looking for details on Private Joseph W. Clow, British army, East Yorkshire Regiment

I have been able to obtain the following information about my grandfather, Joseph W. Clow (service #4348378).
He was in the East Yorkshire Regiment but not sure which Battalion or where he served during WW2. I did find his name on the British army casualty list in 1942 but it had no other details in it so I'm not sure if he was wounded or killed but I would like to find any information about him if possible. I do know the 5th Battalion was in North Africa during that time and if he was injured or killed then that may be where he was stationed since most other Battalions of that regiment were stationed in England.

Thanks in advance.

 

Welcome to the forum
He was not killed
A good place to start is to apply for his service records date of birth and death cert required
This link explains everything you need to do
Get a copy of military records of service

 

Not listed on CWGC site so he wasn't killed as Clive says.

 

Welcome aboard.

CMP confirms his number was issued initially to the East Yorkshire Regiment. From: Army Number Search

His name and number have not appeared here before.

Currently using his given name and number he does not appear on The National Archives site (TNA). That may mean his record is still with the MoD or it is with TNA being processed for release. If you follow the web link given you can ask where it is and they will reply. See: Get a copy of military records of service

Can you please scan the casualty list you refer to. See: How to Start a new Thread / Edit Post / Upload Image The expertise here may be able to add more.

 

Hello Ian.

4348378 J W Clow; 4th Battalion The East Yorkshire Regiment.

Official Casualty List No.884. Reported Missing; Western Desert; 4. 6. 42

Official Casualty List No.912. Reported Prisoner of War; Western Desert; 4. 6. 42

Official Casualty List No.1819 Reported now Not Prisoner of War; 27. 7. 45

To sum up for you Ian:

Serving Western Desert with 4th Battalion The East Yorkshire Regiment. Reported Missing on 4th June 1942. Subsequently updated to being a Prisoner of War from 4th June 1942, next updated as no longer a Prisoner of War ( so back safe in allied hands) from 27th July 1945.

See the post by forum member Vitellino (link below) for what befel The 4th Battalion in the Western Desert:

East Yorkshire Regiment, 4th Battalion WW2

Joseph spent nigh on fifteen months as a Prisoner of War in Italy (till September 1943) and then the best part of Twenty-one Months "on the loose" in Italy (till June 1945).

Joseph, with help from good Italian folks, came through it and made it home.

See the story in Joseph's own words in his Liberation Report (as completed by Joseph once he was safe back in allied hands) in next post below.

Always remember, never forget,

Jim.

 

Here's Joseph's Liberation Report Ian.

Seven pages (sides). Please note that two are repeated, but included as found as that's how they were presented (I think the person that originally photographed or scanned the pages for Ancestry inadvertently doubled those pages up!).

Also Ian, there could be no better person to tell you about the Liberation Report than forum member "Vitellino" (Janet). Hopefully Janet will be able to spare the time to do as such.

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

 

Ian,

Jim's post 6 confirms what I found earlier re: birth date

Your grand dad passed in Bradford 7 January 1998. There was no way to save the data on the GRO site so a screen cap will have to do.

Regards,

Dave

 

Contemporary press coverage.

Kind regards, always,

Jim.





And close up:

 

This is amazing information. Thank you so much for this. Very much appreciated

 

Thank you very much! This is all great information

 

Thank you everyone for the detailed information and quick turn around, truly exceptional effort.

 

Ian,

The link Jim rightly posted has an error within. the 150th Brigade were not overrun@ Bir Hakeim, a battle within the grim time for the Allies in the Gazala battles, aka "The Cauldron".

As Stve Mac adds in Post 10 (cited in part):

From: East Yorkshire Regiment, 4th Battalion WW2

Bir Hakeim when attacked was held by the Free French for a week plus. As a starting point for the wider context Wiki is good this time: Battle of Bir Hakeim - Wikipedia

There was an agreement between the Germans and Italians that all POWs taken in North Africa would be held by Italy. This ended in September 1943 when Italy declared an Armistice, so the POW camps were left unguarded, swiftly the Germans took over Italy and within a few days most POWs were transferred to camps elsewhere, as far away as Poland. There was an Allied command to the POW camps for the POWs to 'Stay Put', tens of thousands POW remained as POW till liberation after Germany surrendered.

There are many threads here on Italian-held POWs, including those who escaped before the Germans arrived and most aspects are covered.