86th Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery

Ah... you must take him anyway ... he will be impressed despite himself! I was about 13 when I saw the battlefields of France for the first time(1st and 2nd) and was moved beyond measure. At that time there wasn’t much at Hill 112( and the “Hill” itself is most unimpressive!) but on subsequent visits with my son we’ve seen how it has developed as a memorial site. I’ve gone through my father’s things again and found something he copied from a book about the Devonshire Regiment (86th anti-tank was created from the 5th Devon’s). This paragraph may refer to the incident in which you believe your grandfather was killed: “ July 8 attack on 2 objectives Maltot and Point 112. Point 112 was the concern of 1st Royal Tank Regt. and to this unit was attached 340 Battery(self propelled)....
L Troop L.Flank no casualties. K Troop R. Flank 3 killed, 4 wounded also shot up by infantry 6 pounder which brewed up one M10, killing the wireless operator and trapping a gunner with a severed leg. Sergeant Henle, despite flames got in again to rescue the gunner who was so badly injured that he died within a few hours. Sgt. Henle badly burned, awarded MM.”
There is also something he wrote down copied from the RA Brigade Guards Division newspaper (dated February 1946) which identifies K Troop as 129 battery. “Losing 3 M10’s from 88mm and mortar fire and destroying one German tank”
Hope this is of some interest.
Jane.

 

Ps. After rereading your previous post I see that your grandfather wasn’t killed but wounded... sorry for the misunderstanding!

 

Hi Jane,

That really helps, my Grandad did lose a leg though he seemed to think that he was thrown from the turret by an explosion, so he could have been one of the three from 129 battery. He did say to me that he thought all his crew were killed but in the fog of battle I guess that recollections get mixed up. Did your Father say which book he got the paragraph from?

I've emailed the Royal Artillery Museum to ask if they have any further information available but at the moment with the restrictions they may not be able to tell me.

I have never been either to the battle grounds but it's on my list as soon as the world stops being so mad. It has always been something that I have wanted to do but life has always stopped me.

Thanks again

Tris

 

“ The Devons- a history of the Devonshire Regiment “ by Jeremy Taylor. I presume your grandfather was invalided out of the war after losing his leg. I have a panoramic photo of combined batteries which I believe was taken in Germany at the end of the war but presumably he was back in the UK by then?

 

Yes, he was discharged in early December after being in hospital in Scotland. I’ll have a look for that book to see if there is any other information.
Also there’s a Facebook association group so I may contact them to see if any of them can help.

 

Hello Tris,
I’ve just found your Grandfather listed on a document!!
If you can give me your email address I will send it to you. Trying to take a photo of it on the computer screen is useless and I’m not very technical!
Best
Jane.

 

Hi Jane

that’s brilliant my email is tristramoliver(at)hotmail.com
Thank you

 

Hello, I understand that this thread may well be closed but I wonder whether you know your father’s battery number? Mine was a bombardier with 128th battery 86th anti tank regiment.Sincerely Jane Suff.

 

Hi all - just checking in on whether this thread is still alive! I am researching my family and worked out that my Grandpa’s uncle’s son was a Lieutenant with the 86 anti-tank regiment royal artillery and was awarded the military cross in December 1944. His name was John Albert Wooderson. Does anyone know where I find out more about him?

 

Recommendation for Award for Wooderson, John Albert Rank: Lieutenant Service... | The National Archives
Here he is! My dad was with the 86th/128th battery.

 

Ah that’s great, thanks a lot!

 

Hi. I was wondering if there was any mention of my Grandfather. He died in January 1945 and was in the 86th Anti-Tank (Devonshire) regiment. I believe he was a Sergeant. I've been to his grave in Brunssum on the Dutch/Belgian border, but was wondering if there were any documents mentioning him.

 

4807633 Sgt. Sidney James Attwood

Service No. indicates he enlisted with The Lincolnshire Regiment, block numbers 4792001 to 4848000

There is a forum member with access to The Lincolnshire Regimental Rolls, who may be able to assist you with dates of enlistment and transfer.

Obtaining your grandfather's service record would be a better option.

4807633 A/L/Sgt. S. J. Attwood W.I.A. 08.08.1944 Normandy.
4807633 A/Sgt. S. J. Attwood K.I.A. 23.01.1945 Netherlands/Germany.

Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be an R.A. Tracer card for S. J. Attwood.

A/Sgt. S. J. Attwood appears to have died during Operation Blackcock. An operation to clear German troops from the Roer Triangle, formed by the towns of Roermond and Sittard in the Netherlands and Heinsberg in Germany. It was conducted by the British 2nd Army between 13th and 26th January, 1945.

The War Diary for the period 13th and 26th January, 1945, would be very helpful to you.

I found 4 pages from the 86th A/T Regt. War Diary for this period, which shows your grandfather's movements from 3rd to 8th August, 1944.

They show 2 men wounded at 10.00 hrs on the 8th August, 1944. I'm guessing the slightly wounded man was A/L/Sgt. S. J. Attwood.

Hope you find these documents useful.

 

A fantastic response thanks David! I'll print these off and present them to my Dad (his son) this weekend. He'll be amazed.

Yes, he was injured in 1944. We know he suffered a shrapnel wound to his face, but returned to active duty quite quickly so it can't have been too bad.

 

Service records forms - MOD - Request records of deceased service personnel

TD

The forms request a copy of a death certificate, but in your case you will need to download the CWGC certificate and submit that as he died in service. If you scroll down the link there is a the option to 'Download Certificate' on the left hand side - Casualty Details | CWGC