My Dad in 10 Field Regiment with the BEF at Dunkirk

Hi All

My first post, Is it possible that I could find out any information about my Father who was in the Royal Artillery, I know he was with the BEF, but he did not mention anything about his time there, I can only remember my Mother saying that he was not evacuated from Dunkirk its self, but further along the coast, would this be Bray Dunes, I do have some dates from his Army Records. The reason I would like to know more, my Sister and I are going over next year to visit Dunkirk; if any one can help me on this, it would be a great, thank you.

pioneer19

 

Hi pioneer and welcome to the forum.
Can you post some more about your Father's service? Service record pages if you have them. Great interest in BEF and Dunkirk here, I would be amazed if members cannot give you a great deal of information.

 

Hi Mike L

Thank you for getting back to me.

Filled in one reply to you but I ended up being logged out?, try again.

What I have is: R.A.B.D 69/40, 10th Field, BEF 23.9.39 evacuated BEF 2.6.40, 252 days, he enlisted in July 1930, aged 24, not much to go on I know.

pioneer19

 

10 Field Regt. R.A. were attached to 2nd Infantry Division within the BEF. There is a war diary for May and June which should state how the majority were evacuated (with luck, it may give ship names etc.)

The diary in question is WO167/471

Drew is the person to help with BEF diaries. He's sure to be along shortly.

 

Pioneer, the 10th Field Regt served in the 2nd Division in 1939-40, so presumably he saw action wherever the 2nd was. The primary sources would be the war diaries of the 10th Field, the 2nd Division, and CRA (Commander, Royal Artillery) 2nd Div. They should be in the PRO at Kew, but several people on this site specialize in scanning diaries to help people like yourself.

 

As a side note "R.A.B.D" stands for Royal Artillery Base Depot.
HyperWar: The War in France and Flanders 1939–1940 [Chapter IV]
If you scroll down to Page 70 you can see the Escaut Front British Artillery Dispositions 21st May 1940
2 Division
16th Field Regt
99th Field Regt
10th Field Regt
13th Anti-Tank Regt
2nd Manchester (MG)
6th Argyll & Sutherland (MG)
History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: The Years of Defeat, 1939-41 History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery - the Second World War 1939-45: Amazon.co.uk: Peter Arnett, Sir Martin Farndale: Books
has a number of entries for the 10th Field Regiment.
The final entry notes that
10th Field Regiment also reformed at Halifax and deployed to Skirlaugh for coast defence
Brief history of postings here:
RA 1939-45 10 Fld Rgt

Cheers
Mark

PS Eagerly looking forward to what Drew posts. He always has the good stuff

 

Pioneer, good advice given above, that should help with getting you started.
As mentioned Andy (Drew 5233) may already have a copy of the unit diary, sure he will post here soon.
If having problems getting logged out make sure you click the 'remember me' box when logging in - that should solve it.

 

Hi

I would like to thank you all for your kind and use full help, I was not expecting so much in such a short time, I'm a long way from Kew so visiting not a option, I hope Drew can help me.

pioneer19

 

Hello and welocme to the forum.

I already have the diary and will post a bit more later when I have more time-If I've not updated this thread in a couple of days just remind me.

In the meantime I believe there's a officers personal account posted in the 1940 section who was serving with 10 Fld Regt. Diane typed it up for me - so have a play with the forums search engine.

 

Here it is: Major Gordon-Finlayson's Diary 10 Fd Regt

 

Thanks Andrew-I'll post more when I get home from work.


Ps I've edited title to make it more search friendly

Pps - I've noticed reading that link that there is no diary for April or May. So the link is probably as detailed as you are going to get without looking in books.

 

Hi All

I thank you all again for your kind help in my inquiry, I have no idea where in France or Belgium he could have been, he did not mention any thing about his time there, I'm hoping to see their Diary.

Would there have been total chaos on the beaches, or were there any records kept on who got to them, and what ships they left on.

pioneer19

 

It's difficult to say what the diary will show. If the Regt. reached Dunkirk together with their officers then you might well find a note of the craft that took them off. The vast majority left from the mole at Dunkirk. If he was with a group of stragglers on the beach then it will no longer be possible to say how he reached the UK.

Using a combination of his service record and other diaries, it should be possible to get a fairly good idea of where he was likely to have been.

 

As I mentioned above there is no diary for April or May 1940. Click on the link in Post 10. That is probably as good as you will get.

 

Hi All

Thank you to all the Members of this Forum for their kind help.

I hope you don’t mind me adding this:

Born in 1906, my Father enlisted in July 1930, he was stationed in India in 1932; I have a boxing photo of him with others, in Nowshera, taken in 1936. I put a request in the Royal Artillery Association Magazine, asking did any one remember my Dad, expecting, if any, for someone in WW2, what’s the odds on a reply from someone in the boxing photo taken in 1936, I had a letter from a George Suddaby, saying, we were not big buddies, but I knew your father from the boxing, I met George in 2005, he give me a photo of him self carrying the Dunkirk Veterans Standard, I’m sad to say George passed away in 2009.

