2006257 Sapper Eric Reginald Uzzell, RE

I have recently started actively looking into my Grandfathers WWII history and have become fascinated in the information that I have got so far.

Like many Grandad kept his experiences to himself and unfortunatley passed away in 1993, giving very little information on his record of service. I personally served in the RAF and remember having a few hours, late one night in '90, where he asked how I was enjoying service life and then opened up on the high level basics of his 'war'. I remember him telling me that he was a medic and that after some time training in the UK, travelled to Africa and Sicily before coming back to UK and then was involved in the Normandy campaign going through to Holland and Rhine before becoming injured.

After making enquiries with my family (Mum and Uncles), I established that he kept a biscuit tin, which was found after clearing his house, and I now have that in my possession. It is amazing what we found in there, his service book, letters, a few photos and medals. The latter was even more revealing, among a small box of all the campaign medals was a bigger box with US Bronze Star and citation explaining his bravery (see Attached)

I now have his service records and I am trying to make sense of all the dates and acronyms. I can see that from May '42 he was posted to 233 Fld Coy and immediately embarked to Egypt. I would really appreciate some help in pointing out how best to find out more about his movements and am happy to share records and photos of memorabilia.

Mark Johnson

 

Hello and welcome to the forum Mark

Would you be able to post the service records on here please. There are members on here who can decipher the various acronyms for you.
Any photos would be most welcome too


Lesley

 

Mark,

You'll see (via Owen's link) that 233 Field Coy were with 50th Infantry Division in Egypt/Libya/Tunisia (including Alamein), Sicily and North West Europe.

50th Div have a well documented history and there is a thread currently going on about them..http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/50960-50th-infantry-division/?hl=%2B50th+%2Bnorthumberland+%2Bdivision#entry601000

Excellent citation for your granddad, Sapper Uzzell, there

best

 

Hello and welcome to the forum - Give me a shout if you want any of the war diaries copying, assuming you can not get there yourself.

Cheers
Andy

 

Welcome to the forum, Mark.

As alluded to in an earlier post, 233rd Field Coy, RE, were divisional troops of the 50th (Northumbrian) Division during your Grandad's service with them - and I am assuming here that he stayed with them from May 1942 until at least 30 November 1944.

They had begun WWII as divisional troops of the 23rd (Northumbrian) Division, which was the 50th (Northumbrian) Division's second-line or duplicate. Both saw service with the BEF.

Following service with the BEF, the 23rd (Northumbrian) Division was disbanded, with the:

- 69th Infantry Brigade (5th Bn East Yorkshire Regiment, and 6th and 7th Bns Green Howards), transferring to the 50th (Northumbrian) Division on 1 July 1940;
- 124th Field Regiment, RA (formed at Cowgate, Newcastle), transferring to the 50th (Northumbrian) Division on 22 June 1940; and
- 233rd Field Coy, RE (formed at Jarrow), transferring to the 50th (Northumbrian) Division on 23 June 1940.

The 233rd Field Coy, RE's war was thereafter probably most closely linked to that of the 69th Infantry Brigade.

Your Grandad joined 233rd Field Coy, RE, when 50 Div was manning part of the Gazala line defences.

His war would have involved, amongst other actions:

- Gazala battles, which saw the loss of the 69th Infantry Brigade's sister brigade 150th Infantry Brigade (4th Bn East Yorkshire Regiment, and 4th and 5th Bns Green Howards) and the 232nd Field Coy, RE, on the 1 June 1942, when they were overrun by the DAK;
- Gazala Gallup (mainly 14 to 16 June 1942), when the 8th Army retreated all the way back to the Alamein line, with 50 Div being the last to leave the Gazala line and it did so by attacking the enemy to the west before turning south and then south east around Bir Hacheim and then travelling to the Egyptian border;
- 2nd El Alamein (Operation Lightfoot, etc.)(23 October to 4 November 1942)- the famous victory;
- Mareth at Wadi Zigzaou (Operation Pugilist or Wadi ZigZag)(19 to 23 March 1943) - the 69th Infantry Brigade won a Victoria Cross here;
- Wadi Akarit (Gabes)(circa 5 April 1943) - the 69th Infantry Brigade won another Victoria Cross here;
- Sicily (Operation Husky)(10 July 1943) - assault landing from sea;
- Lentini and surrounds (up to circa 14 July 1943);
- D-Day (Operation Overlord) (6 June 1944) - assault landing from sea on Gold Beach - the 69th Infantry Brigade won another Victoria Cross here and the only one won on D-Day;
- Normandy (6 June to circa 16 August 1944);
- NW Europe - (17 August to 30 November 1944) - Gheel, Operation Market Garden and The Island); and
- Reduced to Training Cadre and returned home - from 1 December 1944.

He would have seen a lot of action, as 50 Div were the most battle hardened and experienced British Infantry division in WWII.

I have never seen or heard mention of any book specifically about the 233rd Field Coy, RE, and there are only snippets about it in other 50 Div books.

You may find the best avenue for finding precise details of where he was and what he was likely doing in the War Diaries - Andy's Message # 5 and Owen's Message # 3 refer.

I hope this assists with background and if you have any questions, just ask and I will try to help. Conversely, if there is any information that you could share that would improve my/the forum's knowledge, that would be gratefully received.

Best,

Steve.

 

Hello again, Mark,

I notice from the Bronze Star citation that it was awarded for his service on 23 March 1945, whilst with the 233rd Field Coy, RE. I had previously understood that the 233rd Field Coy, RE, had returned home as part of 50 Div HQ troops on circa 1 December 1944.

This begs the question "why was your Grandad still serving in NW Europe on 23 March 1945"; had he transferred to a different unit and the citation is incorrect in this respect, was he temporarily attached to a different unit, or is there something about the 233rd Field Coy, RE's, history that is incorrectly dealt with in all the books of reference I have?

