Hi Seeking information on what involvement REME had at Monte Cassino particularly on 23 Nov 1945. A soldier I am researching was killed on that day. Any details will be appreciated Cheers, Roy
I can only find these two REME chaps died that day, both buried at home. 001 CRAGON W14261967- 23/11/1945 ROYAL ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERS 002 SAN-MARTIN P14666957- 23/11/1945 ROYAL ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERS Have you got anymore info we can go on?
One casualty for 23/11/1944 in Cesena? If he's a battle casualty, he would probably been in a LAD - Light Aid Detachment - attached to another unit. Unless that's recorded as a secondary unit information I don't think there is a quick way to establish who he was with. Have you got any additional information?
Andrew...I agree if he was LAD and attached to another unit he should still be listed as REME and the unit he is with should be the secondary. Same principal for Signals too.
Dannemois You might like to edit your location/dates. The battle for Monte Cassino was 17th Jan-18th May 1944. Cheers Ron
Did wonder if it might be recovery-related if it was post war. It still ought to be on CWGC, though. 389 REME fatalities in 1945 - a few too many to pick through. None shown in the Cassino War Cemetery.
Dannemois- Have to go along with Owen and Ron on this one - the fighting was long over whether he died in '44 or '45....a lot of mines were still around for a long time afterwards but REME were mainly vehicle repair in LAD's - sappers did the clearings. Cheers
Hello everyone San-Martin is my soldier; only informatin I have is what has been told to me. Apparantly he died of wounds sustained at the battle for Monte Cassino. The Germans at that time had a new sighting apparatus in their tanks. There was a knocked out tank nearby and he and a comrade were ordered to examine this new sight, and if possible remove it for examination. In order to do this he took off his steel helmet and unfortunately whilst leaving th etank an artillery shell burst overhead and he sustained several shrapnel wounds to the head. Most of these shrapnel pieces were removed, but one fragment was too close to his brain and this was the cause of his death several months later. That is all I know; how acurate I just don't know but hope it helps. Cheers, Roy
Dannemois - So he was not actually killed on 23rd November '44 but died of wounds received earlier on that day - consequently he is a battle casualty and therefore should be listed on CWGC - the only Armoured units in that area and I am asssuming say battles #2 & #3 would be 6th Armoured Division or the New Zealand Armoured bde - they were later joined by 5th Canadian armoured Div.for Diadem or Battle #4 - they would have REME LAD's Thing is - when was he a casualty - that way we might narrow it down a bit ! Cheers
Roy Owen has pointed you to the correct CWGC registration and I see you have agreed that he is the soldier in question: SAN-MARTIN, PROGRESSIO Initials: P Nationality: United Kingdom Rank: Craftsman Regiment/Service: Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Age: 29 Date of Death: 23/11/1945 Service No: 14666957 Additional information: Son of Pedro and Victoria San-Martin; husband of Gwyneth Olwen San-Martin, of Bath, Somerset. Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead Grave/Memorial Reference: Sec. A. Grave 3283. Cemetery: GELLYGAER (GWAELODYBRITHDIR) CEMETERY It still leaves a few questions that await answers. 1. Progressio died on 23/11/45 at least 18 months after the battles for Cassino ended and certainly not the "few months after" that you originally mentioned. 2. We note that he is buried in a Welsh cemetery so it is more than likely that he was in the UK when he passed away as in wartime few, if any, servicemen were returned home for burial but were, instead, interred in cemeteries near to the place where they were killed. 3. You don't state your interest in this matter, are you related to the family ? Be assured you have come to the right forum to get answers to your questions but you need to be a bit more up front and give the experts here as much info as you can. Regards Ron
Hello Tom I checked his headstone incase there was other info but it only had the date 23 Nov 1945 and REME inscribed on it so I am afraid there are no other details. Thanks for your help and thanks to all who have contributed. Roy
Dannemois - all very odd but you have stated that he was injured at Cassino - which you were told - by a member of his family ??? looks like the trail ends here... Cheers
At least we have established he was on the battlefield if he was wounded by shellfire rather than battlefield debris. Looks like it's only going to be solved by his service record and hoping it says who he was with.
Idler - That seems doubtful at this point - not many enemy Tanks were used at Cassino -only reference I have is an attack at the Station with the 28th Kiwi's Maori bde- the Kiwi's tried them in the Town but got nowhere owing to the bomb blasted holes - they tried them again on Cavendish Rd - again nowhere - then 6th Armoured tried them at the Station and had some success - we didn't really meet up with the Panzers until after Aquino - then we really met the Panthers Pz V's - this might be what he was looking for when he was injured - some were knocked out at Ceprano and Frosinone. Cheers
Thanks to everyone who has tried to solve the mystery, I will pass your thoughts and findings to the family member who gave me the initial details and maybe it will encourage them to get his service records. Best Regards to all Roy
Army Roll of Honour Name: Progressio San Martin Given Initials: P Rank: Craftsman Death Date: 23 Nov 1945 Number: 14666957 Birth Place: Glamorgan Residence: Bath Branch at Enlistment: Other Corps Theatre of War: United Kingdom Regiment at Death: Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Branch at Death: Other Corps death registered in the UK Name: Progressio S Martin Death Registration Month/Year: 1945 Age at death (estimated): 27 Registration district: Sodbury Inferred County: Gloucestershire Born 1918 Name: Progress San Martin Mother's Maiden Surname: Estefano Date of Registration: Oct Nov Dec 1918 Registration district: Merthyr T Registration county: Wales
Dannemois- With a service number starting with 146...... he must have joined in the middle of 1943 so wasn't too long in before he was wounded so obviously he was a trademan in a reserved occupation prior to enlistment - and married at aged 27 - did he have any children ? - they must have been very young when he died which is the tragedy. !
