24th Lancers - Roll of Honour

Discussion in 'RAC & RTR' started by Ramiles, Jan 10, 2016.

  1. Ramiles

    Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY

    And similarly...

    Re. Lieutenant K. Gordon

    He appears on p34 of "None Had Lances" - as an officer in "B" Squadron of the 24th Lancers in January 1943.

    I don't think however that he is referenced as having been with the 24th Lancers just prior to D-Day, or subsequently thereafter appears on the 24th Lancers Nominal roll at disbandment (August'44), neither does there seem to be a reference to him that I can currently see in the published transcript of the War Diary of the 24th Lancers.

    Presumably therefore he transferred out of the 24th Lancers just prior to D-Day and perhaps subsequently joined another Regiment.
     
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  2. Ramiles

    Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY

    Re. Trooper Tommy F. Bowness - 7962887

    "A" Squadron of the 24th Lancers.

    He is listed on the Pre-D-Day Nominal roll as a Gunner/mechanic, however he appears on p79 of NHL as the driver of Lt.Wadsworth's tank "Armageddon" - 1st Troop of "A" Squadron of the 24th Lancers.

    IMG_20211218_221634.jpg

    Transferred to the 44 RTR on the disbandment of the 24th Lancers.
     
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  3. Ramiles

    Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY

    Re. Corporal / Lance Sergeant W. ( Walter? / Wally ) Worsley - 405666

    By "trade" a Driver/wireless operator in "A" Squadron of the 24th Lancers.

    Commander of the 3rd tank in the 1st Troop of "A" Squadron of the 24th Lancers.

    Posted to the 44 RTR at the disbandment of the 24th Lancers.

    There's a brief bit more here about a "Wally Worsley" (possibly "him")...

    A History of the 44th Royal Tank Regiment in the War of 1939-45

    FB_IMG_1640117760857.jpg
     
    Last edited: Dec 22, 2021
  4. Ramiles

    Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY

    Re. Lieutenant Richard Anthony BAKER (292178).

    London gazette...

    Notices | All Notices | The Gazette...

    SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, 28 SEPTEMBER, 1943 p4298...
    ROYAL ARMOURED CORPS. 22nd August 1943:- Richard Anthony BAKER (292178).

    Posted on the disbandment of the 24th Lancers to 44 RTR.

    There is a mention of a Lieutenant Baker being wounded with the 44 RTR here... (p156)

    A History of the 44th Royal Tank Regiment in the War of 1939-45 ...

    Additionally - reported "Missing" - 7d9m1944...

    20211222_173440.jpg
     
    Last edited: Sep 28, 2022
  5. harkness

    harkness Well-Known Member

    7941844 A/Cpl N. Blair
    24L att 270 FDS
    A Norman Blair is listed in HQ Sqr, 23rd Hussars - address: 7 Victoria Terrace, Coleraine.

    Name: Norman Blair
    Birth Date: 11 Jul 1922
    Death Date: 18 Apr 1991
    Cemetery: Coleraine Cemetery, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland

    Blair_N_grave_Coleraine.jpg
     
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  6. Ramiles

    Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY

    Re. Trooper C.T. Johnson - 7922968

    Prior to D-Day he was shown as "HQ" Squadron but with no specified trade.

    He does not seem to appear in the list of wounded or kia so perhaps he left the 24th Lancers prior to D-Day.

    And...

    Re. Trooper L.F. Johnson - 7919807

    Prior to D-Day he was shown as "B" Squadron but with no specified trade.

    He does not seem to appear in the list of wounded or kia so perhaps he left the 24th Lancers prior to D-Day.

    I haven't found much else about the two above otherwise, but perhaps the names and service number via Google will lead to some new clues one day.

    Also...

    Re. Trooper H.R. Johnston - 14426683

    He does not seem to appear in the Pre-D-Day roll.

    So he possibly joined the 24th Lancers just prior to D-Day or in Normandy.

    He was apparently transferred to 1 RTR on the disbandment of the 24th Lancers.

    However as from there the trail grows cold... ;-)
     
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  7. Ramiles

    Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY

    Re. Trooper Sydney (Syd) Percival Hearnah - 14409041

    Gunner / mechanic in "B" Squadron of the 24th Lancers.

    Kia - 8d6m1944

    Trooper Sydney Percival Hearnah | War Casualty Details | CWGC
    HEARNAH, SYDNEY PERCIVAL
    Rank: Trooper
    Service No: 14409041
    Date of Death: 08/06/1944
    Age: 35
    Regiment/Service: Royal Armoured Corps, 24th Lancers
    Panel Reference: Panel 8, Column 2.
    Memorial: BAYEUX MEMORIAL
    Additional Information: Son of Percival J. and Blanche Hearnah; husband of Phyllis Ada Ann Hearnah, of Thornton Heath, Surrey.

