1st Bn RWF - May 1940 (Dunkirk)
Myself and Bob are currently adding the War Diary for the 1st Bn at Dunkirk in 1940. Its a slow process and the text is added a bit at a time. Its well worth reading the segments as we add them, you get a better sense of the build up from phoney war to the all out maelstrom, with our 1st Bn right in the middle of it.
It also reminds you that the guys writing the diaries had no idea that the battalion was facing near decimation and embarking on a war journey that would take them from the battlefields of France, eventually finishing in the jungles of Burma 5 long years later.
You can view the page at http://www.rwf-forum.co.uk/vBulletin...n-RWF-May-1940
Re: Article: 1st Bn RWF - May 1940
Hi Roy, its taken you over two years to post, but its been worth waiting for. An excellent post and a warm welcome to you.
Can I ask what your interest is in the Royal Welch. I'm assuming either Dave or Frank were relatives of yours?
Kind Regards
Re: Article: 1st Bn RWF - May 1940
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ap1
Hi Roy, its taken you over two years to post, but its been worth waiting for. An excellent post and a warm welcome to you.
Can I ask what your interest is in the Royal Welch. I'm assuming either Dave or Frank were relatives of yours?
Kind Regards
Hi,
Yes, Frank is my father Frank Dadge and Dave is 4189858 Sergeant D.P. Evans DCM. Dave was a friend of my fathers who I knew as a small boy and young man. Dave won his DCM in the fighting at Ottenburg on the 12th May 1940.
Kindest regards
Roy
Re: Article: 1st Bn RWF - May 1940
I found this very helpful too. My father, John Hugh Edwards, and his cousin, Llewelyn Lewis were both Fusiliers in B Company, taken prisoner on 26 May. Llewelyn Lewis died in Stalag XXA the following year, leaving a small collection of poems in Welsh about the retreat from the Dyle and life as a prisoner of war. My father never spoke about it, like so many. I lived in Brussels for 6 years in the 1990s and was aware that I was constantly crossing their tracks since I lived in the south of the city and my weekend walks and cycle rides more often than not took me into the sector between the Wavre and the Senne.
Re: 1st Bn RWF - May 1940 (Dunkirk)
Thanks Lynne,
Thanks for your response. Not sure if you've seen this older thread, that includes some passages from the Red Dragon, in relation to the Bn's initial action at the River Dyle
http://rwf-forum.co.uk/vBulletin/sho...hlight=dunkirk
Re: 1st Bn RWF - May 1940 (Dunkirk)
Thankyou very much. I had not noticed this thread.
Re: 1st Bn RWF - May 1940 (Dunkirk)
My father was a member of Platoon 18, D Company, 1st Battalion Royal Welch Fusiliers on the River Dyle, 15th May 1940. I believe that at least 4, if not all the 5 fusiliers buried in Wavre are from my father’s platoon. They were putting in an attack, led by Lance Sgt. Dave P. Evans who was given a DCM for the action, against the Germans when they were killed. I wondered if anyone has any information with regard to the action that took place, photographs of the soldiers or other information that may help provide background and a full story to the fateful day. The five buried in the Sint-Agatha-Rode church yard are as follows:-
LEWIS Fusilier 4189535 JAMES
MASON Fusilier 4197065 ALBERT
PRICE Fusilier 3961254 JOHN ANTHONY
ROWE Fusilier 4192896 WILLIAM
WATKINS Fusilier 4071474 LEWIS THOMAS DANIEL
I will if I can gather further information be able to record on the forum at least a partial account of the events of that day.
Roy