Pte E R T HARRIS 2Bn Northamptons 1945

Discussion in 'General' started by tugboat, Feb 4, 2011.

  1. tugboat

    tugboat Junior Member

    Any info please on 3910137 pte E R T Harris transfered from 261HAA bty RA to 2Bn Northamptonshire regt late 1944, served in NW europe ,missing May 1945, believed murdered by Polish DP's, buried in Hamburg.
    MOD refuse to respond to any request for info on circumstances of his death.
    Remaining family now in old age would like closure on this please help if you can
     
  2. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    I've sent a message to one of our members who's Grandad was the RSM .
    I hope he may have some info in it .
    Cheers
    For other members info,
    Date if death 03/01/1946
    CWGC :: Casualty Details
     
  3. tugboat

    tugboat Junior Member

    That would be great thankyou
    Mike Harris
     
  4. Rich Payne

    Rich Payne Rivet Counter Patron 1940 Obsessive

    Hello Mike. I think that Owen means me.

    This is a puzzle, and one that I can't shed a lot of light on. As Owen indicates, date of death is given as 3rd January 1946 and as one of the older regulars, my Grandfather was home by then. He did talk about post-war Germany and the problems with the Russians but I don't recall talk of difficulties with displaced persons.

    2nd Northamptons moved to Göttingen during July 1945 and remained there until June 1947. They were involved with security duties and were posted on the border between the British and Russian zones. The Russian posts were on the border and the British 500 yards inside so once a refugee had passed the Russian controls, they couldn't be sent back.

    The battalion was used for additional duties such as guarding Corps HQ at Luneberg and guarding the Brunswick-Berlin ration train.

    Nevertheless, Hamburg is 160 miles from Göttingen so there is no easy explanation for why he was buried there.

    Do you have his service records or has the information come from his pay book or correspondence ? It is certainly worth applying for the records.

    I don't ,to be honest, know where else you should look. This forum is extremely easily found by Google. I'd suggest a further post using lots of keywords such as names and places in the hope that an ex-serviceman from the period may chance upon it. If there was a German civil coroner's report then that should still exist somewhere but I have no idea where to begin.

    Rich
     
  5. tugboat

    tugboat Junior Member

    Thanks Rich that is very interesting. Was Gottingen a Luftwuffe base? I ask because his last letter was from "a jerry aerodrome" and typed on a "liberated" typewriter.His brother was serving with the RAF in the far east and thinks that E R T had "had enough" (he was a regular) and had fallen in with these Poles and gone AWOL perhaps in an effort to make some easy money, but he must have been aware that this would distress his next of kin. A letter from a Capt Gill suggested he might be in Lubeck. We think there may have been a trial of this Polish gang but the family were kept at arms length and always have been. requests for service records have always been ignored. Perhaps we are going about it in the wrong way.
    Mike
     
  6. Rich Payne

    Rich Payne Rivet Counter Patron 1940 Obsessive

    Mike, A quick 'Google' suggests that there were extensive Luftwaffe facilities at Göttingen although the regimental history doesn't mention that 2nd Northamptons were based there, rather that they were in the town but any existing barracks etc. are sure to have been taken over.

    Sonderkommando Göttingen - Luftwaffe and Allied Air Forces Discussion Forum

    I'm no expert on obtaining service records but I've not heard of them being refused as there is a specific procedure for obtaining them.

    http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/searching-someone-military-genealogy/3105-ww2-service-records-address.html

    You can down-load the appropriate forms. Needless to say, there is a long wait involved and it it possible that sensitive documents could be removed.

    There must be a procedure for searching civil administration records from this period. I hope that someone else can shed further light.

    Rich
     
  7. tugboat

    tugboat Junior Member

    Thanks I will try again
    Mike
     
  8. tugboat

    tugboat Junior Member

    I now have his service record and quite a colourful one at that! with a host of abbreviations can anyone tell me what RFFXF means and X lists 2, 3 & 4?
    death occurred due to multiple gun shot wounds to chest & abdomen whilst posted AWOL.
    Mike
     
  9. Rich Payne

    Rich Payne Rivet Counter Patron 1940 Obsessive

    Mike, I haven't studied enough records to be able to recognise those abreviations out of context and I can imagine that you'd prefer not to plaster it over the internet. Most servicemen kept their noses clean and the records are nothing but complimentary.

    Have you had to tell the family what happened ?

    I'd suggest 'pm'ing one or two of the old soldiers on here as they are most likely to know.
     
  10. tugboat

    tugboat Junior Member

    Rich could you do that for me?
    Mike
     
  11. Tom Canning

    Tom Canning WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Tugboat -
    Can't help with the RRFXF but the X lists 2-3 and four are sickness and hospital visits - the AWOL( abscence without OFFICIAL leave) is usually an American expression of the British AWL( abscence without leave)
    Cheers
     
  12. tugboat

    tugboat Junior Member

    thanks Tom but that is what it says "AWOL from 2230 hours declared illegally absent by C of I BAOR wef 20.06.45"
    Mike
     

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