Please help me find out about my grandfather Alexander Arthur Goodwin

Hi everyone ,

My grandad was Alexander Arthur Goodwin, 52nd Battalion , 6 th airborne division , ox and bucks light infantry. With the 6 airborne division I believe my grandad was in glider 2 out of 6 to land first the night of dday. This is pretty much all in know about my grandad and his time at war as i was pretty yound when he died. If possible I would like some help in finding out a little more about his military history.

I also remember when I was young my father showed me a book which had a picture of My grandad along with a few others during the war (It had the names underneath) , It would be great to track down a copy of this photo or the book that it is in. Unfortunately I also cannot ask my father for this info as he too passed away when I was younger.

Thanks in advance to anyone who may be able to help.

 

Hi hope someone is able to help. Elsie

 

Thanks

 

Hi, and welcome. I'm sure some of the folks on here will be along shortly to help out - Glider and D-Day specialists.

In the meantime I would recommend sending off a request for his service records - they'll cost you £30 and take 9-12 months to get. The "Research tips" link in my signature will help you sort out what you need. If you have any questions on the process post them on the forum. You will need a copy of his death certificate to apply for the service records - but full name, date of birth and copy of death cert is all you need - you do not need his soldier number to apply and be successful.

His service records will tell you exactly what reg'ts he was in and when, you can then get your hands on war diaries for those div's/reg't/btn's to see what he was involved in, where he was, and what they were doing as a unit. The specific regiments, battalions and other groups are critical to know so you get the right info and the ONLY place to find them is in his service record.

Wayne

 

If he was Ox and Bucks in 6 Airborne Div he would have been in the 2nd Battalion.

 

Would he happen to be

Gunner 14262587 A A Goodwin, 53rd A/L Lt Regt. R. A.?

If so he was confirmed on the Royal Artillery Medal Roll for the General Service Medal for Palestine 1945-1948.
(The 53rd may have been AFTER his WW2 service).

The closest similar Service Number casualty seems to be this chap

CUDMORE, FRANK LEONARD. Rank: Gunner. Service No: 14262569. Date of Death: 02/07/1943. Age: 19.
Regiment/Service: Royal Artillery. 75 Anti-Tank Regt.
Grave Reference: Sec. X. Div. 14. Grave 79. Cemetery: COLCHESTER CEMETERY
Additional Information: Son of Percy and Edith E. Cudmore, of Hythe, Colchester.
(possibly whilst still in basic training).
which place your GF in the Army by mid 1943.

Service Numbers don't necessarily mean they would be in the same unit, but often men were posted in blocks, so this might also be relevant

BLOUNT, KENNETH ROBERT. Rank: Gunner. Service No: 14262646. Date of Death: 21/07/1944. Age: 20.
Regiment/Service: Royal Artillery. 75 Anti-Tank Regt.
Grave Reference: 2. E. 17. Cemetery: HERMANVILLE WAR CEMETERY
Additional Information: Son of Ernest and Winnifred Rosa Blount, of Tooting, Surrey. His brother Ronald also died on service.
(again it's 75th Anti tank Regt.)

Have you any personal effects of his, medals, letters, photos or any memories that the information might shake loose?
Any recollection if he fought against armoured vehicles or was firing at aircraft, events, place names etc?

If you apply for his Service Records then you should be able to compare with the info provided.

Good luck!

 

Hello and welcome,

I don't see a Goodwin on the Pegasus Bridge Coup-de-Man list which can be viewed here. Looking at the fine photo of him on your family tree site he definitely has an Ox n' Bucks cap badge, a Pegasus patch on the upper arm, under which is the Airborne strip, and a "Fifty-Second" shoulder title. According to information on the Lightbobs site the shoulder title was officially changed to "Oxf. & Bucks." in December of 1942.. He doesn't turn up on the online sites devoted to the Airborne, but that's not unusual and hopefully others will check in case I missed something.

