147th Essex Yeomanry RA - Battery Identification

Discussion in 'Royal Artillery' started by Susan A, Jun 1, 2020.

  1. KevinT

    KevinT Senior Member

    Andy these are great. The below are all new to me.

    Image 2 I think is CHIGWELL C2
    Image 6 is ELIMINATOR S234018(?)
    Image 10 is DUNTON D3

    Cheers

    Kevin
     
  2. Andy,

    Thank you so much for posting these photos. sto you we now have all four names and gun number in D Tp, plus a fifth as a bonus!

    D1 DUNMOW (probably, as suggested by Kevin)
    D2 DANBURY S234082
    D3 DUNTON
    D4 DEDBEN S233745
    D5 DOVERCOURT S233734

    plus:
    E Tp ELIMINATOR S234016? (image 6)
    C2 C?? (image 2)

    Do you think you might be able to rescan/photograph again these last two photos focusing ont the War Registration number of ELIMINATOR and name of C2 respectively, to get a higher definition/sharper image of those so we may try and read them in full?

    Michel
     
    Last edited: Jul 28, 2020
    Andy Urwin likes this.
  3. Andy Urwin

    Andy Urwin Active Member

    Best I can do unfortunately Michel

    Regards
    Andy
     

    Attached Files:

  4. Andy Urwin

    Andy Urwin Active Member

    Also Michel, after showing the picture of the D5 to my father he is sure he's in that picture and recognises him.

    Thanks
    Andy
     
  5. peter.t

    peter.t Member

    The photos and info is great, I have been looking into my Wife Grandfather time in 413 batt, Alfred William Donno. Is there anyway of finding what troop he was in.
    I have his War diary and I have gone through it all.
    He is mentioned as returning back to his batt from being injured.
    My Mother in Law did mention that one of the Sexton he was meant to be in but she vaguely remembers he was ill or something happened and he didn’t go in the Sexton that day and the sexton was hit and sadly the all the crew were killed.
    Any help would be grateful.
     
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  6. KevinT

    KevinT Senior Member

    Hi Michel,
    I think it is definitely DUNMOW, see attached, it came from another member posting on another 147 EY or OP tanks post.
    Also I think I have found another one BROMLEY ( British Pathe 2125.09 at start of film, census looks like 212828,possibly ) which looks very similar to the BRAMLEY image.
    Appreciate your thoughts.

    Cheers

    Kevin
     

    Attached Files:

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  7. Susan A

    Susan A Member

    Andy,

    I don’t see my GF - but those are great photos. Thank you for posting them, it’s really appreciated.

    Regards,
    Susan
     
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  8. Andy Urwin

    Andy Urwin Active Member

    Hi Susan,

    If i come across the name of your grandfather as I continue my research I'll be sure to give you a shout.
    Amazed how much info I have got from this site.
    Andy
     
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  9. Susan A

    Susan A Member

    Andy,

    The site is excellent isn’t? And the depth of knowledge is amazing.
    As I said before, if you need anything from the War Diaries let me know.

    Susan
     
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  10. Andy Urwin

    Andy Urwin Active Member

    Hi Susan,

    It's really great.
    I'm still in shock that I have found the landing craft plan for D-Day with his name on it. I almost cried when I found it.
    Will probably be the only thing I find with his name on it.

    Anything you have really. I want to try and trace my grandfathers movements across France, holland and Germany.
    I have 60 names on his landing craft to look for now too. Ha.

    So literally anything you think may be of interest to me.

    Thank you susan.
     
  11. Susan A

    Susan A Member

    4202B2D7-7581-4DF1-B054-278A5C564E2A.jpeg 95D51B6C-3F3D-4B44-98E6-CBA604BF28EB.jpeg E6800FD8-D1EC-44DF-AE5C-246F56F5F916.jpeg
    Andy,

    If you’re going to trace your grandfather across NWE I think you will need to get copies of 147ths War Diaries. I’ve attached photos of random pages from the diaries. The 147ths diaries don’t seem to mention individuals (other than officers) but do have daily details of locations and activities.

    Susan
     
    Andy Urwin likes this.
  12. Hello Kevin,

    Yes, I agree it must be DUNMOW. Thanks for posting this other photo, which had disappeared from its original post.

