Help - 6th bn royal welch fusilier

Hi to anyone that can help.

I have been researching my family tree and my great uncle was in the 6th bn Royal Welch Fusiliers. and died on 16th April 1945. His name is William george Holbrook born on 27 July 1926 and his fusilier number is 14838527. I have got his details from the cwgc website and know he is buried in Becklingen war cemetery. I have been trying to research what happened on the day he died as i am curious to where the 6th bn were? I have several names for books to read up on from your website.

Also when i research the 6th bn RWF on google alot of others ome up i.e 53rd division and 158 brigade. Are these linked?

I was wondering if anyone could help me curb my curiosity in this as the more i read the more i want to know.

Thankyou so much in advanced for any information

They were linked, Annemarie. The 6th Battalion was part of the 158th Brigade which in turn was part of the 53rd (Welsh) Division.

Swiper is our resident expert on the 53rd Div. I'll ask him to have a look at this thread. May take few days.

John

Thankyou very much for getting back to me so quickly John! I really appreciate it! thanks for confirming thought i was going off the beaten track! ;)

I just spoke to Swiper. He'll have a look at this thread tomorrow morning to see what he can do for you.

John

ok thats fab looking forward to it ;)

Some additional info: 6th RWF was transferred from 158th Bde to 160th Bde (also 53rd Div) on 26th Aug 1644.

John

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Baconwallah

Some additional info: 6th RWF was transferred from 158th Bde to 160th Bde (also 53rd Div) on 26th Aug 1644.

John

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I believe the changes to the RWF brigade(158) was partly an effort to reduce the effect on morale at home in Wales, caused by so many casualties from the same regiment, many from the same towns and villages. Additionally below:

Here's a quote from a living history website: http://53rdwelshdiv.webs.com/158brigade.htm

"The 158 (Royal Welch) Brigade consisted solely of Battalions of the Royal Welch Fusiliers until 3rd August 1944 - where after the casualties suffered during Operation Greenline the RWF Battalions were spread across the Division to minimise casualties - due to problems with reinforcing understrength Brigades full of members of one Regiment."

The history of the Royal Welch Fusiliers during World War ll is told in a book called the Red Dragon, Copies do turn up form time to time on the internet but can be pricey. The Regimental Museum can help with providing copies of relevant passages. Although stalled at the moment the Regimental Records of the Royal Welch Fusiliers Volume 5, covering WWll, is also being rewritten. - Bob

His number is not a direct RWF enlistment. It is in the block assigned to the General Service Corps. So he was transfered in at some stage.

"The General Service Corps' main function was to act as a holding unit for Officers and specialists who have not been assigned to other units or corps; these are primarily reservists. The GSC is usually only active in wartime."

Hello all,
Re Al Poole's thread the 4th 6th and 7th battalions were re-formed from a single Brigade to minimise losses to the RWF. The new set up was as follow:
158 brigade was re- formed by the 7th R W F the 1st East Lancs and the 1/5th Welch regiment. this was done on the orders of Gen Montgomery.

The 71st Brigade formed by the 4th R W F 1st High Land Infantry 1st Ox & Bucks.The 71st Brigade was commanded by Brigadier V Blomfeld.


The 160th Brigade was re-formed by 6th R W F the 2nd Mons and the 4th Welch Regiment. The 160th Brigades was commanded by Brigadier C.F.C.Coleman.

I append the following info from the "Red Dragon" By Lt Commander Kemp and John Greaves.

In early 1944 the C I C of the 21st Army Group was General Paget.

General Montgomery took command after Gen Paget.

It was decided that the "Flash" was to be worn only by officer's and W.O's. Other ranks were only allowed to wear the "Flash" whilst in England (U K ) with their best B.D.

At the end of May 1944 all the C.O's were briefed for "D Day " but the landing place was a secret.

Early on the Morning of the 6th of June, the Brigade were awoken by the sound of Aircraft and Gliders over head.

On the 15th of June orders were received by for 158 Brigade to move to the marshalling areas on the 17th.


The Brigade was split into 2 groups on the 15th of June.One consisting of all the transport and C O's and all who normally travel in vehicles left Maidstone.

All through the following day the convoy lay of "Juno" beach, on the 27th how ever unloading began.

The second group consisting of the remainder of 158 Brigade left their line in Maidstone about 13-00 hrs. On the 19th in preparation for an early start the Battalions were divided up into L.C I's of 202 men each.But at 22-00 hrs news came that the embarkation was postponed because of high winds and rough seas. by the 23rd June the wind dropped and the troops drove off to embark for Normandy.

I was unable to fit the chronology of the demise of Fus Hollbrook firmly down to the 16/4/1945 because the book only has about two and a quarter pages on the 6th Battalion and the chapter is mainly comprised of the actions of the 4th, 6th and 7th R.W.F. and is a bit disjointed. The Thread By Richard Ward is interesting in as much as was Fus Hollbrook R.T.U'd or even E.R.E.

It may well be that more informed members may have a defining reason for my inability to go forward until the 16/4/1945 the Brigade may well have reached the Reichswald by then but this is a guess I will dig deeper.
Regards RBD aka jungle 1810.




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