130th (Assault) Field Regiment India/Burma Casualties - Filling in the blanks?

Discussion in 'War Cemeteries & War Memorial Research' started by PackRat, Apr 28, 2018.

  1. PackRat

    PackRat Well-Known Member

    For a little while I've been putting together a Roll of Honour of the men of 130th Field Regiment who didn't come home from the Far East. Thanks to the incredible Geoff's Search Engine I've been able to compile a fairly conclusive list of names and dates from the CWGC, and then cross reference that with the War Diaries and other sources to put names to the typical "2 ORs Killed" entries, plus add in several attached personnel from the Signals and REME that were lost serving with the regiment.I've been trying to add as much information as I can on the battery they were with, circumstances of casualty etc.

    (Edited 01/05/18: Here is the finished Roll of Honour, as complete as I can make it, though any further information on these men or 130 Field Regiment in general would be greatly appreciated. Hopefully it's of use to others who might be researching the regiment in future. Huge thanks to Guy Hudson for his very generous help with this project).


    130th Field Regiment Royal Artillery
    India/Burma 1942 – 1945
    Roll of Honour

    These are the men of 130 Field who did not return from service in India and Burma.

    This list has been compiled from a number of sources. The core information comes from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission casualty database, queried using Geoff’s 1939 – 47 Search Engine. Royal Artillery Casualty Cards, kindly supplied by Guy Hudson, give additional data, such as the officially recorded cause and place of death and town of residence. Colonel R. A. G. Nicholson, commanding the Regiment during the First Arakan Campaign, provides some further details of circumstances surrounding the 1943 casualties in his Account of operations of 130th (Lowland) Field Regiment in the Arakan campaign 1942 Nov - 1943 May (CAB 106/23). Other details are gleaned from the Regiment's 1943, 1944 and 1945 War Diaries (WO 172/2304, WO 172/4653 & WO 172/7419). By bringing all of these sources together it is possible to give a more comprehensive account of the men who did not come home. I have compiled all of the information I can find on each man into this format:

    • SURNAME, Forenames, Service Number, Rank (from CWGC, Casualty Cards, War Diaries)
    • Age, Place of Residence, Enlistment Date (if known) (from Casualty Cards)
    • Officially recorded date of death (from CWGC)
    • Cemetery/Memorial where buried/commemorated (from CWGC)
    • Additional unit information (where possible) (from War Diaries & Appendices, Nicholson’s Account)
    • Officially recorded cause and place of death (from Casualty Cards)
    • Further details of incident from other sources (where possible) (compiled from War Diaries & Appendices, Nicholson’s Account and other sources)

    1942

    MURDOCH, James Hamilton, 907092, Gunner
    23, from Prestwick, Ayrshire. Enlisted in 1939
    20/05/1942
    Maynamati War Cemetery
    130 Fd. Regt. (no further information)
    Died in Comilla (near Chittagong in East Bengal) of Lobar Pneumonia

    GILLIGAN, Patrick Joseph, 1119466, Gunner
    30, from Birmingham, born in Cork, Ireland. Enlisted in 1940
    14/07/1942
    Maynamati War Cemetery
    130 Fd. Regt. (no further information)
    Died in Comilla (near Chittagong in East Bengal) of an abscess on the left lung

    PALEY, Joseph, 1083224, Lance-Bombardier
    27, from Leeds. Enlisted in 1940
    20/11/1942
    Maynamati War Cemetery
    494 Battery, 130 Fd. Regt.
    Died in India of Myocarditis


    1943

    KEEGAN, Christopher Charles, 949794, Gunner (Signaller)
    21, from Houghton-le-Spring, County Durham
    04/01/1943
    Rangoon Memorial
    E Troop, 494 Battery, 130 Fd. Regt.
    Killed in Action on 4th January, 1943
    Killed by British shellfire while on duty at 494 Battery’s Forward OP in support of 47 Brigade’s advance on Conical Hill, Mayu Peninsula, Arakan Province, Burma. An error led to rounds fired by 494 Battery dropping short and directly onto the Observation Post.

