70 Brigade - User contributions [en]

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2012-03-05T15:45:19Z

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Adams George Pte 14565890

2011-07-19T14:07:25Z

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{{Personnel
|id=2308
|Surname and forenames=Adams George
|Army number=14565890
|Rank=Pte
|Age=20
|Unit=GSC, 10 DLI
|Died/Killed in action=17/6/1944 00:00:00
|Home address=Son of John and Elsie Adams, Park Sheffield.
|Source table=10DLI
}}

Adams George Pte 14565890

2011-07-19T14:07:14Z

70bgadmin2:

Adams George Pte 14565890

2011-07-19T14:06:41Z

70bgadmin2:

Main Page

2011-06-21T12:23:08Z

70bgadmin2:

[[File: JOHN L DIXON 70TH BDE web heading.jpg|center]]

'''DEDICATION'''

This work forms part of the Website of the North East War Memorials Project and its development has been funded by [http://www.hlf.org.uk/Pages/Home.aspx The Heritage Lottery Fund] (HLF). The support of the staff of the [http://www.hlf.org.uk/inyourarea/NorthEast/Pages/WelcomeNorthEast2.aspx North East Office] of the HLF has been constant and positive. The enthusiasm and assistance of Project colleagues has been of its usual high and unwavering standard.

'''The work is respectfully dedicated to the memory of the men who served in the 70th Infantry Brigade, and in those units, of all types, which supported the Brigade over its life, from September 1939 to the Autumn of 1944, and most especially to those who gave their lives, their health, and their liberty in that service.

The willingness of Veterans to share their experiences - painful though they are in many cases - has been invaluable and humbling. I can only hope that the results are worthy of them.'''

This history is also dedicated in memory of my father, Lance-Corporal Robert Bagnall DIXON 4455504 11th Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry, 1/8/1920 - 3/6/1998, sometime Welfare Officer, Durham Branch, [http://www.war-experience.org/1940-dunkirk/index.html 1940 Dunkirk Veterans' Association].

'''INTRODUCTION'''

The text describes the background to the development of this modest work of military history. In order to make the work as accessible as possible to the general public I decided to treat it as a “work in progress” and upload the various sections, images and information as they were written or developed, rather than wait for the whole to be completed.

Indeed, given what I learned during the course of my researches, it became obvious that certain aspects of the work, especially the details of those who had served in the Brigade, were never going to be “completed” as some information just would not ever be available.

Rather, then, than crystallize the work in conventional published form – thus requiring a final version – I preferred to leave it open for further additions, clarifications and images as they became available – largely, I hoped, from members of the public, particularly the relatives of those who had served.

A key issue was, therefore, going to be version control and the Wiki software maintains a record of this at every stage of developing the text, so that any changes and updates can be traced in their correct chronological order.

'''HOW MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC CAN USE THE WEBSITE'''

The material is set out starting with the background on how and why the work was done - this is by way of general introduction and scene-setting.

Sections are included on the phases of the Brigade's service - in date order - and aim to describe where they were, what they were doing, and why. This material will be made available on the site as research is completed.

For those readers interested in the detail of particular units that were part of, or associated with, the Brigade then they should click on the link "List of Units" which will take them to a page which sets out each of those military formations. Clicking on the name of a unit will then lead to a page which incorporates; information about the men who served in that unit - a further click will bring up a brief service record for any specific man, the War Diary for the unit (in date order), and a brief history. Readers will appreciate that this represents a very large body of text and will be compiled over the next two years.

Further sections will be included on the weapons, uniforms, equipment and vehicles of the Brigade and it is here that I must acknowledge specialist help from a number of sources - hopefully I have adequately recorded their contribution at the relevant point but take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been supportive and helpful.

Families and friends of those who served in the Brigade, or in any of the associated units, are very welcome, and are encouraged, to submit additional information, photographs, anecdotes or service records and I will be pleased to incorporate such information into this history. In particular I would be very pleased to have the opportunity to interview Veterans of the units listed - those I have already spoken to have been enormously helpful and very conscious that this work is in respectful memory of their comrades.

I can be contacted by e-mail - [mailto:70brigade@newmp.org.uk click here] to bring up a message screen -

or by post at;

45, Boundary Court
BISHOP AUCKLAND
County Durham
DL14 7JE

or by telephone on 01388 609608.

While a large part of the population could be reasonably expected to use E-Mail [mailto:70brigade@newmp.org.uk click here] in order to communicate their comments or information to me, I was under no illusions that this would apply to everybody.

I therefore had to include arrangements for contact by telephone and post, and these are set out above, backed up by my offering to copy or scan documents and photographs that people might be prepared to loan, or otherwise make available. This requires control documentation, similar to that used for loaned museum exhibits, and a register being kept to ensure that items were returned promptly to those who had made them available.

Similarly, a record is made of information passed by way of telephone conversations and record forms are completed on which such details can be noted.

As had been found in early discussions with Veterans, the timeline provided by the use of War Diaries was likely to be of crucial importance – often helping to place incidents in the correct order, and reinforcing the sequences drawn from personal memories or family anecdotes. This also applied when analysing diaries or personal recollections drawn from Oral History work by the Imperial War Museum in particular.

'''70 INFANTRY BRIGADE IN WORLD WAR 2'''

The aim of the work is, most importantly, to create a lasting Memorial to those men who served, and died, in this Brigade during the five years of its existence, between September 1939, and Autumn 1944.

The underlying and associated aims of writing this brief history were to address several questions and viewpoints I had developed over the years.

'''Firstly'''

By taking on board, and examining, the information, stories and anecdotes recounted by my late father over many years.

Would I have been so interested in the other aspects of the Brigade’s war, had he not been personally involved? Were those stories the trigger for starting on this task – one which I was advised, many times, would be impossible? The reader will need to judge. The honest answer is that I don’t know – perhaps I would have been led to a consideration of these subsequent points as a result of my interest in military history – and exposure to the [[The Durham Light Infantry (DLI)|DLI]] Regimental Museum on a regular basis – but I cannot be certain of that.

I was sure that my father’s recollections needed to be taken into account, but in the context of the larger picture. His memories, and the anecdotes from other soldiers, formed key elements of the work. His experiences were not intended to be dominant, though, in my view, his stories have an extra dimension, and, to some small extent, an extra weight, because of his role as personal driver to the Brigade Commander for three years.

Did he appreciate more of what was happening due to his job within Brigade Headquarters? I am not sure that he did, with some exceptions, to which I refer at the appropriate time. I tried to clarify where he was at various key times, largely by using the War Diary references as to where the Brigadier was, and I make only a brief mention of the rest of his war following his transfer, after his medical downgrading resulting from wounds sustained on the Dunkirk beaches, to the Permanent Staff of the Regimental Depot and No 4 Infantry Training Centre at Brancepeth.