    And...

    Register of leavers from the Metropolitan Police, as follows: Robert Frederick Wells,... | The National Archives

    Has...

    Sydney Percival Hearnah, warrant number 120793. Joined on 9 Feb 1931, and left on 8 June 1944. Last posted to Z Division as a PC.

    And a previous reference (August 2012) :
     
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2022
  8. Ramiles

    Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY

    Re. Trooper Wilfred John Gillman - 7894274

    Driver/wireless operator in "B" Squadron of the 24th Lancers.

    Kia - 8d6m1944

    https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2627470/GILLMAN, WILFRED JOHN/
    CORPORAL WILFRED JOHN GILLMAN
    Service Number: 7894274
    Regiment & Unit/Ship: Royal Armoured Corps. 'B' Sqn. 24th Lancers.
    Date of Death: Died 08 June 1944
    Age 24 years old
    Buried or commemorated at BAYEUX MEMORIAL. Panel 8, Column 2. France
    Country of Service: United Kingdom
    Additional Info: Son of Wilfred Charles and Laurie Villar Gillman; nephew of B. B. Gillman, of Cirencester, Gloucestershire.


    And - War Memorial - Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England

    Has...

    FB_IMG_1642460085490.jpg
     
  9. Ramiles

    Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY

    Re. William Robert Ashley BIRCH REYNARDSON (304668).

    24th L - War Diary -
    18/1/44 2/Lts Birch-Reynardson and Lyle arrived to join the Regiment.
    &...
    11/2/44 2/Lts Cassidy H.J.A, Chambers M.R, and Lyle R.J. all awaiting posting to the Queens Bays were posted from the Regiment to the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards. 2/Lt. Birch-Reynardson, WRA, 9L, was posted to the 54th Training Regiment, RAC.


    London Gazette...
    Notices | All Notices | The Gazette...
    SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, 11th FEBRUARY, 1944 p731 has...
    14523647 William Robert Ashley BIRCH REYNARDSON (304668).

    Article in the Daily Mail...

    Although the specific period when Bill Birch Reynardson was in the 24th Lancers - at the start of 1944 - is unfortunately not mentioned there.

    There is a photo of him in his uniform.

    A very innocent love affair: Wartime letters that revealed a side of Mark Palmer's mother he had never seen before | Daily Mail Online

    With...

    Bill, too, enjoyed an immensely happy marriage with his wife, Nik, who died in 1997. Which is probably why my mother kept his letters. There was nothing uncomfortable to hide, whereas my father's letters were for her eyes only.
    Bill BR and my mother merely 'walked out' - as she would have described it - for five years between 1943 and 1948. During that time, my mother wrote to Bill almost once a week (all her letters to him on the Front were burnt when Bill's tank caught fire during the war) and she received in return 242 letters (sorted into bundles of ten).
    A great number have now made it into print in a book called Letters To Lorna. They are not laden with salacious gossip or laced with sexual intrigue - and may not have great literary merit. Yet they do possess a fascination all of their own.
    Hardly anyone writes letters any more - not long, handwritten letters full of news, hopes, fears. But during the war they were a lifeline between soldiers and their loved-ones back home.
    Those born between the wars will recognise the language as that spoken by the upper classes of the day, with unpolitically correct expressions leaping off the page.

    William Birch-Reynardson wrote regularly to Lorna and was never forgotten

    Younger readers will discover that the expression 'stiff upper lip' could not have been better coined to describe the modus operandi of the Forties.
    But these letters reveal more than that. My parents' generation grew up with an entirely different set of uncertainties to those faced by the young today, and reading Bill's letters has helped me appreciate that generation's stoicism, their sense of duty, their courage.
    Bill and Lorna both came from privileged backgrounds. My mother grew up in a large house called Manderston in the Scottish Borders, complete with butler, chauffeur and kitchen staff; while Bill went to Eton and would later inherit an estate, Adwell, in Oxfordshire.
    But then the war began and Bill was called up, aged just 19. In April 1942, he was sent to the Royal Norfolk Regiment in Norwich before moving to Sandhurst (where he won the Belt of Honour) and then on to Algiers to join the 9th Lancers.
    He met my mother while she was doing a typing course in Oxford. Shortly afterwards, she invited him to stay at Manderston, where Bill would have been introduced to my formidable grandmother, something he seemed to take in his stride - according to his first letter, written once he had returned to London.

