Major John Henry Varian (67114) - 1st Lincolnshire Regiment WW2

My grandfather was a career solider commissioned by Edward VIII in 1936, he went into the Lincolnshire Regiment. I am not sure what he did in his early career or the early years of the war, however in May 1943 he was a Captain and went to India for a proposed S.O.E role. He was then based at (ME25) a Jungle Warfare Schools in Ceylon, the records I have say as a Adjutant and then 'specially employed w.e.f' in 24.4.43, which ended around March 1945. He was accepted back to the 1st Lincolnshire into Para training, my understanding is he parachuted behind enemy lines between these dates and not sure what else until the end of the war.

After the war he was in Germany for a while as my Dad was born on a base there in 1949, he also went to the Malaya Emergency where my grandmother and dad who was 2 years old went to live for 2 years. First just outside Kuala Lumpur and then Penang, they were on their own for months as my Grandfather was fighting in the jungles. In Malaya I think he was seconded to a Malay unit when there.

His last rank was Major and he retired in 1958.

The records I have from Kew only cover from 1943 to 1945 his time in India, the rest is family memories but my Grandad didn't talk about any of it at all. 10 years ago I spoke to a few guys who where in Malaya with him and remembered him but not much more than that. If anyone can fill any of the gaps or point me in the right direction it would be appreciated.

 

A few way marks from his early career.

The undermentioned Gentlemen Cadets, from the Royal Military College, to be 2nd Lts. 30th Jan. 1936:
Lincoln R. - John Henry VARIAN.
Page 671 | Issue 34251, 31 January 1936 | London Ga...

Lincoln R. - The undermentioned 2nd Lts. to be Lts. 30th Jan. 1939: J. H. Varian.
Page 682 | Issue 34594, 31 January 1939 | London Ga...

Lincoln R. - The undermentioned Lts. to be Capts. 30th Jan. 1944: J. H. Varian (67114).
Page 570 | Supplement 36353, 28 January 1944 | Lond...

 

Thank you for finding this for me

 

London Gazette 7/10/1958 entry for his retirement: https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/41514/supplement/6096/data.pdf

Not very clear due to format:

From: (976) - Army lists > Quarterly Army Lists (Second Series), July 1940-December 1950 > 1942 > Third quarter > Part 1 - British Military lists - National Library of Scotland

The 'no longer available' website www.thelincolnshireregiment.org in a Google search refers to the regiment being in Palestine and has his name.

He does not appear in a 1947 photo of the regiment's officers taken in Taiping, Malaya. See: A photograph of officers of the 1st Battalion Royal Lincolnshire Regiment taken at Taiping. Back row: Lt. J. Mills, 2/Lt. M.H. Best, Lts. E.C. Whitby, A.F. Townsend, 2/Lts N.L. Williams, W.C. Weston, Lts. J.W. Render, P.D. Phillips, 2/Lts. T.A .Twigg, P.H. Kemp, M.R. Jarvis. Middle row: Capts. I.R. Boyd, J.K Wighton, G. Wheeler, J. Bedford, W.Graves, M.C., Lts. C.R. Harness, J. Dymoke, R.E. Elliott, E.P. Spencer, W.F. Tomlin. Front row: Capt. P.J. Corser, R.A.M.C., Majors J.D Drabble, W.Corry, W.J.R. Cragg, Lt-Col R.H.L. Oulton, Capt. R.H Taylor, Majors D.J. Joyce, R.G. Young, Lt.(Q.M.) L.L Stock Photo - Alamy

He appears in a list of SOE agents, however the format defies easy searching: THE MOST SECRET LIST OF SOE AGENTS: V This may duplicate his TNA record.

 

There is a large image/transcription toggle at the bottom of the page that may help.


From 3q46 Army List (165) - Army lists > Quarterly Army Lists (Second Series), July 1940-December 1950 > 1946 > Third quarter > Part 1 > Volume 2 - British Military lists - National Library of Scotland

This was a roster of officers and NCOs who served in Palestine prewar, and is available from here https://web.archive.org/web/20180910051040/http://www.thelincolnshireregiment.org/leslieclarke.shtml.

He had to wait for his GSM for Palestine until after WW2 according to the medal roll.

WO 100. General Service Medal 1918-1962: Clasp Palestine: Royal Fusiliers, Lancashire... | The National Archives

 

This is all amazing thank you and there are details here I didn't know.

I am really interested when he came back to Europe for the end of WW2, as my son is going on an A-level history trip next week to Caen and the beaches.
I thought my records might give details of that time but didn't.

 

Kibuchan,

When your son returns from Normandy and the D-day beaches would be a good time to refer to his grandfather's time in the Far East, where it appears he was likely to be one of the "Forgotten Army".

You wrote in the first post:

Wiki states:

From: Royal Lincolnshire Regiment - Wikipedia

It is possible the 1st Batt. was withdrawn from the front line for parachute training in India, as part of the planning for the invasion of Malaya and more.

Although there are Google hits on the regiment and parachute training, none appear to support such training was for the regiment. That may need an in-depth review.