|
Allied Forces Index
Website and ALL Material © Copyright MM-MMIXI - All Rights Reserved |
If you enjoy this siteplease consider making a donation.
Home
Add Your Story
Features
Submissions
Schools
FAQ's
World War 2 Two II WW2 WWII
52 L.A.A. Regiment Royal Artillery.
My maternal Grandfather, Gordon Watson, was a member of the TA in 1939 and was called up for active service just before the outbreak of war, on the 25th August 1939. He was 21 and a Gunner in 155 Battery of the 52nd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment Royal Artillery. Known as the "Burnley Boys", they were the first territorial regiment to arrive in France, disembarking on 20th September 1939. He was involved in the fighting following the German invasion in 1940, eventually being evacuated from Dunkirk (Bray Dunes) on 29th May 1940. By the time the 52nd LAA Regiment left France they had shot down 102 German aircraft.
After a period of leave Gordon, now a Lance-Bombadier and the "Burnley Boys" sailed for North Africa, disembarking in Egypt in October 1940. 155 Battery and Gordon went through the desert campaign attached to the 4th Royal Horse Artillery, fighting all the way up to El Agheila. After a quick refit 155 Battery then sailed for Greece to rejoin the regiment, in March 1941. Despite one troop being overwhelmed at Corinth by German paratroopers, Gordon and the remainder of 155 Battery managed to escape to Crete.
Now a Bombadier, Gordon and the battery were involved in heavy fighting in the Suda-Canea sector during the German airborne invasion. Whilst falling back with the remaining British and Commonwealth forces to Suda Bay, Gordon's group was strafed by a German 109 fighter. Two men were killed and Gordon was wounded in both legs.
He was taken to a hospital in Pireus, Greece, to be treated. During this time he contracted Diptheria. After this it appears Gordon was processed at Stalag/Dulag 183 before eventually being imprisoned at Stalag 383 in Bavaria.
I have lots of photgraphs of Gordon and his comrades in the camp, some of which are attached to this e-mail. There is a picture of a POW hut with "Gisburn 220" on the reverse, which I think was Gordon's hut. He was a great artist and my family have two christmas cards he drew and painted to send home to his mother. His closest friend in the camp was a chap called "Dicky Dumper", who died during the forced march from the camp towards the end of the war. Dick's wartime address was: 46 Great Road, Brentford, Middlesex. Also, Gordon returned with several photos of emaciated Russian POWs who were clearly held nearby. Gordon was eventually picked up by Russian forces in mid-May 1945.
I have many happy memories of time spent with Gordon as I was growing up and we were very close. Gordon died in 1990 when I was 13, and he has been a huge influence on my life. My mother, Barabara, and I would love to hear from anyone who may have served with Gordon or been imprisoned with him. Or indeed, anyone who may have more information about the 52nd LAA Regiment or Stalag 383.
My father, Cecil Holmes, (known to his army friends as Charlie) joined the army at the start of the war in 1939 when I was a baby. We have one letter which he wrote to my mother in 1940 which indicated that he was 7611996 L/Cpl C.E.Holmes of 52 L.A.A. Regt R.A. workshops R.A.O.C. of the 14th Infantry Bde, Middle East Forces, at that stage. He was captured in Crete in May 41 and served the rest of the war as a POW mainly in Stalag IVB, returning home on my younger brother's 5th birthday, 29 May 45.
Dad did not speak to us often about his experiences during the war, but he and his old army friend Jimmy Corrigan would meet maybe twice a year and reminisce. On those occasionswe would pick up snippets of their experiences. For instance, one which I remember was. He and a party of POWs were returning from a work party. They were permitted to take into the camp a small bag of sticks for the fire in the hut. When the guard asked dad what was in his bag he replied "A radio". The guard laughed and passed him into the hut without examining the bag. The bag did, of course, contain sticks, but also a radio.
A couple of years ago on Remembrance Day some ex POWs from Stalag IVB were interviewed on television. One spoke of the Stage Shows and Plays they used to put on in the camp, and that they had an illicit radio back stage. I have wondered since if it had been dad's radio.
Unfortunately dad died in his 80th year in 1993. I wish he had survived to hear these men's recollections. He would have remembered them and what they had to say.
Another story he told was that he had been taken out of the camp to a civilian dentist for treatment. The dentist's wife was Irish. Dad asked her for some bread to take back to the men, and gave his gold ring in exchange for the bread. When he returned to the camp he found his ring embedded in the loaf. I now possess the ring.
Quite a few years ago I was at T.A. Camp in Sennybridge, S. Wales. Four of us decided to hitch-hike to London for the week-end. We went into a cafe, I think it was the Nuffield Centre. There was only one other person in the cafe. During the meal this person came over to us and said that he recognized our accent as being from Northern Ireland and asked if we knew a man called Charlie Holmes. I told him that my father was Cecil Holmes and that his army friends all called him Charlie. He said "That's the very man, I was a Prisoner of War with him". Unfortunately that is the total of my recollections of that occasion.
In May 45 I was a little boy of 6. I awoke early one morning to see a man standing beside my bed. He seemed to fall over the bed and disappear.
On 29 May 45 my Grand-mother (dad's mum), my mother, two of dads brothers, his sister, my younger brother, and I were at the L.M.S. Railway Station to meet my father coming home from the War. Hundreds of soldiers were walking along the platform from the Larne train. One in particular walked past us. I want after him and brought him back. It was my father. He was the man I had seen a couple of weeks earlier in my vision. He had not recognized us (probably because of trauma), and his mother, wife, brothers, and sister had not recognized him. He was a man of 6'1" tall but weighed only 8 stone, very different to the man who had left in 1939 to go to the War.
Is there anyone out there who remembers my father from those days? I would sincerely love to hear from them.
Photographs
If you have any Photographs you would like to share please get in touch.
List of those who served in during WW2.
- Cecil "Charlie" Holmes Read his story
- Albert Edward Payne. Read his story
- Gordon Watson Read his story
If you have any names to add to this list, or any recollections or photos of those listed, please get in touch.
If you have a story which you would like to share, or a website dedicated to a soldier or regiment please get in touch.
Links
Allied Forces Index
The Wartime Memories Project is a non profit organisation.
This website is run out of our own pockets and from donations made by visitors. The popularity of the site means that it is far exceeding available resources.
If you are enjoying the site, please consider making a donation, however small to help with the costs of keeping the site running.
Or by cheque to:
PO Box 325, Stockton on Tees, TS20 1XL.
Website and ALL Material © Copyright MM-MMIXI
- All Rights Reserved
