just wondering as we are sandwiched between the V1 launch sites at Bevouir and Vacquerie, our local CWGC cemetery is the village churchyard at Vacquerie le Boucq. there are 16 graves, 1 of which is unidentified. they were killed as a result of an ambush on a searchlight regt on the move. some died in the gun fight and grenade attack, the rest of their wounds . the question being, would there be any records of who was in the 8th Bty, 2nd Regt of the Royal Artillery that could name this soldier.
When I checked the 1940 casualty list I used a single casualty from the cemetery as reference Bdr Beacock but unfortunately this produced a large list of various RA casualties from 1940 posted as missing . On the second casualty list using the same subject from 1943 this confirms Beacock as Killed in Action a second casualty from the same unit is also listed as Killed in Action and I assumed he too lay alongside Beacock but when I checked the second casualty has no known grave and is commemorated on the Dunkirk memorial ? I`m sure there`s more but its a start for your research Gunner MONNOX, GEORGE Service Number 1509276 Died Between 23/05/1940 and 24/05/1940 Aged 21 6 Bty., 2 Searchlight Regt. Royal Artillery Son of Arthur Monnox and of Annie Monnox, of Hall Green, Birmingham. Kyle
thanks Kyle, there has been a lot of in from the cold projects on the GWF, I just thought as it was one small group he should be identifiable.
UK, Army Roll of Honour, 1939-1945 Name: Charles Beacock Given Initials: C W Rank: Lance Bombardier Death Date: 20 May 1940 Number: 818123 Birth Place: Lincolnshire Residence: Lincolnshire Regiment at Enlistment: Royal Artillery Branch at Enlistment: Royal Artillery Theatre of War: France and Belgium Campaign, 1939/40 Regiment at Death: Royal Artillery Branch at Death: Royal Artillery Name: George Monnox Given Initials: G Rank: Gunner Death Date: May 1940 Number: 1509276 Birth Place: Birmingham Residence: Birmingham Regiment at Enlistment: Royal Artillery Branch at Enlistment: Royal Artillery Theatre of War: France and Belgium Campaign, 1939/40 Regiment at Death: Royal Artillery Branch at Death: Royal Artillery England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007 Name: George Monnox Registration Date: 1918 Registration district: Birmingham Inferred County: West Midlands Re-registration Year: 1918 Mother's Maiden Name: Woodcock Volume Number: 6d Page Number: 442 TD
Monnox looks like a candidate, also from the Birmingham area as did 8 of the other 15 also his number 1509 ties in with 6 and 1508 4 others, same battery/regt I suppose his death being between 23 and 24th could be an assumed or guess but could have been a day or two earlier..possibly even injured and died of wounds later but then there would have been a body. problem is its probably not enough info for CWGC. war diary pages are for the later days so will look earlier and see if there are any medical records.
Like most of the soldiers killed in this period it will be an assumed date of death ,and if he died of wounds it does not necessarily mean there would be a body and the lists do say `Killed in Action` not `Died of Wounds` or `Believed died of wounds` ? Monnox was an ex Militia man his previous number was 10207976 he was first reported as `missing ` on June 14th 1940 along with quite a few others from the unit but I have not looked into the fate of those ? I have posted the lists,the list of RA `missing` and his casualty card * * Date of death is struck through Kyle
You can find out a few more details about what is required to amend a CWGC record, here: Amending Records
Ok...It always helps to post the CWGC information. Most of the men listed in the cemetery appear to be 6 Battery, 2 Searchlight Regiment. Some are 8 Battery, 2 Searchlight Regiment and crucially Lieutenant William Douglas Tuck is listed as 2 Searchlight Regiment. Officers are the easiest to trace and I've found him in the 8 Battery, 2 Searchlight Regiment war diary so either the 6 Battery chaps were attached or their unit is listed wrong. With the chaos of the time I suspect attached as I could well believe men moved between batteries in a regiment without records being amended. So the interesting bit, what does the 8 Battery war diary record? Note there are over 100 ORs missing from this regiment on this day so you'll probably never ID the grave. The Missing Men file could be worth a look but other than a personal account that states a list of names with these men (unlikely) he'll probably remain unknown forever.
As a side note Lieutenant Robins isn't recorded on CWGC from what I can tell but I still find their search engine a bit of a black art.
Thats possibly because he isn't on the CWGC UK, British Army Lists, 1882-1962 H . E . I . Robins 1932 Royal Artillery-Territorial Army 2nd Lieutenant H . E . I . Robins 1939 Royal Regiment of Artillery 2nd Lieutenant H . E . I . Robins 1940 Royal Regiment Of Artillery. Lieutenant H . E . I . Robins 1941 Royal Regiment of Artillery Lieutenant H . E . I . Robins 1942 Royal Regiment of Artillery Lieutenant H . E . I . Robins 1943 Royal Regiment of Artillery Lieutenant H . E . I . Robins 1944 Royal Regiment of Artillery Lieutenant H . E . I . Robins 1945 Royal Regiment of Artillery Captain H . E . I . Robins 1945 Royal Artillery Capt H . E . I . Robins 1952 Empl'd List Lt Col H . E . I . Robins 1952 Officers on the Active List Arranged according to Seniority EMPLOYED LIST Lt Colonel TD
Lt. Col (Hon. Colonel) Herbert Edgar Ian ROBINS 4th May 1906 - 7th December 1987 Gravesend, Kent Age 81
Cheers for the headstone image. It's also worth mentioning looking at that there's no hard evidence he's even Royal Artillery. He could have been a RASC driver attached to the unit, a Signaller attached, the list is pretty exhaustive really. Have you considered contacting the local Marie and see if they have any additional information on him? There may have been clues on his person like a letter or other personal belongings that were missed by the British when he was buried and or handed over into the care of CWGC.
From the large list of RA `missing` I posted all but four of 6/2 SL Regiment survived ,wounded ,PoW or rejoined later but they did survive. The four who did not were;- 1509086 Hodgkins...............Dunkirk Memorial 1509094 Hopkins.................Renescure Churchyard 1509275 Mole......................Dunkirk Memorial 1509276 Mannox.................Dunkirk Memorial Kyle
I think you are assuming too much that because they are all RA men in the marked graves that the unknown will also be RA. On the balance of probability he could be but he could also be a RASC driver, a ROAC armourer, Signals etc. RA units had numerous soldiers attached from various units in 1940, they even had the RAF so I wish you good luck with it. I can think of at least two unknown graves with far great circumstantial evidence and have got no where with regards to identifying the unknown graves. Have you contacted the Marie to see if they have any additional info on the unknown grave?