Sydney Leonard Painter, RWF, Burma 1945

[Rebecca Sian]

Hello everybody,

I am in the process of compiling my family tree and of particular interest and importance to my family is finding out as much as we can about my mother's uncle, Sydney Leonard Painter.

All my mother and her brothers and sisters know of him is that he was in the RWF and was killed in action whilst in Burma. From a brief search I found his listing in the UK Army Roll of Honour 1939-1945. To give as much information as possible, here are the details given:

Name: Sydney Painter
Given initials: S L
Rank: Fusilier
Death Date: 5 March 1945
Number: 4194913
Birth Place: Denbigshire
Residence: Denbigshire
Regiment at enlistment: Royal Welch Fusiliers
Branch at enlistment: Infantry
Theatre of war: Burma
Regiment at death: Royal Welch Fusiliers
Branch at death: Infantry

My family would really appreciate any kind of information you may know, little is known of him and we feel it our duty to fill in these blanks. Sydney left behind a wife and a child, so little is known that we do not know the name of the wife or child, except that the wife of Sydney, upon hearing of his death left Wrexham with their child.

Any help you could give would be much appreciated, if not on a personal aspect we would like to know more about what he was doing out in Burma, where he was and of course the most important detail for us as a family is how he died.

If you happen to know anything that could help us my family would be very grateful.

Thank you

Rebecca

[ap1]

Hi Rebecca, welcome.

Firstly because you have Sydney's service number and regiment, you can apply for his service record from the Historical Disclosures Dept of the MOD. This will give you lots of detail. The cost is £30 and it'll take a few months, but will be well worth it. Follow the link for further information. http://www.veterans-uk.info/service_records/army.html

Next. The RWF had 2 Battalions serving in Burma, the 1st and 2nd Bn's. Both were involved in actions against the Japanese in the period of early March 1945. He was almost certainly a member of one of those battalions. Reading The Red Dragon, which is the account of the RWF in WW2. There was an action involving C Company 1RWF that took place late Feb/Early March 1945. During the attack 8 RWF were killed, two more guys died a couple of days later of their wounds. I do wonder if Sidney was one of this group(pure conjecture). I note his CWGC details do not include 'Killed in Action", so maybe he died a short time later?

I have to say Sidney was unlucky, both battalions were nearly at the end of their fighting.

The Red Dragon is out of print, it was published in 1960 the author was LT Comd PK Kemp and John Graves. It's available 2nd hand from http://www.abebooks.com Its a worthwhile purchase(approx $50), as you will be able to follow Sidney's war, when you eventually receive his service record. We'll be very happy answer any further questions you may have.

Finally its possible some of our expert researchers may be able to provide some more detail or advice. Sometimes they have information to hand, certainly I would advise you to keep posting info as you discover it.

Good Luck

[Rebecca Sian]

Hello ap1 and thank you so much for replying,

The information you have given has given me avenues I can now explore and open the doors to lots of possible information that none of my family would have known otherwise. Thank you.

As I say I know little of what happened, he was my grandmother's brother and she knew little of what happened herself.

Family stories say that whilst he was away on duty, to what we now know is Burma, he was shot by a sniper and killed. I don't know if this is plausible, I don't even know if the opposition forces had snipers but that is the only thing my mother and brothers and sisters say they remember.

As to the death, that is also a bit of a mystery, he had a wife and a child, whom I think I have found by way of birth and marriage certificates, but again family tale says that Sydney died whilst in Burma (again, whilst in action or later we simply don't know) and his widow on hearing the news left the area with their son without any kind of indication of where she was going. I will look into both those links you have provided.

Again thank you, I shall continue looking for more information.

Rebecca

[Bob Bacon]

PAINTER, SYDNEY LEONARD

Fusilier

4194913

05/03/1945

25

Royal Welch Fusiliers

United Kingdom

26. H. 3.

TAUKKYAN WAR CEMETERY

http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead.aspx?cpage=1

[Rebecca Sian]

Hello Bob Bacon,

I am slightly speechless at the moment!, I could never have imagined I would be able to tell my mother and my uncles and aunts where their uncle is buried. I am a bit lost for words at the moment.

Thank you so much Bob, and ap1, slowly I can build a picture that my family can remember him by,

Thank you

[Bob Bacon]

Surname	First name(s)	Spouse	District	Vol	Page
Marriages Dec 1940 (>99%)
Painter	Sydney L	Hughes	Caernarvon	11b	1473	http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/search.pl

[Rebecca Sian]

I've just done a search myself and come up with the same Bob, it's good to know you got the same result so I know I've got the right person!
Think I may have found his son too by confirming his wife's name through his probate index.

All these are things we didn't even think we could know!

Thank you!

[ap1]

Hi Rebecca,

I haven't been on the CWGC website for a while. Have a good look, it appears you can follow links to organisations that may be able to assist you in getting a picture of the grave.

[Rebecca Sian]

I've found a picture of it and requested a digital and hard copy, thanks for all the help!