    PRICE, Albert John, 1119610, Gunner (Signaller)
    31, from Aberdare, Glamorgan. Enlisted in 1940
    04/01/1943
    Rangoon Memorial
    Battery HQ, 494 Battery, 130 Fd. Regt.
    Killed in Action on 4th January, 1943
    Same incident as Gunner Keegan.

    RUSSELL, Andrew, 916312, Bombardier
    22, from Ayr, Ayrshire. Enlisted in 1939
    04/01/1943
    Rangoon Memorial
    F Troop, 494 Battery, 130 Fd. Regt.
    Killed in Action on 4th January, 1943
    Same incident as Gunner Keegan.

    SINGFIELD, Ernest Alfred, 968251, Gunner (Signaller)
    26, from Brixton, London. Enlisted in 1939
    04/01/1943
    Rangoon Memorial
    Battery HQ, 494 Battery, 130 Fd. Regt.
    Killed in Action on 4th January, 1943
    Same incident as Gunner Keegan.

    WATSON, Alexander Gordon, 88292, Captain
    26, from Irvine, Ayrshire
    04/01/1943
    Rangoon Memorial
    Officer Commanding, E Troop, 494 Battery, 130 Fd. Regt.
    Killed in Action on 4th January, 1943
    Same incident as Gunner Keegan.

    BRECKENRIDGE, William, 87729, Major
    33, from Troon, Ayrshire
    05/01/1943
    Rangoon Memorial
    Officer Commanding, 494 Battery, 130 Fd. Regt.
    Died of Wounds on 5th January, 1943
    Same incident as Gunner Keegan.

    DAWKINS, Jack, 815478, Bombardier
    29, from St. Margarets, Leicester. Enlisted in 1930
    24/01/1943
    Rangoon Memorial
    130 Fd. Regt. (no further information)
    Died in Assam, India, of Malaria

    THOMAS, Francis Charles, 945730, Gunner (Signaller)
    24, from Streatham, London
    08/02/1943
    Taukkyan War Cemetery
    Battery HQ, 316 Battery, 130 Fd. Regt.
    Killed in Action on 8th February, 1943
    Killed by ‘sniping’ machine-gun fire while on line maintenance duty near Donbaik, Arakan Province, Burma.

    CHILDS, Stanley, 1074871, Gunner
    27, from Bethnal Green, London. Enlisted in 1940
    02/04/1943
    Rangoon Memorial
    B Troop, 315 Battery, 130 Fd. Regt.
    Killed in Action on 2nd April, 1943
    Initially reported ‘Missing believed Killed’ after failing to return from line maintenance duty near Indin, Arakan Province, Burma. A carrier patrol sent to search for Gunners Childs and Hall found no trace of them.

    HALL, Arthur, 1090403, Gunner
    31, from Preston, Lancashire. Enlisted in 1940
    02/04/1943
    Rangoon Memorial
    B Troop, 315 Battery, 130 Fd. Regt.
    Killed in Action on 2nd April, 1943
    Same incident as Gunner Childs.

    GRANT, Theodore Forbes, 1478432, Serjeant
    26, from Hyndland, Glasgow. Enlisted in 1938
    05/04/1943
    Rangoon Memorial
    130 Fd. Regt. (no further information)
    Killed in Action on or shortly after 5th April, 1943
    Grant was detached from the Regiment to the Cipher Section of 14th Indian Division Signals. He seems to have been listed as missing - later presumed Killed in Action during the chaotic fighting of 5th/6th April - while serving with the Brigade HQ of 47th Indian Infantry Brigade (see documents added by Skoyen89 in Post#16 below).

    LOWE, George Joseph, 1076726, Gunner
    27, from Grimthorpe near Barnsley, Yorkshire. Enlisted in 1940
    08/04/1943
    Rangoon Memorial
    F Troop, 494 Battery, 130 Fd. Regt.
    Killed in Action on 8th April, 1943
    Killed by a burst of machine-gun fire which penetrated the rear of the gun tractor in which he was travelling while on the road between Kyaukpandu and Gyindaw, Arakan Province, Burma.

