67 Field Regt RA

Discussion in 'Royal Artillery' started by Scott1975, Feb 23, 2018.

  1. Scott1975

    Scott1975 Active Member

    Rob Allen, please feel free to chat about the 67th here, my Grandfather was in 266 Battery.

    Scott
     
  2. DAVE MARTIN

    DAVE MARTIN Active Member

    Very interested in these posts as I own the Territorial Efficiency Medal/Africa Star (1st Army clasp)/ Italy Star Mentioned in Dispatches group to 766743 Sergeant Perrigrine Knight who was killed in action with the 67th Field Regiment on 22nd March 1944 at Anzio. wounded in France circa 1st June 1940, missing believed POW in Tunisia 20th April 1943 (later found) , the MID is probably for this action (London Gazette 23/9/43, issue 36180 page 4223), 67th Field Regiment throughout, complete with WW2 certificate and casualty letter written to his wife. If anyone has the war diary for the Battle of The Medjez Plain (20th/21st April 1943), I would love to see it. Sergeant knight may have a mention. Thanks
     

    Attached Files:

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  3. Uncle Target

    Uncle Target Mist over Dartmoor

    Sgt Knight was in 446 Battery. On the night of 20/21st April 1943 the Regiment became embroiled in an attack by the Herman Goering Division in a spoiling attack known as Operation Fliederblute in the area of Djebel Djaffa and Banana Ridge. Sgt Knight was in 446 Battery which took the brunt of the right flanking pincer of the enemy while setting up half the battery in no mans land and in no position to fire. Lt Gilberg together with Sgt Knight stayed behind with one gun having ordered the rest of the Battery to scatter. They loaded the gun with one round A/P with a supercharge and waited for an opportunity to fire over open sights. A Panzer Mk111 passed by, they opened fire within a range of 7yds causing it to explode. They were then taken prisoner and led away. At the capitulation of the Axis Forces on 30th May they escaped from a prison ship waiting to take them and a number of others to Italy. Sgt Knight together with Capt Ruston Lt Gilberg and others, returned to the Regiment in a white convertible car with red leather seats.

    This is a link to a video taken after the battle of Banana Ridge it shows the Loyals one of the Regiments in 2nd Infantry Brigade, 1st Infantry Division supported by 67th Field Regiment RA (TA)
     
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  4. Uncle Target

    Uncle Target Mist over Dartmoor

    A rather short note by Capt Peter Mennell notes that: On 22 March Sgt Knight of 446 Bty was killed by a direct hit. He along with three other Sergeants killed at Anzio were irreplaceable losses to the Regiment. The direct hit was the result of counter battery fire from enemy guns with observers on the Alban Hills overlooking the Beach head.
     
    Last edited: Oct 22, 2021
  5. DAVE MARTIN

    DAVE MARTIN Active Member

    Thank you so much for this excellent information. A very brave man.
     
  6. Uncle Target

    Uncle Target Mist over Dartmoor

    67th Field Regt as part of 1st Infantry Division were tasked to defend the Beaches to their last rounds. The 1st June 1940 was the day before the bulk of the Regiment left Dunkirk on HMS Worcester. He must have been in either 265 or 266 Battery as 446 was formed in 1941.
    On 30th May Major Dent ( a Regular Army Officer and the 2/ic Regt) left with selected men to return to England. The remainder stayed to spike their guns 266 at Bray Dunes and 265 at the Dunkirk Canal.
    The bulk of the Regiment left on 2nd June aboard HMS Worcester with A Troop leaving the Canal area to depart on HMS Esk. Sgt Knight must have been wounded during this period.
     
  7. DAVE MARTIN

    DAVE MARTIN Active Member

    Thank you, once again. His story keeps getting better. A tragedy that he was killed in 1944, leaving a wife and many children.
    Here are few details of his family history:-
    Perrigrine Knight was born circa 1903 in Ashton, Devon (he was named after his grandfather, Peregrine Knight, who was born in 1831).
    His parents were Robert Knight and Ellen Knight. He had three younger siblings, all born in Ashton:- Ida Knight, George Hallcott Knight, and Dorothy Florence Knight.
    The 1911 census lists Perrigrine living with his widowed grandmother, parents, and three siblings, at Lower Kiddons, Ashton, Chubleigh, Devon. His widowed grandmother, Jane Knight, aged 75, was a farmer and head of the house. His father was “a farmers son working on the farm”.
    Perrigrine Knight, a 22-year-old horse driver, enlisted into the Royal Artillery (Territorial Force) in Worcester, on 30th November 1925, being given the army number 766743. He initially enlisted for four years.
    He married Nora Amelia Day Middleton in Worcester in 1927 (final quarter). The couple had five children, all born in Worcester:- Beryl Knight – born in the final quarter of 1927, Bryan C R Knight – born in the second quarter of 1930, Denise E Knight – born in the final quarter of 1931, Maureen D Knight – born in the third quarter of 1993 and Elvia J Knight – born in the third quarter of 1936.
    Perrigrine and Nora Knight have numerous entries on the electoral register from 1927 to 1939. They lived at 22 St George’s Lane South, Claines, Worcester (a three-bedroom terraced house, still in existence today).
     
  8. Uncle Target

    Uncle Target Mist over Dartmoor

    Thanks for the family information I will pass it on to my colleagues in Worcestershire who I am sure will be interested. Their fathers and uncles were sure to have known him.

    One tends to assume that the men in 446 were new to the Regiment from places far away but new postings were mixed in all the Batteries so that everyone integrated.
     
    Last edited: Oct 23, 2021

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