Hello, I am trying to find the whereabouts of my Father between the above dates, I believe he may have been in Birmingham, if so could anyone explain what they may have been doing there. George Frederick Lavell Private No. 14434724 Regards Ken
How would we know? You need his service record. There's a link to this somewhere but I cannot find it. Sorry!
There was only one battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment that was active in the United Kingdom from late 1944 through 1945: 2nd/7th Battalion, The Royal Warwickshire Regiment (T.A.) 182nd Infantry Brigade – 3 September 1939 to 31 August 1945 Splitting the 7th Battalion on March 31st, 1939 raised the battalion. The first officer was commissioned on June 1st, 1939. It had RHQ at Nuneaton with detachments at Rugby and Atherstore. It served under the 182nd Infantry Brigade in the United Kingdom from the outbreak of war until the end. Here is a blurb on the battalion from the regimental history:
Hi There, One of the old boys of the village i live in is looking into his father's service in the 2/7th Warwickshires between 20th of November 1939 and the 3rd of August 1944 when he was killed. T/Capt. Henry Anthony Thompson 105502. I have his service record now but it's rather sparse in detail and was looking for the war diaries between D-Day and his death in August. Did you manage to get copies of them? Can you point me in the right direction for a good book on the regimental history? thanks loads Iain
The regimental history (Cunliffe) says he was OC of B Coy who were advancing south to occupy the infamous Pt 213 north-east of Villers Bocage. It was a night advance across country. Capt Thompson and his CSM, Deakin, were killed after stepping on S-mines. However, the history records this as in 'the small hours of August 4'; CWGC says 3 August. Definitely a job for the war diary.