Family Soldiers: 1/4th Essex (WW2) & 25 Field Regiment R.A.(Post-War)

I've always been somewhat chary of buying files or photographs on CD, but my first experience was actually a very good one. Gnr Newman was stationed at Tampin with 54-bty, 25 Field Regt during a chunk of his time in Malaya and I spotted a seller on eBay selling copies of a photo album that belonged to a (presumably deceased) RAMC man who was attached to 26 Field Regt through 1948 and 1949 and based at Tampin. My grandfather arrived in 1950, but as far as I can discover the place was little changed. For £7.50 (plus £1.30 p&p) I received scans of all the album pages along with descriptions (pretty reasonable those were, too, as they'd been written for his family), plus separate scans of the 176 images of various locations in Singapore and Malaya in very high quality (between 1.5mb and 12mb per image).

If anybody is interested in this unit/location, get in touch and I'll be happy to share. While there are a few dull shots of unknown faces, there are also a number of gems. This example below, for instance, has been reduced to about a third of the actual size and still looks great:



26 Field Regt's 25-pdrs (troop unnamed).

If you're interested in seeing whether the chap selling has anything in your line, take a look here:

THROUGH THEIR EYES - HOME

 

I'm a sucker for provenance and association, so I paid more than is perhaps reasonable for this:



Francis Tuker's personal copy -- Ex-Imperial War Museum Collection.

149th Regiment R.A. were a T.A. Unit from Birkenhead who served as anti-tank men for 4th Indian Division (under Tuker) across North Africa and up Italy. First impressions are that it's well-written (the author, the regiment's C.O., has dedicated this copy to Tuker, who wrote the foreword). Personal interest is that one contingent of the regiment was almost always attached to 5th Indian Infantry Brigade, of which 1/4th Essex were a part.

 

Somebody has put together a good wikipedia page for Lance-Corporal Edmund Hazle DCM & Bar of the 1/4th Essex.

Edmund Hazle - Wikipedia

It's very welcome, but stands out a little as no other member of the battalion has a Wiki-entry.

 

Well spotted.

Frank

 

Couldn't resist when I found it. I consider paying inflated prices to booksellers to be my charitable duty. Slightly battered, but with the retro-cool dustjacket and the lengthy Indian-edition-only appendix of awards and decorations.

 

Possibly of interest to others beyond myself:

Twelve Months Experience with a Field Surgical Unit in Italy, 1944 - 1945
by H. D. S. Vellacott

Source:
Twelve Months Experience with a Field Surgical Unit in Italy, 1944 - 1945 | Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps

Short but informative.

The Field Surgical Unit in question was 2 F.S.U., attached in Italy to No. 1 C.C.S. (Casualty Clearing Station) of the 4th Indian Division.

 

James.

Terrific find and a great help to me when I guide RAMC units.

Regards

Frank

 

Glad it's of use. Did I send you this?

Notes from a War Diary - The Filter System of Sorting Casualties from the Battle of Cassino -
Italy, May 1944.

Morgan LJ, Morgan H, Morgan B

This is the second extract taken from the War Diaries of Brigadier JG Morgan CBE TD MD and is specifically taken from papers he used to prepare a talk for a Civil Defence Audience in the 1950’s. Having introduced a system of filtering in Tripoli in 1943 when in command of 48th General Hospital, he was specifically appointed to oversee the medical arrangements for the Battle of Cassino and was awarded the CBE for his work which is outlined below. It has been prepared from the original documents and edited by his sons.

 

James.

Superb. Thank you.

Regards

Frank

 

These are a decent size.



You might be able to use them in your handouts/materials:

Source:
Propaganda Leaflets

 

A new puzzle.

I've come across the following:



This is almost certainly our man:



CASSINO HERO GETS REWARD
1 March 1949

Ex-Indian Army Staff - Sergeant HORACE ROACH , aged 29 , hero of Hangman's Hill after his gallantry at Cassino in March 1940 , reaped his reward today when he went to Buckingham Palace to receivehis D C.M . Which he just missed receiving at three investitures in India through sudden postings .

To make sure he did not miss it today he came up overnight from his home at Clifton - drive , West cliff , Essex and stayed at a friend's house within walking distance of the Palace . ]The King remained seated during the presentations because to stand for two hours would place undue strain on His Majesty's legs. It was also The King's first major function since his illness .

PICTURE SHOWS :- Mr . HORACE ROACH and Mrs ROACH leaving Buckingham Palace after receiving his D.C.M.from The King.