    MONTGOMERIE, William, 914550, Bombardier
    28, from Saltcoats, Ayrshire. Enlisted in (or before) 1939
    08/04/1943
    Rangoon Memorial
    F Troop, 494 Battery, 130 Fd. Regt.
    Killed in Action on 8th April, 1943
    Killed by machine-gun fire near Gyindaw after giving up his place in an Armoured OP carrier to a soldier from 1st Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers picked up on the road; shot while sitting exposed on the vehicle.

    RALPH, Albert, 3709783, Corporal
    26, from Barrow-in-Furness, Lancashire
    08/04/1943
    Rangoon Memorial
    Royal Corps of Signals (11 Operating Section), attached to Signals Section, 130 Fd. Regt.
    Killed in Action on 8th April, 1943
    Corporal Ralph was posted as missing on 15th February 1942 while part of Fortress Signals at Singapore; he avoided Japanese captivity, leaving Tekong Island with an organised party of Royal Artillery personnel. While attached to 130 Field Regiment’s Signals Section, he was killed on 8th April by machine-gun fire while driving a signals truck on the road between Kyaukpandu and Gyindaw.

    SWIFT, Albert, 842725, Gunner
    27, from Chesterfield, Derbyshire. Enlisted in (or before) 1939
    10/04/1943
    Rangoon Memorial
    A Troop, 315 Battery, 130 Fd. Regt.
    Killed in Action on 10th April, 1943
    Died of wounds sustained during heavy enemy shellfire on 6 Brigade HQ and 315 Battery gun positions near Kyaukpandu.

    WAKELAM, James, 821355, Gunner
    30, from Wakefield, Yorkshire. Enlisted in (or before) 1939
    13/04/1943
    Rangoon Memorial
    F Troop, 494 Battery, 130 Fd. Regt.
    Killed in Action on 13th April, 1943
    Killed during an enemy counter-battery shoot on 494 Battery position near Gyindaw. Gunner Wakelam was layer for F Troop's No.1 gun, which suffered a direct hit under the shield from a Japanese shell.

    CLARK, James Sangster, 2343914, Lance-Corporal
    29, from Inverurie, Aberdeenshire
    15/04/1943
    Taukkyan War Cemetery
    Royal Corps of Signals, attached to Signals Section, 130 Fd. Regt.
    Died of Wounds on 15th April, 1943
    Seriously wounded by machine-gun fire on 8th April while travelling in the signals truck driven by Corporal Ralph on the road between Kyaukpandu and Gyindaw. Signalman P. Macintyre, the only unwounded passenger in the truck, was awarded the Military Medal for providing medical aid to L/Cpl Clark and another injured man while under fire.

    MACDONALD, Douglas, 947819, Gunner
    24, from Pontnewnydd, Monmouthshire
    01/05/1943
    Rangoon Memorial
    Regimental HQ, 130 Fd. Regt.
    Killed in Action on 1st May, 1943
    Killed by a bomb during a heavy Japanese air raid on the Daliapara district of Maungdaw, Burma, which hit the areas occupied by 494 Battery and the Light Aid Detachment. Gunner MacDonald was the driver of a truck undergoing repair by the LAD.

    TOZER, Frederick Eugene, 798621, Serjeant
    33, from Taunton, Somerset. Enlisted in (or before) 1939
    01/05/1943
    Taukkyan War Cemetery
    F Troop, 494 Battery, 130 Fd. Regt.
    Killed in Action on 1st May, 1943
    Killed by a bomb which fell on 494 Battery’s position during the same air raid on Maungdaw

    PALLETT, Benjamin, 973500, Gunner
    29, from Pontefract, Yorkshire
    01/05/1943
    Rangoon Memorial
    C Troop, 316 Battery, 130 Fd. Regt.
    Killed in Action on or shortly after 1st May, 1943
    Wounded at a Forward OP in the Mayu Hills. Initially reported ‘Missing believed Killed’.