I applied for a copy of his military service records to verify dates and posting locations, particularly as several of the War Diaries were initially unable to be located when my more detailed researches finally got underway. As so many family historians have found, Army Service Records can be disappointing documents, though I was pleasantly surprised to find my birth recorded officially in his AB64 Paybook.

'''Secondly, from a local geographic perspective. '''

The men of 70th Brigade were all Durham and Tyneside men, at least initially, and I wished to make a connection between the history of volunteering for service in this part of the world, and the use to which those volunteers were put, once they were under arms. I also wanted to provide some hard information on the extent to which County Regiments – or at least this particular one – were diluted of their local connections by more generalised posting arrangements - and conversely, the impact of decisions to allocate reinforcements or replacements to Regiments with a clear local link. The slightly unusual circumstance of one of the Brigade’s three Battalions ([[12th Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry (12 DLI)|12th (Tyneside Scottish) Durham Light Infantry]]) being transferred from the [[The Durham Light Infantry (DLI)|DLI]] to [[Black Watch (BW)|The Black Watch]] and re-designated as [[1st_Tyneside_Scottish_(1_TS)|1st Tyneside Scottish]] in Autumn 1939 – effective from 1st February 1940 as regards the transfer of personnel - following a vigorous and effective local lobbying process, made a very significant change to the manning structure and geographical allegiances. That this Battalion came under the [[Black Watch (BW)|The Black Watch]], rather than the [[The Durham Light Infantry (DLI)|Durham Light Infantry]], from 1st February 1940, was of particular interest, with all that was implied by way of an increase of Scots recruits, though the number of local men who continued to serve in that Battalion, and were eventually posted to other Scottish Battalions, was significant.

During the research period I successfully linked details of some of the casualties from the three Battalions, helpfully identified by the [http://www.cwgc.org Commonwealth War Graves Commission], to their commemoration on local War Memorials. The parallel involvement of both my wife and myself in the [http://www.newmp.org.uk North East War Memorials Project] (see the Project’s Website at [http://www.newmp.org.uk] for access to this major community archive) was, of course, of material help in this part of the exercise. The agreement of the Project Team to act as the sponsoring body for the work was of inestimable value, and ensured that the results had a “home” on the Internet, rather than languishing as an unpublished book.

'''Thirdly, from the Regimental point of view. '''

Following the point made above, I was curious as to whether, given the scale of transfers in to the Brigade of men from other Regiments and other parts of the country, the extent to which the positive aspects of Regimental esprit de corps came into play in the morale of the Brigade. Given the well-known Durham reputation for friendliness, how did this manifest itself, such as in relationships with the US Marines in Iceland, for example? Here was a point where my late father’s anecdotes were particularly valuable.

Why does the Regimental Museum and the Durham County Record Office hold so little on these Battalions and their role in the Second World War?

Why do displays intended to inform local people of the activities of the Regiment in 1939-1945 omit mention of this Brigade?

My choice to set the work at Brigade level was largely because that was my late father’s frame of reference, but also because a Brigade is big enough to be statistically significant in drawing conclusions, given a strength of about 3,000, without being too large as to be impersonal.

'''Fourthly, from a social history perspective. '''

Starting from the recognition that this was a second-line Brigade at its inception, how were these units perceived in the military “pecking order”? Was the Brigade used as Lines of Communication troops - part of the Labour Element in the B.E.F. - in 1940 because of a perception at the War Office of an innate unsuitability for more intelligent operations? Was this perhaps a hangover from the common perception, during the First World War, that all Durham men must automatically be miners? Was the Brigade’s subsequent reputation for building high quality defence works in any way significant in challenging or reinforcing this image?

I found the Field Security reports held within the War Diaries – documents regarded until relatively recently as Secret – particularly valuable, as they were produced by independent NCOs and Officers for the use of higher command and pulled no punches where problems were encountered. Indeed, some of the terminology and objectives of those assessments were reminiscent of Police Special Branch documents or secure vetting tasks. At what point does traditional Army grumbling and grousing become reclassified as subversive activity?

I noted the comments made in D’Este’s work on the manpower shortages and the disbanding of Divisions and Brigades in 1944 and 1945. What were the criteria determining the choice of units to disband, which led to the eventual demise of 70th Brigade in Autumn 1944? Was it simply that 70th Brigade was then the junior Brigade in the 49th Division, as was stated in one source, or was there some underlying view that they were second-rate as well as second-line? Reference has been found to the keen disappointment felt by all ranks when their original role as part of a D-Day Assault Division was demoted to that of a follow-up unit.

This “second-division” status did not prevent, of course, the Brigade giving a serious account of itself over weeks of intense combat in Normandy, and thereby suffering a significant level of casualties.

The Brigade’s baptism of fire in the Spring of 1940 took place in a very different situation, and on a very much less level playing field as regards training, equipment and resources, but the damage they inflicted – despite massive losses – has been recognised, especially in German accounts of the period.

'''Fifthly, from an accountant’s perspective.'''

As a retired Public Finance Accountant of forty years’ standing and a former member of the Royal Army Pay Corps (Territorial and Army Volunteer Reserve) I wanted to know if it was possible, using original pay and administrative records, to create a database of those who joined the Brigade, with details of what happened to them. I wanted to find out if sufficient information was accessible to answer the questions about whether the units remained local in nature or were diluted. I wanted to ascertain whether it was feasible to form a picture of the rate of movement and promotion, as well as the scale and nature of casualties, at a Brigade level.

These were the questions which were in my mind when I started – and which were supplemented by other queries as I began to form a picture of Brigade activity, and to talk to the few surviving veterans about their experiences. As time passed it became evident that several of the initial questions were not going to be able to be answered satisfactorily, due to the lack of relevant information. This lack, however, did not stop me trying to meet those aims.

'''The basic reasons for writing the history of 70th Brigade in the Second World War. '''

Why bother at all?

Firstly, such a history had not been written in any depth of detail, other than in Kevin Baverstock’s notable book “Breaking the Panzers” describing the Rauray operations in June and July 1944, a remarkably detailed and graphic piece of work also triggered, I suspect, by a key family link to the units concerned.

Secondly, existing Regimental Histories, with the exception of Whitehead’s “Harder than Hammers”, tend to concentrate on the first-line Battalions. I thought it important to recognise the contribution of the second-line Battalions and also to reflect on the lengthy periods during which units were not in action, or even at the front line, and see if this threw up any matters of social or military interest. The recognised histories make only brief reference to posting locations and training activities between early 1942 and the Brigade’s landing in Normandy in June 1944 as part of a follow-up Division. That period of two and a half years was half the Brigade’s existence and deserves at least some description, particularly as the way in which the Brigade was intended to be used changed quite significantly over that period. There are echoes of the classic film “The Way Ahead” in some of the changes imposed on the Brigade.

