Help for a beginner - Durham Light Infantry

Hi all, I've spent the last few hours trawling across the internet trying to find any information i could about what campaigns my granddad took part in but to no success so i was hoping for a little help.

Unfortunately he passed away recently and whilst clearing his possessions my mum showed me his old ww2 soldiers pay book as well his discharge form. Since then i have had a real fascination about what campaigns he took part in as he never really spoke to me about it, all i know is that he was part of the D-day landings.

He was part of the Durham Light Infantry and from the campaign section of his discharge form all i could make out was N.W.E 3.6.44 - 17.2.45. Now i'm guessing those dates refer to action seen but as to where i do not know. I do not know either what battalion he was in. His name was Malcolm Smart and he was a private. I do have his army number as well.

Is there anywhere i could enter his army number and see what battalion he was in and where it served?

 

Privte Smart -
Thing to do is to get your mum - as next of kin - to apply to Glasgow records office for his service record - that will fill in all the detail you will need to learn of what he was up to in that period of his life- the DLI had many battalions in a few disvisions so we would be just guessing at this time as to which one he was in during the NWE campaign.
The address for Glasgow is somewhere on this site but I am sure that someone will be on shortly with all the facts..Good luck
Cheers

 

Hi

Follow through this -
http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/searching-someone-military-genealogy/23639-rons-lazy-mans-guide-ww2-research.html

and the MOD site - service records sar form requests


Hope you get lots of good information!
regards

Robert

 

Hi Private Smart, welcome to the forum. The address for applying for Army Service records is listed here:

http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/searching-someone-military-genealogy/3105-ww2-service-records-address.html

Here is a link to a list of Army block numbers which will give you an idea of his first posting on enlistment:

http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/searching-someone-military-genealogy/8564-army-number-block-allocations.html

I am sure you will receive lots more help here.
Good luck with your researches,
Tom.

 

Welcome aboard !

Give as much info as you can and be prepared to wait for any records you apply for.

Having said that, we have some real good researchers on this forum who will be delighted to give you help.

Good luck !

Ron

 

Hi PrivateSmart, welcome to the forum and good luck with your research.

 

Hello and welcome aboard PrivateSmart... You're in the right place.

Based on the info you posted, a quick 'Google' points toward either, the 6th or 8th Battalions of the Durhms as being the most likely. They seem to be the only DLI to actually land in Normandy on D-Day (I could be wrong). Landing on Gold Beach as part of 50th Division, there objectives where the capture of Tilly-sur-Seulles, Hottot and Villers-Bocage.

Searches using M.O.D Service Record Search could be free of charge, or stand you £30 depending on certain criteria, so read through everything first before applying.... And good luck... keep us posted.

 

Welcome to the Forum
good luck with your research

 

Welcome to the Forum

Cheers
Paul

 

Hello and welcome to the forum, wishing you luck with your research

Regards
Peter

 

Wow what a welcome, thankyou all and thanks also for all the help you have offered up.

Blacksnake thankyou for that information, my mum told me that he captured a bridge as well, as to what bridge or where i do not know so if you know of a bridge captured by the DLI it may help narrow things down.

I do have some photos of him in what i perceive as France in his army gear and one of him in his regiment. If you like i will upload them and share them with you.

 

Thanks to that BBC site i have just found this

DLI landed in heavy surf at Gold Beach. Thanks to the efforts of the 4th/7th RDGs DD Tanks (Sherman Tanks fitted with waterproof skirts), the 5th East Yorks, the 6th Green Howards and the 1st Dorsets, most of the enemy resistance had been nullified, enabling the 151st to move inland from their position towards Ver-sur-Mer and later Meuvaines.

Now my granddad was discharged in york so maybe he was part of the 5th East Yorks.


Edit: i should probably add he nearly drowned coming off the landing boats as he had a bike strapped to his back but he was saved by some unknown soldier so if anyone finds a story relevant to that it could well be my granddad.

 

I don't think he would have been in 5 E Yorks with a bike (though some could have landed after the assault).

Bikes were carried by the two follow-up brigades of 50 Division: 151 and 56. Their job was to push inland from the beaches. 151 Brigade included the two DLI Battalions. Here's their Landing Table.

 

Pte Smart /Blacksnake....
There is a great danger here in getting carried away by the first thing that comes to mind - while the 6th & 8th Battalions of the DLI were in fact in 50th Division in XXX corps landing on D day - it should be be noted that the date in your first posting is a little bit ambitious as it states 3-6-44 - THREE days before D Day - and at that approx time - over in 49th Division there are another two Battalions - 10th & 11th- also in XXX corps which landed shortly after D day and their first task was the infamous Tessel Wood / Raurey battle where they both along with the 6 & 7th Duke of Wellingtons took a terrible beating - so what I am saying is - slow down and wait for some facts to emerge- it saves a lot of heartache !
Cheers

 

I just looked at that landing chart and i see the DLI 8th, 9th and 6th carried bicycles. Seems he must of been in one of them battalions maybe you are right he must of come ashore after the assault.

Tom i completely understand what you are saying and i wont assume anything until i have some facts. Thinking back to his discharge form there was some more under the campaign section but i could not make out what it said due to the handwriting. But i'm sure there was something along the lines of Raurey written on it. I think i'll have to scan it and show you gentlemen see if you can make out the handwriting.

 

Pte Smart -
That would be the smart thing to do - clears the air a bit ....
Cheers

 

Hello and welcome to the forum.

As has already been mentioned apply for his service reords. All you need to know is in this link:
Army Personnel Centre - British Army Website
If you give them a call they will send you a application pack.

His service records will tell you who he served with including the battalion(s), if he was DLI we have a Durham Light Infantry 'expert' on the forum who will be able to tell you everything you want to know. However you need to identify his battalion first.

Good luck
Andy

 

Hi,
Welcome to the Forum.
As the other forum members have already said 6th 8th and 9th DLI landed on D-Day with 10th and 11th following ..but there was one other little known DLI battalion present in Normandy that was the 18th DLI (Beach landing).
The service dates in your grandfathers book are absolutely correct with 6th 8th and 9th boarding on the 3rd June 1944.
I`ve sent a PM with some info .I`ll check the enlistment and discharge books next time I`m in Durham and see what they bring up (If anything of course).Not many DLI Companies kept those bicycles but one did......lets see those photos mate.
Best Wishes
Jim

 

Heres the photos of him


He is 2nd line from front, 2nd from right.


He is 2nd from left.

And here is his discharge form i don't know if anyone can make out what it says under campaigns but help would be nice. I was also told he had shell shock and that's why he left the army though in the form it says failed to meet physical standards i don't know if thats what they would of put or he left for another reason.

View attachment 34995

 

Are those airborne troops at Pegasus Bridge in that second photo? I remember Sapper saying that stuck a Bailey up next to it which can be seen on the left.

Saying that one of the airborne chaps in the middle looks like he's wearing a Polish beret - Op Market Garden perhaps?

I see he served with Northamptonshire Regt and Lanc Fusiliers too.