    Great spotting on BP 2125.09. BP 2125.17 also starts with the same shots.This is indeed BRAMLEY, shot at the same place as the photo I posted (same ruined house in the background:
    Sherman V RB BRAMLEY T21362x 213 Bty 147 Fd Regt - 2125_17_02-05 - Notes.jpg

    The census number definitely starts with 21262x. From the photo alone, I first thought the last digit was 0, but looking at various stills from 2125.17 I now think it might be 9 instead (see the apparently curled lower left part of the last digit):
    2125_17_00 - Sherman V RB BRAMLEY T21362x 213 Bty 147 Fd Regt.jpg
    2125_17_02 - Sherman V RB BRAMLEY T21362x 213 Bty 147 Fd Regt.jpg
    2125_17_13 - Sherman V RB BRAMLEY T21362x 213 Bty 147 Fd Regt.jpg

    An 8 would have had a thicker middle part:
    Stencilled T-nos - sample.jpg

    The last digit for ELIMINATOR is even more tricky, and could be almost anything...

    Michel
     
    Last edited: Jul 28, 2020
  13. Andy Urwin

    Andy Urwin Active Member

    Susan,
    Thank you for posting these. These are brilliant.

    Where would I find this information? Where did you get this info from if you don't mind me asking?
     
  14. Expat Yeoman

    Expat Yeoman Member

    What a truly remarkable set of posts and images, thank you all for sharing.

    There are some great shots of the regimental badge being worn on the upper arm (see my avatar). The Battery photo (Image 0099) the officer in front of the Battery flag is the BC Maj Dick Gosling. I might be able to name some more with more time.

    We now have an almost complete list of names for D Troop, an extra name for E Troop and a first one for C Tp. Although incomplete my best guess on that is Chigwell. For Eliminator I think the number is S234018 which ties in with Exterminator, S234019 (and we can clearly see the naming theme for this Troop can't we!) We have Debden in D Troop but no number and with the other names now confirmed it must be either D4 or D6 - my gut would be the former for reason in next para..

    I am intrigued by Dovercourt D5 and wonder if this number was earlier in the campaign. Looking at the parade photos (images 102 & 103 in particular) the Troops look to be laid out with 4x Sexton and 2x Sherman, and we have yet to find any other Troop vehicle numbered 5 or 6. The stencilling of D5 looks different to the others so I'm thinking this is from a different time.

    My turn to try to add back to the thread, I will go through my copy of Gee and see if any of the people named above are mentioned.
     
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  15. Expat Yeoman

    Expat Yeoman Member

    To start, list of dates and locations in NW Europe.
     

    Attached Files:

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  16. Susan A

    Susan A Member

    0A719AF1-AF66-4FE6-AC68-67B3F6516301.jpeg EAF62219-F999-4ABB-BA9F-5F05A3183B09.jpeg CFAD1C6E-151E-417B-8C27-4BB76BAB3A05.jpeg
    Morning Andy,

    The War Diaries are held at the National Archives, Kew, London. However there are a couple of members of this forum who will copy war diaries on request for a fee. I got my copies from WW2Talk member Drew5233 who already had what I wanted digitised.
    I’m interested in 1944/45 (my grandfather only joined EY in August 1944) so Drew5233 supplied me (by Dropbox) with the following diaries:
    WO 171/995 147th Field Regiment (Jan - Dec 1944) and
    WO 171/4848 147th Field Regiment (Jan - Dec 1945)
    Overall, nearly 500 pages. I’ve attached some more copies but apologies for the poor quality, I’m still trying to get my head around the ‘techy’ stuff.

    By the way, have you obtained your grandfathers service record?

    Susan
     
  17. Susan A

    Susan A Member

    Michael,

    Thanks for this. I’m going to have to bite the bullet and get that book aren’t I?

    Regards,
    Susan
     
  18. Susan A

    Susan A Member

    Andy,
    Further to what I said above about War Diaries, the lists that Expat. Yeoman has attached may be sufficient to trace your grandfathers route. I guess it depends how much detail you want.

    Susan.
     
  19. Indeed! I would propose EXECUTIONER and ERADICATOR as likely names for the two remaining guns in E Troop :D

    Michel
     
    Susan A likes this.
  20. Yes we do! See first photo attached by Kevin in his post #27. It is indeed D4. Although the first three digits of the census number are hidden, it should be either S233745 or S234745 – probably S233745 because DEBDEN seems to have the three-piece transmission cover.

    Michel
     

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