68823 Atkinson T

Help!

My son's father in law celebrates his 90th birthday next Friday so we are travelling to Croydon to help them give him a bit of a special day.

He doesn't (like many) talk about his military service during the war but I have managed to glean that he was at Dunkirk; he was a Bren Gun Carrier crew member; he was a driver; he was a Heavy Machine Gunner AND he was a member of 49th (WR) Infantry Division (The Polar Bears).

I will be very grateful if any of our military history geniuses could find out about his military service etc and let me know so that I may knock up a speech for his party.

Very many thanks in anticipation.

Not an easy one, Keith.

Some suggestions:

Find out the Regiment first, as you can't do much without that.

Check the library for a history of the regiment and of 49 Div. Either may at least give some indication of where he was in France before ending up at Dunkirk. There are also some very good general books on the Dunkirk period, especially "The sands of Dunkirk" which gives a lot of detail on the various actions fought.

If you have time (and money) try the Army Personnel Centre as described by me in the recent John Leslie Catherall thread in the Research section. You will need written permisison from a close family member, though.

It's not a period I know much about, but this is how I would tackle the problem.

Hope this helps.

John