I have his DCM citation here (Hat-tip: Andy):



And at my request the nice chap at the IWM uploaded his interview here:

British NCO served with Royal Army Medical Corps in North Africa and Italy, 1942-1945

Content description
REEL 1 Recollections of operations as sergeant with 26th Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps, 4th Indian Div at Monte Cassino in Italy, 1944: question of need for attacks to alleviate pressure on Anzio; question of irrelevance of controversy over whether Germans had observation post in monastery; bombing of monastery by US Air Force; handling of mules; reputation of Moroccan troops; tenacity of German paratroopers; psychological effect of mortars; stretcher-bearer work rescuing cut off Gurkhas; composition of Indian Divs; work of surgeon; method of evacuating wounded; his capture by German paratroopers and subsequent release; situation for Gurkhas and 1/4th Bn Essex Regt at Monte Cassino; opinion of Gurkhas. REEL 2 Continues: absence of civilians; strength of German positions; decorations awarded to his unit; wounding in back; question of class distinctions in decorations; memories of explosion of ammunition ship at Bari; comparison with fighting on Adriatic coast and Monte Cassino; demeanour of German POWs in North Africa and Italy; official attitude to treatment of wounded. Recollections of operations as sergeant with 26th Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps, 4th Indian Div in North Africa, 1942-1943: problems of mines; escape from German advance at Mersa Matruh. REEL 3 Continues: attitude towards regulars; late arrival of anti-biotics; type of wounds dealt with; handling casualties; administering morphia; types of dressings; German medical equipment; opinion of British equipment in desert; trading with nomads; question of racism on part of British regulars; attitude of Egyptians towards British presence; prophylactic material against VD distributed by Royal Army Medical Corps.

Roach, Horace Arthur Austin (Oral history) (10312) [He's quite garrulous and one gets the feeling that he's shooting a line at points, but it's a good interview]

At this point you're probably thinking, bugger off, Charley, what more do you want--his shoe size? But I want to know whether that novel mentioned in the first article ever got published. I flatter myself that I'm a bit of an expert at ferreting out information on old books, but try as I might I can't find a trace of it. I know some of you have vast libraries of old war books, so I thought it worth asking whether it rang a bell with anybody here.

Edit: I also know from this page that his daughter lost contact with him:
The Wartime Memories Project - The Second World War - Those Who Served

 

An original copy of this has just come up for auction (slightly different as the Eagle and the shield/leaf are printed in red), but the bidding--alas--is too rich for my blood.

 

They stick you in the back-end of nowhere, but you can't escape the paperwork. You can imagine the poor chap who comes back in after five days in the bush and has to count rounds fired and check what the weather was like.

Ambush report forms used in Malaya the 1950s:



For some reason, 'killed by any other method' makes me think of Mad Mike drowning a Japanese soldier while they were both naked in a river.

 

Charley, not meaning to tread on your plates of meat here (not like you),but you forgot to mention what the inscription reads.

WOODCUT PRESENTED TO FOURTH INDIAN DIVISION BY THE CITY OF URBINO IN REMEMBRANCE OF ITS LIBERATION.

" The Division gave of its best and by its victories at Monte Calvo, Auditore and Tavoleto, ensured our safety from the bombardment
by the German artillery ". That's a sharp illustration by the way & thanks for posting. Its near enough impossible to see the shield & the eagle in the one that I've got. How much did it go for in the end?

Regards
Stu.

 

I can't actually recall how much it sold for, but it was hundreds of pounds. I think it came along with some other paperwork, but it was just too expensive.

 

A good read here: the author has supplemented his memory with pretty sharp post-facto research and turned out a decent little book as a result. His period with 1st Green Howards in Negri Sembilan overlaps with that of 26 Fd Regt and, hence, 54-bty & 93-bty of 25 Fd Regt who were attached successively.

 

A good find here. A lot of the pre-war T.A. mob speak of the peacetime unit quite fondly and, as this short pamphlet emphasises, there were a lot of opportunities for sport, cheap food, social events and skill-develoment as well as plenty of scope for supplementing your pay with bonus allowances and increased attendance. Am pleased to now have the Terms & Condition of Enlistment to go with the Standing Orders I found last year.

 

Great thread! I am trying to find out some information about my Husband's Grandfather who fought at El Alamein and sadly lost his arm during the battle.

The information we have is very sketchy.

We believe he was in the 1/4th, his name was Cyril (Tommy) Townsend, his Sergeant being Sgt Wynn. We have some reunion notes referring to 'Rock of Ruweisat where all four guns were lost'. Tommy was thrown into the back of a truck and taken to the 51st General Hospital.

We'd love more information or advice as to where we can find information on Tommy's time in the army.

Thanks.

 

Delighted to hear from you, Kerry.

It's silly 'o clock for me, but I'll send you a message tomorrow. I feel confident that we can add more to your sketchy information. I've seen Sgt. Wynn's name in my research, but will have to check paperwork and compare notes with what you have. Perversely, having been wounded and hospitalised increases the chance of his appearing on my radar.

Interesting that you mention Ruweisat (likely 'Ridge' not 'Rock') because a book has been published on that very topic in the past fortnight. Historiography generally distinguishes two battles of El Alamein in 1942: the first a crucial but chaotic affair in July and second a more famous one a few months later, once Montgomery took command of 8th Army. 1/4th Essex were involved in both.

Will be in touch.

 

That's fantastic! I look forward to hearing from you Charley. I will get my Father in Law to let me have what papers he has found in the meantime.

Kerry