    GENTRY, Cecil Jason, 7593961, Craftsman
    32, from Colchester, Essex
    02/05/1943
    Rangoon Memorial
    Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers, attached to Light Aid Detachment, 130 Fd. Regt.
    Died of Wounds on 2nd May, 1943
    Wounded by a bomb during the Japanese air raid on Maungdaw of 1st May.

    DAVIES, Edward John Raleigh, 65446, Captain
    28, from Port Talbot, Glamorgan
    03/05/1943
    Rangoon Memorial
    A Troop, 315 Battery, 130 Fd. Regt.
    Killed in Action on 3rd May, 1943
    Initially reported ‘Missing believed Killed’ after failing to return from a Forward OP in the Mayu Hills with 1st Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers.

    COOK, George, 903150, Bombardier (Gun Fitter)
    23, from Ardrossan, Ayrshire. Enlisted in (or before) 1939
    05/05/1943
    Rangoon Memorial
    B Troop, 315 Battery, 130 Fd. Regt.
    Died of Wounds on 5th May, 1943
    Wounded by a bomb during the Japanese air raid on Maungdaw of 1st May.

    DUNCAN, Robert, 734011, Gunner
    40, from Irvine, Ayrshire. Enlisted in (or before) 1939
    09/06/1943
    Delhi War Cemetery
    130 Fd. Regt. (no further information)
    Died in India of Thrombosis

    TAYLOR, William Alexander, 2335011, Signalman
    25, further details not known
    14/06/1943
    Maynamati War Cemetery
    Royal Corps of Signals (14 Indian Div. Signals), attached to Signals Section, 130 Fd. Regt.
    No information on cause of death

    GRADY, Martin, 935888, Gunner
    24, from Wheatley Hill, County Durham
    30/06/1943
    Maynamati War Cemetery
    130 Fd. Regt. (no further information)
    Died in Mynamati, Bengal of Meningitis

    PICKLES, Frank, 954501, Gunner
    23, from Normanton, Yorkshire
    11/07/1943
    Ranchi War Cemetery
    494 Battery, 130 Fd. Regt.
    Died in Ranchi, India of Malaria

    REDMOND, William, 920709, Gunner
    22, from Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. Enlisted in (or before) 1939
    30/07/1943
    Calcutta (BHOWANIPORE) Cemetery
    130 Fd. Regt. (no further information)
    Died in Calcutta, India of Enteric Fever

    WHYTE, John Douglas Hendrie, 896919, Serjeant
    30, from Ayr, Ayrshire. Enlisted in (or before) 1939
    30/09/1943
    Kirkee War Cemetery
    130 Fd. Regt. (no further information)
    Died at St. Sepulchre, Poona, India of an acute intestinal obstruction


    1944

    HALL, Bernard, 1090547, Gunner
    23, from Whaley Bridge, Lancashire
    07/02/1944
    Delhi War Cemetery
    130 Fd. Regt. (no further information)
    Died in Cawnpore, India of Kala-azar
    Kala-azar is a severe and often fatal parasitic disease, also known as black or Dumdum fever.

    CAMPBELL, James, 921011, Gunner
    23, from Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. Enlisted in (or before) 1939
    12/03/1944
    Taukkyan War Cemetery
    130 Fd. Regt. (no further information)
    Died at 23 ICCS, Burma, from Malaria
    23 ICCS was 23 Indian Casualty Clearing Station.

    SMITH, Joseph Cumming, 913915, Gunner
    23, from Ayr, Ayrshire. Enlisted in (or before) 1939
    20/04/1944
    Taukkyan War Cemetery
    130 Fd. Regt. (no further information)
    Died as the result of an accident in Arakan Province, Burma
    The Regiment was in action in the Arakan between February and May, but no record survives regarding the nature of this accident.

    CARMONT, Robert Carthon Patrick, 925570, Bombardier
    28, from Kirkcudbright, Kirkcudbrightshire. Enlisted in (or before) 1939
    15/08/1944
    Taukkyan War Cemetery
    494 Battery, 130 Fd. Regt.
    Died of Wounds on 15th August, 1944
    Killed by mortar fire at a Forward Observation Post near Thaikwagon while on attachment to the joint US/Chinese Corps Artillery Group.

