The 8th Battalion Sherwood Foresters in Norway April 1940

Into the White - Wikipedia not too bad and inspired by true events.

 

Pictures 1 and 2 were taken i Øyer. The location can be found on google.earth her:
Picture 1: Google Earth
Picture 2: https://earth.google.com/web/@61.28002966,10.36256428,197.59562683a,0d,41.8469945y,45.21197258h,88.96926123t,0r/data=IhoKFjFpbGN6TUdzT1pHSmliUXZsaVNzU1EQAg

 

For me, geolocation is one of the arcane arts.
Thank you for this clarification

 

Hello, I am researching my late grandad as he told me he would tell me more about his time in the prison camp when I got older but he sadly passed and I have many questions. I have found some info online which I will attach below. I would like to find out what part of stalagXXA he was in and more about the long March he endured. My dad told me he said on the March they arrived at another camp and he was lucky to get a space as the others were all marched back to look for more camps as the one he was in was overflowing? I’m confused about this as I have not seen anyone else say anything like this on the feed. I have some photos and a newspaper article if anyone would like to see . Thinking of what my grandad survived gives me great strength and I am very proud of him.

 

Any info would be much appreciated thank you

 

Hello everyone,

Fantastic Thread. I came here looking for more information on what my grandfather experienced in Norway. I hope it's okay to share because he was not in the Forresters, but this is the best resource I have found.

Private Anthony David Goodwin 4856538 enrolled at Grimsby on 18/3/1932 into the Leicestershire Regiment. Between 13/1/1936-7/2/1939 he served in India with the 1st Battalion Leicesters, and after serving a few days shy of the expiration of his 7 Years of Colours service, he was transferred with "his consent" to the reserves. He joined the 1st/5th Battalion Leicesters, and his Army Certificate book states that he was called up under the Res and Aux Forces Act. These are the dates printed in his book;

B.E.F. 13/9/1939-28/2/1940

N.W.E.F. 16/4/1940-7/10/1940

Then transferred to;
Worceshsire Regiment 30/5/1941-12/12/1941

and then on to the;
Pioneer Corps 24/12/1941-12/1/1946
(attached copy as photo)

It seems like he spent a long time in N.W.E.F. service. He didn't particularly like talking about the war when he was alive. He mentioned walking miles to Sweden and sleeping at farms and I have a photo taken in Sweden at the time. I also have his Army Service & Paybook, and the first entry under Protective Inoculations states, "A.B/ 64 lost in Norway, stated to be fully protected".


His Soldiers Release Book notes that he has completed his Army Form W 3148, which says "Account of Prisoners of War" when I google. Can anyone shed light on this for me? Or if anyone has any information on the Leicesters' involvement, that would be fantastic. I've got a few books which mention them, but this thread seems like a fountain of knowledge.

Gianni

 

Gianni,

Welcome aboard. This is a long thread and I fear you request for help will not get the visibility it needs. Plus, your grandfather's story has some unusual aspects, notably his time in Sweden and return to the UK. You could ask a moderator to move your post to a better place and then see if help arrives.

Incidentally this book gets very good reviews (taken from another thread). For a wider perspective this new book may be of interest: 'Anatomy of a Campaign: The British Fiasco in Norway, 1940' by retired General John Kiszely. From Cambridge Military Histories and was published in April 2017.
See: Anatomy of a Campaign: The British Fiasco in Norway, 1940 (Cambridge Military Histories): Amazon.co.uk: John Kiszely: 9781107194595: Books

 

Hi David,

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I do own that book and have enjoyed reading it (I got it 3 days ago). I signed up for find my past and have found mentions of him on the casualties list, 1 stating missing, 1 no longer missing, interned in Sweden and Previously reported as Interned in Sweden, now no longer interned

 

Gianni, the picture looks very much what i have seen in Geiranger Fjord. Just as if the world did not turn around since war times. You must visit this place. Stefan.

 

I have found two photos showing British soldiers arriving at Tretten in 1940.

 

Hello all, first post here on WW2Talk. I apologize if this is a bit of thread necro, considering the last post in it was over a year ago and that the thread is nearly a decade old.

I've been in the process of slowly putting together a work of historical fiction that, in part, covers the actions of 148 and 15 Bde's in Norway; I must admit that finding this thread has been a bit of a silver bullet as I've found very little in the way of detailed and comprehensive references regarding unit positions, weather, and timelines outside of it.

Speaking of: What was the weather like, day by day, during the period between first contact being made at Lillehammer, and Kvam? If I understand some of the older posts in the thread:

A) The hills above the roads were covered in a layer of ~2' wet snow
B) The roads themselves were clear
C) The valleys the roads were situated in were either covered in only a few inches of snow, or, by ~25 April, the snow had melted

Have I pieced that together correctly? If so, then the weather was at least above freezing. What about the days before 19 April; gentle flurries or sweeping blizzards in order to accumulate that much snow?

Many thanks, and again I thank all who contributed to the thread at one point or another; it is a fascinating read!

 

In October 1922 is was chilly, windy, and lttle rain. But in the far distance the glacier looked very white.
Stefan.