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Posted by DopeyMARTINDOWDS (U14087094) on Saturday, 1st August 2009
hi everyone.
just a message as i really do need some help.i hope someone here can enlighten me.
first of all my name is martin,i am looking back at my grandad's war years.
i have his service book from the second world war and have all the places and dates he was there.i am really trying to piece together his time from 1941 to 1944.
he was in I battery 2RHA,so it says on his letters he sent home during wartime. I have been looking for 3 days and cannot find too much on this.
he was a conscript and was a gunner.
the info i have is
gunner A E NEW
he was in the RHA. this was on his uniform.
i have his RHA cap pin and the africa star medal.
his dates in the service book are
Palastine 11/5/41 to 25/6/41
Lybia and Egypt 25/6/41 to 14/3/43
Tunisia and Algeria 14/3/43 to 18/2/44
Italy 20/3/44 to 10/6/44
injured in action in tunisia and italy due to bomb blasts.(deafness and loss of some sight.)
i have found some info on El Alamein
i would love a link or something to help me on my way to find out more about his regiment and also what guns he was using and where they were fighting.
may sound a little morbid but i am very proud of what he done for his country and also for others.
Link to this forum: Need info please for grandad in north africa
Try this one:
Google searcheds on 2nd RHA etc should take you to other sites, including the Royal Artillery Association, which is quite helpful.
Link to this forum: Need info please for grandad in north africa
, in reply to message 2.
Posted by DopeyMARTINDOWDS (U14087094) on Sunday, 2nd August 2009
thanks for that. i have had a nightmare as because he was called up and not in the army as a job they tended to be moved around quite alot.
so it ws difficult following the progress of him in the war but that link gives the dates perfectly.
my next bit is to find out why he was in palastine in 1941 for 2 months,cant find anything to do with battles.but your link is a massive help. thanks you so much.
Link to this forum: Need info please for grandad in north africa
DMD
You seem to have a lot more information than many people!
Being a conscript didn't mean he moved around more than a regular. He just happened to be in a busy unit; in the Desert there was quite a lot of chopping and changing between divisions, especially for the units, like 2RHA, that arrived as part of 2nd Armd Division, which was disbanded after being overrun by Rommel in early 1941.
There was no campaign in Palestine (the Arab/Jewish conflict went on hold for the war years). Palestine was used as a rear base, and units were often sent there for reorganisation and re-equipment. From the dates you have, I would imagine your relative joined 2RHA in Palestine as a reinforcement, while they were reorganising after the Greek campaign.
1 Armoured Division was involved in the major actions in North Africa in 1942/43 and then later in Italy.
The 2RHA war diary for the period may record your man's arrival on the strength in Palestine, but unless he was an officer, probably not by name.
LW
Link to this forum: Need info please for grandad in north africa
, in reply to message 4.
Posted by DopeyMARTINDOWDS (U14087094) on Thursday, 6th August 2009
Thank you very much for the help.
the palastine part was really getting to me as i could not find anything to do with a battle.
i guessed it wasn't to important as i think he was only there for a very short time.
your info about 2RHA has help me loads now i know he would of been attached to 1 arm div and 2 arm div.
now i can seek more.
many thanks again for your exceptional help.
Link to this forum: Need info please for grandad in north africa
You may find something of interest on either of these sites
Good luck.
Link to this forum: Need info please for grandad in north africa
, in reply to message 6.
Posted by DopeyMARTINDOWDS (U14087094) on Thursday, 6th August 2009
This is very helpfull to me. like i say i cant thank you all enough.
Link to this forum: Need info please for grandad in north africa
Nielsen
Those are WWI boards. did you mean trhat post vfor a different enquiry?
cheers
LW
Link to this forum: Need info please for grandad in north africa
Martin and LongWeekend,
Oops, Longweekend is of course right, I'm sorry to have misinformed you, Martin.
I read too fast, and my fingers were faster than my brain - again!
Sorry, Nielsen.
Link to this forum: Need info please for grandad in north africa
, in reply to message 9.
Posted by DopeyMARTINDOWDS (U14087094) on Friday, 7th August 2009
no problem. anyone trying to help me is a bonus.i am just trying to find out where and who he was with in el alamein.
the info so far has got me 3/4 of what i need and the rest i think i should be able to find.
i am very gratefull to all for your help in this.
many thanks.
Link to this forum: Need info please for grandad in north africa
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