    BARNES, Victor John, 945119, Gunner
    26, from St. John's Wood, London
    15/11/1944
    Rangoon Memorial
    130 Fd. Regt. (no further information)
    Killed in Action on or shortly after 15th November, 1944
    494 Battery was in action in the ‘Railway Corridor’ of North Burma around this date, supporting 29 Brigade, but there is no record in the War Diary about the death of Gunner Barnes.

    WILSON, John, 949838, Gunner
    27, from Durham, County Durham
    24/12/1944
    Digboi War Cemetery
    130 Fd. Regt. (no further information)
    Died in Burma of Typhus

    BARNES, William, 1082940, Gunner (Driver-Mechanic)
    29, from Penrith, Westmorland
    30/12/1944
    Brookwood Memorial/Rangoon Memorial
    316 Battery, 130 Fd. Regt.
    Killed in Action on 30th December, 1944
    Lost during a night crossing of the Irrawaddy River near Tigyaing when an improvised raft carrying two tons of the Regiment's 25-pounder ammunition capsized. Five men of 316 Battery fell into the river, three of whom drowned. Searches by boat, by patrols along the banks and by light aircraft found no trace of Gunner Barnes' body and he was initially posted as ‘Missing’, later amended to ‘Killed in Action’.
    Gunner Barnes’ commemoration on the Brookwood Memorial, rather than the Rangoon Memorial, may be an administrative oversight due to the nature of his death. See the note on Post#18 below for more information. This has been corrected by Chris Harley: see note on Post#25 below.

    FRANCIS, Geoffrey Jack, 918166, Lance-Serjeant
    25, from Ayr, Ayrshire. Enlisted in (or before) 1939
    30/12/1944
    Rangoon Memorial
    316 Battery, 130 Fd. Regt.
    Killed in Action on 30th December, 1944
    Same incident as Gunner Barnes.

    GLOVER, Glanville Llewellyn, 878155, Gunner
    22, from Cardigan, Pembrokeshire. Enlisted in (or before) 1939
    30/12/1944
    Rangoon Memorial
    316 Battery, 130 Fd. Regt.
    Killed in Action on 30th December, 1944
    Same incident as Gunner Barnes.


    1945

    SMITH, Harold Grandidge, 897603, Lance-Serjeant
    28, from Lewisham, London. Enlisted in (or before) 1939
    14/01/1945
    Rangoon Memorial
    315 Battery, 130 Fd. Regt.
    Killed in Action on 14th January, 1945
    Killed in an ambush on the Banwe to Daungbon road. Lance-Serjeant Smith was in charge of a jeep-borne line party of 315 Battery operating in support of 2nd Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers. He had previously been awarded the Military Medal for his actions at Donbaik and Kyaukpandu, Arakan Province, Burma, in March and April 1943, being commended for repeatedly repairing telephone lines while under direct mortar and shellfire.

    BRIGHT, Donald Harry, 6104475, Gunner
    22, from Bermondsey, London
    01/04/1945
    Taukkyan War Cemetery
    130 Fd. Regt. (no further information)
    Cause given as ‘Gun Shot Wounds (Head)’, place as ‘India’
    The Regiment was in Burma and on the move by road towards Mandalay on this date, though not in action. There is no record in the War Diary about the death of Gunner Bright.

    MILLAR, William Reid, 1096088, Gunner
    33, from Govan, Glasgow
    04/05/1945
    Taukkyan War Cemetery
    316 Battery, 130 Fd. Regt.
    Died of Wounds on 4th May, 1945
    Killed by shellfire during a counter-battery shoot by Japanese 105mm guns against 316 Battery positions near Nampandet.

