The Black Watch

Discussion in 'British Army Units - Others' started by 7mark, Jun 1, 2012.

  1. 7mark

    7mark Active Member

    OK just found out My Uncle served in the Black Watch, have sent for the records but that takes ages and i hate waiting, so heres my question.... he got shot in the head and was evacuated form Dunkirk in 1940, he served in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, D-Day, France, and finally Germany. The only Battalion to serve in all these was the 1st, but the 1st surrendered in France in 1940 and was reformed in 1942, and only 35 original members were part of the reformed "1st", so would he have been in the 1st or is it possible he would have changed battalions? and is there a list of the 35 soldiers who rejoined the "1st"?
     
  2. Tom Canning

    Tom Canning WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    7Mark
    not quite correct to state that the 1st batt BW served alone in France as did the 4th and 6th - the 6th moved over to the 4th Inf Div and was replace by 1st batt - 51st Div surrendered at St Valery - with some escaping via Dunkirk from other Divisions

    the 51st was reconstituted from 9th Scottish Division in time for El alamein -BUT another - think it might have been 2nd batt served at Tobruk with the Aussies- the 51st went all through the desert - think with 1st and 4/5th battalions to Sicily then went home for D Day

    The 6th batt BW fought in Algeria /Tunisia and were at Cassino with 4th Inf Div and took part in the Operation Diadem early May '44 as my neighbour Peter Malone was in the 6th and another neighbour was killed there .
    Cheers
     
  3. 7mark

    7mark Active Member

    No i meant the 1st was the only one to serve in all the campaigns, i believe the following is true:

    Dunkirk (1940) 1st Battalion (ordered to surrender), 4th Battalion, 6th Battallion

    North Africa (1942) 1st Battallion (reformed), 5th Battallion, 7th Battallion

    Sicily (1943) 1st Battalion, 5th Battalion, 7th Battalion

    NW Europe !st Battalion, 5th Battalion, 7th Battalion
     
  4. 7mark

    7mark Active Member

    I know he was definitely in EL Alamein which means 1st/5th or 7th, but as 5th and 7th were not in france 1940 leads me back to the question
     
  5. Tom Canning

    Tom Canning WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    7mark
    you may be perfectly correct with your rephrasing of the question - so consider a bit more as NORTH AFRICA was Two different campaigns - with 1st- 5th &7th in 8th Army in (MEF)- and 6th batt in 1st Army in Algeria / Tunisia (BNAF)and again in Italy with 8th Army(CMF)

    Your reference is therefore the units which served in 51st Division - only... as the 8th Batt served in 14th Army....

    Cheers
     
  6. DaveB

    DaveB Very Senior Member

    OK just found out My Uncle served in the Black Watch, have sent for the records but that takes ages and i hate waiting, so heres my question.... he got shot in the head and was evacuated form Dunkirk in 1940, he served in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, D-Day, France, and finally Germany.



    Is this the same uncle from your other thread? (my uncle William Henry Baxendale born 17 Sept 1923)

    I presume not as the other one was in the Greece / Crete campaign. In which case - what is this one's name??
     
  7. Mike L

    Mike L Very Senior Member

    I must say I am with DaveB here, getting slightly confused.
    One Uncle, another Uncle (actually think it should be Great Uncle), and Grandfather.
    Can you clarify how many relatives you are reseaching, their names and brief details (as far known) of each? Would make it a bit clearer for us to look at areas we can help with in each case.
     
  8. Andreas

    Andreas Working on two books

    No i meant the 1st was the only one to serve in all the campaigns, i believe the following is true:

    Dunkirk (1940) 1st Battalion (ordered to surrender), 4th Battalion, 6th Battallion

    North Africa (1942) 1st Battallion (reformed), 5th Battallion, 7th Battallion

    Sicily (1943) 1st Battalion, 5th Battalion, 7th Battalion

    NW Europe !st Battalion, 5th Battalion, 7th Battalion

    2 BW was at Tobruk in late 1941 as part of 70 Division, participating in the breakout.

    THE SECOND BATTALION THE BLACK WATCH AT TOBRUK

    All the best

    Andreas
     
  9. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Just for the record none of 51 HD were at or evacuated through Dunkirk in May/June 1940 as a unit. Those that were fortunate enough to get away were much further West and Dunkirk had long since been evacuated.

    Speaking from experience, I would wait for the service records. Without them you are just speculating.

    Good luck.
     
  10. 51highland

    51highland Very Senior Member

    As Andy says, speculation, so here is some more speculation. Maybe he was 4th BW and escaped via 'Arkforce'.
     
  11. 7mark

    7mark Active Member

    Patience is a virtue, plus chances are i'll be back in kew before I see the service record, and as i only get once or twice a year i'd like to get the unit records.

    The picture below has "8th army" writen on the back, my uncle is the guy standing on the right, why do they wear different caps?

    [​IMG]
     
  12. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    I have all the BW war diaries for 1940 - Infact I have virtually all of 51 HD war diaries plus quite a few 51 HD personal officers diaries from 1940.
     
  13. 7mark

    7mark Active Member

    I have all the BW war diaries for 1940 - Infact I have virtually all of 51 HD war diaries plus quite a few 51 HD personal officers diaries from 1940.

    dare i ask :D
     
  14. gmyles

    gmyles Senior Member

    HI

    May I suggest you contact the BW Museum in Perth. They might just be able to assist.

    My Grandfather was awarded a MM in WW1 whilst in 6BW and they were most helpful.

    Gus
     
  15. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    Fantastic image cropped up on Twitter. I hope the poster doesn't mind my uploading it here:

    Neutopia Weather Bird on Twitter

    Black Watch 1942 (I don't know which battalion--am enquiring).

    EC5B4U8XYAInZmd.jpeg
     
    Waddell and Chris C like this.
  16. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    2nd Battalion.
     
  17. Waddell

    Waddell Well-Known Member

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