RWF at Dover 1943

[Dover Phil]

Hi all,

I am trying to research the wartime garrisons at Dover, especially those at the Western Heights. The Heights are a gigantic series of almost forgotten Georgian and Victorian fortifications that dominate the hills on the opposite side of the valley to the Castle. They encompassed a fortress, The Citadel, which was linked to the Drop Redoubt fort at the opposite end by miles of moats and defensive gun batteries. There were two main sets of sadly now demolished barracks contained seaward of the moats, the South Front Barracks and the Grand Shaft Barracks.

Sadly there are very few easily accessible sources as to what actually took place up there, and to my knowledge there is no list of exactly who was stationed up at any of those locations. This is something I have been trying to rectify in my spare time - as part of a volunteer preservation society I sometimes take tour groups around in the summer and am always on the hunt for historical snippets and juicy tales... I've managed to work out a tentative garrison sequence up to June 1943 but then hit a wall.

So what has this got to do with the RWF? Well, I believe that from June until November 1943 the Dover garrison was defended by the 115th Brigade which, I think, consisted of the 8th, 9th and 13th RWF Battalions. I'd guess from the high designations these must have been training battalions, but I can't find out an awful of information on the net. I have a feeling the 8th may have spent some time at The Citadel, which brings them into my area, but I'd love to confirm this and the location of the other battalions.

The battalions would have defended Dover against aerial attacks, manned outer perimeter defences and themselves been subjected to bombing and cross-channel shelling.

If anyone here has any information or tales about the RWF at Dover at any point, I'd really appreciate it.

Many thanks,

Phil

[ap1]

Hi Phil,

A warm welcome. Your quite correct about 115th Bde. It was a second line unit, although it appears to have been extremely well trained and led. Originally at the outbreak of war it consisted of the 8th, 9th and 10th RWF battalions. In July 1942, the 10th Bn were selected to become one of the first parachute battalions, the men literally to a man, volunteered en bloc. Their place was taken by the 13th RWF Bn, recalled from Northern Ireland.

According to The Red Dragon: "In May 1943 the brigade moved to the Dover area, where it frequently came under fire from German coastal batteries established on the far side of the channel. Duties were mainly the guarding of important installations, such as Admiralty Pier and the Naval Dockyard at Dover"

In Sept the 9th Bn was selected as a reserve training battalion and moved to Sheringham in Norfolk. Unfortunately there is no mention of specific battalion locations within Dover. However I have found another reference to the 8th Bn being based in the Citadel, from the memories of Fusilier W O Davies. (see link) http://www.penmon.org/page92.htm You may already be aware of this.

Also this short burst of Pathe film showing the Royal Welch at Dover: http://www.britishpathe.com/video/u-s-secretary-for-war-in-england/query/Welsh

On a slightly different topic. Have you read "Dover Beach" by Leslie Thomas? The story is based in wartime Dover, what surprised me was the amount of enemy action that took place at the port.

Keep us posted on how you progress

Best

Al

[Dover Phil]

Thank you Al.

That's quite helpful, now I know that I can pretty much discount the 9th as being a major part of the garrison for any length of time as they were soon posted elsewhere. I think I'll aim for obtaining the 8th War Diary next. According to my 'Soldiers of the Castle' by G.M. Atherton, the 8th had their HQ company at the Castle from which is probably why Henry Stimson in the video seems to be visiting there - nice goat I must say!

The Castle didn't seem to have any full battalions during the war as it was chock-a-bloc with RE, HQ companies, Coastal RA, Observer Corps and others, so I'd put a small wager on the 8th being up at the Heights, which is confirmed by WO Davies's memories.

Speaking of the video, that's some great footage of the long range gun Winnie at St. Margarets at Cliffe, I've not seen those shots before so thank you again.

Not read Dover Beach I'm afraid but it's knocking around in all our local bookshops. Heyday was, of course, 1940 but poor Dover was blasted dreadfully by the long range shelling throughout the war. There was barely a quiet day - indeed, the crater from one shell is still to be seen right in the centre of town by a disused multi-storey car park and round the back of The Castle pub.

I'll let you know how I get on.

[Dover Phil]

To follow this up, I had my first trip to the National Archives yesterday and dug out file WO 166/12767 - the War Diary of the 8th RWF from January to December 43. Fortunately it confirms my hunch I was pleased to read!

Under the command of Lt. Col. J.E. Nickson the 8th RWF moved from St. Margarets (between Deal and Dover) to old Georgian fortress of the Citadel at Dover's Western Heights on the 1st August 1943. Their stay seemed to consist of route marches, exercises and endless rifle and mortar practice at Lydden Spout and back at St. Margarets. There are a number of reports of the long range guns in the Pas de Calais opening fire at convoys in the Channel and hitting Dover itself.

On the 29th September at 07:50 a Mosquito crashed in the company area at Broadlees farm near the rear of Dover Castle and both crewmen were killed. Cross referencing this with the records of the local Barrage Balloon squadron tells me that the plane had tragically impacted the cable of the balloon stationed at the docks and therefore was brought down by our own defences. The incident was reported by the RWF who had 'C' company at East Arrow Barracks near the Castle at that time.

They were not at The Citadel at Dover for long and left for Stoke Poges on the 23/24th October, their place at The Citadel being filled by the 2/7 Warwickshire Regiment.

[ap1]

Many thanks for the update Phil. You are now officially our "8th Bn expert" :wub:
http://www.zoominto.com/zoomapi/ZoomButt.gif



In terms of detail, what was the war diary like, much mention of individual men?

[Dover Phil]

He he! That's a responsibility!

I really need to get hold of the records of the 9th and 13th RWF to make sense of it all as together they formed the 115th Infantry Brigade which I'm fairly certain was camped in the Dover area from late May or early June 43 to end of October. Next time I'm up at the NA I'll try and find those.

I only photographed the Citadel section but in retrospect I should have photographed the whole thing including the St. Margarets section, but I was pushed for time and had lots of other documents to look at - you know how it is! I'm guessing maybe the 9th had The Citadel from May to 1st August but hopefully I'll be able to confirm on my next trip.

The 8th file was not a large one. It pretty much only held the daily records and not a lot else. I'll try and go through it this weekend and try and see if there are any names. It seems that much of it was just procedural though - route marches, shelling reports and training deployments. There was a lengthy list of the instructions for withdrawal from Dover if I can recall - which company was to board which lorry and timings, that sort of thing. Overall there was not a lot of drama I'm afraid.

I'll get back to you on this. :spinny: