lieutenant Colonel Hayes-Palmer, who was forced to report sick and was flown out. The command then devolved upon the second-in-command, Major T. W. Mitchell, who was promoted a few days afterwards.


    TO BE CONTINUED........... (When I get the time)
     
  2. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Well that didn't take very long........Three sets of Service Records have arrived :D
     
  3. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    I've only had a casual glance through them and there is much more information than I expected.

    Andrea's service family appear to have been right characters.

    This chap:
    [​IMG]
    James with his wife and my girlfriends mother.

    Appears to have been fined a weeks wages for going AWOL on 14th Feb 1941 (Valentines Day). We suspect his wife had possibly just told him she was pregnant with Andrea's mother.

    It also looks like he spent 10 days somewhere for being naughty and was fined in another incident for breaking something !

    I appears he joined 13th Para Bn in 1943 before joining the East Lancs in 44 and going to NWE in June he was wounded after that by a mortar round.

    Cpl Andy O'Neil was 'severely reprimanded' for having some sort of a disagreement with his superior officer.

    Great Stuff !
     
  4. Pete Keane

    Pete Keane Senior Member

    What Battalion was he with?

    7 days pay equals 7 days awol. My grandad was fined loads, hence he was posted to the Orkneys!

    Glad you got the paperwork back so quick.

    Pete.
     
  5. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Hi Peter, If I'm honest I haven't looked at them all properly yet as I'm busy getting ready for my French trip with Rob at the w/end.

    Andrea has been going through them and firing info at me hence the above posts.

    Jason (wtd thingy ma jig) has helped a bit tonight and we've identified what seems a certaintly that he was 2/4 South Lancs and became a Para in June 1943 with the 13th Bn. Jason has pointed out to me that he was with C Company and ID that he was wounded at 2030hrs after a mortar attack on 5th July, which is from the Bn's WD. He left 13 Para in Nov 44.

    I think I will start individual threads on them when I get back from France.

    It just goes to show you you never can tell until those records arrive.

    Cheers
     
  6. wtid45

    wtid45 Very Senior Member

    Thing ma jig here:p Andy mate got any more pics and do you know the date of the one above, that could well be wings and pegasus on his arm can you make it out the angle looks to tight to make it out:unsure:
     
  7. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    The baby is Andrea's Mum and she was born in Oct 1941 so it was another 18 months before he went to 13 Para - Does the baby look 18 months old?
     
  8. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

    Does the baby look 18 months old?
    No. At 18 months, babies are toddlers.
     
  9. englandphil

    englandphil Very Senior Member

    Drew, details, of the casualty that was killed along Side Jim

    Name: RICHARDS, ROBERT DANIEL
    Initials: R D
    Nationality: United Kingdom
    Rank: Private
    Regiment/Service: Parachute Regiment, A.A.C.
    Unit Text: 13th (2/4th Bn. The South Lancashire Regt.) Bn.
    Age: 23
    Date of Death: 05/07/1944
    Service No: 14210359
    Additional information: Son of Arthur Ernest and Frances Ada Richards, of Blackburn, Lancashire.
    Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
    Grave/Memorial Reference: IIIA. B. 7.
    Cemetery: RANVILLE WAR CEMETERY
     
    Drew5233 likes this.
  10. Pete Keane

    Pete Keane Senior Member

    Interesting stuff.

    I reckon the photos of him on page 5 of this thread may well have been taken in Suffolk.

    The Bn was involved in coastal defence - I have a link to a website about their time there, with the war diary, its here:

    Original Documents and » Walberswick - Coastal Defences of World War 2


    Funnily enough I wondered if george was 2/4 Bn. - the posting to Ireland also fits them.

    Cheers

    Pete
     
  11. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    The thing I don't get though is on post 62:

    His record of service has no mention of the Para's and says he was with the East Lancs during those dates his records say he was with 13 Para???
     
  12. wtid45

    wtid45 Very Senior Member

    The thing I don't get though is on post 62:

    His record of service has no mention of the Para's and says he was with the East Lancs during those dates his records say he was with 13 Para???
    Drew in post 83 you said after getting his service records that it looked like he was with 13 Para 43-44 so what from the records led you to believe that it does seem likely given the 2/4th S Lancs connnection and the other tie ins. I reckon the best way to be sure is check on his jump training at Ringway, Airborne Medic, Andy or Phil will be able to help with that.
     
  13. englandphil

    englandphil Very Senior Member

    [​IMG]


    Drew, his Discharge papers state that he served in NWE from the 27th June 1944, which fits with the 5th East Lancs, and not 13th Bn, who served from just after midnight on the 6th.

    It is possible that, he was attached to the 13th Bn as a reinforcement as the battalion took 100 refinforcements from Infantry companies on the 3rd July.

