Geoff(rey) K. Rendall - 1/6th Bn, Queen's Regiment.

Hi all,
While re-organizing my personal archives, I found correspondence from myself to a certain Geoff(rey) K. Rendall from Essex (UK) back in 1990.
He was a dispatch rider for the carrier platoon in 1/6th Bn, Queen's Regiment, 101 Brigade, 7th Armoured Division.
I would like to know if it is possible to find out more about Mr. Rendall and if there is a way to get a hold of a photo of him (taken in 1944 and one taken after 1945).
Any information on his unit is also very welcome, I did find some information via the internet.
I appreciate the help, thank you in advance.
Regards,
Erwin

 

Hi Erwin

To everyone who asks the question you have we always recommend obtaining service records as these provide the factual skeleton on which to build the rest of someones military career, the link for those documents is - Request records of deceased service personnel you will not find them by going to any other site that may infer they have access to 'service records'

You will need a death certificate - if you dont have that then members can help provide the details but we would need to know his full name(s) date of death and where he died, - you may already know all this. I was sent a photo of my Dad when I rec'd his records, not sure if the same would apply here

TD

 

Was he Geoffrey Kennard Rendall?

TD

 

14571954 Pte. G.K. RENDALL 1/6th Queens Royal Regiment
Wounded in action D.N.R.

 

Thanks Guy, that gives a service number - looks like he transferred

Surrey, England, Regimental Rolls, 1914-1947
Name: Geoffrey Kennard Rendall
Event Date: 13 May 1943
Regiment Number: 14571954
Regiment: East Surrey


Name: Geoffrey Kennard Rendall
Event Date: 1 Apr 1943
Regiment Number: 14571954
Regiment: Queen's Royal West Surrey


The above shows why his service record will be so important to tracing his time in WW2

TD

PS - In post 4 the initials D N R mean Date Not Reported -

 

Just a little niggle of mine. Despatch Riders was a trade in the Royal Corps of Signals. If he wasn't cap badged Signals then he would have been a Messenger in his battalion.

 

I have the 1944 diary. Let me know if you can ID a date he was wounded and I'll look in the diary for you.

 

Thanks for the information, guys, I do appreciate this.
I'm not familiar with looking up Britih soliders, sorry.

Yes, his name was Geoffrey Kennard Rendall, Geoff for short.
He lost a leg later in the war.

I see I typed an error in my first post; it is not the 101 Brigade, but the 131 Brigade.

Thanks again,
Erwin

 

His name appears in a Queen's Royal Regiment casualty list published in the Surrey Advertiser 21st April 1945

 

Geoff was from Witham, Essex (UK).
He was also a member of the Normandy Veterans Association.
Unfortunately I do not know when (or if) he passed away.
I was in contact with him in 1990.
In his letters, he told me about the liberation of Ghent, Belgium (September 1944) and a little adventure he had while in Melle, Belgium.

 

This is from a letter he wrote back in 1990.

 

From another letter (1990).

 

Well his wife died in 2011

England and Wales, Death Index, 2007-2017
Name: MS Matilda Ethel Rendall
Gender: Female
Age: 88
Birth Date: 1923
Death Date: 20 Oct 2011
Last Residence: Witham, Essex, England
Postal Code District: Cm8

England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005
Name: Matilda E Johnson
Registration Date: Oct-Nov-Dec 1947
Registration district: Hendon
Inferred County: Middlesex
Spouse: Geoffrey K Rendall
Volume Number: 5e
Page Number: 1110

I cant as yet find a record for his death, but the records only go up to 2017 ....................................

TD

 

He might be still alive … ?

 

He might ..... - but he also might not be in the same residence as you last spoke to him, I have no idea just surmising from the details I can find - he may also have died between 2017 and today

TD

 

That is also possible.
My first thought was to write a letter, but since it has been so many years I thought it would have been in vain.

 

Nothing ventured, nothing gained

TD

 

True.
In any case, I do appreciate the help and time you guys spent on this.
I am interested in any other information that might surface.