My Dad said he was attached to a Yorkshire regiment. He was a Welshman born in Wrexham. He was Royal Artillery. Fought at Dunkirk, El Alamein and Monte Cassino. Service No 923606 How was it decided which branch of the Army he went into? Why didn't he fight with a Welsh regiment? Is there a more detailed list of the places he went to? Is there a way of finding out what boat he came home from Dunkirk on? He said he was given promotion but handed back his stripes.
You need to apply for his service records link here Get a copy of military service records Plus copy of his death cert You wont find his records online at pay for sites can you name him Where was he living we he signed up regards Clive
Looks like he served with 244th Battery of 61 Field Regiment initially. 61st (North Midland) Field Regiment with 241 & 242 (North Staffordshire) Batteries, based at Shelton.[62] He was wounded whilst serving with 165 Field Regiment in Italy on 25 May 1944. Your in luck as his tracer card was found on Ancestry. Hope this helps Gus
Hello and welcome to the forum. From the tracer card he did indeed serve with a Welsh unit (not the North Midland regiment, which was a Field Regiment, not a Medium Regiment). He was then posted to a Yorkshire regiment. Here’s my interpretation of his service. Date ? 244 Medium Battery, 61 (Caernarvon & Denbigh Yeomanry) Medium Regiment RA (TA) Nov 38, Colwyn Bay, UK (244 Bty, Carnarvon) Oct 39, France Jun 40, UK 28/8/41 121 (West Riding) Field Regiment RA (TA) Oct 41, Iraq Dec 41, Iraq 25/5/42 165 Field Regiment RA May 42, Formed as Y Field Regiment from 83 Anti-Tank Regiment, Persia May 42, Persia Jun 42, Became 165 Field Regiment, Persia Jul 42, N Africa Jul 43, Sicily Sep 43, Italy May 44, Cassino, Italy 25/5/44 X(2) List [evacuated on medical grounds] Central Mediterranean Force 20/6/44 X(2) List [evacuated on medical grounds] Central Mediterranean Force 0/8/44 X(2) List [evacuated on medical grounds] Central Mediterranean Force 9/8/44 X(4) List [unposted reinforcements] Central Mediterranean Force 4/10/44 165 Field Regiment Italy. Dec 44, Disbanded 4/12/44 Jewish Field Regiment/200 Field Regiment Italy 31/3/45 X(4) List [unposted reinforcements] Central Mediterranean Force 23/8/45 X(8) List [in transit] Central Mediterranean Force 31/8/45 Disembarked UK to Depot RA 10/11/45 Release 22/2/46 Army Reserve 1958 Discharged from Reserve (age limit) Regards, Richard p.s. Thanks to The Royal Artillery 1939-45 for the unit information.
Most Field Regts RA directly supported Infantry Divisions - each Infantry Division was allocated three Field Regts RA and they went wherever the Division went. In order to beef up the firepower available to these Divisions, but without giving them all the administrative headaches that go with that, the War Office decided to create AGRAs - Army Groups Royal Artillery. An AGRA was a group of Field, Medium, Heavy and sometimes Super Heavy guns that were used for specific operations. Attached is an example of what an AGRA was made up of. In this case, it is 6 AGRA. 165 Fd Regt RA was part of an AGRA but I have not been able to work out which one. What I do know is that 165 Fd Regt RA was one of the 1,089 guns that fired in support of Eighth Army during Op DIADEM on 11 May 44 at Cassino. Your father was wounded in the latter stages of that operation. On 25 May 44, II (PO) Corps was attacking Piedmonte San Germano which is six miles north of Cassino. Regards Frank
I believe it has a lot to do with WW1 When the Pals Battalions who were recruited from towns and small communities were decimated in one days fighting ,it would leave a whole area in mourning and depleted of young men .Also a whole town would receive notice of deaths same day ,So recruiting was spread out. Just as many young men were killed but it was spread across the country .
Redtop. Nothing so intelligent. It was as Owen describes - soldiers were sent to where ever the Army needed them most at the time. Regards Frank