    Here are some the casualties, who where attached

    001 , ASHFORD, H, 5044455, ATTD 13TH 2/4TH BN THE SOUTH LANCASHIRE REGT BN , 19/08/1944, NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE REGIMENT
    002 , ATTRIDGE, GA, 4038610, ATTD 13TH 2/4TH BN THE SOUTH LANCASHIRE REGT BN , 19/08/1944, SOUTH STAFFORDSHIRE REGIMENT
    003 , BRASSINGTON, R, 4920167, ATTD 13TH 2/4TH BN THE SOUTH LANCASHIRE REGT BN , 19/08/1944, SOUTH STAFFORDSHIRE REGIMENT
    004 , CRUTCHLEY, TH, 4919420, ATTD 13TH 2/4TH BN THE SOUTH LANCASHIRE REGT BN , 19/08/1944, SOUTH STAFFORDSHIRE REGIMENT
    005 , FORTEY, HJ, 47446740, ATTD 13TH 2/4TH BN THE SOUTH LANCASHIRE REGT BN , 03/01/1945, ROYAL ARMY MEDICAL CORPS
    006 , FUNNELL, EW, 978870, ATTD 13TH 2/4TH BN THE SOUTH LANCASHIRE REGT BN , 19/08/1944, SOUTH STAFFORDSHIRE REGIMENT
    007 , GILLATT, R, 4546128, ATTD 13TH 2/4TH BN THE THE SOUTH LANCASHIRE REGT BN , 18/07/1944, WEST YORKSHIRE REGIMENT (PRINCE OF WALES'S OWN)
    008 , GREEN, HA, 7622507, ATTD 13TH 2/4TH BN THE SOUTH LANCASHIRE REGT BN , 16/06/1944, ROYAL ARMY ORDNANCE CORPS
    009 , HEWITT, WG, 14323799, ATTD 13TH 2/4TH BN THE SOUTH LANCASHIRE REGT BN , 19/08/1944, HAMPSHIRE REGIMENT
    010 , JENKINSON, S, 14668927, ATTD 13TH 2/4TH BN THE SOUTH LANCASHIRE REGT BN , 19/08/1944, THE QUEEN'S ROYAL REGIMENT (WEST SURREY)
    011 , MEARES, T, 3655805, ATTD 13TH 2/4TH BN THE SOUTH LANCASHIRE REGT BN , 07/08/1944, SOUTH LANCASHIRE REGIMENT
    012 , MORRIS, R, 2933690, ATTD 13TH 2/4TH BN THE THE SOUTH LANCASHIRE REGT BN , 19/08/1944, SOUTH STAFFORDSHIRE REGIMENT
    013 , MORSE, WC, 2067256, ATTD 13TH 2/4TH BN THE SOUTH LANCASHIRE REGT BN , 03/04/1945, ROYAL SCOTS
    014 , POWELL, SR, 14771056, ATTD 13TH BN , 01/02/1945, THE QUEEN'S ROYAL REGIMENT (WEST SURREY)
    015 , TARRANT, RM, 58149, ATTD 13TH 2/4TH BN THE SOUTH LANCASHIRE REGT BN , 28/08/1944, DORSETSHIRE REGIMENT
     
  14. englandphil

    englandphil Very Senior Member

    [​IMG]



    Drew, his will is signed and dated 23rd Sept 1943, just after he had joined 5th East lancs. it is witnessed by a Private Hornby and Private Glynn.

    Private Hornby was killed in Sept 1944, serving with the KOSB

    Name: HORNBY, FRANCIS JOSEPH
    Initials: F J
    Nationality: United Kingdom
    Rank: Private
    Regiment/Service: King's Own Scottish Borderers
    Unit Text: 6th Bn.
    Age: 26
    Date of Death: 17/09/1944
    Service No: 3387819
    Additional information: Son of Robert and Margaret Hornby; husband of Foyla Hornby, of Newry, Co. Down. Northern Ireland.
    Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
    Grave/Memorial Reference: I.E.1.
    Cemetery: KASTERLEE WAR CEMETERY
     
  15. englandphil

    englandphil Very Senior Member

    Drew, do you know for sure that he was with the 2/4th Battalion. I am wondering if he either decided not to volunteer or failed the jump course, and as such had to be found another unit. Does his service record state that he went to a holding unit post May 1943.

    This could explain why he could have been attached to the 13th when in Normandy, as he would have known a large amount of the original draftees.

    P
     
  16. drumaneen

    drumaneen Senior Member

    Hi Drew

    Photo restored ...

    Brian
     

    Attached Files:

  17. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    I will check this all probably later, probably next month when I'm off for two weeks. There is no mention on his doc's from the MoD regarding the East Lancs from what I can recall though which is what I thought was strange.

    A
     
  18. drumaneen

    drumaneen Senior Member

    George Daley photo restored
     

    Attached Files:

  19. drumaneen

    drumaneen Senior Member

    Cpl Andy O'Neil photo restoration
     

    Attached Files:

    Drew5233 likes this.
  20. englandphil

    englandphil Very Senior Member

    Brian, you couldnt make a 40 year old bloke look 21 one again. If you can Ill be in touch :)
     

Share This Page