Other accounts, for example of the Dunkirk period, present a negative picture of the Brigade in some respects, especially with regard to some of the command decisions made at the time. While I hold no brief to defend reputations, my added knowledge as a result of my father’s first-hand descriptions of those few days and weeks, casts an additional, perhaps more illuminating, light on the situation than other historians have felt able to provide. Notable authors have acknowledged, in personal communications, that the work that has been done challenges, in key respects, their analyses of some key decisions.

Thirdly, to put family experience onto the broader stage of world events, and, in some respects, to check whether my father’s “war stories” could be verified independently. While I had no reason to suspect that he may have exaggerated his experiences I had become aware, as I mention above, of the differing perspectives taken by historians, and was looking for at least some confirmation of the events he described.

Fourthly, just to see if I could do it, in a professional and unbiased way.

Fifthly, to add, modestly, to the corpus of military writing and to try to see that the Brigade gets honest credit, locally and nationally, for what it actually achieved. The level of casualties sustained by the Brigade in 1940, and then again in 1944, demands that recognition – such a scale of sacrifice deserves no less – and justifies my approach in setting out to develop the work as a Memorial.

'''More Info'''

[[Collecting Information|How did I set about collecting the information to support the research?]] 
[[How the Brigade was raised]] 
[[The Legal and Constitutional Background]] 
[[The geographical background to the Brigade]] 
[[Investigating the social background of the Brigade’s manpower]] 
[[Creating the database of names]] 
[[The use of War Diaries in the history]] 
[[List of Abbreviations]] 
[[List of Units]] 
[[Home Service 1939 - 1940]] 
[[British Expeditionary Force April - June 1940]] 
[[Defending against Invasion June - October 1940]] 
[[Iceland Garrison October 1940 - December 1941]] 
[[Home Service and Winter Warfare Training 1942 - 1943]] 
[[Pre-Invasion Training 1943 - 1944]] 
[[Normandy 1944]] 

To contact the author by e-mail with any queries, or to send information - [mailto:70brigade@newmp.org.uk click here].

Main Page

2011-06-21T12:22:44Z

70bgadmin2:

[[File: JOHN L DIXON 70TH BDE web heading.jpg]]

'''DEDICATION'''

This work forms part of the Website of the North East War Memorials Project and its development has been funded by [http://www.hlf.org.uk/Pages/Home.aspx The Heritage Lottery Fund] (HLF). The support of the staff of the [http://www.hlf.org.uk/inyourarea/NorthEast/Pages/WelcomeNorthEast2.aspx North East Office] of the HLF has been constant and positive. The enthusiasm and assistance of Project colleagues has been of its usual high and unwavering standard.

'''The work is respectfully dedicated to the memory of the men who served in the 70th Infantry Brigade, and in those units, of all types, which supported the Brigade over its life, from September 1939 to the Autumn of 1944, and most especially to those who gave their lives, their health, and their liberty in that service.

The willingness of Veterans to share their experiences - painful though they are in many cases - has been invaluable and humbling. I can only hope that the results are worthy of them.'''

This history is also dedicated in memory of my father, Lance-Corporal Robert Bagnall DIXON 4455504 11th Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry, 1/8/1920 - 3/6/1998, sometime Welfare Officer, Durham Branch, [http://www.war-experience.org/1940-dunkirk/index.html 1940 Dunkirk Veterans' Association].

'''INTRODUCTION'''

The text describes the background to the development of this modest work of military history. In order to make the work as accessible as possible to the general public I decided to treat it as a “work in progress” and upload the various sections, images and information as they were written or developed, rather than wait for the whole to be completed.

Indeed, given what I learned during the course of my researches, it became obvious that certain aspects of the work, especially the details of those who had served in the Brigade, were never going to be “completed” as some information just would not ever be available.

Rather, then, than crystallize the work in conventional published form – thus requiring a final version – I preferred to leave it open for further additions, clarifications and images as they became available – largely, I hoped, from members of the public, particularly the relatives of those who had served.

A key issue was, therefore, going to be version control and the Wiki software maintains a record of this at every stage of developing the text, so that any changes and updates can be traced in their correct chronological order.

'''HOW MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC CAN USE THE WEBSITE'''

The material is set out starting with the background on how and why the work was done - this is by way of general introduction and scene-setting.

Sections are included on the phases of the Brigade's service - in date order - and aim to describe where they were, what they were doing, and why. This material will be made available on the site as research is completed.

For those readers interested in the detail of particular units that were part of, or associated with, the Brigade then they should click on the link "List of Units" which will take them to a page which sets out each of those military formations. Clicking on the name of a unit will then lead to a page which incorporates; information about the men who served in that unit - a further click will bring up a brief service record for any specific man, the War Diary for the unit (in date order), and a brief history. Readers will appreciate that this represents a very large body of text and will be compiled over the next two years.

Further sections will be included on the weapons, uniforms, equipment and vehicles of the Brigade and it is here that I must acknowledge specialist help from a number of sources - hopefully I have adequately recorded their contribution at the relevant point but take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been supportive and helpful.

Families and friends of those who served in the Brigade, or in any of the associated units, are very welcome, and are encouraged, to submit additional information, photographs, anecdotes or service records and I will be pleased to incorporate such information into this history. In particular I would be very pleased to have the opportunity to interview Veterans of the units listed - those I have already spoken to have been enormously helpful and very conscious that this work is in respectful memory of their comrades.

I can be contacted by e-mail - [mailto:70brigade@newmp.org.uk click here] to bring up a message screen -

or by post at;

45, Boundary Court
BISHOP AUCKLAND
County Durham
DL14 7JE

or by telephone on 01388 609608.

While a large part of the population could be reasonably expected to use E-Mail [mailto:70brigade@newmp.org.uk click here] in order to communicate their comments or information to me, I was under no illusions that this would apply to everybody.

I therefore had to include arrangements for contact by telephone and post, and these are set out above, backed up by my offering to copy or scan documents and photographs that people might be prepared to loan, or otherwise make available. This requires control documentation, similar to that used for loaned museum exhibits, and a register being kept to ensure that items were returned promptly to those who had made them available.

Similarly, a record is made of information passed by way of telephone conversations and record forms are completed on which such details can be noted.

As had been found in early discussions with Veterans, the timeline provided by the use of War Diaries was likely to be of crucial importance – often helping to place incidents in the correct order, and reinforcing the sequences drawn from personal memories or family anecdotes. This also applied when analysing diaries or personal recollections drawn from Oral History work by the Imperial War Museum in particular.

'''70 INFANTRY BRIGADE IN WORLD WAR 2'''

The aim of the work is, most importantly, to create a lasting Memorial to those men who served, and died, in this Brigade during the five years of its existence, between September 1939, and Autumn 1944.

The underlying and associated aims of writing this brief history were to address several questions and viewpoints I had developed over the years.

