Hi all, my wife is trying to find out more about her father, Samuel Brunton, who joined the 5th Battalion of the Parachute Regiment (he was from Scotland) late on in the war, went to Palestine with them, and was demobbed from there. She has his records which give an outline of his service from March 1945 to October 1947, but would like to know more about where the battalion was based and what it was doing during that period. She believes he was wounded at some stage (his records mention a stay in Tidworth hospital) but would like more details. Are the battalion war diaries available and do they cover Palestine? Would she have to go to Kew to see them? Or are there any good books that would give an overview? She hasn’t really found much on Paradata. Thanks in advance for any help!
I see Wiki refers to time in Italy and Palestine in the period the OP was after: 5th (Scottish) Parachute Battalion - Wikipedia A little more, with dates on: British Army units from 1945 on - Parachute Battalions and The British 2nd Independent Parachute Brigade If you alter the Google search to "5th scottish parachute battalion" you get very different results. This thread may explain the battalion's Scottish background: Father in Camerons & Parachute Regiment, N Africa, Italy, Arnhem,Palestine
Thanks for the help everyone. We have searched the National Archives and have found the following records which should have some more detail: WO 191 War Office: Peacetime Operations Abroad, War Diaries and Headquarters Records WO 275 War Office: Sixth Airborne Division, Palestine: Papers and Reports We don’t live too far from Kew so will investigate a visit in person.
The reports you want ae WO 170/4972 Jan - Jun 1945 (Italy), WO 166/17186 Jul - Sept 1945 (Home), WO 169/20082 Oct - Dec 1945 (Middle East), WO 169/23226 Jan - Jul 1946 (Middle East), WO 261/403 Jul - Dec 1946 (Middle East). There were members of this forum (Drew5233 and Psywarorg) who used tho offer a copying service at the archives. Given the revised arrangements restricting access I am not sure if they continue to offer this service