Hi there! Can anyone help me with some research I'm doing about my late Father? He was a tank driver with 147 Regiment RAC at the time of the Normandy offensive, helpfully he wrote down in a notebook the places he went through and I have photos. What I am struggling with though is there is no mention of where in the UK he left from and, perhaps more pertinently, which beach he would have landed on in France. Any help anyone could give would be gratefully received. Many thanks Ian
Hi Ian, Welcome to the site. I have a list of nearly 70 147 RAC Churchill tanks, the type your Father would have driven, from 1943 to 1945. In the list may even be to one your Father drove. Amongst the photos you have are there any names shown on the tanks or census numbers visible. Do you know which Squadron your Father was in? cheers Kevin
Answers will be in the unit war dairy at Kew. Here's their ref numbers. WO 171/879 147 Regiment Royal Armoured Corps 1944 Jan.- Dec. WO 171/4721 147 Regiment Royal Armoured Corps 1945 Jan.- Oct.
A bit of educated guesswork in the absence of the war diaries: 107 Regt RAC - who were in 34 Armoured Brigade with 147 RAC - landed at Courseulles (JUNO), with the Brigade concentrating at Cully by 3 July 1944. Embarkation was in the Portsmouth area.
Thanks for the help folks. Certainly Cully was listed in his diary. The first place mentioned was Fontaine Henry. I have worked out he was 147th by cross referencing his diary entries with events recorded in the excellent History of the 34th Armoured Brigade but unsure of sqdrn.He wrote a list of people killed and the ones I have checked so far seem to be B Squadron but that is not proof my dad was in it. Kevin. The photos I have are very small and poor quality but they do contain pictures of the tanks in some shots and the names of the soldiers in the line up. Also I have some (very small!) photos of tanks when he was stationed in Belsen in 1946 after he TX units.
Hi guys, Further to my earlier post, I have been looking at some photos on line of Courselles where it seems my dad probably landed and it was quite emotional to suddenly realise that in October of this year I had sat at the beach at that exact spt with my family eating ice creams! Kevin T - I have studied my dad's photos closer and there is a Comet No 335191, a Chaffee T330461 There are other tanks such as Panters and Churchill but no numbers visible. Also some tanks on transporters being taken somewhere in deep snow, plus some unidentifiable Staghounds, Dingos and some my dad has listed as Elephants but they look different to library photos of Elephants I have compared them too. Ian
Ian, Any chance of a scan or photo of the 'Elephants', please, to see if we can identify them? There was a bit of a mystery some time ago which you might be able to help us solve: A white elephant & a shelldrake & a party - Elephant can't be a Staghound if your dad knew they were different. God, I remember some rubbish!
They are small photos Idler (I seem to remember 110 size?) but I will see if Mrs Stag can work some magic on them and I will certainly try to help. Might take a few days Ian
No rush - it's not like anyone's worried about it for two years! Apart from me, that is; maybe I'll finally sleep tonight... Cheers, Andrew
Hi Ian, Please post all the photos. As Idler say it will be interesting to see what exactly "Elephants" are. I don't have either of the census numbers listed that you mention, the Comet and Chaffee must be later in the war as far as I know the Comets didn't see action until late '44 and the Chaffees until 1945 and these were issued to Recce units such as 8th Kings Royal Irish Hussars But I am sure someone will correct me on units and dates. cheers Kevin
Please post everything you have, I've been working extensively on 147 RAC so this would be of great interest. In Normandy they were part of 34 Tank Brigade... same mob but prior to the name change in preparation for a universal tank.
Hi Guys I am going to get the wife to do some work on the photos as they are very small and 70 years old so we will try and get them a bit clearer but then it will be a pleasure to post them. Kevin, what you say about late in the war ties in as these photos were mainly taken at Belsen in july 1946 Ian
Hi folks Just to let you know I have not forgotten about the photos. Got to wait until the Mrs can try and improve them and got to fit that around all her other stuff! Cheers Ian
Hi Swiper The work you have been doing on 147 Reg RAC. Has it been published anywhere? I would love to read it. Cheers Ian
Its not out yet, looking like a good whack out next year (2015) and a standalone project should follow by 2017. Hence I'm always after any additional material to help me and flesh out the work and help with a fair few questions!
I'm looking forward to that already Swiper. I will get the photos posted ASAP but I also have some "personal" ones of my dad and his mates in his crew. if I can help in any way please ask and I would be honoured to try and help I have now been able to establish he was in B Sqd 147 Regiment until hit transfer to 107 Reg on 11th April 1945. Ian
