Help!!! Needed Searching The Archives for 20 ATk Regt, RA

HELP!!

I'M TRYING TO FIND INFO ON THE 20th ANTI TANK REG RA DURING SEPTEMBER 1944 (HOLLAND/BELGIUM) I'VE HAD A FEW LEADS SO FAR WHICH HAVE BEEN VERY USEFUL. I HAVE NOW TURNED TO SEARCHING THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES WEBSITE....?? OH MY GOD WERE DO YOU START.

WHEN I SEARCHED ON ROYAL ARTILLERY IT BROUGHT UP NUMEROUS FILES RELATING TO THEIR VARIOUS UNITS ACTIONS DURING THE 44-45' NW EUROPE, BUT I CAN'T FIND ANYTHING ON THE 20th ANTI TANK REG. I KNOW THERE SHOULD BE SOMETHING THERE BECAUSE ONE OF OUR MEMBERS VERY KINDLY GAVE ME A QUICK REPLY STATING THAT AROUND THE 20th OF SEPT THE 20th AT WAS AT A PLACE CALLED KLEINE BROGEL, AND THAT HE HAD RECOVERED THIS INFO FROM THE UNIT'S WAR DIARY SO IT MUST EXIST...???

HOW COME I CAN'T FIND IT IN THE ARCHIVES?

ANYONE ASSIST?

 

The following site gives a great deal of information about the RA and how individual regiments were allocated. Extract below re 20ATR

British Artillery in World War 2

20 ATk Regt
Reg
Fm 20 Fd Bde 1938
France 1939-40 - 3 Inf Div
UK 1940-4 - 3 Inf Div
DDay 1944 - 3 Inf Div
NW Europe 1944-5 - 3 Inf Div


The Regiment's War Diary will be in the National Archive at Kew. Knowing the Division will help to scale down the search. Good Luck

Jim

 

I was at petite Brogel (Same place) Kliene over the border!.......(Little!) Prior to the night time assault crossing of the Escaut canal. Near the village of Peer. The night of September 18th/19th 1944. We crossed in two places with 8th brgade, and with 9th brigade. Shocker!
A dreadful night assault.
Sapper

 

I will try and look up the Third Div at petite Brogel in a book the C in C gave me. If I find anything of interest to you I will post it.
Sapper

 

I had the same problem getting details about my Father's LAA Regiment war diaries. If you telephone the National Archives as I ended up doing, they gave me the details of the relevant diaries reference numbers without any problem.

There is also some basic info on a site I found and if you click on RA 1939-45 20 A/Tk Rgt it will take you directly to the section about 20th Anti Tank Regiment R.A.

Good luck.

 

Is this the correct war diary for them while part of BEF?

WO 167/576 -
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(Click the link above erroneously labelled "Detecting your browser settings" to take you to the National Archives War Diary catalogue entry)

 

After D-day here:
WO 171/913
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In the UK here:
WO 166/1622 -
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WO171/913 Jan 1944 to December 1944
WO171/4764 Jan 1945 to September 1945

 

Remember these are only details from the catalogue. The diaries themselves are not online.

 

To everyone who has replied can i say a massive thankyou, your responses are a massive boost to my family who are trying to piece together a part of our family history that we know about ...........and yet we don't know fully what and where it all happened. your help and this website has so far been the best resource of info we have and i thank you all deeply...from the owens family of Holyhead, Anglesey.

 

can anyone tell me what type of information can we expect to find in this type of file held at the national archive I.E: day to day fighting, losses, location......???

 

Don't know whether links are ok - sorry if not.

Gaz - Photo: M10 tank destroyers of 77th Anti-Tank Regiment, British 11th Armored Division - World War II Zone Forums

WW2DB: [Photo] M10 Wolverine tank destroyers of 77th Anti-Tank Regiment, British 11th Armored Division crossing a Bailey bridge over the Meuse-Escaut (Maas-Schelde) Canal at Lille St Hubert, Belgium, 20 Sep 1944

Google Image Result for http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/25-pdrs_firing_in_support_of_Guards_Armoured_Division.jpg/646px-25-pdrs_firing_in_support_of_Guards_Armoured_Division.jpg

 

That picture of the Escaut Canal is the one we did the assault crossing at night. We moved on, and were some miles ahead, when the main bridge (the one in the picture)was built.
Sapper

 

Thank you very much for that photo.The canvas boats in the centre of the bridge, are those we put there in the assault crossing. The follow up main bridge building Sappers used the ones in the assault crossing.
Sends shivers down my spine and goose pimples on my goose pimples. We stopped some miles ahead at a Convent. I recall it well, for it had a passage with a cobble stone floor, where we had a bit of food.

Sapper

 

thanks for your reply sapper, now here's a challenge for those national archive's wizards out there, has anyone got the reference code for the 6TH battalion of the royal welch fusiliers for the period of Sept 44'........!!!!!!!!!!

we have a freind who lives in London who may be willing to visit the national archives on our behalf to do some research regarding Edwin's death, so we thought would'nt it be interesting to research what Raymond (6th Battalion RWF)was doing that day and where was he in relation to Edwin..???

once again many thanks to everyone for replying, when we get info from the national archives i will update the site.

 

thanks for your reply sapper, now here's a challenge for those national archive's wizards out there, has anyone got the reference code for the 6TH battalion of the royal welch fusiliers for the period of Sept 44'........!!!!!!!!!!

we have a freind who lives in London who may be willing to visit the national archives on our behalf to do some research regarding Edwin's death, so we thought would'nt it be interesting to research what Raymond (6th Battalion RWF)was doing that day and where was he in relation to Edwin..???

once again many thanks to everyone for replying, when we get info from the national archives i will update the site.

Here you are, their War Diary Jan to Dec '44:
WO 171/1390
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For 1945 see WO 171/5283

 

due to my complete incompetency with the national archive website, i find the speed of your response quite disturbing....!!!

many thansk psywar.org for your very quick response

 

due to my complete incompetency with the national archive website, i find the speed of your response quite disturbing....!!!

many thansk psywar.org for your very quick response

My pleasure, it's just knowing the system.

Believe me it's much easier these days to find things at the National Archives now the indexes have been digitalised. In the old days it was a case of searching albums of indexes stacked floor to ceiling in the huge reference room at Kew.