    'I did love seeing your mother - and I feel that I know her already! Give her my love, please. After I left you, I wandered along and caught the Underground for Hendon, feeling sick. I was so vilely depressed. But then I remembered how lucky I had been and how I loved you - all was well.'
    Bill, who is still alive and now in his 80s, loved music (he only recently gave up being chairman of Garsington Opera) and was a great deal better-read than my mother. He also had a strong Christian faith.
    'I have been thinking about this queer world,' he wrote in an early letter about the war. 'We are all striving at the moment to kill and destroy. That is our job. Pretty ghastly isn't it?
    'How amazingly easily we humans can adapt ourselves. Now we do not hear how many men were killed on a raid - but rather how many aeroplanes were shot down. For we are fighting against machines. And God is with us all.'
    While Bill was training to be a soldier, Lorna joined FANY (First Aid Nursing Yeomanry, also known as The Princess Royal's Volunteer Corps), prompting Bill to write: 'You will find things in your new life that you will hate and despise - you will see and hear things that you would not have believed, but remember that God is with you and be brave.'
    Bill and his fellow officersinwaiting clearly had the worst and best of times. In summer 1943, when training in Wales, they slept in two inches of water and were allowed only three hours sleep.
    But then, four months later, he wrote saying: 'I was just getting up on Thursday morning when a message came through that John Althorp [who became Earl Spencer, father of Diana, Princess of Wales] and I were to report back to the adjutant at Camberley.
    'We were in a great quandary as to know what on earth was going on - but it turned out that we had been asked to the dance at Windsor Castle on Friday night. It was really the greatest fun - and the Queen and the princesses were most charming and natural. We danced all night and arrived back here at 5am - only to rise once more at 6.30!'
    Shortly before Bill was posted abroad, my mother's older brother, Douglas Bailie, was killed while fighting with the Scots Guards in Italy.
    He had been an outstanding athlete at Eton and had been President of Pop, the school's self-elected prefects' society. His younger sister, Eleanor, my aunt, remembers the day her parents were informed of his death. The butler walked into the drawing room carrying a telegram from the Ministry of Defence on a silver salver.
    My grandfather opened it in front of my grandmother and said: 'Douglas has been killed.'
    And from that moment on, he never spoke of his death to her again.

    Lorna received over 240 letters from her beau during the war years and after

    Bill had been at school with Douglas. 'Through my love for you,' he wrote to my mother, 'I feel that someone has gone from me. But, in our prayers tonight, Our Lord will help make us strong and brave.
    Doug's death is not the end, for you will always remember the lovely things he did and thought.'
    Bill was 'excited' and 'frightened' when he arrived in Algiers in April 1944.
    'It makes me realise how much I love England - her beauty is so quiet and modest - and Africa hasn't the smell of hay and winding lanes and the little cottages nooked in some age-old bank, and the talk, oh the quiet contented gossip as the sun goes down. Yes, England wins.
    'How much I want her back and you as well. Oh, darling, it seems so odd to think of not coming back. Yet we both have the feeling that I will be all right. If we thought otherwise it would be negative and destructive. Therefore you cannot prepare for my dying - all will be well, all will be well!'

    article-0-0445B86C000005DC-600_233x423.jpg

    Bill Birch Reynardson - Wikipedia

    Obituary
    Bill Birch Reynardson 1923 - 2017
    Although unfortunately no mention of the 1940's.

    And
    Bill Birch Reynardson | Register | The Times
     
  10. Ramiles

    Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY

    Re. Robert John LYLE (304715) -

    24th L - War Diary -
    Bridlington
    18/1/44 2/Lts Birch-Reynardson and Lyle arrived to join the Regiment.

    London Gazette...
    Notices | All Notices | The Gazette...