'''Firstly'''

By taking on board, and examining, the information, stories and anecdotes recounted by my late father over many years.

Would I have been so interested in the other aspects of the Brigade’s war, had he not been personally involved? Were those stories the trigger for starting on this task – one which I was advised, many times, would be impossible? The reader will need to judge. The honest answer is that I don’t know – perhaps I would have been led to a consideration of these subsequent points as a result of my interest in military history – and exposure to the [[The Durham Light Infantry (DLI)|DLI]] Regimental Museum on a regular basis – but I cannot be certain of that.

I was sure that my father’s recollections needed to be taken into account, but in the context of the larger picture. His memories, and the anecdotes from other soldiers, formed key elements of the work. His experiences were not intended to be dominant, though, in my view, his stories have an extra dimension, and, to some small extent, an extra weight, because of his role as personal driver to the Brigade Commander for three years.

Did he appreciate more of what was happening due to his job within Brigade Headquarters? I am not sure that he did, with some exceptions, to which I refer at the appropriate time. I tried to clarify where he was at various key times, largely by using the War Diary references as to where the Brigadier was, and I make only a brief mention of the rest of his war following his transfer, after his medical downgrading resulting from wounds sustained on the Dunkirk beaches, to the Permanent Staff of the Regimental Depot and No 4 Infantry Training Centre at Brancepeth.

I applied for a copy of his military service records to verify dates and posting locations, particularly as several of the War Diaries were initially unable to be located when my more detailed researches finally got underway. As so many family historians have found, Army Service Records can be disappointing documents, though I was pleasantly surprised to find my birth recorded officially in his AB64 Paybook.

'''Secondly, from a local geographic perspective. '''

The men of 70th Brigade were all Durham and Tyneside men, at least initially, and I wished to make a connection between the history of volunteering for service in this part of the world, and the use to which those volunteers were put, once they were under arms. I also wanted to provide some hard information on the extent to which County Regiments – or at least this particular one – were diluted of their local connections by more generalised posting arrangements - and conversely, the impact of decisions to allocate reinforcements or replacements to Regiments with a clear local link. The slightly unusual circumstance of one of the Brigade’s three Battalions ([[12th Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry (12 DLI)|12th (Tyneside Scottish) Durham Light Infantry]]) being transferred from the [[The Durham Light Infantry (DLI)|DLI]] to [[Black Watch (BW)|The Black Watch]] and re-designated as [[1st_Tyneside_Scottish_(1_TS)|1st Tyneside Scottish]] in Autumn 1939 – effective from 1st February 1940 as regards the transfer of personnel - following a vigorous and effective local lobbying process, made a very significant change to the manning structure and geographical allegiances. That this Battalion came under the [[Black Watch (BW)|The Black Watch]], rather than the [[The Durham Light Infantry (DLI)|Durham Light Infantry]], from 1st February 1940, was of particular interest, with all that was implied by way of an increase of Scots recruits, though the number of local men who continued to serve in that Battalion, and were eventually posted to other Scottish Battalions, was significant.

During the research period I successfully linked details of some of the casualties from the three Battalions, helpfully identified by the [http://www.cwgc.org Commonwealth War Graves Commission], to their commemoration on local War Memorials. The parallel involvement of both my wife and myself in the [http://www.newmp.org.uk North East War Memorials Project] (see the Project’s Website at [http://www.newmp.org.uk] for access to this major community archive) was, of course, of material help in this part of the exercise. The agreement of the Project Team to act as the sponsoring body for the work was of inestimable value, and ensured that the results had a “home” on the Internet, rather than languishing as an unpublished book.

'''Thirdly, from the Regimental point of view. '''

Following the point made above, I was curious as to whether, given the scale of transfers in to the Brigade of men from other Regiments and other parts of the country, the extent to which the positive aspects of Regimental esprit de corps came into play in the morale of the Brigade. Given the well-known Durham reputation for friendliness, how did this manifest itself, such as in relationships with the US Marines in Iceland, for example? Here was a point where my late father’s anecdotes were particularly valuable.

Why does the Regimental Museum and the Durham County Record Office hold so little on these Battalions and their role in the Second World War?

Why do displays intended to inform local people of the activities of the Regiment in 1939-1945 omit mention of this Brigade?

My choice to set the work at Brigade level was largely because that was my late father’s frame of reference, but also because a Brigade is big enough to be statistically significant in drawing conclusions, given a strength of about 3,000, without being too large as to be impersonal.

'''Fourthly, from a social history perspective. '''

Starting from the recognition that this was a second-line Brigade at its inception, how were these units perceived in the military “pecking order”? Was the Brigade used as Lines of Communication troops - part of the Labour Element in the B.E.F. - in 1940 because of a perception at the War Office of an innate unsuitability for more intelligent operations? Was this perhaps a hangover from the common perception, during the First World War, that all Durham men must automatically be miners? Was the Brigade’s subsequent reputation for building high quality defence works in any way significant in challenging or reinforcing this image?

I found the Field Security reports held within the War Diaries – documents regarded until relatively recently as Secret – particularly valuable, as they were produced by independent NCOs and Officers for the use of higher command and pulled no punches where problems were encountered. Indeed, some of the terminology and objectives of those assessments were reminiscent of Police Special Branch documents or secure vetting tasks. At what point does traditional Army grumbling and grousing become reclassified as subversive activity?

I noted the comments made in D’Este’s work on the manpower shortages and the disbanding of Divisions and Brigades in 1944 and 1945. What were the criteria determining the choice of units to disband, which led to the eventual demise of 70th Brigade in Autumn 1944? Was it simply that 70th Brigade was then the junior Brigade in the 49th Division, as was stated in one source, or was there some underlying view that they were second-rate as well as second-line? Reference has been found to the keen disappointment felt by all ranks when their original role as part of a D-Day Assault Division was demoted to that of a follow-up unit.

This “second-division” status did not prevent, of course, the Brigade giving a serious account of itself over weeks of intense combat in Normandy, and thereby suffering a significant level of casualties.

The Brigade’s baptism of fire in the Spring of 1940 took place in a very different situation, and on a very much less level playing field as regards training, equipment and resources, but the damage they inflicted – despite massive losses – has been recognised, especially in German accounts of the period.

'''Fifthly, from an accountant’s perspective.'''

As a retired Public Finance Accountant of forty years’ standing and a former member of the Royal Army Pay Corps (Territorial and Army Volunteer Reserve) I wanted to know if it was possible, using original pay and administrative records, to create a database of those who joined the Brigade, with details of what happened to them. I wanted to find out if sufficient information was accessible to answer the questions about whether the units remained local in nature or were diluted. I wanted to ascertain whether it was feasible to form a picture of the rate of movement and promotion, as well as the scale and nature of casualties, at a Brigade level.