Would it be possible for you to post his service history on this thread?

Best,

Steve.

 

Thanks for you posts so far everyone, the research is addictive and all of you comments and hints help a great deal. In my research the association to 50 Div seems quite clear cut but I agree with Steve Mac that after the push beyond Belgium/Op Market Garden the involvement of 233 Fld Coy RE is not so clear.

I have uploaded most of the service records I have, there is a A3 version of his TA record of service, which goes up to Nov 43 but that is not so easy to scan. Hopefully there are some entries in there which will make more sense to specialists/addicts/those in the know. I have also uploaded a copy of daily orders for 233 Fld Coy, which shows Eric returned to duty with them after injury/time out and as based deep in Germany by April 46 at Gross Hauslingen.

 

Hello Mark,

15 Aug 1940: Mustered No.9 BRRE (Derby)
01 Jan 1941: To Reception Coy (Derby)
20 Jan 1941: Appointed Acting Lance Corporal
07 Jun 1941: To No. 1 OT BRTC, RE (Derby)
13 Jun 1941: Posted 973 Inland Water Transport Workshops Coy, RE (Ormiston (?)); as a Sapper
10 Jul 1941: Posted 995 Port Maintenance Coy, RE (??????)
30 Apr 1942: To 16 Depot Battalion, RE (Woolmer (?))
22 May 1942: Embarked UK for ME
22 Jun 1942: Disembarked Egypt
07 Jul 1942: Posted 233 Field Coy, RE
01 Oct 1942: Reclassed as Pioneer EII
30 Jan 1943: Reclassed as Pioneer IID
29 Jun 1943: Moved to unknown destination – this is immediately prior to Operation Husky (Sicily)
29 Aug 1943: Struck Off Strength MEF to BNAF – it looks like he may have stopped off in French North Africa on the way home from Sicily
19 Oct 1943: Struck Off Strength BNAF and embarked for UK
08 Nov 1943: Disembark UK – may be based in Cambridge
02 Jun 1944: Embarked UK for NW Europe
06 Jun 1944: Disembarked NW Europe
27 Aug 1944: Daughter beryl born at Hull
24 Mar 1945: Wounded
12 Apr 1945: Discharged to 39 RHU
21 May 1945: To 53 RHU
12 Jun 1945: To 233 Field Coy, RE
06 Dec 1945: Appointed Acting Lance Corporal
05 Feb 1946: Son Derek born at Hull
20 May 1946: Passed A1 at medical examination
25 Sep 1946: To Reserve List.

Your Grandad missed the Gazala battles and the Gazala gallop, but he was overseas for all the other actions (and more besides) mentioned at Message # 6.

What I have found fascinating about the documents you posted and refers back to my note at Message # 7 is this…

1. Your Grandad served with 233rd Field Coy after 30 November 1944 and until well after VE day, in NW Europe. This is contrary to all I have read before, which saw this unit returned to the UK in December 1944.
2. The Daily Order of 26 April 1946 states: “Discipline … As there seems to be some doubt in this matter, it is made quite clear now that no other Divisional Sign other than the TT may be worn in this Coy…”

So, this may mean that by dint of the ‘TT’ formation badge reference that 50 Div still had a unit or units operating in NW Europe after 30 November 1944. If this is the case, the history books will need amending.

Please let me know by PM if you have decided to acquire the War Diaries for 233rd Field Coy, for the period 7 July 1942 to 25 September 1946.

Many thanks for posting. Hope this helps…

Best,

Steve.

 

Steve,

Thanks for extracting the information from the service records, that will give me more research to do.

I have seen (albeit on Wikipedia) that during Op Veritable, XXX Corps, with 50th Div pop up under the 1st Canadian Army order of battle (Jan- Mar 45), I am assuming that 233rd Fld Coy may have either continued with 1st Canadian, when they met up with US 9th Army in Mar 45 and the push across the Rhine on 20th of March may tie in with the Bronze Star Citation date?

I missed the reference to the TT insignia, but this indeed firmly suggests that 233rd Fld Coy were still part of 50th Div in '46 and cemented in the centre of BAOR.

How do I go about acquiring the War Diaries, is it an easy and costly process? I guess that is the only place that I will be able to get first hand accounts on location and duties of the 233rd Fld Coy.

Thanks again for helping so far, it is quite addictive this historical research.

 

Hello Mark,

Fascinating find this and I guess the War Diaries will confirm what the 233rd Field Coy, RE, were up to after the 30 November 1944.

You are right to be cautious about accepting at face value what you find on Wikipedia. I found reference to the fact that the whole of 50 Div took part in The Battle of the Bulge via the Orbat in this article; link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Bulge_order_of_battle - we both know that to be wrong!

You were made an offer of a War Diary copying service by Andy at Message # 5, the clue is in the footer: "Click here if you require War Diaries or Files from the National Archives" :biggrin:

I have always found the price reasonable and the service good. I will send you a PM shortly...

Best,

Steve.

 

Hi Mark
I only just saw your post but I can say that my Dad served with 233 Field Coy as a platoon Sgt. and, in his notes written in the 90s, he mentioned your grandfather as a medical orderly who dressed a desert sore on his foot, when they were in North Africa. I've been collating Dad's memoirs over the years since his death in 1999 and have used his notes and sketches to guide a series of trips to trace his footsteps through UK, Sicily, France, Belgium and Holland. (I was advised to give the places I wanted to visit in North Africa a miss!). Dad's notes enabled me to meet two civilians, then still living in Sicily and Belgium, who actually remembered meeting him in '43 and '44. These memoirs will be published by Pen and Sword later this year, or possibly early next year, under the title: Bombs, Mines, Bullets and Bridges.
mike.moss@dal.ca