Hi all, A friend has asked if I can find out anything about their grandfather Gnr John Cogan. All the information I have is in the attached photo. I have found the war diaries for 7th Medium Regiment RA on Ancestry, but they appear to only go up to 1942. The RA is outside my area of research so I'm struggling to work out exactly which units he was with, and which divisions they were attached to. I've also failed to find his service record on Ancestry or TNA, so any clues there would be appreciated.
Hello Graham you wont find his service record anywhere on the internet the only route is the official link Get a copy of military service records regards Clive
GUNNER JOHN COGAN Service Number: 14375997 Regiment & Unit/Ship Royal Artillery 456 Bty., 7 Mountain Regt. Date of Death Died 09 March 1946 Age 36 years old Buried or commemorated at GREAT SANKEY (ST. MARY) CHURCHYARD EXTENSION Sec. 2. Grave 366. United Kingdom Country of ServiceUnited Kingdom Additional InfoSon of John and Agnes Cogan; husband of Phyllis Cogan, of Great Sankey. Personal InscriptionA DEARLY LOVED HUSBAND AND FATHER Gunner John Cogan (1910-1946) - Find a Grave...
You are looking in the wrong places. You need to obtain his Service Records from the MOD via .Gov website: Army Records of deceased person. See CL1 post #2. Also visit ra1939-45 7 Medium Regiment RA - The Royal Artillery 1939-45 The Service Record will give you all his dated postings and courses (not guaranteed) they will be in Army jargon as they are mainly his coded pay status. Postings, courses, sickness etc. but no medical records as they carry a 100year confidentiality. No battles. Copy and place the Service and Casualty pages on this forum so that members can transcribe them for you entirely free as it is their hobby. It will cost for a Death Cert to prove he is deceased and copies of the Records approx 40 quid and take time. Best if your friend completes the form as a relative, they will get the full papers. You would only get a researcher's limited version. It is entirely up to you (and our friend) whether you do this or not. If you get stuck come back onto this thread for further assistance. Good Luck.
Don't think that's the right regiment, but easy mistake to make. 7 Mountain Regiment RA - The Royal Artillery 1939-45 All the best Andreas
Just read your pages posted #1 and re-read CL1 posting. He was in 456 Bty 7th Mountain Regiment not 7th Medium. 7 Mountain Regiment RA - The Royal Artillery 1939-45 Litle is written about this unit that I can find online If Minden 1759 should turn up he might be able to help with the 7th Mountain Regt's part in the Battle of Monte Cassino he is a specialist in this. Definitely not my subject. Mountain Regiments were the product of the Indian Army who trained a few selected units to use the small guns designed for disassembly, to be carried by mules in the mountains of Italy. This is why the 7th Mountain Regiment came to be at Cassino. The weapon was also known as the Screw Gun. There is a book "Farewell to the Screw Gun" written by a member of the 85th Mountain Regiment in Italy. Previously the 85th Field Regiment. Training was carried out mainly in Iraq or Palestine. QF 3.7-inch mountain howitzer - Wikipedia File:British 75 mm mountain howitzer Italy Feb 1945 IWM NA 22051.jpg - Wikimedia Commons The Americans used a similar weapon as did the British Airborne Light Artillery units. These were often called Jeep Artillery Regiments as they were towable by Jeeps.
Thanks everyone. I applied for my late father's records a some years ago, so will see if they want to go down that route. If so I'll get them to apply. I may be back sometime in the future for help in decoding them