These were the questions which were in my mind when I started – and which were supplemented by other queries as I began to form a picture of Brigade activity, and to talk to the few surviving veterans about their experiences. As time passed it became evident that several of the initial questions were not going to be able to be answered satisfactorily, due to the lack of relevant information. This lack, however, did not stop me trying to meet those aims.

'''The basic reasons for writing the history of 70th Brigade in the Second World War. '''

Why bother at all?

Firstly, such a history had not been written in any depth of detail, other than in Kevin Baverstock’s notable book “Breaking the Panzers” describing the Rauray operations in June and July 1944, a remarkably detailed and graphic piece of work also triggered, I suspect, by a key family link to the units concerned.

Secondly, existing Regimental Histories, with the exception of Whitehead’s “Harder than Hammers”, tend to concentrate on the first-line Battalions. I thought it important to recognise the contribution of the second-line Battalions and also to reflect on the lengthy periods during which units were not in action, or even at the front line, and see if this threw up any matters of social or military interest. The recognised histories make only brief reference to posting locations and training activities between early 1942 and the Brigade’s landing in Normandy in June 1944 as part of a follow-up Division. That period of two and a half years was half the Brigade’s existence and deserves at least some description, particularly as the way in which the Brigade was intended to be used changed quite significantly over that period. There are echoes of the classic film “The Way Ahead” in some of the changes imposed on the Brigade.

Other accounts, for example of the Dunkirk period, present a negative picture of the Brigade in some respects, especially with regard to some of the command decisions made at the time. While I hold no brief to defend reputations, my added knowledge as a result of my father’s first-hand descriptions of those few days and weeks, casts an additional, perhaps more illuminating, light on the situation than other historians have felt able to provide. Notable authors have acknowledged, in personal communications, that the work that has been done challenges, in key respects, their analyses of some key decisions.

Thirdly, to put family experience onto the broader stage of world events, and, in some respects, to check whether my father’s “war stories” could be verified independently. While I had no reason to suspect that he may have exaggerated his experiences I had become aware, as I mention above, of the differing perspectives taken by historians, and was looking for at least some confirmation of the events he described.

Fourthly, just to see if I could do it, in a professional and unbiased way.

Fifthly, to add, modestly, to the corpus of military writing and to try to see that the Brigade gets honest credit, locally and nationally, for what it actually achieved. The level of casualties sustained by the Brigade in 1940, and then again in 1944, demands that recognition – such a scale of sacrifice deserves no less – and justifies my approach in setting out to develop the work as a Memorial.

'''More Info'''

[[Collecting Information|How did I set about collecting the information to support the research?]] 
[[How the Brigade was raised]] 
[[The Legal and Constitutional Background]] 
[[The geographical background to the Brigade]] 
[[Investigating the social background of the Brigade’s manpower]] 
[[Creating the database of names]] 
[[The use of War Diaries in the history]] 
[[List of Abbreviations]] 
[[List of Units]] 
[[Home Service 1939 - 1940]] 
[[British Expeditionary Force April - June 1940]] 
[[Defending against Invasion June - October 1940]] 
[[Iceland Garrison October 1940 - December 1941]] 
[[Home Service and Winter Warfare Training 1942 - 1943]] 
[[Pre-Invasion Training 1943 - 1944]] 
[[Normandy 1944]] 

To contact the author by e-mail with any queries, or to send information - [mailto:70brigade@newmp.org.uk click here].

File:JOHN L DIXON 70TH BDE web heading.jpg

2011-06-21T12:21:07Z

70bgadmin2: Banner

Banner

2/Lt K.C.Bailey.

2011-06-10T09:43:35Z

70bgadmin2: Created page with "{{Personnel |id=10002 |Surname and forenames=K.C.Bailey |Army number=unknown |Rank=2/Lt }}"

{{Personnel
|id=10002
|Surname and forenames=K.C.Bailey
|Army number=unknown
|Rank=2/Lt
}}

Captain G.R.W.Plews-Lipsett - CO

2011-06-10T09:43:01Z

70bgadmin2: Created page with "{{Personnel |id=10001 |Surname and forenames=G.R.W.Plews-Lipsett |Army number=unknown |Rank=Captain }}"

{{Personnel
|id=10001
|Surname and forenames=G.R.W.Plews-Lipsett
|Army number=unknown
|Rank=Captain
}}

23rd (Northumbrian) Division

2011-06-10T09:41:43Z

70bgadmin2:

'''War Diary'''

In respect of the War Diary for the Division, this was not one single document or file. Each Divisional Branch had its own War Diary and these need to be read in conjunction with each other. Unfortunately, due largely to the circumstances experienced by this second-line Division, which existed only between September 1939 and June 1940, many of the pages are missing or contain only very limited information.

What does exist has been recorded in this section of the history and includes a very considerable amount of material dealing with the time spent in France and Belgium with the British Expeditionary Force, culminating in the complexities of the retreat to Dunkirk.

[[1939]]

[[1940]]

'''Personnel Records for 23rd Division'''

[[Captain G.R.W.Plews-Lipsett - CO]] 
[[2/Lt K.C.Bailey.]]

Dixon Robert Bagnall Pte 4455504

2011-06-10T09:38:05Z

70bgadmin2:

{{Personnel
|id=2908
|Surname and forenames=Dixon Robert Bagnall
|Army number=4455504
|Rank=Pte
|Date of birth=1/8/1920
|Age=0
|Unit=8 DLI 2/4/39, 11 DLI Sept 1939, Bde HQ Sept 1939, Iceland, PS 13/11/42, 4 ITC, 10/6/44, Class Z Reserve 1946|Promotions=L/Cpl
|Source table=11DLI
|Image Name=Cpldixon.jpg
|Image Title=Dixon Robert Bagnall
|Wounded=hit with shrapnel in the left wrist while engaged in evacuating wounded from the Dunkirk East Mole. The effect became more serious as time progressed and he was hospitalised for several weeks - losing his L/Cpl rank as a result for a time. After the War he had orthopaedic grafting done which resulted in the left wrist being permanently stiff, although he had the use of his fingers. He received a disability pension and was awarded the King's Badge for that injury, and the deafness he suffered from shelling and mortaring during the retreat to Dunkirk. His medical downgrading meant that he was moved to driving instruction duties at the ITC in 1942 and was not allowed to go to Normandy with the Brigade, despite his attempts to do so.
}}

==Further Images==

[[File:Dad with wagon.jpg|left|thumb|Dad with Wagon]]

Collecting Information

2011-05-31T13:45:53Z

70bgadmin2:

'''How did I set about collecting the information to support the research?'''

I began with making brief notes of the anecdotes my father had related to me over the years. Some of these were very specific as to place, personalities or events, others less so. These were listed in what I understood to be their chronological order, so that I had a framework of reference, and a crude timeline, against which to test other sources.