    SCOTT, Archibald Black, 811325, Gunner
    34, from Ayr, Ayrshire. Enlisted in (or before) 1939
    05/05/1945
    Taukkyan War Cemetery
    316 Battery, 130 Fd. Regt.
    Died of Wounds on 5th May, 1945
    Seriously wounded by enemy shellfire on 316 Battery positions near Nampandet the previous day. Gunner Scott was the Regiment’s last casualty of the War: 316 Battery was withdrawn from action on the 9th to join the rest of the Regiment as it flew back to India to prepare for repatriation.
     
    Last edited: May 6, 2022
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  2. Guy Hudson

    Guy Hudson Looker-upper

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  3. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Hi PackRat,

    I don't have access to FMP, but over the years I have managed to find the odd 13th Kingsman who died before Chindit 1 back in India. Information was found in British India Office, Deaths and Burials:

    british-india-office-deaths-and-burials
     
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  4. PackRat

    PackRat Well-Known Member

    Those are incredible, Guy, thank you so much for posting them.

    What record do they come from? It would be hugely useful to my research to get those files for all of the chaps who died.

    Strangely Sjt Grant being killed in action isn't mentioned in either the War Diary or the CO's very detailed account of the First Arakan, which includes a list of all the men killed/missing during the campaign, so that's a major revelation. Gunner Bright dying in India of gunshot wounds to the head is a puzzle, as the regiment was in North Burma at the time (unless it's just a more detailed 'died of wounds' entry and he'd been evacuated to hospital in India).
     
  5. PackRat

    PackRat Well-Known Member

    Thanks Bamboo, I don't have access either (and can't stretch to it at the moment, unfortunately) but I might have to give the free trial a go at some point.
     
  6. Guy Hudson

    Guy Hudson Looker-upper

    PR,
    They are from the R.A. casualty cards on F.M.P.
    I can work down the list and forward details if it helps?
    Guy
     
  7. Guy Hudson

    Guy Hudson Looker-upper

    Screen Shot 2018-04-28 at 12.23.22.png
    Men of the 130th Field Regiment (from Irvine) snapped on a route march near Gailes wearing the "new battledress"
    DAILY RECORD Monday July 31st 1939
     
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  8. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    I'm sure one of our kind members might take a look for you PR. :)
     
    Last edited: Apr 28, 2018
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  9. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

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  10. PackRat

    PackRat Well-Known Member

    If it's not too much of an imposition that would be absolutely fantastic, thank you Guy. There are a few mysteries to be solved that those records would help enormously with.

    Great picture too! That's the only one I've seen of the regiment - the only pic of the unit I have at all I have is a tiny snap of my grandfather with a couple of (unknown) pals that was taken while they were on leave at Mussoorie in 1943, a couple of months after they escaped from the Arakan. Any scrap of information I can find on the 130th is precious.

    Muss43.jpg
     
  11. PackRat

    PackRat Well-Known Member

  12. PackRat

    PackRat Well-Known Member

    Original post edited with the finished Roll of Honour. Thanks again to Guy Hudson for all of his help with this.
     
  13. lionboxer

    lionboxer Member

    Well done for compiling this RoH. You can, if you have deep pockets, get more details about these men from their service records. I was able to find the exact cause of death of a man who had been wounded eight months earlier like this. Gunner Bright might be a suicide.
    Lionboxer
     
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  14. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Well done PR, for some valuable and quick work. Well done to Guy too.
     
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  15. Skoyen89

    Skoyen89 Senior Member

    Really great piece of research. Where is it best to lodge such work so it is preserved for future researchers?
     
  16. Skoyen89

    Skoyen89 Senior Member

    Have found out why there is no mention of Sgt Grant TF of 130 Field Regt in their War Diary. At the time he was Missing he was attached to 14 Indian Division Cipher Section and then attached to 47 Indian Brigade Signal Section. Hence he was away from his unit.
    There is a letter in the 'Missing Personnel' file for the Royal Signals which lists him incidentally and gives a clue as to what happened to him. They are attached.
     

    Attached Files:

  17. PackRat

    PackRat Well-Known Member

    Fantastic find! Thank you very much for making the connection and posting the documents, I would never have uncovered that. I have updated the Roll of Honour with the details.

