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Hi
I am researching my father's family and I am trying to find out any information about his uncle Mick. His name was Meirion (Micky) ROBERTS. I have found him on the CWG Debt of Honour and include that information here:
Royal Welch Fusiliers 2nd Bn.
Service Number:4192904
Died 15/12/1944 aged 22
His grave is at Digboi cemetery.
I am hoping someone could point me in the right direction to find out more about him.
Thanks in advance for any help anyone can offer.
Nerys Welch
Australia
Hi Nerys,
The regiment's 2nd Bn were fortunate that at the start of WW2 they were not involved in the Dunkirk actions(the 1st Bn was decimated). This meant that they had an extremely strong mixture of experienced soldiers and officers, which was later to be vital in the fierce fighting that they took part in, during the Burma Campaign in which Meirion was killed, and prior to that in Arakan and Madagascar.
From about August 44 until Dec 44 the 2nd Battalion had been involved in clearing Railway Corridor, which ran from Myitkyina in Northern Burma to Katha on the Irrawaddy River in the south of the country. The battalion fought from the north heading south. Regimental records note that they fought against a very stubborn Japanese opposition(suicidal in some cases) in very poor weather.
They completed the task of clearing Railway Corridor, when they entered the town of Indaw( north west of Katha) on the 10th Dec 44. I suspect Meirion was injured during the latter stages of this campaign, and then possibly died from his wounds in the military hospital at Digboi on the 15th Dec 44.
I would add that Meirion held the rank of Corporal at the time of his death, he would have probably commanded a section of about 8 men,
I've also found this information about the cemetery:
"During the World War II a military hospital was also established in Digboi for the treatment of the injured army at war. To cremate the dead armies, a permanent cemetery was selected at Digboi. Apart from the graves of the armies died in Digboi, armies who died in Margherita, Panitola, Jorhat ,Tinsukia, Ledo etc is also found in Digboi War Cemetery. A grave of a British army who died in Burma is also placed here at Digboi War Cemetery. Out of a total of 200 graves here at Digboi, 194 were identified are 6 are unidentified where 5 are Indian and 1 from US."
Initially the Digboi War Cemetery was on a hill top but due to the 1950 earthquake and 1953’s landslide the cemetery was destroyed and therefore the cemetery was shifted to its present location.
The next thing to do is contact the Ministry of Defence and apply for Meirions war records. Visit the weblink below to the Veterans Agency and complete the SAR form. You have all his details, so it should be fairly easy to get this information. Let us know how you get on please.
Very best of luck
Al
HI Al
Thank you very much for all the information. My dad thought that he was fighting in Burma and died later from his wounds so it is good to be able to get more informoration about what the 2nd Bn were doing around that time. I shall send off for his war records and I will certainly post how it goes.
Again many thanks
Nerys
Hi
Thanks for the help re Meirion. I was wondering if I could throw another person your way and see if you had any suggestions. My dad has another uncle called Jack ROBERTS (may be under John) who he believes served in the 1st Bn. He was captured during the Dunkirk retreat at St.Valerie and then spent the rest of the war in a German POW camp. He was from Rhyl and married to Doris.
I do not have a service number for him so I was wondering if there is anyway to find this out or anything about him.
Thanks in advance
Nerys Welch
Australia
Hi Nerys
Do some research on this book. I think it will depend on what you know about your man.
Prisoners of War British Army 1939-1945 by J B Hayward AND Son
ISBN No 0-903754-61-4
Or better still the International Red Cross Archive. Click the link below:
http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0...s?OpenDocument
I would also suggest that you speak to the RWF Museum at Caernarfon. They may have the complete list of all the guys who were captured from the 1st Bn. Its a long shot, but it will give you Jacks Service number. I would be interested to know how you get on with the museum strand of research
Do you know if Jack Roberts held any rank?
Thanks again Al for your help. Jack's real name may well be John. He was a private. He lived in Rhyl but his family was from Rhosybol, Anglesey. he died in 1967.
I shall chase up those leads you have given me and I will post back when I get any more information.
Thanks heaps
Nerys
Is there anywhere we can view POW details online? My dad never spoke about his captive days but without delving too deeply, I'd like to know where he was held etc.
Anita x
Anita
Was he taken POW in the Far East or Europe ?
Richard