Generally speaking, I was reasonably successful in finding evidence to support his tales and that was gratifying. That researched evidence often provided specific dates or places to add to the generality of his stories – a good example being the Prime Minister’s short visit to Iceland Force in 1941, an event in which he was involved, and, similarly, the visit of the C.I.G.S. to the Devon area in the Summer of 1940.

As a regular visitor to the DLI Museum I had many conversations over the years with its then Curator, Steve Shannon, who was unfailingly helpful at all times, despite the paucity of items within the collection relating to 70th Brigade. Similarly, searches through the DLI material, held at the County Record Office, produced little or nothing by way of 70th Brigade references, but that did not prevent the staff, especially Gill Parkes, from being of positive assistance, even if all they could offer was a sympathetic ear to my complaints about the lack of Brigade Archives.

War Diaries were of prime importance as a source of information on the activities of the Brigade and its component Battalions and supporting units.

I initially, after some basic on-line research, and several telephone conversations, spent two intensive days at The Public Record Office in Kew, followed by one at the Imperial War Museum’s Reading Room, documenting material related to the Brigade. Staffs at both these establishments were very helpful and particularly sympathetic to the fact that I had travelled to London from the North East, and therefore was not, like many of the researchers in both buildings, a local visitor. This led to material being got ready for me in advance and, without breaching protocols, up to the maximum scale permitted.

The immediate personal impact was the expenditure of several hundred pounds on the photocopying of the material available. It became clear that trying, especially from such a significant geographical distance, to decide what sections of the War Diaries and other files were worth having was a non-starter and the only reliable approach was to do the assessment of the files on site. After those intense days of almost speed-reading I requested, paid for, and received promptly from Kew, complete copies of relevant War Diaries and, from the Imperial War Museum, chapters of relevant books, copyright permitting.

What became immediately obvious was that significant parts of both the Brigade and the individual Battalion War Diaries – essentially the whole of 1942 and 1943 - were not filed or numbered where one would expect to see them, and consequently they were not available for examination at Kew on that first visit. Subsequent conversations with William Spencer, the renowned Military Specialist at Kew, clarified that those particular files had been wrongly referenced many years previously, probably when they were first acquired, and that consequently they did not appear on computer searches. His work to correct what was apparently a known problem was by then well underway, and he subsequently contacted me with the file references I needed for later visits.

One can speculate, perhaps generously, that the paucity of references to the Brigade in the existing Regimental and other Histories may have been due, in part, to the absence of those files which were, for almost sixty years, thought to be “missing”.

A week spent in the Black Watch Museum in Perth yielded access to a copy of the [[1st_Tyneside_Scottish_(1_TS)|Tyneside Scottish]] War Diary, which I was able to begin transcribing, though again the available copy, which had been privately purchased by J L R Samson as a photocopy from Kew and then bound at his expense, was missing 1942 and 1943.

The content of the War Diaries varied enormously, and the presence or absence of expected Appendices formed no recognisable pattern. It was only when I read the Perth copy of the 1TS Diary that I realised that units, particularly when in the field, were required to provide a weekly state of their manpower strength and movements, including a list of Officers by name and appointment. None of those returns were included in the DLI War Diaries for 1940, for example, though they would have been most helpful.

At the other end of the spectrum of detail, files did include copies of such documents as Operation Orders, for use if Iceland were invaded for example, and exercise guidance notes for the approach to be taken when assaulting Normandy bunkers heavily defended by minefields and other obstacles. Appendices showing the scale of issue of camouflage material appeared more than once, as did vehicle states and accounts of weapons and ammunition scales. In many cases the daily entries give only an outline picture of unit activity or occurrences, though, again, allowing cross referencing to be done with other information sources, where these were available.

Later visits to Kew were assisted greatly by the further research on the supporting units associated with the Brigade – each of which, of course, had their own War Diaries requiring analysis – and the relaxation of the rules at National archives which meant that documents could be photographed, and the images stored on computer. Visits became a hectic orgy of digital photography, image transfer and battery replacement, followed at home by many hours of titling and referencing of the thousands of page images!

The list of units to be followed up was assisted materially by access to material on the Orders of Battle – several of which had been put together for Wargamers, rather than Military Historians – but which nevertheless strove for accuracy.

Any omissions of units associated with the Brigade from my endeavours is entirely down to errors on my part, although, in my defence, typing mistakes on distribution lists lead to an inability to definitively identify certain outfits at some periods. Any reader who has knowledge of a particular unit which I have missed is urged to get in touch, so that the omission can be rectified.

When it came to identifying those who had served in the Brigade, I had believed that my experience as a Company Pay Clerk in the Territorial Army Volunteer Reserve – serving from 1970 to 1974 on attachment, firstly, to A (RWF) Company of the Welsh Volunteers, then A Company of the 3rd Royal Welch Fusiliers, when that unit was established through expansion in 1971, and, finally, B (4th Border Regiment) Company of the Northumbrian Volunteers - would be especially relevant. I was, of course, reasonably familiar with the personal details held on 1970s Company Payrolls and Mobilisation documents.

Reckoning, somewhat naively, that, given the importance of monetary records, the equivalent papers must have survived from the 1939-1944 period, I was sure that the creation of a database of those who had served with the Brigade would be largely a matter of processing those details. Clearly, with the benefit of hindsight, I was well off target in that assumption. The payrolls – representing so very many RAPC hours of work – had been long destroyed, and other ways of collecting the data had to be found.

From the Imperial War Museum, after discussions with the Oral History and Books Departments, I obtained transcripts of personal diaries relevant to the Brigade’s activities and sections of books covering the War in North West Europe. Several conversations with the well-known Oral Historian, Peter Hart, a regular and popular speaker at DLI Museum events, and an enthusiastic supporter of the work of the North East War Memorials Project, were especially helpful, and his guidance as to how to search for the material that would be most useful to me was invaluable, as well as a great time-saver. Indeed, his first words to me, when I approached him about my task on one of his regular appearances at the DLI Museum were “did I ever interview your father?” Sadly, he had not, but would have been more than happy to do so, had the occasion presented itself.

Most helpfully, these exchanges led to me finding a copy of “Harder than Hammers” by Captain Whitehead, a brief history of the 1st Battalion Tyneside Scottish produced in 1947, in the IWM’s collection. This volume had one particular additional benefit – an Appendix listing both a Roll of Honour of casualties and a list those who had served with the Battalion, including their home addresses current at the time of writing. This, which had been compiled, I believe, from the records of the Regimental Association, became a key factor in my attempt at developing a database of Brigade members.

My activities with the North East War Memorials Project brought me into contact with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and I was able to obtain a list of Brigade casualties included in their records, at least in respect of the three individual Infantry Battalions. It is a sobering thought, and one familiar to family historians, that it was much easier to obtain details of men who had been killed in action – often including family information – than it was to identify their surviving comrades.

