Hello all, I am researching the involvement of the British Army (4th Inf Div) in the area south of Athens , Greece during the years 1944 - 45 - 46. Some units did mineclearing operations in the area near the port town of Lavrion ( south of Athens) . Through my research with the locals and also through the CWGC archives I have come across a name of a RE sapper that may ( or may not ) have been a casualty of such an operation in the area. He was : Sapper LEE , Harry Parmley , His unit was : 713 Artisan Works Company of the Royal Engineers Service number 1915998 Age 30 Date of Death : 18 Nov 1944 Son of Wallace and Mary Lee; husband of Ivy Lee, of Radford, Coventry. Casualty How could I find more information on his unit and also how this sapper died? Any help would be appriciated !
I can't find much on the 713 (besides the fact that sometimes Artisan is spelt Artizan) - according to one source they weren't in Greece (which makes you wonder why one of it's members was buried in Phaleron) - "713th Gen Cons Coy RE Served with BEF 1940. Later 713th Artizan Works Coy RE. With First Army in Jul and Dec 1942. Served in Italy 1943-45. Disbanded Sep 1945+." there is some more detailed info elsewhere on other Artisan units such as the 706th - 706 Artisan which in the North Africa campaign seemed to be employed on construction type duties rather than bomb disposal "The work carried out at Philippeville was at the 100 General Hospital in the construction of Nissan Huts, operating theatre, cookhouses, wards and the construction of a 30,000 gallon reinforced concrete water storage tank. At an RASC Camp at Cork Forest it was in the construction of cookhouses, latrines and ablutions. At Stora Road it was improvement of the hill road above Stora to enable passage of 3.7 Anti Aircraft guns to the top of the cliff. At a Commando Camp it was the provision of a water supply, erection of cookhouses, ablutions, latrines and a boathouse. In March 1943 there was an air raid on Phillippeville Docks and some of the men were sent to repair the damage and fill in the bomb craters. Other work undertaken in Algeria during 1943 was the construction of Petrol Storage Tanks, a POW camp and two POW hospitals. While all this work was going on the men underwent military training in bridging, mine warfare, and weapon training. " but by the time they got to Italy - "June 1944 saw the 706 in the Rome area but only for a short period as they moved on to Porto San Giorgio where their duties became somewhat dangerous as they were on anti-booby trap duties, searching military installations for enemy mines and booby-traps. By the 31st of the month they were in Ancona and employed in filling in bomb craters, clearing debris from the principal public streets and clearing the bomb damaged main outfall sewer."
Thank you Dave! According to CWGC files, sapper Lee was initially (1944) buried at the town cemetery at Lavrion,before Phaleron military cemetery. I need to make further enquires with the locals in order to get more info.
As far as I can work out, the Germans retreated from Greece by October 1944 and the civil war started around December 1944. As Sapper Lee died mid November I assume it wasn't the result of direct enemy action. As for his unit, it might be possible that he was attached from the 713th to another RE unit in location as he possessed some sort of specialist skill or first-hand experience that the other unit lacked. According to an OOB here: Axis History Forum • View topic - British occupation of Greece 1944 OOB? - III Corps arrived in Greece 15 - 17 Nov and 4 Inf Division arrived 13 December 1238 Field Company, Royal Engineers was the only RE unit listed as part of III Corps at that time
My guess on the origins of a member of the 713th in Greece might be explained here: BBC - WW2 People's War - 1238 Field Company Royal Engineers - "I also found out more about 1238 Field Company. It had been assembled from various units in North Africa, each of which had been told to transfer a given number of troops to the new company. Naturally, they handed over the worst! They were now in need of reinforcements because their strength had been reduced due to the large number doing jankers for some misdemeanour or other. This was not confined to lower ranks. A tank had to be requisitioned during the siege of Athens..."
Hi Dimbo According to the Op Manna plans. [SIZE=11pt]265 troops and 30 vehicles of 713 Artisan Works Company came over to Greece from Italy, arriving at Piraeus on D-Day (16 Oct 1944)[/SIZE] [SIZE=11pt] [/SIZE] They came over on board HMS Ajax (169), HHMLST Chios (12), SS Norman Monarch (2) and an as yet unnamed RN LST (78). [SIZE=11pt] [/SIZE] 3 more troops were scheduled to come over from Italy with their vehicles at D+17. [SIZE=11pt] [/SIZE] They came under command of ARKFORCE on arrival and then to HQ Military Liaison (ML) later. HQ ML Greece were responsible for the administration, supply and relief of Greece. [SIZE=11pt] [/SIZE] [SIZE=11pt]For administrative purposes, Greece and its islands were divided into 6 Regions and 11 districts:[/SIZE] 713 Artisan Works Company were detached to the following areas: No.1 District - Region A. (HQ ATHENS) No.1 District - Region B (HQ KALAMAI) - 10 ORs initially. No.2 District - Region C (HQ PATRAS) - 10 ORs initially. No.2 District - Region D (HQ PREVEZA) - 5 ORs initially. Location statements of 9th and 28th November has HQ 713 Artisan Works Company operating in buildings in the Northern half of Piraeus Harbour. I too struggled to find the war diary, but this could be the one. http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/Details?uri=C961166 Regards Gus
