Need Help Please - John French Pierce and Robert Davies 4th RWF WW2

[mickyvic]

Still struggling with my little family mystery. I have John French Pierce's death certificate which identifies him as a retired builder. This seems contrary to my grandmother's memories of him being confirmed to a wheelchair since the end of the war. I made brief contact with a distant relative and their memories are a little different. He went to India and Burma and returned with a tropical disease (which made him go yellow for a while). Whilst this information is also supplied by an older person its interesting that the first memories were of returning from India and Burma rather thah being so severely wounded that he was confined to a wheel chair. The RWF's sailed in March 1942 (if my research is correct) which seems to align with my father's birth nine months later. What the two stories do agree on was that he played professional football - Belfast Celtic and my grandmother's memory of him in a green andwhite hooped shirt. Will try for the service record which - even without proving NOK - should give us some more information. Still hoping for further information from the distant relative but it seems to have gone a bit quiet. Have written a letter to the informant of JFP's death but after 20 years (interestingly i receive his death certificate twenty years to the day) I don't hold out muchh hope. Tried Ancestry.com.au, two or three Irish and Welsh football history sites, Belfast Celtic facebook, Llanrwst local museums and a couple of other areas. Anyone got any left field ideas of how I can try to find out about my paternal grandfather? Mickyvic

[Aled Roberts]

I couldn't see that you had JFP's service number. He served with a Territorial RWF unit. That is all I know.

4190839

Pierce, John French

[Swiper]

That certainly sounds like he was a member of 1 RWF. I believe the War Diary may help. I'll check the Regimental history from 1950 and see if he gets a mention at all.

Cheers for that, thats the tidbit of info we really needed!