GRANDAD RESEARCH

Discussion in 'Prisoners of War' started by jamesg1981, Oct 1, 2013.

  1. jamesg1981

    jamesg1981 Member

    this may be a really thick question but im going to ask it anyway

    is 5th green howards same as 5th Battalion The East Yorkshire Regiment ?

    its just ive found a book called The Story of 5th Battalion The East Yorkshire Regiment and ont want to buy the wrong thing.


    any help will be much appreciated.
     
  2. Roxy

    Roxy Senior Member

    The Green Howard's were Alexandra, Princess of Wales' Own Yorkshire Regiment (19th Foot); The East Yorkshire Regiment were 15th Foot.

    Roxy
     
    CL1 likes this.
  3. Steve Mac

    Steve Mac Very Senior Member

    Hello James,

    The 11 Platoon, was in 'B' Coy (the Bridlington and Driffield Coy), 5th Bn Green Howards.

    The Green Howards and East Yorkshire Regiments were different regiments, but often brigaded together. For example:

    1. 4th Bn and 5th Bn Green Howards, and 4th Bn East Yorkshire Regiment, were the infantry battalions of the 150th Infantry Brigade; and

    2. 6th Bn and 7th Bn Green Howards, and 5th Bn East Yorkshire Regiment, were the infantry battalions of the 69th Infantry Brigade;

    -both of the 50th (Northumbrian) Division.

    Besides the book I mention at Message # 17, the only other book that I know of that will likely refer is the regimental history:

    The Story Of The Green Howards 1939 - 1945. Capt. WAT Synge.

    -However, a copy in good or better condition will be very expensive.

    If you decide that you will go the route of acquiring the War Diaries (Message # 18 refers), please let me know in advance by PM.

    Best,

    Steve.
     
  4. jamesg1981

    jamesg1981 Member

    Sorry i have not been on here for a long time i have been moving house so have been very busy

    i recieved an email with a picture of an article from a paper which was aboput my grandad

    Whilst in the Dunkirk retreat my Grandad Joe Gildroy from Whitby was pulled out of the water by a fellow Whitby man called Jardine HIll also from Whitby and they both knew each other. imagine the chances of that!

    my grandad had made 3 attempts to get to a boat before gettign knocked unconsious by a German shell, he cameround when his feet started floating in the upcoming tide! he made onemore attempt and the french frigate ST Cecilia was near by. he then got pulled aboard by JArdin HIll also a soldier that had volunteered on the french frigate to help out

    i have uploaded the article
     
  5. jamesg1981

    jamesg1981 Member

    this is the article
     

    Attached Files:

  6. jacksun

    jacksun Senior Member

    James, have you ordered his service records?

    The B.E.F. is the British Expeditionary force - sent to France at the beginning of the war - late 1939 through to June 1940. He was obviously in the evacuation at Dunkirk, all the attempts to get on boats and the like would have been during that evacuation which happened from Mid May 1940 - Early June 1940. Seems he successfully got on a boat and was returned to England.
    The M.E.F. is the Middle East Expeditionary force - over in Africa - likely his unit was redeployed there after their return from Dunkirk.

    Hi Service records would detail all of this - including dates, units and more.

    Stalag VIIIB would have been the last POW camp he was in - if he completed a Liberation Report he may have listed others.

    Red Cross info
    He was captured 01 Jun 1942 after which he spent time in a couple of Italian POW camps.
    As the Allies overran Italy he was moved to a POW camp in Poland - Lamsdorf which he arrived at on 18 Sep 1943.
    From Sept 1943 through to his evacuation on the 2 Mar 1945 he was in this camp - which was comprised of 100's of sub or work camps - likely where he worked the coal mines from one of the work camps - Sosnowitz was work camp E538 under Lamsdorf POW camp administration.
    As he was evacuated from a Lazarett he was likely ill or injured - Generally they say Lazarett's were for treating patients with infectious diseases, Laz's were a regular hospital, and reslaz or reserve lazarett's were just that - reserve hospitals although this may not always hold true. Did he by chance have something like TB/malaria?
    Here are the location I have of Stalag VIII

    Stalag VIII

    Stalag 344

    Lamsdorf

    50°34'12"N, 17°33'44"E

    H690038

    GSGS4346 (1:250,000)



    Stalag VIII

    Lazarett



    50°33'40"N, 17°35'5"E

    H707028

    GSGS4346 (1:250,000)



    Stalag VIII

    Stalag B

    Teschen

    49°45'6"N, 18°37'40"E

    ?452129

    GSGS4346 (1:250,000)



    Someone may have the date on which Stalag VIII was liberated - may help with the timeline for you.

