Hi everyone,we've recently obtained my grandads service record and we are trying to draw on a map the route he took through India & Burma but it just seems to say field on his records which is of no help at all.
He joined up 18/10/40 with the 70th RWF.then transfered to south staffs reg,then the 431 company CMP before transfereing to the 1 RWF.
He landed in Deolali 21/09/43,Bombay 21/9/43 then it goes to wounded in action in Burma 3/12/43 (with 1RWF).After that it just lists field for location until 11/4/44 when he entered concessional area at assam.
He was there until July 1946.
Does anyone know where the 1 RWF fought in India/Burma or how i can find out where he went?
He told us he fought with the chindits & Ghurkhas & i have a pic of him & his Regiment with some ghurkas & chindits in either India or Burma.
Any help would be greatly received.
Thanks for reading.
Shaz
P.S.i can post his service/casualty record & the pics i have if anyone is interested.
We would certainly be interested in displaying his casualty and service records. We have an area called The Vault that we use to keep this type of information. You can upload it yourself, it will then be authorised by one of the mods. If you have any probs PM myself, Richard or Lars and we will happily assist.
In ref to his service, once you have posted his service record we should be able to help you, plot a route etc. I will start looking in the detail you have provided.
Incidently, you can attach a pic of your grandad to your initial post.
Re-reading your post, you mention that he entered the Assam Concessional Area in April 44. I think this may refer to the tribal area of Nagaland, which was part of Assam. If i'm correct, it would a be a fair guess that your Grandfather fought at the Battle of Kohima, which commenced in late April 44.
The 1st Bn were part of 6 Brigade of the 2nd Div, and this battle was bitter and bloody. It was fought on 3 small pieces of highground called Garrison Hill, Kukris Piquet FSD and a nearby location which prior to the fighting had been the District Commisioners(DC's) Bungalow. The very fact that The Tennis Court at the DC's bungalow became a well know place of intense fighting, gives an indication of how close the Japanese and British were living and fighting.
As a taster you may be interested in reading an account given to the BBC by an old 1RWF Comrade, who fought at Kohima
Thanks so much for the info so far.Reading Harold Jones account of the Battle of Kohima bought home abit what my grandad must of gone through.
On a different note,which part of the vault should i post his service record in and can i attatch multiple items to the post as they are all scanned on my pc as jpeg images,so theres 10 items to attach.
Thanks to Shaz who has sent me a series of documents relating to Reginald Sherriff. One is of immediate interest. Its a picture of the temporary memorial to the Royal Welch Dead at Kohima. It was errected on Kukris Piquet by the Pioneer Platoon of the 1st Bn on the 8th Nov 1944. This picture is also featured in the book The Red Dragon published in 1960. Shaz has a picture of her grandfather stood beside the memorial.
Thanks for the info about the temporary memorial,i had no idea what it was for.Your deffinatly a wealth of information!!
Cant wait to tell my mum what it is tomorrow.
Shaz
Looking at his Service/Casualty record, its clear it wasn't filled out in a logical sequence. It would have been updated as and when it was feasable. I don't think he was wounded in Dec 1943. The Red Dragon has the battalion undergoing training at that period, and not actually undertaking active service
Some other the other members may have a view. But I think the date in the red box actually relates to the Oct 43 entry above, which has been crossed out.
The same author has then stated in the yellow entry below that your Grandad was wounded in action by gunshot wounds(GSW) to the chest and legs in Burma. Admitted to 5 Field Ambulance to X(N). The date of the wounds being the 14th April 1944.
The next entry below, then shows him being discharged from Hospital and transferred to his unit on the 17th May 1944, just over a month later.
Thanks for the info so far Al,we find it really hard to read alot of the writing on his service/casuality record.
Its interesting that theyv got him down as being wounded when they were undergoing training & not active service-strange!
We do have more records but they are printed on A3 paper & my scanner only takes A4.
I will get them off my mum over the xmas period & try to scan them on to my pc as best as i can & get them uploaded.
I will also get that photo off my mum with my grandad standing next to the temporary memorial to the Royal Welch Dead at Kohima.I find it really sad that my grandad may of fought with some of those brave fellows that lost their lifes!!!
Shaz
Thanks for the info so far Al,we find it really hard to read alot of the writing on his service/casuality record.
Its interesting that theyv got him down as being wounded when they were undergoing training & not active service-strange!Shaz
I think its just the way it reads. I think he was wounded on the 14th April 44, which was the early part of the Kohima battle. I will scan a couple of pages from Red Dragon, it paints a better picture of the conditions.
Also the CMP stands for Corp of Royal Military Police(The forerunner of the RMP). He was a member of 431 Company CMP (VP) and based at Belfast. His record indicates that he went Absent Without Leave, he was also courtmartialed and received a sentence of 84 days, possibly for this offence. He then ends up back with the RWF in India. He had an interesting military service. :-)
CMP & RMP shoulder badges At the beginning of the Second World War, the CMP had several branches: Special Investigation Branch (SIB); Red Caps, who were responsible for general policing; Blue Caps (Vulnerable Points), responsible for security of static locations and establishments; White Caps (Traffic Control); and Field Security Wing (Green Caps), which was separated from the CMP in 1940 to form the Intelligence Corps, and who wore the CMP cap badge, but without the scroll
Hi,that would be great if you could scan a couple of pages from Red Dragon.
As for my grandads military service,he deffinatly was a free spirit & didnt like being told what to do much,lol.
Shaz
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Originally Posted by flumpit2
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