Hand Written Identity North Staffs Officer

The accompanying photo has a name written on the back which we are having difficulty reading.
He appears to be an officer in the North Staffs Regiment.
We are trying to find out who he is.

 

My eyes are ‘old’.....but I see

A. S. Weyluts

I think......

Just tried the Army Lists 1941 and that name “doesn’t” work......I’ll try a few more times...I think its the first 3 or 4 letters that I’m having trouble with....

Boy, this is a tough one.....I’ve tried all sorts of combinations and nothing seems to be working....Maybe the “young eyes” will be able to sort this one out

Army Lists - 1941 (Fourth Quarter)......found this??? closest name I could see that “may” be him.

I’m trying hard NOT to make the name fit the record......but it does seem like this is the man. I figure the first letter in his last name is a “W”......the second letter seems to be a lower case “e”......and his Second Initial seems to be an upper case “E”......it’s the “g” seems real off.....and the last two letters seem to be “double L’s”.......right regiment, right rank, right date (1941)........I’ll leave it to you to see what you think....

I let me wife take a look, and she thinks I could be correct even though its terrible last signature (I mean to read).....then she reminded me of my OWN signature.......that most on this site wouldn’t be able to read....years of signing hundreds of documents makes your signature “real lazy” I guess........anyway, over to you



Not 100% positive, but believe this is him:

Alan Edgar Weighill
1921–2002
BIRTH 7 AUG 1921 • Birkenhead, Cheshire
DEATH 16 AUG 2002 • Grantham, Lincolnshire, England
https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/175779681/person/312276933526/facts

 

Weighill is what my (alas, no longer young) eyes saw, too. Pleased to see the name exists in that form, was a little dubious before Temujin's good work. Gets my vote.

 

There is some tenuous significance in both Cheshire and especially Lincolnshire. I have gone back to the origin of the collection it came from to see if Weighill rings any bells with anyone. I thought it was AE .............. but couldnt find a link to anything.
Any ideas why the name Cleaver DN is underlined in black. There was a Bdr Dave Cleaver in 266 Bty 67th Field. He appears in several photos and contributed some via letters. Strange coincidence for the name to appear as an officer in 1941.
2 North Staffs were of course in 2 Infantry Brigade so there are tenuous connections.
Some of the men came from the Black Country so were recruited into TA units of the Staffs both North and South.
North Staffs were traditionally Stoke on Trent /Potteries and South Staffs Lichfield, Tamworth and Burton.

 

Seems to be 200373 Anthony Edward Weighill, after his Commission as 2nd Lt into the North Staffs he seems to have gone on to be a Lt in the RAC - I'd guess he was 9th North Staffs who became 145th RAC December 1941 - looking on Ancestry at Family Trees there is a gent of the name 12/5/22 to ?/2/2000 but there isn't much to it

 

May help:

 

Another incredible "result" it seems. I am awaiting contact from others who may recognise the name but I doubt it.
It would be good to find a bit of his military record or something about his Regiment to see if it reveals any recognisable connections.
There are several interesting relatives whose letters and photos crop up, brother in laws cousins etc.
One person is Bob Barnsley. At Anzio he was a Captain RE who arrived on the beach with the 56th Div billeted on a Command Ship and spent several evenings in a Battery CP where they were "very comfy and safe under ground with a good store of Tea, Coffee, Rum and Whisky". When the Division moved away he commented that "Anzio wasnt as bad as the press make out" (not doubt to satisfy the censor and placate his family). He felt guilty leaving them in the mire but with their current accommodation "What more could a man want!"
The comfy accommodation didn't last long, the Regiment were moved to another area and once more shelled remorselessly. We dont have any photos of him that we know of but he sounds an amusing chap.

 

Whilst we are on the subject is there anything on QORR Staffordshire Yeomanry on this site please.

 

A quick look on the search engines reveals that the Staffs Yeomanry were on the same track as the Warwickshire Yeomanry going to Palestine with Horses before becoming armoured. See what I think is a Warks Yeomanry photo below. He was related to a cousin who was in the 67th FR when it was renamed in 1920 but transferred to Warks Yeomanry after moving across the county border to Warks in the 1930's.

 

That would have been 95935 Captain J. R. Barnsley. He was Adjutant of HQ RE, 56 Division.

 

Thanks for that Gary,
I opened a thread HQ RE, 56 Division. hoping to find out more about him, posting an excerpt from his letter home.
Any chance you could add any more about him on that thread. You will see why when you go there.

 

I am looking at my options as to ascertaining whether Lt A E Weighill was ever a POW who escaped to return home to Lincolnshire in 1944.
I assume I need to check in the QORR War Diaries Monthly returns of Officers in the Field or NA records.
Are there any other options.

 

If he was missing/POW he should be listed on the Casualty returns but he's not

 

No pow listing on fold3 or ancestry for Lt Anthony Edward Weighill 200373, or any other A or AE Weighill.

 

Goodness, that was quick!
It eliminates one possible candidate who was captured in N Africa and escaped when Italy capitulated.
Back to the drawing board as they say.
Thanks for the rapid response.

 

Very few births for this name to be found, as previously mentioned there are two of interest:

Alan Edgar Weighill birth registered Birkenhead (7 Aug 21 - 16 Aug 2002)
Possibly married Betty Bean Q3 1942

Anthony Edward Weighill, birth registered Northampton (12 May 1922 - 1 Feb 2000)

Possibly married Sonia Gallyon Q1 1959 Sidcup, Kent

Interestingly there is a grave for Anthony Weighill:
Anthony “Tony” Weighill (1922-2000) - Find A...

A British Legion reference to a Sonia who died December 2018:
http://counties.britishlegion.org.uk/media/6533535/county-news-18_12.pdf

Obviously speculation and a lot of assumptions but I wonder if it worth contacting the Kent Branch?

 

UK, British Army Records and Lists, 1882-1962
Name: A. E. Weighill
Military Year: 1941
Regiment: The North Staffordshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's)
Rank: 2nd Lieutenant

Name: A. E. Weighill
Military Year: 1942
Regiment: The North Staffordshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's)
Rank: 2nd Lieutenant

Name: A. E. Weighill
Military Year: 1943
Regiment: Royal Armoured Corps--Regular Army Emergency Commissions
Rank: 2nd Lieutenant

Name: A. E. Weighill
Military Year: 1944
Regiment: Royal Armoured Corps
Rank: 2nd Lieutenant

Name: A. E. Weighill
Military Year: 1945
Regiment: Royal Armoured Corps
Rank: 2nd Lieutenant

Dont have access to the Fold3 bits

TD

 

Thank you for your efforts Gentlemen.
Considering that 2nd Lt is a probationary rank for two years in peacetime and in wartime rapidly leads to a confirmed Commission as Lieutenant, there seem to be a lot of AE Weighill's to follow up on. We can however dismiss those after 1942 as by this time he would have been confirmed as a Lt. certainly by 1943.
We really have nothing other than the photo plus the fact that it was in a collection of an officer who lived in the Midlands as a Solicitor.
As the photo is of an Officer in a Midlands Regiment it was thought logical that he was local possibly a relative
at worst a college or university friend.
Sadly all contemporary relatives are no more so it is indeed difficult if not impossible to confirm.
You have made some valiant efforts so we will see what results can be found.
Thank you very much.

 

I think those are all the same officer, just showing up in annual Army lists - the 9th North Staffs transferred to Armour in late 1941 (as 154th RAC) so he probably went across with them, they were broken up 1943 but by that point as he was now an Tank type he must have stayed with the RAC rather than go back to the North Staffs