    Wayne
     
  7. Steve Mac

    Steve Mac Very Senior Member

    Hello James,

    An interesting article...

    My Dad's oldest brother (Uncle Fred) was a Gunner, 72nd Field Regiment, RA, 50th (Northumbrian) Division, who were the gunners attached to your Grandad's Brigade (150th Infantry Brigade). He was drowned off Bray Dunes (Dunkirk) when the boat taking him to a Destroyer waiting offshore capsized; 11 men died in the same incident, including an MM winner. Dad's immediately older brother, Joe, who also served in HAA in the Med later in WWII, told me that he was told by some of Fred's fellow Gunners that before embarking on the boat they had been ordered to wear full kit...

    Fred was unlucky, your Grandad very lucky... Desparate times.

    Best,

    Steve.
     
  8. jamesg1981

    jamesg1981 Member

    Wayne

    many thanks for that we are just n the process of applying for his records as we speak.



    Steve,

    very deperate times, makes you sit back and think what they actually went through. i just wish i got chance to actually talk to my grandad about it.
     
  9. NickFenton

    NickFenton Well-Known Member

    James,

    Do you have your Grandfather's Liberation Questionnaire?

    Regards,

    Nick
    KenFentonsWar.com
     
  10. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Shame you never applied back in October, you'd have them by now ;)

    Keep me posted - I have all the Green Howards Bn diaries that were in France during 1940 and a few others for after this period.

    Cheers
    Andy
     
  11. jamesg1981

    jamesg1981 Member

    Nik

    no i dont have his liberation Questionnaire.

    where would i get that from? woul dit be part of his service records?
     
  12. jamesg1981

    jamesg1981 Member

    Andy

    ive gone off the boil for the last 6 months with moving house, there is lots of things i should of done before moving

    it had gone to the back of my mind untill i recieved the email withthe article about my granddads dunkirk expereience
     
  13. James
    Refer to this site as you will see that the are prisoners reports from the camps.
    http://www.pegasusarchive.org/pow/frames.htm

    You can also search on ''Find My Past'' as it contains logs from Brian Sims which is a dependable resource
    Good luck with you searches


    P.G. 66


    Capua


    P.G. 52


    Piani Careglia (Chiavari / Genoa)
     
  14. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Well he was definitely 5 GHs with the BEF according to the newspaper article - Drop me a PM if you want a copy of the 1939/40 France war diary. Regarding the Liberation Q. Not everyone completed one at the end of the war. It's estimated that around 40% were only completed or have survived. They are at the National Archives in London.

    Cheers
    Andy
     
  15. jamesg1981

    jamesg1981 Member

    Nick, no i dont have his liberation questionairre, where woul di get that from?

    would it come with his service records?
     
  16. jacksun

    jacksun Senior Member

    Nope, liberation Questionnaires are held at KEW in London - available to the public if you go onsite. A couple chaps from here go regularly - drew5233, psywar.org, they will take a look for you -if one exists for him they will copy for you for a small fee - much cheaper than asking KEW to do it for you.

    Wayne
     
  17. NickFenton

    NickFenton Well-Known Member

    James,

    Here it is.

    Not my area of expertise but it confirms 5th Battalion, 50th Division and camps as l believe you already know.

    It also looks like he was applying for repatriation.

    Regards,

    Nick
    KenFentonsWar.com
     

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  18. NickFenton

    NickFenton Well-Known Member

    Sorry James,

    Meant to say, if you want this E Mailed direct, PM me with your E Mail address.

    Regards,

    Nick
     
  19. jamesg1981

    jamesg1981 Member

    Hello im back again, i seem to go hot and cold on this research lately as im busy with work and family.

    i am after some information about my grandads medals

    i now have a letter from the MOD medla office sayin gthe ones he was issued
    ISSUED ON 16TH AUGUST 1949
    1939/45 star
    Africa Star
    1939/45 war medal

    ISSUED ON 27TH MAY 1949
    TERRITORIAL EFFICIENCY MEDAL GRI

    on a previous post on here, i attatched a picture of my grandad with a story about him at dunkirk.
    in the article it says he has a dunkirk medal ( i have found this was a comemortive medal given out by th etown of dunkirk)
    but it also says he has a belgian cross, but i am struggling to find what this actually is, the only belgian cross's i can find are
    Croix de guerre
    political prisoners cross 1940-1945
    escapees cross 1940-1945

    would it be possible he would of got one of these? ive read as much as i can and cant finds any link between himself and any of those medals, and cant see how he would of got one.

    maybe he just bought one

    i have now applied for his service records but have not yet recieved them, maybe they will show someting?

    any help will be much appreciated.
     

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