My father has a photo of his father's motorcycle taken during his time in the Royal Signals. I will try to get a copy up at some point to show you all. On the back of this photo, there is a handwritten note, "Ivy (his bike's name) and I on the Road to Damascus" Now not being a hugely religious man, the biblical reference is more likely to be irony. What I was wondering was, if anyone could fill me in on what he may have been doing, why he was going to Damascus and where he would have come from? Also what kind of operation was carried out in Damascus where he as a dispatch rider (we believe) would be involved? A google search did not really prove to be fruitful so I was wondering if any experts are out there that could enlighten me? Cheers
Please post his name and unit so we can provide better help for you, we did have troops in all parts of the middle east.
The Petain French troops were causing a bit of a stir around that area in '41 and so when the 4th Indian Div had finished off the Italians in Ethiopia - they went on to Syria to sort out the French in conjunction with other British troops- as each Indian Brigade had one British Battalion in each - so my guess would be a British battalion of the 4th Indian Division. Cheers
His name was Alexander Brian Hamilton Hoy, he survived the war so there will be no death record but I would be really interested in ANYTHING about him or his unit. I have no idea what his unit was unfortunately. However family members say he may have moved from Seaforth Highlanders to Royal Signals at some point.
Maybe later than 1941 as Syria was used as a training area once the Vichy lot were kicked out. I know some of 5th Div were there up to June 1943 as they were training for Sicily.
Craighoy- Owen has come up with a big clue here as there were two Seaforth Battalions in 5th Division the 2nd which was replaced by the 6th in 1942 after Madagascer and Syria - and stayed with them all through Sicily - Italy and NWE - so that might be a better idea than the 4th Indian Div Cheers
Maybe later than 1941 as Syria was used as a training area once the Vichy lot were kicked out. I know some of 5th Div were there up to June 1943 as they were training for Sicily. Syria was quite a busy place overall after the Vichy were defeated as you say. The Australian 9th division after being withdrawn from Tobruk spent a short time resting in Palestine before being deployed to Syria where, as part of British Ninth Army, it was responsible for guarding the Turkish-Syrian frontier and conducting much needed training in mobile warfare. They were in Syria until the 26th June 1942 when they began moving from Northern Syria to El Alamein.
Syria was quite a busy place overall after the Vichy were defeated as you say. The Australian 9th division after being withdrawn from Tobruk spent a short time resting in Palestine before being deployed to Syria where, as part of British Ninth Army, it was responsible for guarding the Turkish-Syrian frontier and conducting much needed training in mobile warfare. They were in Syria until the 26th June 1942 when they began moving from Northern Syria to El Alamein. Spidge, Operation Exporter June-July 1941 Lebanon -Syria campaign There was bitter fighting in June of '41 so plently going on Dont forget the 7th Div & this man Roden Cutler - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Regards Simon
Spidge, Operation Exporter June-July 1941 Lebanon -Syria campaign There was bitter fighting in June of '41 so plently going on Dont forget the 7th Div & this man Roden Cutler - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Regards Simon I didn't forget the forgotten 7th, just confirming Owen's statement after the Vichy were defeated, Syria would have been a busy place for the Sig Corp and also between there and Egypt especially with the move they knew had to come from Rommel.
Thanks for the info so far guys. I have tried to attach the photo which I finally managed to get a hold of. Anyone know what kind of bike it is? I misquoted the writing on the back, he wrote, "On the road to Damascus" "Ivy and I all alone in the Syrian Desert"
Thanks for the info so far guys. I have tried to attach the photo which I finally managed to get a hold of. Anyone know what kind of bike it is? I misquoted the writing on the back, he wrote, "On the road to Damascus" "Ivy and I all alone in the Syrian Desert" The bike is the ubiquitous BSA WM20. If you want to read more about them, Henk Joore's site is a good place to look. THE BSA WD M20 WEBSITE
Rich - Cheers for that, good to see much better quality images of the bikes too. After the North Africa and Mid East Campaign, I now know he ended up in northern Germany near Dusseldorf. Was there an admin office or something similar in or near Dusseldorf?
5th Division (if that's what he was) did indeed finish the war in Germany. They left Italy in July 1944 and were in Syria until early 1945, then very briefly Italy again before travelling up through France to Belgium. They were in action again in Germany on the Elbe and eventually reached the Baltic. Dusseldorf was very much in the British zone and is in the area where the post-war BAOR was stationed.
