1st Bn Rifle Brigade in North Africa

Discussion in 'North Africa & the Med' started by mrgreedy55, Jun 25, 2014.

  1. mrgreedy55

    mrgreedy55 Member

    Hello everyone.
    I'm mrgreedy55 (Brian), and I have just joined your website.
    My interest lies in piecing together the exploits of my dad George Greed, of the 1st Batallion Rifle Brigade, during WW2.
    Like so many of his generation, he would not talk about the war to us. Just snippets of names and places.
    He was originally in the Territorials in East London, and served in North Africa, Italy and Europe where he was captured at Villers Bocage and was then a POW in Stalag 8c in Poland.
    I would like to assemble a timeline of dates and places he visited, and am just starting out on that journey.
    I have been lucky enough to visit Villers Bocage, and seen for myself the war sites and cemetary's in Northern France, and am determined to record my Dads contribution to the war effort, and share this with my sons and daughter, and my grandchildren so that they never forget the huge debt we owe our brave servicemen and women, both then, and now.
    Any help or advice would be gratefully received, as at the moment it seems such a daunting task....If only he could have told me when he was alive.....
     
  2. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    try & get to National Archives in Kew & look at the battalion war diaries.
    If you cant get there a couple of members of the forum copy them for a reasonable fee.

    WO 166/4512INFANTRY: 1 Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own).1939 Sept.- 1941 Sept.
    WO 167/813 1 Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own)1940 May
    WO 169/1741 1 Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own)1941 Sept.- Dec.
    WO 169/5054 1 Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own)1942 Jan.- Dec.
    WO 169/10285 1 Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own)1943 Jan.- Dec.
    WO 171/1358 1 Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own)1944 Jan.- Dec.
    WO 171/5255 1 Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own)1945 Jan.-Dec.
     
  3. mrgreedy55

    mrgreedy55 Member

    Thanks Owen!
     
  4. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Hi Brian,

    I already have 3 of those war diaries that Owen has listed. If you order the other four you can have the three I already have for free, saving over £50 at my rate of 10p per page ....I can't say fairer than that ;)

    Cheers
    Andy
     
  5. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    I noticed in another thread you mentioned your chap was captured in NWE during June 1944. There's a good possibility he will get a mention in this file, it may be just his name and No. on a list but there could be more. It's an investigation file so it will contain quite a few scraps of paper, notes etc.

    WO 361/584 North West Europe: Rifle Brigade; missing personnel file.

    Another avenue to go down with PoWs is to check to see if he completed a PoW Liberation Report at the end of the war.

    Cheers
    Andy
     
  6. mrgreedy55

    mrgreedy55 Member

    Thanks Andy!
     
  7. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    He was see post #35 here.
    http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/25950-visit-to-villers-bocage/page-2#entry629453
     
    Drew5233 likes this.
  8. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Drop me a private message to discuss if you want any copying :)
     
  9. pinkyhill

    pinkyhill Member

    Hi Brian
    My father in law served in the British Army. William Percy Hill 6917847 1st Btn, Rifle Brigade. He was on leave at Sea Point in Capetown, November 1941, before being posted to the Western Desert. He was part of a 6 man team in a Bren Gun Carrier attached to the 7th Armoured Brigade as a tank spotter. He met Rommel in a field hospital. He was captured on 23 January 1942 at Antelat, and sent to a POW camp in Italy.
    When was your father in the Western Desert?
    I have a couple of photos and dont know the other service men in the photos?
    I can send you them to see if you know any one them?
    Gillian
     
  10. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Was he part of the James Column ?
     
  11. Andreas

    Andreas Working on two books

    My guess is he was with 1st Support Group, this fits neatly with their war diary (dispersed on the day). They operated in four columns (Charles, James, Mack, Baron) and Group HQ plus Echelon.

    It wasn't a good day at the office for them. On 27 Jan 1 RB reported missing 10 officer and 200 OR, and 50% of its vehicles. Fortunately most of these were merely dispersed, and Gillian's father was one of the unlucky few to end up in an Axis POW cage.

    Here's the German assessment of the day: http://rommelsriposte.com/2014/07/13/panzerarmee-intelligence-assessment-23-january-1942/

    Wildly optimistic in terms of the encirclement.

    All the best

    Andreas
     
    Drew5233 likes this.
  12. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Very good Andreas - I was just looking in the diary and a nice report on it ;)
     
  13. Andreas

    Andreas Working on two books

    Clever marketing Andy!

    All the best

    Andreas
     
    Drew5233 likes this.
  14. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    I now have a copy of the 1944 Battalion War Diary and the Missing Men file for NW Europe.

    From WO 361/584
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  15. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    From WO 171/1358 1 Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) 1944 Jan-Dec War Diary

    [​IMG]
     
  16. Ian Wiseman

    Ian Wiseman Member

    Hello Brian,
    Are you still active on the forum?
    I have just joined.
    My father in law was in 1 Bn Rifle Brigade. My wife has just published his memoirs and we have his photos too. He was in B Company from throughout the War, so will have covered a very similar path to your father. B company was to the rear and not directly involved in the action at Viller Bocage so I assume your father was in A Company but you may find his memoirs of interest. My Wartime Wanderings by Kenneth L Phillips.
    All the best to you
     
    bamboo43 likes this.

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