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Hi everyone...I'm trying to find any information about my Dad,
I would be most grateful if anyone can help.
His details are as follows:
Lance Corporal Robert William Jones.
4204511
6th Btn,
Royal Welch Fusiliers. (21st Army Group)
I believe he was mentioned in despatches on the 8th February 1946.
Any info (Photos?) would be wonderful.
many thanks.
Hi and welcome
What was the details behind your fathers MID. Have you applied for his service record?
Hi ap1...
I've no idea why he was MID...He never ever spoke about WW2 to me.
I would dearly like to know, as would my brother and sister.
Is there any way of finding out?
Thanks for your reply by the way...much appreciated.
Apologies for the late reply, difficult to keep up sometimes.
You should apply for his service record from the MOD. You are fortunate that you have all of his details, so I don't see a problem. It will take a few months, and the fee is about £35. Visit the link below, In the meantime I will have a look tonight in Red Dragon and see what his Bn were up to preceding Feb 46. Unless one of our other members is able to assist????.
http://www.veterans-uk.info/service_...records.html#3
Thank you so much ap1...I'm very grateful.
As I previously said, My Dad never spoke about the war to me (or anybody).
I never understood this, and wondered if his experiences were not too pleasant...(understatement)... he just switched off from the memories.
It would be great to see his whereabouts in Europe.
Thanks again for the link and help.
Just a quick query, where did you get his service details and MID dates from?
My brother has the MID "certificate"... I'm sorry, I don't know the correct term.
It's very fragile now and has to be handled with care.
I'ts got Montgomery's signature on it,
It's got all of the details posted above.
Late to the party - sorry.
1946 and 6th Bn RWF would look to me to place your Dad in Palestine post war. I suspect his MiD was indeed for Palestine and not WWII ?
I will ha ve a dig around and see what I can find out.
I would also echo Al's advice and apply for his service papers. If your mum is still alive I think she can apply for free.
Richard
Palestine...Wow!
If that's true then it would be a big surprise!
Many thanks for your help.
Unfortunately my Mum is not alive...she passed away in 1994.
I will go into his records though.
Thanks again.
21st Army Group was the invasion force and commanded by Montgomery. I suspect he has earned his award during 1945, Feb 1946 possibly reflects the period it was announced.Quote:
Originally Posted by Klaatu
This is quite interesting because unless it is headed "Mentioned in Dispatches" it may possibly be a "Commanders in Chiefs Commendation", which is still a great achievment, especially when you consider who authorised the award(Monty).
Would it be possible to get a scan of it, so we can have a look?
Montgomery was extremely keen that all soldiers received recognition for their actions. and if he had been visiting the battalion, he may have handed Robert his award
That explanation sounds more likely, I can get a scan of it...But unfortunately my brother lives quite a distance from me (He doesn't have a scanner).
It will take a couple of days for me to get hold of it...I'll upload it ASAP for everyone's inspection. Thanks so much for your interest.
I look forward to seeing it. I've emailed a retired Colonel from the Royal Welch who is the regiments foremost archivist. He has no record of your fathers award, and he actually compiled the original list from that era. So its quite important that your fathers award is noted within the regiments history.
Many Thanks
I'm onto that...Thank you for your help.
In the meantime I do have this.... http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b1...tu_/Lnce-2.jpg
It's obviously a hand coloured photograph (They were quite popular back then).
Thanks, great pic. Its now up in the gallery. Once you post the citation I will put something together in the research archive. I will also forward them onto the retired regimental officer who archive this type of information.
That's great!....Thank you so much for your interest and response to this.
I'm overwhelmed.
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b1...ESMID2copy.jpg
Well, Finally got my hands on this.
As you can see it doesn't say "Mentioned in Despatches" after all.
Maybe it's not as prestigous as I originally thought...Whatever it is I'm very proud of it.
It's been missing for decades as you can see by it's condition.
I don't know why my Dad didn't look after it much better!
I was going to clean it up on the computer , but decided against it.
Anyway, can anybody shed light on this?
I would be very grateful.
That is outstanding. Monty was extremely keen on recognising soldiers efforts. You can rest assured that he would have personally authorised this certificate.
You may be interested in the book The History of the 6th BN(1944-45)that is up for sale on Ebay.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HISTORY-OF-THE...QQcmdZViewItem
Its quite rare, so I would pitch high and possibly use an auction sniper if you really want it.
Hello,
Some info on the 6th Batt,
1945
8th May In Hamburg area guarding Elbe bridges and DP camps(160 Bde) Strength 19 May 26 officers and 836 ORs
11 May Moved to Heide area in Schleswig- Holstein to man stop lines across Wesselburen peninsula.
30th May Batt withdrawn to Barmstedt (20 Mies N N W of Hamburg).
4th June Batt moved to Melle( 10 miles S E of Osnabruck.)
9th June Batt move to Dusseldorf.
3 August Guard of honour for C-in - C at Dusseldorf Opera House investiture
5th Oct Airfield camp renamed Caernarfon Barracks A coy moved in from Benrath.
23rd Oct S P coy disbanded strength 6 oct 29 & 912.
21 November Guard of honour for C in C at opera house Dusseldorf.
16 Dec B coy to Caernarvon barracks from town. Batt al now in Bks
Noted from Regt History
Don
Looking at the certificate, and bearing in mind that Monty has personally signed it, I would suggest it will be of great value to your family for many years to come. It may be worth getting it properly mounted to prevent further damage.
Because of the Montgomery link, it certainly adds value and kudos, which your father would not have received with an MID. He was hero worshiped by the nation, and his public appearances drew huge crowds.
Thanks for letting us have a look at it.
Many thanks for your kind comments and information.
The book looks interesting too!
As for mounting it, I've discussed this with my brother and we're both agreed that we'll donate it to the RWF Museum...I'm sure they'll take good care of it.
Hopefully we'll go there in the next couple of weeks.
Following some more research, your father was a Lcpl in B Company 6 RWF, he is listed as being part of that company when they landed at Normandy on the 27th June 1944. He would have taken part in all the major battles including the Battle of Evrecy, the Battle of the Riechswald(Operation Veritable), and of course s'Hertogenbosch(the liberation of the dutch town).
He was one of 26 members of the battalion to be awarded a "Commander in Chiefs Certificate", and his name was listed in official records.
Between June 44 - May 45 the 6th Battalion had 23 Officers and 194 men killed, and hundreds of others wounded.
If you want to read a book that gives a feel for the fighting at this stage of the War, I can recommend:
18 Platoon. By Sidney Jary MC. Amazon.co.uk: 18 Platoon: Sydney Jary: Books
Although not Royal Welch, Sidney Jary was a young officer who joined his platoon in Normandy on D+3, and fought with the same group of NCO's until the end in 45, which in itself was an achievement, as most young officers and NCO's were eventually killed or wounded, if they remained in the frontline long enough.. It is one of the best low level infantry books of this period, and a great read.
ap1...That is amazing!...I am ever so grateful for your efforts and research in this. It makes me feel even more proud of my father.
I can't thank you enough.
Happy to help.
Your fathers details are now in the sites Research Archive and Articles Area. The link is at the left side of the home page.