2723037 Guardsman John Oliver DINSMORE, 1 Irish Guards: 16/09/1944

Date of Enlistment: 1941/1942
Date of Death: 16 September 1944

Army Number: 2723037
Rank: Guardsman
Name: John Oliver DINSMORE
Unit: 1 Irish Guards

Date of Birth:
Place of Birth:

Date of Capture: 8 February 1944
Place of Capture: Italy

POW Number:
POW Camp: Stalag 339

 

Army Number: 2723037
Rank: Guardsman
Name: J DINSMORE
Unit: 1 Irish Guards
Theatre: Italy
Missing Personnel file: 1st Battalion IRISH GUARDS - Italy, Missing Personnel file
TNA Reference: WO 361/784
Notes: Missing 9 Feb 1944

 

Army Number: 2723037
Rank: Guardsman
Name: J O DINSMORE
Unit: Irish Guards
Theatre:
POW Number:
Date of Capture:
Place of Capture:
Camp: Stalag 339

 

Hello everybody,

I am busy gathering together material on Campo PG 52 in Italy and have discovered that Gunner L.E. Haddy, RA, an inmate of the camp, died on 16 September 1944, and after being temporarily buried at Spigno Monferrato in Piemdont was transferred to Staglieno War Cemetery at Genoa. On the same concentration form is John Oliver Dinsmore of the Irish Guards.

Unlike Gunner Haddy, Guardsman Dinsmore does not appear in WO 392/21 (dated August 1943). Does anyone have any information on his capture?

Clearly both men escaped from a POW camp - in Haddy's case almost certainly PG 52 - or from a train taking them to Germany after the Armistice of 8 September.(one left on 15 September). Given that the men were both killed in Piedmont I tend to favour the latter theory. I am trying to find out whether or not they joined a local partisan band and were killed in action or during a reprisal. I have checked the list of War Crimes files at the National Archives and there doesn't appear to be anything on them.

Any information would be most welcome.
Vitellino
o

 

He was captured at Anzio on the 8th February 1944.

 

Thank you very much. At least that's a start.

I've now found out which partisan bands were operating in the area where the men died.

 

John Oliver Dinsmore was my great uncle. My grandmothers brother. Any information that you you have managed to find out would benefit greatly appreciated. I have photos on him. He was much loved by his 3 sisters and they never got over him dying so young.

 

Any use?
Name: J O Dinsmore
Rank: Guardsman
Army Number: 2723037
Regiment: Irish Guards
Camp Number: 339
Record Office: Irish Guards Record Office, 71, Ashley Gardens, London, SW1
Record Office Number: 14

 

Hello Natalie,

Given that John was temporarily buried together with Gunner Haddy in a little village in the Italian Appenines near to the town of Spigo Monferrato I have deduced that both men were operating with the Italian partisans at the time of their death. Gunner Haddy was almost certainily an escaper form PG 52, as he is registered as having been a prisoner there in document WO 392/21 held in the National Archives, London. How John got there, having been taken prisoner at Anzio, requires some further research.

Regards

Vitellino

 

Many thanks for your reply. It’s nice to have any information at all, as we only knew he was a prisoner and that he was shot when the war had officially been ended.
I wouldn’t know where to start with this.
Thanks again

 

Thanks very much. I am sure it will be as I’m going to try and do some more investigation. I’d also love to visit his final resting place one day. No one ever has and I feel it’s my duty as I am the first generation in a position to do so.

 

Natalie.

If you would like to see the circumstances of how he was captured at Anzio on 8 Feb 44, you are welcome to join a group that I am taking to Anzio on 7-10 Jun 18.

1 IG had a really torrid time during their short time in the beachhead. They were given a mammoth task and were battered fit it. They never really recovered and had to be disbanded and the few remaining troops sent to other Guards units and to 3 IG in NW Europe.

Regards

Frank

 

Natalie,

I have a map of the area around Roccoverano, where Gunner Haddy and your relative were initially buried before being taken to Staglieno Cemetery at Genoa, bu it is too big to upload. You can find it here. I have found some info. about the partisans operating in the zone of Roccaverano. They were led by a man named Ettore. I will try to follow this up.

Your relative wasn't shot when the war was officially ended - far from it. The war ended in Italy at the beginning of May 1945 and the Commonwealth War Graves commission give his date of death as 16 September 1944.. If I were you I would send for his Service Record.

Best wishes,

Vitellino

 

Sorry for my delayed response.
The offer of joining your group sounds fantastic. I’d have to look at that from a cost and childminder perspective.
Sorry to sound dumb. What does 1 IG stand for, is that their unit Frank?
Thanks

 

Vitellino. Yes I have found this out. The facts were a little hazy from my dad but I’d always said it can’t have ended as the dates didn’t match up. I will send for them one day soon.
In case you are interested, this is John Oliver Dinsmore.

 

1IG is the abbreviation for 1st Battalion Irish Guards. Irish Guards as a regiment had three battalions in action during the war. As a battalion 1IG fought in 3 Theatres: Norway, North Africa and Italy (where they suffered so many casualties the decision was made to bring them home to UK rather than get new reinforcements). Some of their veterans then transferred to 3IG - another infantry battalion which fought in North West Europe and which was in need of reinforcements.

Might possibly be a bit of confusion arising from Italy's unconditional surrender which took place on 3rd September 1943.

 

Natalie.

Check me out on www.cassinobattlefields.co.uk for details of the Anzio 7-10 Jun 18 event. We spend part of the trip looking at 1 IG's involvement in the breakout operation and then, when that failed, we move on to their stubborn but very costly defence of the beachhead. It was during the defensive period that Gdsm Dinsmore was captured.

Regards

Frank

 

Thank you very much for the photo, Natalie,

Vitellino

 

Casualty

Guardsman DINSMORE, JOHN OLIVER
Service Number 2723037
Died 16/09/1944
Aged 21
1st Bn. Irish Guards
Son of James Dinsmore, and of Fanny Dinsmore, of Portrush, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland.
INSCRIPTION: GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS, THAT A MAN LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS
Buried at STAGLIENO CEMETERY, GENOA
Location: Italy
Cemetery/memorial reference: III. B. 13.
See cemetery plan