Has anyone the late war Bty numbers for 54th Heavy Regt RA - 1AGRA - V Corps - Italy & those after conversion to 54th Super Heavy Regt RA in Feb 45. Many thanks Rob EDIT - Have now found the numbers from the War-Diaries
Can anyone help? I am in temporary possession of 2 war diaries involving the 54th Heavy Regiment. The diaries list names and dates during 1944-45 in Italy. I'm hoping some of you may be able to fill the blanks - what happened to the regiment and cost of casualties?
Are they personal diaries or the regiments war diaries? The later usually tell you what the regiment was doing on a day to day basis and where they were doing it.
Personal. his daughter found them and would like to know more about what happened to the men (names) he served with.
Hi, Using Lee's War Diary search engine, these files were located 1944 - Heavy Regiments and Batteries: 54 Hvy. Regt | The National Archives 1945 - Heavy Regiments: 54 Regt. | The National Archives The diaries will give day to day details as well as much more. Comparing their entries to personal diaries will help fill in gaps/verify accounts. Some CWGC results for the unit in Italy; perhaps these men are mentioned: Casualty Lieutenant DICKER, PHILIP JOHN Service Number 210409 Died 21/02/1944 Aged 22 54 Heavy Regt., Royal Artillery Son of Bertrand W. L. and Gertrude A.E.L. Dicker, of Moretonhampstead, Devon. INSCRIPTION: THEY DIED THAT WE MIGHT LIVE Buried at SANGRO RIVER WAR CEMETERY Location: Italy Cemetery/memorial reference: X. B. 12. Casualty Gunner FEAVER, CHARLES EDWARD Service Number 942894 Died 01/01/1944 Aged 25 54 Heavy Regt., Royal Artillery Son of Charles Andrew and Edith Annie Feaver, of Lewisham, London. INSCRIPTION: HE DIED, AS HE WISHED, DOING HIS DUTY Buried at SANGRO RIVER WAR CEMETERY Location: Italy Cemetery/memorial reference: X. B. 43. Casualty Gunner GOULD, DAVID Service Number 1147010 Died 22/07/1944 54 Heavy Regt., Royal Artillery Buried at BOLSENA WAR CEMETERY Location: Italy Cemetery/memorial reference: III, E, 11. Casualty Gunner HULL, GEORGE WILFRED Service Number 851769 Died 01/01/1944 Aged 23 54 Heavy Regt., Royal Artillery Son of George Richard and Minnie Hull, of Hastings, Sussex. INSCRIPTION: DEEP IN OUR HEARTS A MEMORY IS KEPT OF ONE WE LOVED AND WILL NEVER FORGET Buried at SANGRO RIVER WAR CEMETERY Location: Italy Cemetery/memorial reference: X. B. 42. Casualty Bombardier MACPHERSON, GILBERT ALEXANDER Service Number 933509 Died 17/10/1944 Aged 26 54 Heavy Regt., Royal Artillery Son of John and Isobella MacPherson, of Inverness; husband of Jessie Robertson MacPherson, of Inverness. INSCRIPTION: HE LIVES ENSHRINED WITHIN OUR HEARTS BELOVED AND UNFORGOTTEN Buried at ASSISI WAR CEMETERY Location: Italy Cemetery/memorial reference: I, C, 4. Casualty Gunner OVERALL, HAROLD ROBERT CHARLES Service Number 933699 Died 22/11/1944 Aged 26 54 Heavy Regt., Royal Artillery Son of Robert George and Ethel Emily Overall, of Tooting, Surrey. INSCRIPTION: HE WAS LOVELY AND PLEASANT IN HIS LIFE AND NOW HE ONLY SLEEPETH Buried at ROME WAR CEMETERY Location: Italy Cemetery/memorial reference: II, F, 27. Casualty Gunner ROGERS, CYRIL Service Number 1147774 Died 24/04/1944 Aged 21 54 Heavy Regt., Royal Artillery Son of Harry and Sarah Rogers, of Todmorden, Yorkshire. INSCRIPTION: NOT ONE DAY DO WE FORGET YOU, CYRIL DEAR YOU ARE EVER IN OUR THOUGHTS. MOTHER AND DAD Buried at SANGRO RIVER WAR CEMETERY Location: Italy Cemetery/memorial reference: XV. C. 3. Casualty