Alfred Walter Hassam (5836799)

Looking for any information I can find on my grandfather.

Full name: Alfred Walter Hassam
Mil No: 5836799
Rank: Corporal
Regiment: Royal Leicestershire Regiment

He was a Chindit in Burma and went to Bombay and Poona in 1946.

I believe he was in the 2nd Battalion that walked into Burma as he mentioned he did a lot of walking through the jungle. Though I haven't been able to confirm through any documents what his battalion was.

I have attached a photo of him below.

many thanks in advance.

 

Hi,

Welcome to the forum.

You ought to apply to UK MOD for a copy of his service record via this link -

Get a copy of military records of service

It can take up to a year to get the documents.

 

LeoB initially posted on this thread: 2nd Battalion Leicestershire Regiment, India 1945 with a three B&W photos in Post 37 and had two replies. He has now added the basic information, e.g. Service Number.

I have removed my post to here.

The Leicestershire Regiment was awarded the prefix Royal in 1946, and the 2nd Battalion was posted to India in January 1943; caveat: so far only from: Royal Leicestershire Regiment - Wikipedia

They became Royal in November 1946:

From the quite detailed history on: History of the Regiment (4/5) - Royal Leicestershire Regiment

The site offers a nominal search, but he is not shown there. There are other options worth a look: Royal Leicestershire Regiment

Did you get help via your entries on Facebook?

Some research tips next.

Do you know where he was born, when and his parents names? The only person of that name I found a genealogy site was living in Birmingham when his daughter Jean was born 25/12/1939.

The 2nd Battalion was in India till 8/10/1947, Indian Independence was on 15/8/1947. So what remained of the unit left by sea after independence. Until May 1947 they were based @ Bangalore. From posts in: Which British units were left in India before and at the time of Partition?

 

Leo,

Your subject Service Number has not appeared here before this thread.

Note he was originally enlisted in the Suffolk Regiment. From: Army Number Search

Wiki shows only one Suffolk battalion was in India / Burma:

There are a number of threads here for 2nd Suffolks id'd with an online search: "2nd battalion" + "suffolk regiment" site:ww2talk.com They might help, I've not looked. More might appear if you remove nd.

Perhaps he was transferred from them to the Leicestershire Regiment? His Service Record should show that and when.

Gelert, an active member, can give you the approx. dates of his enlistment. It will have been before early 1942, when the system for recruits changed.

 

Thank you David.

He was born 21/09/22 in Chatham, Kent. He has one daughter, Diane born in 53.

I believe he was originally in the L.A.A Regiment H Troop prior to being transferred to The Leicestershire Regiment. I have an image of him in Poona with Stan Wright whom I have been able to tie down to the 7th Leicestershire Regiment Column 2 (74 Column) as per the personnel listings here:

HG Lambert - a soldier with the Chindits

However my grandfather's name does not appear here.

 

Here is a photo of him in L.A.A Regiment. I am unsure of the year, but this was before moving to Leicestershire Regiment.

 

Leo,

The photo is of 495 Light Anti-Aircraft Battery, part of the 147 LAA Regiment. The "go to" RA reference site has a short history:

From: 147 (Glasgow) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment RA (TA) - The Royal Artillery 1939-45

Is there any info on the photo's rear? Especially the date taken.

After 14/10/1943 147 LAA was attached to the 47 Infantry Division. Wiki shows it was UK-based throughout the war and was basically a training formation, and personnel were moved to other units when required.
See: 47th (London) Infantry Division - Wikipedia and 47th (London) Infantry Division - Wikipedia

 

You have been most helpful so far David, the fact you mentioned the numbering block for his service number putting him in the Suffolk Regiment is not something I had known. Looking at his photos, he has a photo of a mate called Bill Hedge, 1942, Felixstowe, Suffolk in his uniform.

Perhaps he was initially in the Suffolk Regiment in 1942 then moved to the L.A.A Regiment until 1944ish and then moved to the 2nd Leicestershire Regiment, where he was in Poona in 1945 and then Bombay in 1946. This is my current thinking based on what I know.

I do not currently have access to the physical photos but I will be sure to look at the back of them next time I do and I will upload more here.

 

There is no Royal Artillery Tracer Card on ancestry for 5836799. Although the record set is known to be incomplete, it is not unusual for the card of a soldier transferred out of the RA to another regiment/corps to be missing.

But near numbered RA soldiers who also had Suffolk Regiment numbers do have tracer cards, although with such a small selection I think nothing about Alfred's war except an aprox date of joining the army can be inferred.

5836778 PORTER joined army 8 Oct 1941, to 9 Survey Regiment RA 28 Nov 1942
5836785 YOUNGS joined army 17 Oct 1941, to 3rd Reserve Regiment RA 11 Feb 1944
5836795 OXLEY joined army 3 Nov 1941, to 70th Anti Tank Regiment RA 27 Nov 1942
5836803 PAVIS re-enlisted RA 11 Nov 1946
5836807 SCOTT in RA by 27 May 1945
5836843 LEEK joined army 11 Dec 1941, to 10 Medium Regiment RA 11 Dec 1942

On ancestry Alfred does not appear in either the WW2 casualty list, or medal card index.

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