    That has reminded me about some further information on the Tigyaing incident found in an RA Missing Personnel file and in a copy of Dekho! from the newly-available archive. Just on the off-chance that a relative finds this thread in the future, I'll post it below.
     
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  18. PackRat

    PackRat Well-Known Member

    1082940 William BARNES,
    918166 Geoffrey Jack FRANCIS,
    878155 Glanville Llewellyn GLOVER


    Between late December 1944 and early March 1945, 29th Infantry Brigade Group carried out an independent long-range flanking move in pursuit of a retreating Japanese rearguard. Cut off from its parent formation (36th Infantry Division, NCAC) by 50 miles of thick jungle and supplied solely by air, the brigade group made its crossing of the Irrawaddy River at Tigyaing. The 3,500 men of 29 Brigade Group, along with hundreds of tons of stores, vehicles and guns, were ferried across in a four day operation using locally-sourced canoes and several improvised pontoon rafts constructed by 236 Field Company, Royal Engineers.(I posted the tech plans of these rafts from the 236 Fd Coy diary in this thread: Booby traps and bridges - Stunning tech plans from 236 Fd Coy on the Rangoon Road)

    Late in the evening of December 30th the engineers finished building a new raft. It hove to at the Tigyaing jetty, was loaded with two tons of 25-pounder ammunition and set off on its maiden voyage for the far bank, crewed by six sappers from 236 Field Company, with five gunners of 316 Battery, 130 Assault Field Regiment aboard to help operate the bilge pumps. In the middle of the river the timber frame holding the outboard motors to the raft sheared off; within moments the native canoes supporting the deck were swamped and the raft capsized. Other craft were quickly on the scene to pull men from the water, but in the darkness three sappers and three gunners were unaccounted for.

    Several bodies were found downstream the next morning, including that of Lance-Serjeant Geoff Francis, but brief foot patrols along the banks and a sweep by an Air OP found no trace of Gunners William Barnes and Glanville Glover. After an enquiry, the three sappers and Francis, Barnes and Glover of 130 Field Regiment were all listed as Killed In Action.

    That all three men drowned that night is certain. What is less clear is whether Glover's body was ever recovered. The 'official' sources and witness statements point to Glover and Barnes both being missing:

    Enq1.jpg

    Enq2.jpg

    However, according to AR (Ron) Perry - interviewed in Dekho! (Issue No. 124, 1997) - he personally identified the bodies of both Francis and Glover, suggesting that Barnes was the only man of the six not found. This contradicts the official account, and some elements of his story are misremembered (it wasn't New Year's Eve, and three sappers drowned, not nineteen). But oddly, according to the CWGC, Barnes is commemorated on the Brookwood memorial, while both Francis and Glover are commemorated on the Rangoon Memorial.

    Perry.jpg

    A postscript: two weeks later, a party of sappers from 236 Fd Coy returned to the area to place a plaque in memory of their three lost comrades:

    236FdCoy.jpg
     
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  19. PackRat

    PackRat Well-Known Member

    "In memory of our comrades who gave their lives for peace"

    Images from Dekho! magazine showing the memorial commisioned by veterans of 130 Field Regiment:

    xDekho 199 - Plaque Unveiling.jpg

    The unveiling in the grounds of the Ex-Servicemens Club in Ayr in 1995, shortly before the 50th anniversary of VJ Day. (Issue No. 119, 1995)

    xDekho 124 - Irrawaddy Memorial & VJ Barnes B.jpg

    The son of Gunner Glover, lost during the Irrawaddy River crossing, laying a wreath with 130 Field veterans in 1997. Heather and a Burma Star rose have been planted in front of the memorial. (Issue No. 124, 1997)

    xDekho 168 - Plaque Close.jpg

    The plaque, shown to have been removed from its plinth and placed on an interior wall, after the club moved to new premises (Issue No. 168, 2011)
     
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  20. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Great to see this update PackRat. I have some photographs of Tigyaing from 2013. They might give you a feel for the place and the riverside location. Let me know if you would like them.

    Steve
     
    PackRat likes this.

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