I am looking for any information on my Grandad Matthew James, more commonly known as Matty. He served in the 11th Hussars for a short time before joining the 23rd Hussars for the rest of the war.
Hi sraine, and welcome. I'm pretty sure he wasn't a B squadron man, but I'll check my records tonight. In the meantime you might want to see if you can spot him in the following albums: http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/album.php?u=21120 and http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/album.php?albumid=929 Any photos of your Grandad?
Hello and welcome to the forum. Have you tried the forums search engine? There should be a couple of threads on those units. Andy
Mum has photos which I will scan in soon and post. He was Trooper M P James 7928561 and survived the war.
Mum has photos which I will scan in soon and post. Great stuff. I checked my indexes last night but found no record of him - which suggests he might have been an A squadron man. The 'must have' book, if you don't already have it, is 'The Story of the 23rd Hussars' published in 1946. The War Diary is also very useful, though frustratingly terse during the Normandy period. The main 23H thread on here is http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/allied-units-general/36607-hi-my-first-posting-looking-help-23rd-hussars.html though there are others.
Just read his certificate of transfer to the army reserve dated 10-5-46. It says Grandad was employed as a transport driver.
I'd prefer it all in one place but it's your call! Your Grandad would almost certainly be with the Echelon, transporting supplies forward to the tank crews - a vital role and one fraught with danger, as the attached photo demonstrates (a 23rd Hussars ammunition truck).
I have scanned and uploaded some photos. This is a close up of my Grandad - Matty James http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=1029&pictureid=6202
This is the group picture the previous one was cropped from. My Grandad is 8th from the right in the front row http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=1029&pictureid=6200 http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=1029&pictureid=6199
This is the back of the photo. It has names written on of people who were drivers as it says "HQ Admin Troop Drivers". http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=1029&pictureid=6201 My Mum has also found a letter to my Grandma in which he says he is in A Squadron.
Just noticed on the above picture when I looked closer there is a faint stamp from where I presume it was developed. It says "William Craig The Studio, Theftord, Norfolk" I take it the photo would have been taken near here?
Thanks for the photos. Yes, 23H were training at Thetford for a while. The photos are too small for me to make out individual faces, but 'O.W Higham' is Oswald William Higham from Lancashire, b. 2 Jul 1912, d. 1991. His wife Lydia Nancy (born in Ceylon) died in 1995. His father William James Higham was KIA, 9 Apr 1917 in WWI. I can't (yet) tie any of the names to A Squadron, but if that's what it says in the letter then I have no reason to argue.
Grimmy, Len here, done a bit of digging, my Uncle David, 23rd Hussars, came here from " 5r8z squad, D Squadron, 60th T/Regiment. RAC. Catterick camp yorkshire. Any ideas where to go for more information. Len
Grimmy, Len here, done a bit of digging, my Uncle David, 23rd Hussars, came here from " 5r8z squad, D Squadron, 60th T/Regiment. RAC. Catterick camp yorkshire. Any ideas where to go for more information. Len Hi Len, That would be 60th Training Regiment, Royal Armoured Corps (Dad was in the 54th). Dates and locations of David's training would be detailed in his service record. There are threads on here describing how to go about ordering a copy.