Hi, I'm looking into a soldier who served with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment as part of the BEF. I'm not sure as to the battalion (I know there was more than 1) but I do know that he landed in France on the 13th September 1939. Any way of telling battalion by landing date? Thanks Conor
Its the 2nd Battalion. The battalion was in Aldershot on the 13th September and they didn't land in France until the 24th Sept, to be precise-Cherbourg at 0900 hrs. But.... On the 13th of September at 0445 hrs the advanced party left Aldershot under Major Hicks MC. As a side note I think he was killed on the 27th/28th fighting at Wormhout-not the massacre. I remember the name for some reason.
Cheers Drew. I've just had a look at what details I have on him and it says he was with the BEF until the 10th July 1940 which is after the fall of DUnkirk. Does this make sense? Thanks again, Conor
The date seems a long time after Dunkirk. Admin error or could have been on the run? What was left of the battalion left France from the beach at Bray Dunes on 30th May.
I was thinking that myself. Maybe he had got back to England earlier but remained listed as "BEF" until he had been gathered up back to his unit. Do you have the War Diary Drew? Just in case he got a mention he was Thomas Washbrooke. Regards Conor
I do and the Missing Men File. Both are too thick to go through each page in any detail (500 pages) but a quick skim through for the obvious things like a nominal roll doesn't show anything.
