Raiding Support Regiment

A quick follow-up post to the above.

Glyndwr Williams Service Number was RAFVR 1419660. He seems to be the left most person with shirt off on the front row (bottom of the 3 photos at Raiding Support Regiment) - also attached as image below.

As discussed above, we know he was associated with RAF HSLs that took part in operations around North Africa and Mediterranean. Specifically, these were: Elba, Corsica, Crete, Yugoslavia, Pantellaria, Lampedusa, Sicily and Southern France - we have a hand painted tankard that lists the places where his crew were involved. We have a number of photos from when he was on either mainland Italy or in Yugoslavia, but as the guys are predominantly bare chested, there aren't any insignia, berets or uniforms to confirm what units he was associated with.

I've uploaded a couple of photos of him to this post.

Thanks again, Richard

 

Hi all

I’ve put together a website for the Raiding Support Regiment here: The Raiding Support Regiment

I’ve loaded honours and awards with available citations, a roll of honour, info on training, insignia, a list of known operations and the composition of the RSR and I’m working on a photo gallery as well with some really cracking photos.

Would appreciate any feedback, comments, corrections or contributions from the many knowledgeable members here

It will be a continuous work in progress but will hopefully eventually add to the available info on this unit.

Kind Regards
Marco

 

To add to information regarding RSR: My father ddJohn Burns Yates was transferred to RSR in 1943, missing June '44, recorded as Casualty July '44, place of Casualty Island of Brac, then POW Stalag VII September '44 . Hope this adds to the jigsaw

 

My Grandad George Anderson served with the RSR and was part of 'B' battery. Unfortunately I never had the chance to talk to him about his wartime years but I'm very interested to find out more information. The family know of certain things,Operation Noahs Ark of which he himself mentioned. He did numerous parachute drops,he fought alongside partisan fighters etc. He mentioned Crete,Italy,Cairo and other countries. It wasn't until after he passed that we found his sevice book which mentioned he was with the SAS for a period of time. Its all fascinating stuff and any help would be greatly appreciated!!

 

Some useful info here.

132388 Colonel Christopher Montague WOODHOUSE, DSO, OBE, MID*, Intelligence Corps & SOE

Post 6

There are many more posts about the RSR on this forum.

Try putting this in google "RSR" site:ww2talk.com or "Raiding Support Regiment" site:ww2talk.com

Hope this helps

Gus

 

From one of the other RSR threads that Gus has mentioned.

Insignia, and a potted history: RSR - Gallantry Medals - Greece 1944/45

Good luck with your searching.

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

 

Some background info.

Operation Noah's Ark was the codeword for all activities of SOE Force 133, assisted by a detachment of the RSR and the Greek Resistance Movement (ELAS) to make the Germans retreat from Greece as difficult as possible. They did this mostly through espionage and mounting ambushes and was carried out in the summer and autumn of 1944.

Operation Aplomb and Operation Towan Bucket covered activities of BUCKETFORCE (SBS/LDRG/RSR/4 PARA/RAF Regiment) in September and early October under the Command of the Earl Jellicoe. Their mission was to clear the way for a small invasion force consisting of 2 Para Bde and 23 Armd Bde (retrained as infantry) to land by air and sea (Force 140/ARKFORCE) under the command of Major-General R.H.B. "Harry" Arkwright in October 1944 and take control of Greece and help with its rehabilitation.

Once Athens was liberated, BUCKETFORCE was supplemented by more personnel from 4 Para and renamed POMPFORCE. Their mission was then to harry the Germans as they made their exit north out of Greece.

All of the combined forces were disbanded not long after the landing of the Greek PM, G Papandreou, his Government in exile and the British 3rd Infantry Corps under the command of General R Scobie assumed joint control of Greece on 18 October 1944.

The RSR Greece detachment were based in Athens afterwards.

There were suggestions that ELAS were not fully committed during all of these operations. The reason for this became clear when on 3rd December 1944 ELAS attempted a coup d'etat and take control of Athens and the nearby port of Piraeus.

After 6 weeks of intense fighting ELAS finally defeated on 15 Jan 45 when ELAS surrendered.

RSR were primarily used as a spearhead for 2 Para Bde's operations to clear parts of Athens and I believe RSR suffered more casualties there than anywhere else.

Hope this helps

Gus

 

Thank you Jim much appreciated!

 

Thank you Gus! This is great stuff and much appreciated!

 

I'm interested to know what happened to the RSR after their operations in Greece etc and whether they fought in Northern Europe? My Grandad originally signed up with The Riffle Brigade before joining the RSR and then returned to them at the end of the war when the RSR were disbanded. It mentions in his testimonial written by his commanding officer in The Riffle Brigade that he had him for six months after previously being with the SAS.
Trying to piece things together!!

 

From the link in post #47 above Kieran.



Northern Italy/Yugoslavia border was the war's end for RSR.

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

 

Aha!
Thank you Jim!
I'm sure I'll be back with plenty more questions!!
Thanks again!!

 

hi - I am new here but I am trying to find more I formation on my grandfather, Ronald Douglas Woodcock who served with the RSR in ww2. I have some photos and some family folklore but I would appreciate any further information anyone may have as we have been searching for years for any details on his journey through Italy, Greece then into Yugoslavia with Tito. Many thanks in advance for any help

 

Hi there!

I've recently joined this forum as I'm trying to find out as much information on my grandfather's ww2 career too! He was in "b" battery RSR and he mentioned many places, Greece,Italy, Egypt, Yugoslavia etc. I never spoke to him personally about it but he used to chat to my dad about it all. Numerous parachute drops,fighting with the gorilla's and trekking through the mountains with donkeys. We only found out once he passed away that it was mentioned in his release papers that he was with the SAS too. It's all fascinating stuff and I wish I had the chance to talk to him about it all. This forum has been very interesting and helpful and I hope you find out as much as you can!!

Kind regards
Kieran

 

Many thanks Kieran.
We have service records and a few medals but my grandfather had, I guess, PTSD, that he never really spoke about his exploits to his son (my dad). By the time I knew him his health had deteriorated to a point where he could not communicate well. He spoke of walking the length of Italy, living in hedgerows, being two days in advance of the US troops at the liberation of Athens and fighting with Tito. He was RA and then volunteered on a transport ship for special duties and did his parachute training in Africa. I have more specifics and a photo which I will post here over the next week but what I would really love is to understand possible routes through Italy so I can visit with my father before he is too old. Many thanks John

 

Ronald Douglas Woodcock

 

A possible regarding your grandfather John (do you know his service number for definite perchance?).

Should you not have then already, RA Attestation book entry and close up, plus (again, only a possibility) RA Tracer Card (courtesy of TNA Kew via their commercial partners)









There's a nice photograph and a piece (I guess written and submitted by your father a few years back) here:

Ronald Woodcock

Good luck with your searching, and should you not have them yet, service records are a priority.

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

 

The very photo!

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

 

Wow thanks for the fast reply and the information. I didn’t realise my father had already made contact here. I will review the other link and confirm that it’s Ron. Many thanks and be back with more soon.