1596196, number service of a SAS soldier of Operation Bulbasket ?

Discussion in 'Special Forces' started by PiRO03, Dec 17, 2022.

  1. PiRO03

    PiRO03 Member

    I found a 1937 British canteen model with a serial number on it. The gourd is an attic find of the department of Vienne in the paratroopers sector of the 1st SAS, in June 1944. And the gourd was with a word "she had to travel S.A.S Vienne".
    But it is impossible for me to know to whom this number belongs.
    If someone has an idea.
    The service number is 1596196
     
  2. davidbfpo

    davidbfpo Patron Patron

    Welcome aboard,

    That Service Number does not appear here.

    There are many threads on Operation Bulbasket id'd by the search function. They should give you the context, even some clues! SEE: http://ww2talk.com/index.php?search/18454539/&q=bulbasket&o=relevance

    On my glance at the threads some of 1 SAS were executed, so checked the CWGC website the number does not appear there.

    This passage intrigued me, could it be a clue? Likewise some of the names listed do not have service numbers and did survive the war:
    From: Operation Bulbasket | British Resistance Archive (staybehinds.com)

    Others hopefully can help!
     
    Last edited: Dec 17, 2022
  3. gmyles

    gmyles Senior Member

    Found in RA attestations on FMP

    upload_2022-12-17_19-19-19.png

    Hope this helps

    Gus
     
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  4. davidbfpo

    davidbfpo Patron Patron

    Nothing immediately found online for that name and the other spelling Gasoigne.
     
  5. PiRO03

    PiRO03 Member

    Thanks, this soldier Gascoine what was his unit and would he have a connection with all this?
    I managed to find the name of all the SAS in Operation Bulbasket and it doesn't appear there.
     
  6. davidbfpo

    davidbfpo Patron Patron

    PiR03,

    Would you be able to produce a list of the SAS involved please? Or point to where you found the information.

    Secondly, as the link I used refers to:
    Could Gascoine be one of the non-SAS? Even if he originally attested to the Royal Artillery.

    That area of France after D-Day was mainly a US Army operational area, although I would not exclude him or others going to the area, e.g. a war crimes investigation after VE-Day.

    The definitive answer would come from applying for his service record, which can take time and even more so if the file is no longer with the Army (another thread refers).
     
  7. PiRO03

    PiRO03 Member

    The men who were repatriated are :

    Capt Tonkin John : 200156

    Lt Morris H

    Lt Weaver Peter : West Dorset

    Sgt Holmes J

    Cpl Rideout G : 5726090

    Cpl Smith S

    Brown

    Cummings Thomas : Royal Scots

    Fielding lewis John

    Keeble L

    MacNair A

    Smith R

    Smith W

    Biffin : prisonner

    SAS "Phantoms"
    Cpt Sadoine John

    Armitage E

    Plumb W

    Bell J

    Cpl Stephenson D

    Surrey-Dane David

    O’Neil A

    And all those who were executed are on the CWGC site.








    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Dec 18, 2022
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  8. Tullybrone

    Tullybrone Senior Member

    Doesn’t the last section of his attestation register entry suggest he was discharged from the army 12.12.40?

    I’m not sure of the KR section quoted but I think forum member AB64 has access to a copy of KR’s so he may be able to assist.

    If my reading is correct and he left the army then he was unlikely to be serving in summer 1944?

    Steve
     
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  9. AB64

    AB64 Senior Member

    Its "Ceasing to fulfil physical requirements" it wouldn't be impossible for him to get back in at a later date, but I'd expect it to be something at the lower physical fitness end of the scale than the SAS

    Could you post some images please?
     
  10. travers1940

    travers1940 Well-Known Member

    His discharge from the RA is under this paragraph:

    A soldier who has been found physically unfit by a medical board is discharged from Army service under King's Regulations, 1940, paragraph 390 (xvi) as "ceasing to fulfil Army physical requirements."
    https://hansard.millbanksystems.com/w.../30/discharges

    I can understand a soldier discharged as unfit then joining the Home Guard under which Auxiliary units were badged, but also wonder how he was then deemed fit enough to be selected for service in France in 1944. A special skill perhaps such as being good with explosives ?

    There is an Edward Gascoine of a suitable age on ancestry public member trees so I've sent messages to see if the tree creators know any thing about his war service. He was born in Nottingham in 1912 & in 1939 was a married hospital porter. His mother was French.

    Travers
     
    Last edited: Dec 18, 2022
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  11. AB64

    AB64 Senior Member

    Also worth remembering that if Gascoine was discharged in 1940 all his kit would have been handed back to the QM and his water bottle cradle could have gone to another soldier
     
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  12. PiRO03

    PiRO03 Member

    Maybe it's not impossible because the number seems to have been crossed out as for another use.
    The canteen may have returned to France with another English soldier ?
     
  13. travers1940

    travers1940 Well-Known Member

    No replies yet from any of the family tree owners I contacted, but not all subscribers have the auto advice of messages switched on so when current festivities are over.........

    Travers
     

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