The decision by the Ministry of Defence to discard the Regimental Enlistment and Discharge Books, on the grounds of pressure on storage space, and the availability of individual soldier’s service records, led to a howl of protest from Regimental organisations. The result was that the Regimental Museums were offered the books and, in the case of the DLI, this offer was immediately accepted. After a short period during which the cartons of volumes were stacked in the Curator’s office at the Museum, they were transferred to the County Records Office for professional storage and microfilming. I was fortunate in being able to access the books, which contained; a list of Regimental Numbers in numerical order, the names of the men to whom they had been issued on enlistment, and annotations of what happened to those men, including transfers to other Regiments or Corps.

Readers may not be aware that, during the Second World War and in the period leading up to it, Regimental Numbers were allocated in large blocks to the various Regiments and Corps. The Durham Light Infantry, for example, used the numbers 4435001 to 4523000, while the Black Watch used 2744001 to 2809000. In most cases a man retained his original number, allocated at enlistment, regardless as to where he was transferred, though exceptions did occur. As conscription began to take hold, men were issued with a General Service Corps Number, rather than a Regimental Number, and this then followed them regardless of where they were posted.

The annotations against the names in the Enlistment Books included dates and details of units to which men were transferred and their records forwarded, dates on which they became Prisoners of War, dates on which they were killed or died, and finally dates on which they were transferred to the Reserve or discharged – including the relevant King’s Regulations paragraph covering the circumstances. This allowed me to identify immediately those men who were transferred to other Regiments – such as the soldiers of 12th Battalion DLI transferred to the Black Watch when the 1st Tyneside Scottish was established – and those who were moved to other units in Autumn 1944 when the Brigade was disbanded. While this allowed a reasonable deduction to be made that these men, so identified, had been part of the Brigade, the crucial omission, understandably – given that these were Regimental and not Battalion records – was any reference to the particular Battalion to which men had been posted. This meant that I could not always be certain that I had captured every name with a 70th Brigade connection, though the vital importance of the enlistment books as the prime source of name and number could not be over-estimated.

However, the annotations in the Enlistment Books of those made prisoner, died in service, or killed in action, did allow a check to be run against casualty records from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and the key reference work “Prisoners of War, British Army, 1939-1945”, published by J.B. Hayward & Son, in association with the Imperial War Museum. I was able to pursue a number of enquiries arising from inconsistencies which this comparison threw up.

Similarly, I was able to compare the list of implied Tyneside Scottish soldiers from the DLI Enlistment Books against the list included within “Harder than Hammers”, which helpfully included Regimental Numbers as well as names and ranks.

An early lesson, and one well known to family historians, is that records such as I have described are not error free, regardless of the time or effort taken by their compilers. While genealogists are very familiar with the problems, for example, of Census data in which people have falsified their ages, thus confusing and muddling family trees, the military historian at least has the basic comfort of the unique Regimental Number, especially relating to Second World War service. Even with this sacrosanct personal numerical identifier, which every old soldier of my acquaintance has been able to rattle off without a moment’s pause, issues arise – generally those of mistranscription, leading to duplications of names with apparently the same number.

Errors in transcribing initials are also common, to which the availability of the Regimental Number is often the immediate solution, but I also encountered several errors and duplications in the 1st Tyneside Scottish Roll of Honour, and I am indebted to Mr Tommy Smyth, Black Watch Archivist, for his untiring help in clarifying which numbers and names correctly matched. Not for nothing did this fount of Regimental knowledge have a Black Watch Pipe March composed and named “The Archivist” in his honour.

A further complementary approach was to analyse closely all the reference material, War Diaries, oral transcripts and so on for mention of individual names, ranks, Battalions and personal roles and appointments. Even the listing of the names, for example, of the various football teams in the Battalion Newspapers produced in Iceland added to the databases and confirmed the 70th Brigade affiliation suspected from the initial review of the Enlistment Books.

Queries were also thrown up when casualty details were compared with those held by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and I must acknowledge the patience and interest of the Commission’s staff when such anomalies as I found were put to them. One early success was for the Commission to agree to change the description associated with the main Dunkirk War Memorial, to clarify that the 4605 men commemorated thereon, who have no known grave, included the names of those who had died later in the War as Prisoners of War in German hands – a greater number than might have been supposed by the casual enquirer – but who had been captured during the Dunkirk campaign.

A later success was the Commission’s agreement to amend their records to show that the late Lt. C. B. Mitchell of the Black Watch, who died from wounds sustained when his Headquarters was shelled in mid-July 1944, had indeed served in the 1st Tyneside Scottish for some considerable time as the Battalion’s Intelligence Officer. The proof of his role came from the Field Return of Officers, filed within the War Diary for the Battalion – material not previously made known to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Another casualty was listed on the Commission’s database with no family information – a not unusual occurrence – but one which is corrected within this work, as his entry in the Regimental Enlistment Book shows that he was an orphan when he first joined the Regular Army, but identified the name and trade of his late father, listed his birthplace, and named his aunt as next of kin. By the time of his death – nearly twenty years later - it may be that she was also deceased, leaving no family member to provide details to the Commission for their records. Thanks to the Enlistment Book entry, he is no longer without his own ancestry and can be traced to a family tree.

War Diaries were also invaluable, especially for gathering the names of Officers within the Brigade – particularly where the weekly Officer State Return was filed with the Intelligence Summary, as was the case for part of the sequence of 1st Tyneside Scottish War Diaries. One minor exception was the single page appendix in the Brigade War Diary for 1st January 1941, during the spell in Iceland, which listed all the “other ranks” working as Brigade HQ staff on that date. There, in the centre of the page, was listed Pte R B Dixon, Driver i/c. I was pleased there was no-one nearby in the National Archives Search Room when I found that particular document.

When I studied the list of those who served in the Tyneside Scottish I was immediately struck by how many of the home addresses given in 1947 were in South Wales. While there were transfers in to the Brigade from Welsh Units, the implication was that this list of Welsh addresses was as a result of marriages having taken place between men from the North East, and local girls, when the Brigade was stationed in that area, which it was on several occasions. “Harder than Hammers” even made a point of including a mention of this phenomenon within the text.

My approaches to the Light Infantry Office in Durham (now The Rifles Office) and the DLI Regimental Association led me to a small number of surviving veterans, who were generous with their time, and honest with their memories – despite the pain some of these must have caused. Descriptions, for example, of the death of comrades were given in a matter of fact fashion.

I received no greater compliment about my research than from one veteran, when, my having spotted the distress a particular account was beginning to cause him, I offered to halt our discussion. He then said quietly…”That incident gave me nightmares for years. I’ve never even told my son about it, but you understand these things”. I felt humbled and extremely privileged.