There are couple of group photos of the 2nd Battalion, Ox and Bucks, 52nd L.I. on ParaData, though it might be difficult finding him in that sea of faces.

Regards ...

 

Cee thanks for putting the links on. I have enjoyed reading them . Elsie

 

Thank you for the comment Elsie ...

Kevin's information above looks very promising. The 53rd (Worcestershire Yeomanry) Airlanding Light Regiment, RA was a 6th Airborne Divisional unit. One their batteries, the 211th Airlanding Light Battery, did arrive by glider on D-Day evening( LZW) flying from Fairford in 27 gliders, the other batteries arriving later by sea. Without any further evidence, however you would need his service records to confirm if and when he did transfer to the 53rd A/L Lt Regt. R. A. Until then we are still in speculation mode.

Regards ...

 

Wow this all sounds very informative, Thank you for taking the time to look, read and help me out! We do have some medals etc which my brother has so I have asked to borrow them. Hopefully it will help on the trail for information.

I actually have never thought or asked previously if he finished serving after the war or continued...another interesting angle my research could take.

Im looking into the other links and things suggested now, Im so pleased there are people out there who can help!

Thanks again

 

Applications for service records are found at : https://www.gov.uk/requests-for-personal-data-and-service-records#how-to-apply-for-service-personnel-records

 

Thankyou, I am awaiting a copy of the death certificate so that i can apply for this

 

Bit of an update

service record has now been requested but im told could take some time...

In the mean time i have contacted www.sofo.org.uk and they have record of him as below and are looking into more details. It also appears that KevinBattle may have been onto something as I have since found out that my Grandfather did infact carry on serving untill atleast the early 50s.


GOODWIN, Alexander Arthur


Regimental No.

5383010

Rank

Pte

Forename

Alexander Arthur

Surname

GOODWIN

Regiment

Oxf & Bucks Light Infantry

 

interesting link http://www.pegasusarchive.org/varsity/Photos/Pic_OxBucksSchwartow.htm

 

Excellent find ...

The photo looks like it was submitted by Captain Clift himself. From the Orbat:

2nd Ox n' Bucks Mortar Group
Commander : Captain H. J. Sweeney
No.9 (Mortar) Platoon : Lieutenant G. P. M. Clift
No.10 (Mortar) Platoon : Lieutenant C. F. Ursell

Regards ...

 

... so now we have Private Plumb in the back garden with a mortar!
It would seem that if he's posing (in the nice sense) with Lt (later Captain) Clift, he is likely to be in No 9 Mortar Platoon at the end of the War.

When you get his Service Record, it mat show more details of his service in Palestine, after WW2.

Really nice that you have found a photo of him at Wars end.

 

Would some one be kind enough to explain what a mortar platoon actually is/does? Please excuse my ignorance!

 

For the organization and distribution of the mortar detachments in an airlanding battalion see this Trux section and be prepared to have your mind twisted out of joint.

AIR LANDING AND PARACHUTE BATTALIONS - Trux - WW2Talk

The most telling comment in there:

"The War Establishment tables show 2 X 3” mortar and 12 X mortarmen per company. In practice these were removed from the companies in 1944. The four mortars from the mortar platoon and the two mortars from each company were formed into a Mortar Group of two platoons with six mortars each. The Mortar Group was then used as a reserve for the battalion. In practice there was probably little difference since the weapons were split up amongst the rifle companies and platoons to avoid loosing the entire sub unit in the case of mishap."


As far the actual use of mortars in combat this may help for starters:

http://www.bayonetstrength.150m.com/Tactics/Formations/FireSupport/mortar_platoon.htm

Regards ...

 

More news building up the bigger picture now!

He's been found in the BEF in 1940 where most of his battalion were POW.

Then it looks like he was in the second glider to land on D-Day itself rather then the night before as first thought.

 

Not with 2 Ox and Bucks. They never went to France in 1940