    A ref. on his father - also named Robert Lyle.
    Robert Charles Lyle · British Universities Film & Video Council
    Robert Lyle became a reporter on the Daily Express in 1909, and afterwards worked on a number of London papers, including the Observer and the Pall Mall Gazette. After the outbreak of war in 1914 he joined the Royal Army Service Corps, and from 1916 to 1918 was attached to the headquarters staff of the 3rd Cavalry Division, being awarded the MC and bar. In 1919 Captain Lyle returned to journalism as Sporting Editor of the Times, and in 1921 he also became the paper’s Racing Correspondent. Lyle was also employed by the BBC, commentating on major horse races including the Derby, Grand National, and St. Leger. British Movietone News used Lyle in a similar capacity, his first assignment being ‘THE GRAND NATIONAL’ in No.304 in April 1935. Lyle was featured strongly in this item, being shown commentating and being credited as ‘Captain R.C. Lyle, B.B.C. Commentator and ‘Times’ Racing Correspondent.' As with Ward Price [qv], Tom Webster [qv], Eric Dunstan [qv], and Malcolm Campbell [qv], Lyle’s appointment was part of the attempt to give the British Movietone News what its producer, Gerald Sanger [qv], called ‘star value.' He was also engaged for ‘THE DERBY’ in British Movietone News No.313A in June 1935, but does not seem to have been used again after this. On the outbreak of war in 1939 Lyle became a war correspondent for the Times.
    Sources
    W.A. Pullan ‘Unseen stars of the news reel,' Picturegoer, 19/10/1935, p.24: Who’s Who 1897-1996 CD-ROM.

    The picture below is from "The Illustrated London News" - dated 9th October 1943. (So his father's date of death - 27th September 1943).

    FB_IMG_1642493208330.jpg
     
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2022
  11. Ramiles

    Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY

    Re. Trooper L. (Lewis) C. (Cuthbert) Jones - 7941217

    Formerly a Sergeant in the Home Guard.

    Served in "A" Squadron of the 24th Lancers.

    An unposted reinforcement attached (As Jones, L.) to 256 ADS on the disbandment of the 24th Lancers.
     
  12. Ramiles

    Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY

    Re. Trooper G. Shaddick - 14287429

    Driver/wireless operator in "HQ" Squadron of the 24th Lancers.

    He landed with Captain David Turquand and Sergeant Woodmansee on D-Day in a scout car, which is mentioned on page 75 of NHL.

    An unposted reinforcement attached to 270 FDS on the disbandment of the 24th Lancers.

    See... 270 FWD DEL SQN R.A.C

    Shaddick Name Meaning & Shaddick Family History at Ancestry.co.uk®

    Has...

    In 1891 there were 104 Shaddick families living in Devon. This was about 37% of all the recorded Shaddick's in the UK. Devon had the highest population of Shaddick families in 1891.
     
  13. Ramiles

    Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY

    O.R.Q.M.S. / SQMS Barber (unfortunately no first name initials given) - although O.R.Q.M.S - Barber, H - 317704 is possible.

    He is mentioned on a couple of pages of "None Had Lances" - p7 and p24.

    24th Lancers' Orderly Room Quartermaster Sergeant.

    He played "First Violin" during the early 24th Lancers' concerts.

    FB_IMG_1643226559391.jpg

    Sergeant Barber - Presumably left the 24th Lancers prior to D-Day.

    He does not appear on the 24th Lancers pre-D-Day roll, or on the Nominal Roll at the disbandment of the 24th Lancers.

    ----- x ---- x -----

    Regimental-Histories_1936-1945 Bright_399.jpg - 9th/12th Royal Lancers Museum

    Has...

    O.R.Q.M.S - Barber, H - 317704
    Hence a former 9th Lancer - which matches the ref. on p7 of NHL.

    London Gazette... (Has nothing - currently - showing Barber, H - 317704 - not atypical - if there were no awards or subsequent officer promotion)
    Notices | All Notices | The Gazette...
     
    Last edited: Jan 27, 2022
  14. Ramiles

    Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY

  15. Ramiles

    Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY

    Re. TROOPER HAROLD THOMAS BRIGHT

    Trooper Harold Thomas Bright | War Casualty Details | CWGC

    Service Number: 7927878

    Regiment : Royal Armoured Corps, 24th Lancers

    Date of Death : Died 08 November 1947
    Age 34 years old

    Buried or commemorated at CITY OF LONDON CEMETERY AND CREMATORIUM, MANOR PARK. Square 100. Grave 114334. United Kingdom

    Country of Service : United Kingdom

    Additional Info : Son of William Joseph and Delia E. N. Bright, of Loughton; husband of Marie Ernestine Bright, of Ilford.

    Personal Inscription : TO LIVE IN HEARTS WE LEAVE BEHIND IS NOT TO DIE

    ----- x ---- x -----

    City Of London Cemetery And Crematorium, Manor Park | Cemetery Details | CWGC

    HISTORY INFORMATION
    Many of the soldiers buried here died in Bethnal Green Military Hospital. The Screen Wall at the back of the War Graves Plot commemorates by name those buried in the plot or in graves elsewhere in the cemetery which could not be marked by headstones and those who were cremated in the City of London Crematorium.