After a lot of correspondence with the Medal Records Office, I was issued in 2006, with my Dads two medals, one the 1935, the other 1936 to 37, North West Frontier Medals, which I wear with pride, with his other medals.

I am now looking forward to my visit to Dunkirk, I will be staying in Ypres, where I have a Great Uncle buried, who Died in WW1.

Pioneer19

PS. I have tried getting into the Forum, to thank you all, but have been having internet connections problems.

 

My Great Uncle, Stanley Gresley, was also with 10th Field. He was apparently picked up naked from the water, so I guess the unit was dispersed, as there was no mention of the Mole in our family. Stan was later killed at Kohima.I was honoured to meet some of his pals some years ago (Eddie Boot, Gerald Johnson), and there was a difference of accounts as to how he met his end - Gerald was his mate and said he'd been killed by Jap artillery fire with a couple of other chaps. His battery Sgt said he'd climbed a tree to assist in the sighting of a gun, and had consequently been shot by a Jap sniper. His Sgt apparently warned him not to do it, and there was some inference of recklessness. Stan was rather headstrong, by all accounts... I don't know if any of that is in the War Diary, but perhaps best not to know! I'll read the above account. Thanks for al the info.

 

Hi there,

My Grandfather Ray Rigby was a signaler in 10th Field, 30/46 Bty and joined the Royal Artillery in 1934. When he was alive he told me that they found a boat at the top of the beach, then dug a trench to it, and when the tide came in they got the boat afloat. My Granddad said that he had to knock out a couple of young lads to get them in the boat as they were full of fear. They got a bearing for Ramsgate and landed there safely.

 

Very late to this discussion, but can add to Dunkirk Info. My father made a tape of his experiences. He drove a quad, towing gun and limber, ended up on coast near Belgian border. In action briefly. Couldn’t blow the guns because surrounded by French troops so destroyed as best they could. After dark he and about 40 made way to the mole, shuffling forward. Reaching the end just before dawn told no more ships. Their officer suggested waiting close to beach end of mole. After what Dad describes as a very quiet hour a Belgian fishing vessel came in to the mole, they ran up the mole and jumped on board, and were taken to Ramsgate.

 

I should have said (see previous post), Dad had signed up for the Supplementary Reserve at time of Munich crisis. He was called up to Bordon Barracks when Poland was invaded and was in France with 19 Field Rgt by mid September 1939. He was 23, had no training whatsoever, but could drive heavy vehicles (a rare skill in 1939!). He contracted pneumonia early in 1940, got convalescent leave to the UK ( and married his pre-war fiancé), returned to France in late February and was re-assigned to 10 Field Rgt. He thought they were a great bunch! We still have the ‘John Bull printing outfit stamped postcard which says ‘Safe in England, Ted’ given him as he disembarked in Ramsgate.. it is post-marked June 3!’

 

Welcome to the forum.

Your Dad's story rung a bell with me, as it matches up almost exactly with the experience of a rearguard detachment formed by four guns of 139 Field Regt. (the Lewisham Gunners) and two from 10 Field Regt.

10 Field's own diary was destroyed as mentioned earlier in this thread, so the story is told by the diary of 139 Field (which was also burnt at Dunkirk, but reconstructed from memory).



139 Field was an 'Army' field regiment attached to 3 Corps that had fought on the Escaut Line with 44 Division, then as an anti-tank screen at the La Bassee Canal with 2 Division. It was scattered during the withdrawal to Dunkirk, and by 30th May its fighting strength consisted of four 18-pounders under the command of the CO, George Ames, dug in amongst the dunes at Malo les Bains. At this point two guns from 10 Field joined them to make a six-gun troop. Ames ordered most of his men to head to the beaches for evacuation, keeping just enough personnel with him to run the guns and signals. On the 31st the party moved back inland to Rosendael to provide anti-tank cover of the Dunkirk Canal.

If you have a look at the diary entries I have attached below, starting at midnight 1st/2nd June when withdrawal orders were received, you can see how things line up remarkably with your father's story. The guns of the 139 Field/10 Field group were destroyed not by blowing them, but by disconnecting the recoil mechanism and removing the breech and range dial (unusual, as most of 139 Field's 18-pounders had been put out of action during the retreat by loading one round as normal, ramming another down the barrel, then firing the gun from a safe distance). The men headed to the Mole in darkness, as your father describes; they joined the queue and were 300 yards from the head when, just before dawn, they were told that there would be no more ships until dusk, and that the Mole should be cleared at once as it would likely be strafed at first light by Luftwaffe fighters.

Soon after, while waiting on the beach at the foot of the Mole, some French fishing trawlers pulled alongside. They barely brushed the Mole before leaving, but the party of gunners was in the right place at the right time to be able to jump aboard. Most scrambled on to the St. Pierre IV, a trawler sailing out of Caen. They arrived in Ramsgate at 3 p.m. on 2nd June - which lines up with your Dad's landing port and would fit with the postmark on the postcard he sent.

This is pure speculation of course, but from your description it does sound an awful lot like he was with that particular party of gunners at Dunkirk.