2721897 Charles HANDLEY, 1 Irish Guards

Hi
I'm trying to find out as much information about my uncle Pvt Charles Handley, Guardsman 1st Battalion Irish Guards. He was killed in action in Tunisia on 30th April 1943. He is buried at Massicault war cemetery just outside Tunis. He died over 20 years before I was born and my parents passed away years ago so there is no one I can ask about him. Any information on him or what his battalion may have been doing on 30th April 1943 would be much appreciated. I have read various articles on the internet about that day but would like as much information as I can get and if anyone knew or knew of my uncle that would be even better. I am hoping to visit Tunisia in September 2014 and will be visiting his grave.
Many Thanks
Warren

 

Hi Warren

The battalions war diary may help. Here's the ref for it at the National Archives:

WO 175/488 1 Irish Guards 1943 Mar.- June

If it's too far for you to go give me a shout as I offer forum members a war diary copying service.

Regards
Andy

 

Welcome to the forum Warren.

Here is Pte Charles Handley's CWGC Casualty details, courtesy of Geoff's search engine:

HANDLEY, CHARLES
Rank: Guardsman
Service No: 2721897
Date of Death: 30/04/1943
Age: 23
Regiment/Service: Irish Guards, 1st Bn.
Grave Reference: V. J. 16.
Cemetery: MASSICAULT WAR CEMETERY
Additional Information: Son of Ralph and Annie Handley, of Manchester; husband of Violet Handley, of Openshaw, Manchester.

Here is a link to the War Diaries, courtesy of Diane (handle 'dbf') :

War Diary: 1st Battalion IRISH GUARDS, September 1939 - July 1944

Hope this helps; and apologies to Andy for negating his copying service in this instance...

Best,

Steve.

 

No dramas Steve - It was me that copied all of them

 

I don't know if you already know but his parents Ralph and Annie (along with William Frederick) are buried in Gorton Cemetery in Manchester. Grave Ref: Consecrated Section Y - 191.

It's possible he may have an inscription to his memory on the headstone.

If i am over that way any time soon, i will have a check for you

Regards

Scott

 

first of all thank you all so much for your replies .. but Clankypencil how do u know those details... can u please give me some more info .... warren. ps That's my nana and granddad you mention and I have very little information about them ...how do u know ?

 

Sorry meant to add my middle name is Ralph .... more more info please.

 

Warren

If you click on the below link, it takes you to the Manchester City Council online burial records for the cemeteries & crematoriums the Council are responsible for.

http://www.burialrecords.manchester.gov.uk/

Type in surname and first name and select cemetery (if you know it) then submit.

Click 'View Details' alongside the entries and it will then display all the other persons in that grave.

You can get further details by then clicking on the names, but you need to pay for credits to access this info.

I've messaged the Admin on the Manchester & Salford Family History Forum (M&SFH) who i believe has access to Gorton Cemetery's burial records. If he comes back with anything i will post up the info.

Also, please note that when using the above Council online search facilities it can be a bit hit or miss. For instance, if you leave the 'exact match' box ticked and search for say 'Joe Bloggs' it will not find the entry if it is on the system as 'Joe T Bloggs'. You can untick the 'exact match' box but this tends to give hundreds of spurious records to trawl through.

Cheers

Scott

 

Warren

Here is the info regarding the burial records for Gorton Cemetery (Grave: Consecrated Section Y-191) that the Admin from M&SFH came back with.

Annie Handley - died age 71, status: Married, Abode: 28 Collin Avenue, Gorton, Manchester. Buried: 22/02/1961
Ralph Handley - died age 73, status: Retired, Abode: 23 Brierton Drive, Wythenshawe. Buried: 07/11/1962
William Frederick Handley - died age 57, status: Retired, Abode: 6 Barnard Avenue, Heaton Moor, Stockport. Buried: 27/03/1985.

Cheers

Scott

 

Hi Scott

Thank you for the information it is much appreciated. My grandparents (on my mothers side) passed away before I was born, I do remember going to my uncle Bill's funeral in 1985 and I remember visiting his house (barnard ave) occasionally as a child. Its nice to know they are buried together so I will visit the grave. What is also interesting is that my granddad's address is the address where I was born, I never knew he lived there before I was born. As I say my parents died years ago so I am very grateful to get this sort of information.
Once again thank you and thank you to everyone who had replied to this post.

Warren

 

Hi Warren, you most welcome.

M&SFHF

 

Hi Warren, it's your cousin here. I've got a photo of Charles, can you email me on redmescalero(at)aol.com cheers, Ferg

 

Hello Ferg and welcome
Warren was last on the forum April 2014

I have sent him a message for you
Also take out the @ and replace with AT in your email
regards
Clive

 

You've beat me to it Clive - I've also sent a message.

Steve

 

Thanks, Clive. I'm new to this site, can you please advise me on how to edit my previous post, so I can swap the @ for AT I take it that email links aren't allowed?