     
    Last edited: Feb 1, 2022
  16. Ramiles

    Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY

    Re. Corporal/Acting Sergeant Leslie E. Bamford, M.M. - 7887813

    Military Medal with 7th RTR awarded October 1941 (for actions on 15th June 1941)

    Transferred thereafter at some point to the 24th Lancers.

    Driver/mechanic - "B" Squadron - 24th Lancers

    From prior to D-Day the commander of the 3rd tank in the 4th Troop of "B" Squadron of the 24th Lancers.

    Transferred to the 2nd F&F when the 24th Lancers was disbanded.

    Wounded as a Sergeant with the 2nd Fife and Forfar Yeomanry - 21d8m1944.

    ----- x ---- x -----

    Recommendation for Award for Bamford, Leslie Rank: Corporal Service No: ... | The National Archives
    Reference: WO 373/18/327
    Description:
    Name Bamford, Leslie
    Rank: Corporal
    Service No: 7887813
    Regiment: 7 Royal Tanks Regiment
    Theatre of Combat or Operation: Middle East (Egypt and Libya)
    Award: Military Medal
    Date of announcement in London Gazette: 21 October 1941
     
    Last edited: Feb 2, 2022
  17. Ramiles

    Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY

    Royal Corps of Signals - attached - "HQ" - Signals Troop - 24th Lancers

    Corporal Meredith, G.A.J. - 2354742

    Embarked with some parts of "HQ" of the 24th Lancers on LST - 229

    Thread on LST-229 - LST-229
     
    Last edited: Feb 2, 2022
  18. Ramiles

    Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY

    Re. TROOPER REGINALD JAMES FALCONER

    Trooper Reginald James Falconer | War Casualty Details | CWGC

    TROOPER REGINALD JAMES FALCONER
    Service Number: 5119213
    Regiment : Royal Armoured Corps. 24th Lancers
    Date of Death : Died 09 February 1943. Age 20 years old
    Buried or commemorated at BIRMINGHAM (YARDLEY) CEMETERY. Grave 63577. United Kingdom
    Country of Service : United Kingdom
    Additional Info : Son of James and Beatrice Florence Falconer, of South Yardley, Birmingham.
     
  19. Ramiles

    Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY

    Re. Martin Royston Chambers - 303257

    Appears in the 24th L - War Diary -
    11/2/44 2/Lts Cassidy H.J.A, Chambers M.R, and Lyle R.J. all awaiting posting to the Queens Bays were posted from the Regiment to the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards. 2/Lt. Birch-Reynardson, WRA, 9L, was posted to the 54th Training Regiment, RAC.

    There doesn't seem to be a reference however to the date he joined the 24th Lancers, although it was probably late in 1943 or early 1944.

    I couldn't immediately see an obvious candidate in the London Gazette, however, subsequently this seems to be a good possibility...

    SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, 18 JANUARY, 1944 p345... ROYAL ARMOURED CORPS. The undermentioned, Cadets, to be 2nd Lts., 19th Dec. 1943.
    7941866 Martin Royston CHAMBERS (303257)

    Although there seems to be only the one entry...

    Notices | All Notices | The Gazette...

    Online genealogy site ref. (Possibility)...
    Martin Royston Chambers
    d. 12 January 1976
    Father* W. Corney Royston Chambers d. 30 Sep 1956
    Birth*Martin Royston Chambers was born.
    Death*12 January 1976 Martin Royston died on 12 January 1976 at The Orchard House, Little Rissington, Gloucestershire, England; On January 12th 1976, suddenly, Martin Royston Chambers, loving husband of Marcia and dear father of Robert, Mark, David, Christopher and Dominic of The Orchard House, Little Rissington, near Bourton-on-the Water, Gloucs. Service Friday, January 16th. 3 p.m. at Little Rissington Church. No flowers.
     
    Last edited: Feb 10, 2022
  20. harkness

    harkness Well-Known Member

    Name: Martin Royston Chambers
    Ethnicity/ Nationality: English
    Marital status: Single
    Age: 24
    Birth Date: 27 Dec 1922
    Birth Place: Solihull
    Arrival Date: 30 Aug 1947
    Arrival Port: New York, New York, USA
    Years in US: Two Weeks
    Height: 6 Ft 3 in
    Hair Colour: Auburn
    Eye Colour: Blue
    Person in Old Country: Mrs J. C Parson
    Person in Old Country Relationship: Cousin
    Airline: Air France
    Flight Number: F Baz J


    Little Rissington, Gloucestershire:

    Chambers.jpg
     
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