I have just been looking through and tidying up some of the 4th Recce war diaries. I know that my father was in "B" Squadron, which was confirmed by a veteran who served with him, so I was looking for references to his squadron as I worked throught the diaries again. I found some interesting details which confirms that they were up against determined resistance. Another interesting entry is that of 22nd September 1944, when "B" Squadron, with 4 SP's are placed under the command of 28th Brigade. I can only think that these are the 75 mm SP's that my father mentioned and were all named after the Four Musketeers I hope those with an Italian connection find them of interest. Regards Tom
Thanks Tom - good to read. Been out of action as I have left Italy and now live in California - seem to do more travelling than working! Just wondered if you have come across anything more on Major Purvis, my grandfather. I still seem stumped by this mosquito/legal attachment he was seconded to after leaving 4 Reec when they went to Greece. he'd been with them since 1941 so am still puzzled while he was sent off.. something to do with germ warfare and things the Germans were working on italy to breed mosquitoes to create malaria...seems strange as my grandfather had been in N.Africa, then italy landings and monte cassino et etc and then abruptly left them for this strange operation...enough prattle from me. hope all is well with you
Tim, I will make a point of looking more in depth at the Greek section of the Diary and will see what if anything I can dig up. After a bout of flu in the family we are slowly recovering so thanks for your thoughts. Hope all is well since your move. I will post anything I find and PM you. Regards Tom
Hello. I'm new to the forum, although I have perused it several times in the past. I'm trying to find out some more about 4th Recce as I've just won a medal group to chap I believe was with the regiment. His name was John Taylor, 14208931. He might have made sergeant as the group came with a number of rank stripes as well as some cloth badges. He transferred to the 17th/21st Lancers in September of 1945. The medals came to light during a recent house clearance, apparently. The chap lived alone and sadly died recently. It seems like an interesting group and it will be very interesting to read up on the regiment. I don't have any personal connection to the war, but I'm hugely interested in it. Apart from collecting medals, I do models, specifically 1/6 scale figures and 1/48 scale vehicles and aircraft, so any photos of uniforms and vehicles are most welcome.
Hi Niktoo Here's confirmation he was with the unit you mentioned. Below is a copy of the nominal roll for November 1945, before the unit was wound up. His name is near the bottom left of the page. Regards - Rob.
NikToo, I have retrieved the four pages from my remote hard drive and resized them to post. If you cannot read them, let me have your email and I can always send them with my Picasa programme. My late fathers friend is listed on page 3 and although suffering ill health still resides in Montrose, Scotland. They were together in "B" Squadron Regards Tom
Many thanks Rob - well done, excellent. I would welcome private copy of pages 2 and 3 which are a little unclear. Many thanks,
Just a thought I had after reading all the posts here; Wikipedia has been discussed in other threads here, but at the moment there is no entry for 4 Recce. Couldn't the wise heads of this forum get together and write an entry so that people can learn more about the regiment?