Bombardier SMITH, HAROLD JOHN Service Number 942002 Died 22/07/1944 Aged 25 54 Heavy Regt., Royal Artillery Son of Frederick and Alice Lena Smith. INSCRIPTION: DARLING HAROLD SLEEP IN PEACE. UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN. MUM, DAD, FREDK., LENA, JACK Buried at BOLSENA WAR CEMETERY Location: Italy Cemetery/memorial reference: III, E, 12. Casualty Gunner STANDING, NORMAN Service Number 835696 Died 15/09/1943 Aged 29 54 Medium Regt., Royal Artillery Son of Mary Anne Standing, and stepson of Albert Whalley; husband of Joan Mabel Standing, of Enfield, Middlesex. INSCRIPTION: NOT A DAY DO WE FORGET YOU IN OUR HEARTS YOU ARE ALWAYS NEAR. LOVING WIFE AND SONS Buried at SALERNO WAR CEMETERY Location: Italy Cemetery/memorial reference: IV. A. 36. This entry is for Super-Heavy, but without knowing details about the Regiment, I can't tell if it's the same having been converted or different regiment altogether. Casualty Gunner MARSDEN, EDWARD FRANCIS Service Number 880997 Died 01/06/1945 Aged 27 54 Super-Heavy Regt., Royal Artillery Son of Edward and Ellen Marsden, of Everton, Lancashire. INSCRIPTION: IN LOVING MEMORY OF A DEAR SON AND BROTHER Buried at FAENZA WAR CEMETERY Location: Italy Cemetery/memorial reference: VIII. F. 13. Hope that's of some help. Good luck with your research.
I have the regimental diary for 1944. From an extremely quick skip read the incident involving two of the casualties in the CWGC list in January can be seen. I've not checked in detail but others and their circumstances may be. War diaries can be a bit callous in the way the mention casualties or even not at all. The personal diaries would be very interesting if read in conjunction with the main regimental diary.
54th Heavy Regiment, R.A. RHQ, ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, ‘D’ Raised: 27 December 1939 at Sheffield from a cadre of 78th (Lowland) Field Regiment, R.A. (T.A.) More personnel were added from 123rd (West Riding) Field Regiment, R.A. (T.A.) on 10 January 1940. The regiment was located at Bournemouth under Southern Command in late 1941-early 1942. The batteries were renamed ‘P’ to ‘S’ on 11 March 1942. The batteries were numbered 11th-14th on 1 January 1943. The regiment served under 1st Army Group RA from its formation in Scotland on 1 September 1942 until the end of the war. It served in North Africa from November 1942 until May 1943 and in Italy from September 1943 until the end of the war. The regiment was converted to 54th Super Heavy Regiment on 16 February 1945 without change in battery numbers.
Thank you for the info, and yes, I agree. Would make interesting reading. If I sent you some dates would you be able to help match them up? Have now been sent father's details. Service No: 14222784 L/cpl David Tudor Owen Regiment: 54th Heavy Regiment. R.A (Royal Artillery) Signal Regiment. C.M.F
Have you or anyone else in the family already applied for copy service records? Request records of deceased service personnel
Sandra I would be happy to try and match up dates but if you were serious about looking into this in detail, you may be interested in the complete diary? Graham
Hi Sandra, my grandfather fought in the 54th Heavy Regiment RA. I was hoping if I could possibly see these diaries to see if his name appears, plus to get some extra info on 54th HR RA activities during this period.
58 Heavy Regiment RA - The Royal Artillery 1939-45 From Dryan67 #8 above: 1st Army Group Royal Artillery - Wikipedia[/URL
