Advice on regiment movements from Grandads Service Record

Hi all,

I'm new to all this so could do with some advice on how to locate a regiments movements, if this is even possible!

I requested and have now received mum my Grandads Army Service records (William George Richard Jupp) but trying to research any information on where these regiments actually were or what they did online is proving to be harder than i first thought.

I have been trying to locate any information on the '105th LT AA Regiment' in North Africa from 22/12/1942 to 29/05/1944 and then the '1/4 Essex Regiment' in Italy from 01/09/1944 to 15/07/1946.

So far i have only managed to figure out that the 105th may have been part of the 1st Army & the Essex regiment may have been part of the 8th Army. But to be honest searches on this info has not proved very fruitful either.

My mum can only remember 2 things from speaking with my Grandad when she was a younger, the first is that he spoke of being alongside a Gurkha regiment at some point, the second is that he was in Italy when mount Vesuvius erupted and had to hide under a Land Rover. Not much to go on i know!

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have posted the records too, as it's very likely that i have read them completely wrong in the first place.

Many thanks in advance.

 

Hi Melanie,

Welcome to the forum, and I am sure members on here will be able to help you out unraveling the complexities of service records abbreviations etc . You have done the right thing in obtaining his service records. One minor point is that Land Rovers were not built until 1948, so I would guess it would have been another vehicle he 'hid' under.

TD

 

Ha ha, yes i suppose it must have been another vehicle!

I guess this is why its good to look into the historical facts in more detail. I hope someone can help out with this as It would be great to be able to put it all into some kind of context, rather than it just being dates and gobbledygook .

Many thanks for your prompt response.

 

Hello Melanie and welcome to the forum.

You could also contact forum members Lee http://ww2talk.com/forums/user/2876-psywarorg/
Or Andy http://ww2talk.com/forums/user/6786-drew5233/

Who would research the war diary's for your granda's regiment, and are very good priced.

Regards Michael.

 

Melanie
Not too big a mystery only what division they were in when they landed in North Africa in Operation Torch in Nov/Dec '42

and his movement across Algeria to Tunisia - then a spell in a field ambulance = probably with GyppyTummy before transferring

1/4th Essex in around early '44 to see Vesuvious spout off - 4th Indian Div were most active at Cassino in Feb / March - then had a
break on the Adriatic until rejoining 8th Army at Gemmano in September '44…you can Google for this but try the Italian version of

"the Olive operation " BUT - you will need a box of tissues.

he then had his LIAP month in the UK before his discharge….Wra diaries would help for various blanks in the records

Cheers

 

Hi

Here is a bit on the 105th - http://www.ra39-45.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/laa/page99.html
War dairies for it are at National Archives or Firepower - here are some of them -
http://discovery.nationalarchives.go...=&_fr=&_st=adv
Not online so you have to go ther or pay someone to photo them.
And a few for the Essex Reg. here -
http://discovery.nationalarchives.go...=&_fr=&_st=adv

Gurkha's were certainly in Italy - http://www.cwgc.org/foreverindia/sto...s-in-italy.php
and Vesuvius did explode - http://vulcan.fis.uniroma3.it/vesuvio/1944eng_text.html

Here is something on the 1/4 Essex on WW2Talk- http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/3304...ssex-regiment/

regards

Robert

 

Melanie

Dates for Vesuvius ?

In March '44 I was hospitalised down to Naples and arrived in the city while the volcano's eruption was at its peak.

I mentioned it in an article I posted to the BBC WW2 Archives:
BBC - WW2 People's War - Two Weeks in Dock in Naples and Not a Wound to Show for it!

The salient para is: "When we arrived at Naples the city was covered in a grey ash as Vesuvius had chosen that month to erupt for the first time in I don’t know how many years."

What I remember the most is the scene after dusk when the volcano created its own electrical storm and lightning was actually hitting the top of the easily seen summit.

Most unusual

Ron

 

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to say a MASSIVE thank you to you all. I have had a look through some of the links you have all posted and really appreciate all info you have provided me with.

This gives me loads to start getting my teeth into and can't wait to find out more.

Many thanks to everyone that has posted. Especially to Ron... 'What I remember the most is the scene after dusk when the volcano created its own electrical storm and lightning was actually hitting the top of the easily seen summit.'... Its great to get a first hand account of what this was like.

Melanie

 

Melanie
Can't wait until your reaction to the events at Cassino and Gemmano as those storms beat nature - every night !

Cheers