QRWK-Queen’s Royal West Kent

Thank you for taking the time to look anyway, it's really appreciated.

I haven't seen any mention of the loyals in his service book, but the service book I have, I believe is a replacement for his original, as written on the inside it states "Certified copy of previous book which has been destroyed by fire" and elsewhere it states "copy of prev pt 1"

I'll contact the museum in Preston, hopefully they can tell me when he transferred, thank you for this guidance.

I have previously checked on the British newspaper archive, but it was more a general search for his name, I'm now thinking I'll spend a bit more time and do a deeper dive.

Thanks for this, it's given me a couple of leads to follow.

 

Not all newspapers have been scanned and uploaded on to the British newspaper website. Did Albert live in Lancashire?

 

Not sure if you know when Albert enlisted but his army number would suggest January or February 1940. The museum at Preston should be able to confirm the exact date.

 

Yes he did, is it worth looking elsewhere?

That was a very good estimate! He enlisted on the 15th February 1940.

 

If I was looking for information on Albert I would phone the library that covers the area where he or his parents lived during the war and find out if they copies of the local newspaper from 1943 and 44. I would then book a visit and search through newspapers for a mention of Albert being wounded. News did not travel as quick in 1943/44, so check for at least 2 months after the event.

 

Thanks Jonas, I'll definitely be doing that as soon as I can, I hadn't considered this.

 

Hi Ryan, good luck please let me know how you get on.

 

Your grandfather seems to have got around a bit if, as you say, he was wounded on 23rd April 1943.
The 1st Loyal's took part in the 1st Infantry Division 2nd Infantry Brigade Attack on Guriat el Attach.
I haven't looked at your posted timelines very closely but others I am sure will.

The battle for Gueriat el Atach east of Medjez over Easter 1943.
From the documents "A History of the 67th Field Regiment" by Peter Mennel
I wrote the following which has never been published:

Guariat el Attach
On 23rd April 2nd Infantry Brigade put in their attack as planned the Artillery were deployed in no mans land and the Regiment played is full part.
The Barrage opened and 2 IB began the combined attacks for the assault on the Africa Corps
2IB crossed the Tunis Medjez Road to take the high ground Guariat el Attach known as points 174, 156 and 144 overlooking Montarnaud and the main road.
A simultaneous attack was to go in from Medjez to take Grich el Oued and the high ground beyond. 78 Division were to attack and capture Long Stop Hill
which completely dominated the whole area across which the advance would be made while 4th Division would to come up via Goubellat
to capture Peter’s Corner and secure the main road. The Indian 4th Div then advanced through 1 Div lines to push the Germans back from the last high ground before Tunis.
6th Armoured would then push up the main road to link up with the 8th Army moving along the flat coastal land.
The General Officer Commanding was of the opinion that 1 Division would have the bloodiest fighting for the first 48 or 72 hours upon which the final outcome
of the Tunisia Campaign would depend.
This was the Good Friday message with which the 2IB and the 67th FOO’s went into battle.

The Plan
The Gordons to attack point 144 on the right with Major Shepherd and Lt France.
The Loyal’s to attack 156 with Major Kerr and Lt Rose.
The 2nd North Staffs to attack 174 with Capt Whitehouse and Lt Hartley.
The FOO’s went forward over Banana Ridge with the infantry at 0200 crossing the main Tunis road moving up to point 101.
They then split 265 left, 266 right and 446 centre. Almost immediately the complete HQ party of the Loyals was blown up including their Commanding Officer.

Overall the attacks whilst very costly, had been relatively successful considering that the approaches were all under enemy observation.
Points 144 and 156 were taken and held but 174 changed hands a number of times. Overnight there were a number of DF and SOS calls but
by dawn on the 24th it had quietened down.
The enemy made one more attack which was disrupted by Yoke and Uncle Targets and in the late afternoon the Sherwood Foresters passed through the North Staffs led by their OC Lt Col Pyle in a determined assault and at last 174 was taken and held.
The Loyals had suffered the most casualties their B Company being very badly cut up..
In the afternoon the Bosche deployed their dive bombers against the forward troops.

Below one of my much criticised sketch diagrams. It is NOT a map.
(Army Definition: A maps is a birds eye view of a piece of land drawn to scale on parchment or paper.)



Is this where your relative lost his original Service Book when the HQ party was blown up.

 

This raises a major question.
If he was indeed with 1st Loyal's at Gueriat el Attach how on earth did he end up at Casino with the RWK when the Loyals were up to their necks in it at Anzio.
The only conclusion that I can come to is that he was wounded or sick in Tunisia placed on the X List while in hospital for some time then posted to QRWK as they needed casualty replacements.
He may have lost contact with 1st Loyals so was not requested for return to them on their monthly returns.
The infantry unlike the Artillery probably didn't need to do this as Artillerymen had specialist skills that were needed by their Regt.


See link below re Loyals:

https://www.lancashireinfantrymuseum.org.uk/world-war-two

 

Just looking back through this thread to verify where we are. There are two separate enquiries one started by Gman142536
Then we get into ryancrompton shouldn't they be separated?

We are drifting between QRWK and The Loyals with two different people.
Think I will give it a rest and see where it all ends up.
Sorry to leave it unsolved I will come back in a while just in case I can help.

 

Thanks for sharing your insight into Guariat el Attach, he was indeed injured on the 23rd April 1943 (Bullet wound, left shoulder), and as far as I can tell so far, was part of B Company for the 1st Loyals. I think he was placed on the X II list and then transferred to the 1RWK on 9/7/43

Took a small break from my research as I was informed by TNA that his records had been located, I've recieved them now and started to have a look and am currently trying to decipher the various acronyms abbreviations etc. With that in mind, you're probably right, I think it's best to seperate these.

Is it possible to seperate these out or should I just make a new post?