Royal Artillery, Missing men, BEF 1940

Discussion in '1940' started by Adam Petipher, Feb 25, 2022.

  1. Adam Petipher

    Adam Petipher Well-Known Member

    Hello, does anybody know where I could find a list of missing men of the Royal Artillery in the BEF from May and June 1940, compiled at the time or shortly after battle?

    Thank you.
     
  2. Richard Lewis

    Richard Lewis Member

  3. Adam Petipher

    Adam Petipher Well-Known Member

    Thank you.
    I looked through the NA catalogue under WO361 but couldnt find anything relating to the BEF or RA in 1940. Does anyone know if I need to look under a different reference?
    Thank you.
    Adam
     
  4. timuk

    timuk Well-Known Member

    I think you'll find that the dates on the files given in #2 refer to the period that information on missing men was received/recorded rather than the date of the actual events in 1940.

    Tim
     
    Richard Lewis likes this.
  5. Adam Petipher

    Adam Petipher Well-Known Member

    Ok thank you
     
  6. Mr Jinks

    Mr Jinks Bit of a Cad

    There are printed lists which list only names and numbers the investigation files are the WO 361 files if its just the listings see below:-
    upload_2022-2-25_12-10-16.jpeg
    upload_2022-2-25_12-10-45.jpeg
    upload_2022-2-25_12-11-12.jpeg
    upload_2022-2-25_12-11-40.jpeg

    Printed in 1941 . May help may not :)

    Cheers

    Kyle
     
  7. Adam Petipher

    Adam Petipher Well-Known Member

    Thanks Kyle, thats great and helps a lot actually!

    Heres why I wanted it;
    My great uncle Charles Frederick Burns was killed on 21 May 1940 and is on the Dunkirk memorial, so has no known grave. I have decided to see if I can find out what happened to him and if he perhaps has a grave which may for example currently be marked as an unknown person.

    In the regimental diary he is mentioned by name on that day as being killed as are 2 other men on the same day.
    I know where these other 2 men are buried and next to one of them is a grave marked as unknown, which I think might be him.

    The bodies were in a "temporary roadside cemetery" and were exhumed in 1947, when the soldiers in the graves were either identified or marked as unknown.

    My line of thinking is, if he is not on the missing lists at the time, then they knew where he was buried originally in 1940. It was only after the war that they could not find a grave for him. (Perhaps the plaque on the grave from that time went missing?).

    Thanks again
     
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  8. BrianHall1963

    BrianHall1963 Well-Known Member

    The very best of luck to you don’t give up
     
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  9. BFBSM

    BFBSM Very Senior Member

    These are copies of various records available on the FindMyPast website:

    Royal Artillery Other Ranks: Casualty Cards 1939-1947 database
    GBM_RAM_DEATHS_AC_03269.jpg

    The following three are from the British Army Casualty Lists 1939-1945. The first is from WO 417/12 Casualty Lists - Other Ranks 201 - 226
    GBM_WO417_012_0309.jpg

    This one from WO 417/13 Casualty Lists - Other Ranks 227 - 242 (No. 228)
    GBM_WO417_013_0041.jpg

    This is from the same set of lists above, List No. 238, but shows that the first in this list in list No. 228, should be deleted:
    GBM_WO417_013_0477.jpg

    Going on I would suggest trying to obtain a copy of the 77 Field Regiment War Diary, available at the National Archives Kew (they are not digitised and require a visit by yourself or a researcher). They are catalogued as WO 167/497 77 Field Regiment Royal Artillery 1940 Jan;-June.
     
    timuk likes this.
  10. jonheyworth

    jonheyworth Senior Member

    Give it a go . Alistair McCorquedale’s son walked into the cemetery near where he was killed and found an unknown CWGC grave that could only have been. His father
     
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  11. Adam Petipher

    Adam Petipher Well-Known Member

    Thank you.
    I wonder why it has deleted written next to his name?

    I have a copy of the war diaries thanks, it mentions him as being killed in Bergwijk in Belgium along with an NCO in the LAD which I have worked out is a chap called JC Shorthouse. In the same paragraph it says that SJ Wallace was killed on the same day. Both were buried in Tieghem roadside cemetery, hence why I think my great uncle was buried there too. The graves were exhumed in 1947 and reburied in Heverlee military cemetery.
    CWGC have confirmed they have dental records for the unknown men and if I can get a copy of my great uncles dental records they are willing to cross reference them. However it appears that no dental records for him have survived.

    My next task is to find living relatives of a shortlist of 23 other men who were killed in the area at the time and are also on the dunkirk memorial. If their relatives have dental records then perhaps they could be cross referenced with the dental records held by CWGC so I can narrow down the shortlist. However finding relatives is proving hard. So far I have tracked down only one.
    If anyone has any tips I am all ears!
     
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  12. timuk

    timuk Well-Known Member

    He has been listed as KIA in List 226.
    Someone has made a mistake and again listed him as KIA in List 228.
    List 238 is a correction and merely removes the duplication in 228.

    Tim
     
  13. Adam Petipher

    Adam Petipher Well-Known Member

    Great, thank you for clarifying
     
  14. Tullybrone

    Tullybrone Senior Member

  15. Adam Petipher

    Adam Petipher Well-Known Member

  16. jonheyworth

    jonheyworth Senior Member


    It illustrates in can be done . He was the only missing major from that regiment . Just no one had put 2 and 2 together
     
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  17. Adam Petipher

    Adam Petipher Well-Known Member

    Does anyone know how I can get hold of red cross missing persons enquiries?
     
  18. Tullybrone

    Tullybrone Senior Member

    You need to contact the Swiss Red Cross to request a search of their WW2 archive.

    I would use the POW record application form that will pop up in this link - you will need to provide much, if not all, of the same personal details of the subject as required under the POW process - but add detail to explain your enquiry is in relation to his missing person file in the free text box at the bottom of the online form.

    Requests for information about people held during Spanish Civil War or Second World War: Quarterly limit reached

    You will need to be quick off the mark in the day as the application window usually closes very quickly due to the quota being filled within an hour or so.

    Good Luck

    Steve
     
  19. Adam Petipher

    Adam Petipher Well-Known Member

    Great! Thank you
     
  20. Browno

    Browno Fake news challenger

    Hello Adam

    77 Regiment was one of the Royal Artillery regiments transferred from 51st Division during its "stiffening" in February 1940. It had been a Renfrewshire TA unit before the war. Do you know when your great uncle joined the unit?

    Thanks

    Adam
     

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