Gunner 12th Field Malta and 17th Med Africa

Could it be this one, maybe?
Oval version,sewn on a bit lopsided,they were a 7AGRA Regt.



RA Medium Regts are Corps Artillery(not Divisional), they would not be wearing Divisional Insignia!

Best
Rob

 

Have to concure with you Rob, thank you.
Learnt something new.

David

 

Just wanted to say a really big thank you to you all, for all the time and effort your putting in to try and help me unravel and solve the mystery of dad's regiment.

it really is appreciated and I will keep you posted as to the answer just as soon as the service records arrive.

Many thanks

Suz

 

Suz.

War Diaries come in batches of months. Ask for Jun-Dec 44 so that you get good time coverage.

FdeP

 

Hi Suz, could you check again what is written. I may be way of the mark but! Having done some digging I think it should/could read
Brancaster, which I believe was a training camp in Nth Norfolk. You could try googling WW2 Bracaster training camp and see if it fits with what you know.
Hope this helps.

David

 

Thanks David, and well done!... I think your digging may have found another little gem....looking at dad's hand-writing in his service book, (which is so very faint due to age and having been written in pencil) I think your right....Brancaster....although bless him, the 'N' still looks like an M, but maybe that was just due to the fact that his hearing had suffered considerably by the time he came out and he misheard them when told??

As you probably all realise, I am no expert in this, so could be putting two and two together and making five here... but if Brancaster is in Norfolk and dad's release leave certificate is stamped R.A.C Range Tichwell, Kings Lynn, Norfolk, would those two places tie in?

And thanks for the info re the diaries FdeP......I can see that I will be sending a long list to Drew when the I get dad's records through

Suz

 

Suz, Titchwell is near Brancaster and yes there is still a camp training site (I believe) at Titchwell. It is very likely he could/would have been at these sites. Much of the North Norfolk coastal area was taken over by the ministry of defence during the war.
Hope this is helpful and fills another piece of the gig saw.

David

 

My Grandad (Bdr G H Land) also served in the 253 Battery 17 Med Regt and Drew kindly sorted me out with a copy of their war diary when I was researching his WW2 service a couple of years (the thread should still be on here somewhere!) - more than happy to send these across to you - will PM you later to make the arrangements.

 

Hi Suz, you might find this useful (I hope) link

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Norfolk_Coast_Site_of_Special_Scientific_Interest


David

 

Another one to look at


http://www.worldwar2heritage.com/en/page/9069/126/BRANCASTER-BEACH

 

Hi 51MMO....great to hear from you and look forward to hearing and sharing the stories from your granddad and my dad's regiment

Hi David - thanks again for delving further for me and sending those links through....I'm going to have a good read

Suz

 

No problem Suz, glad to be of help

David

 

Hi SuzQ,<br />Thanks for contacting me.Also 51MMO. I haven't posted anything since Sept 2012 and I can't find the thread so any hints would be appreciated. I think I left it at the 12th Field becoming the 17th Medium in North Africa on 24/11/1943. Also my father became a Rect.Medical Orderly on 9/12/1943 so he may well have dished out the pills and potions to your Dad and grandad. I don't know when they arrived in Italy but WO212/385 (April 1944) Order of Battle Italy &amp; Sicily ref 1747A lists 252 Med Bty// 17th Med Regt Army tps<br />also 1747B lists 253 Med Bty Also WO212/387 (August 8th 1944) lists them. They were part of 10AGRA (Army Group R A) This was at one time attached to the 2nd Polish Corps&gt; Later they were part of 7th AGRA.<br />On my next visit to UK I shall vist Nat Archives and try to look up the unit diaries to fill in some of the blanks in Italy.<br />I also want to flesh out a couple of apocryphal tales told by my dad many years ago viz:<br />A number of his comrades went off to the cinema/theatre in Italy but it was strafed by a German aircraft which caused a number of casualties. Dad counted himself lucky as he didn't go.<br />At either thanksgiving or Xmas they were invited by an American unit to a slap up turkey lunch with all the trimmings. For a unit who<br />had suffered the privations of 3 years of strict rationing this was beyond their wildest dreams. However this was spoilt somewhat for Dad when after agreeing to have prunes and custard as sweet it was unceremoniously dumped on top of the turkey and gravy!<br />Also Dad said the 6 wheel drive Yank trucks were far superior to the Brit trucks and many times had to drag them out of the mud of a very wet winter. I presume these events were wwhen they were attached to an American Corps. 2 &amp; 4th US Corps?<br />On 15/1/1945 dad was transferred to 18 Medium Regt.<br />Dads left Italy in March 1945 as part of operation Python which is the name of the scheme to return long overseas serving servicemen (4+ years) to UK. Python meant that on returning to UK they had only home postings and did not return overseas. The name is believed to refer to the army eating its own tail. On 31/3/1945 he was officialy at the Depot although my memory says he was home in Haywards Heath Sussex in that period no doubt catching up on 5 years worth of leave. From the depot on 25/8/45 he was posted to 52 RA Training Regt and to "Y" list for (Rel) on 11/10/1945. the final entry seems to be released to "Z" Class Royal Army reserve from 28/1/1946 which I think ended in Jul 1954. A long and eventful time since joining up in 1931 in Sheffield. I think his nickname in the Army may have been Yorky.<br />I hope I haven't been repeating myself and I hope this helps. As I said I would appreciate some help on picking up the thread from 2012.<br />Regards,<br />DGS

 

Thanks so much for jumping in to find the last 'very old' thread for DGS Owen - I'd still be looking for it and then wondering how to link it here!?

Hi DGS - good to hear back from you as I wasn't sure whether or not you were still checking for updates etc. and thanks for also for leaving such great detail about your dad....and the story of the turkey dinner...I wonder if that's where that chef with the unusual recipes got his ideas from??

If you've had time to read through your 'old thread'...do you still have that group photo taken in Malta which you mentioned?

thanks again
Suz

 

Hi Suz, Sorry it's taken so long to get back to you, but I thought you would like this link.

http://www.ww2f.com/topic/21061-how-did-front-line-soldiers-of-all-armies-generally-bathe/


David

 

Does anyone know if there is another thread dealing with this subject please.
Thanks in advance

David

 

Hi SuzQ and 51MMO Yes I still have group photo plus 3 others with my father and some of the 12 Field or 17th Medium.
My scanner is not much good so I will visit my son next weekend and use his. My thanks to Owen for helping me find
the original thread. I am very interested in any details derived from the war diaries of the 17th Medium.
Regards DGS

 

Hi SuzQ

Just a thought about the 'Louis Pasteur'.

It is much more likely that he was transported on the SS (sometimes known as HMTS) Pasteur. This was a vessel widely used as a troopship, about which there will be much information available on line and probably on convoyweb.

Hope this helps