It was rare for my late father to refer to such stories. He, like many old soldiers, preferred the more amusing and self-deprecating tales on most occasions, until, that is, our younger son was carrying out a G.C.S.E. History assignment. He had been asked to interview his grandparents about their wartime experiences and, at the time, all four were still alive. He gathered a wide range of material from his maternal grandfather, and both his grandmothers, about; service with a Searchlight Unit, work in an aircraft factory, munitions work inspecting aircraft armament as an “Aycliffe Angel” and domestic matters of various kinds and then arranged to interview my father. After a warning from me that there were likely to be delicate areas needing a light touch, especially around the Dunkirk evacuation, and not to cause him any upset, he sat down to conduct the interview, using a brief his class had been given by their History Master.

This school briefing sheet included some fairly blunt questions for the student to ask, such as...”have you ever shot anybody?” which, given Dad’s role as a driver, did not cause him too much difficulty, and to which he gave his usual jocular style of answer. Had the question been…”Have you ever killed anybody?”… the response might have been different – but more of that later.

When he was asked if he had ever seen a friend killed, Dad, after a short pause, proceeded to describe in detail an incident during the retreat to Dunkirk, when he and colleagues from Brigade HQ were forced to take cover in slit trenches in a wood, during an aerial attack by Ju 87B dive-bombers. The wooded area was also being bombarded simultaneously by mortar and shell fire. This was an event he had never previously described to me, other than in very general terms.

My father explained that he and a school friend from his home village were sheltering together in one of the small slit-trenches, when his friend received a direct hit from a mortar round. The quirks and vagaries of the resulting blast were such that, though Dad was severely deafened, he was otherwise physically undamaged, while his friend had simply ceased to exist, being vapourised by the explosion. When asked by our son about his reaction to this horror, Dad simply said … “My first thought was, what am I going to say to his Mum about what happened to him, if I get home?”

Despite the care I tried to take, and the various databases and spreadsheets I prepared, there was no realistic way in which I could claim that my list of those who served in the Brigade was complete – hence the opportunity for families to get in touch, check the listings, and forward to me additional details of those missed from those lists for one reason or another.

Divisional Commander Royal Engineers 23rd (Northumbrian) Division May 1940.

2011-05-31T13:42:50Z

70bgadmin2:

From '''28th April until 9th May''' the unit was carrying out normal duties and working on stores for the Companies.

'''10th May 1940.'''

There was an Air Raid in the area and, while bombs were dropped, none were in the vicinity of the unit's HQ.

''(For the rest of the month - which was of course a crucial one in the short life of the Division - the War Diary of the Commander Royal Engineers was typed up on a series of plain pieces of paper, rather than on the official War Diary Forms).''

'''15th May 1940'''

On this date the Divisional Royal Engineers were dispersed as follows:-

HQ was at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miraumont MIRAUMONT] N4278.

508th Field Park Company was at TINCQUES N2708.

507th Field Company (in support of 70 Brigade) were at NUNCQ H1304 and at BEAUVOIR M1296.

233rd Field Company (in support of 69 Brigade) were concentrated near ALBERT N3668.

At 09:00 hours the Commander Royal Engineers received orders to reconnoitre caves at BLERANCOURT N6912 for possible use as a new underground HQ for B.A.A.F. The 507th Field Company were ordered to carry out this task and their reconnaissance party met the Commander Royal Engineers at 16:30 hours.

'''16th May 1940'''

At 08:00 hours a message was received from the 507th Field Company's men at BLERANCOURT to the effect that they had been given verbal orders from Signals to evacuate their position as enemy tanks were approaching, and indicated that they were returning to the Engineer HQ pending receiving any orders from the Commander Royal Engineers. This message was acknowledged and, after a discussion with the Engineer-in-Charge at the BEF HQ at ARRAS the Commander Royal Engineers ordered them to return to MIRAUMONT. The reconnaissance party arrived at 14:00.

At 18:00 hours the Commander Royal Engineers was ordered to report to the Divisional Commander, together with another Officer with demolition experience, and was sent forward to meet the Chief Engineer Air Component at MONT-ST-ELOI H4207. On reaching there he was ordered to consider the demolition of six aerodromes ''(which of course the Division had had a major role in building)''.

'''17th May 1940'''

At 05:00 the Commander Royal Engineers returned to his HQ at MIRAUMONT and ordered the 233rd Field Company to prepare for the demolition of the aerodromes. 2/Lt BELL was given the task of advising the RAF on the destruction of fuel and small arms ammunition and all Engineer Companies were placed at one hour's notice of readiness to move.

At 07:00 the Commander Royal Engineers was given verbal orders by the Divisional Commander that the Division had been ordered to take up positions on the CANAL DU NORD between RUYAULCOURT N6377 and ARLEUX N7097. 70 Brigade was to be on the right, supported by 507th Field Company, Royal Engineers, and 69 Brigade on the left with 233rd Field Company, Royal Engineers. The boundary between the Brigades, inclusive to 69 Brigade, was set as the main ARRAS to CAMBRAI road at MARQUION N6889. All bridges were to be prepared for demolition forthwith ''(a key role for Engineer Companies in situations of this kind)''.

The Field Companies were immediately ordered to move to these positions and Commander Royal Engineers opened his HQ at CHERISY N5793 ''(a location which would have been very familiar to the DLI of World War One as the site of the only trench raid photographed from the air during that conflict - the images of which are with the Regimental Museum and which have been very successfully used in giving Sedgefield secondary school students an appreciation of trench warfare)'' at 14:00 hours.

A total of seventeen bridges were reported by the two Companies as requiring to be dealt with on this front - eight on the left and nine on the right.

2/Lt BELL reported back to HQ at 18:00 hours having completed successful demolitions for the RAF.

'''18th May 1940'''

At 05:00 hours 233rd Field Company C.O. reported that demolition preparation had been completed on 80% of his bridges. The C.O. of 507th Field Company reported at 16:30 hours that he expected his bridges would be ready for demolition by 21:00 hours. Shortly afterwards, at 17:00 hours the Commander Royal Engineers received verbal orders from the Divisional Commander to blow all the bridges except those on the main ARRAS - CAMBRAI road and the BAPAUME - CAMBRAI road bridges. The Commander Royal Engineers then visited both Engineer Companies with written orders to that effect.

In an incident which typifies the problems experienced by this Division, faced with a very fast-moving and integrated German attack, with little by way of effective communications, the order to blow the bridges was cancelled only half an hour later at 17:30 hours. The order came too late for the 233rd Field Company as, by then, all bridges on the left front, except the main road bridge, had been blown. It was possible to halt the demolitions, however, planned by the 507th Field Company, on the right front with 70 Brigade.

''(It may be worth looking at this situation in the context of developing events. Was the position of 70 Brigade made more vulnerable because the demolitions had not already been carried out?).''

At 23:00 hours the Commander, Royal Engineers was informed that the enemy had captured CAMBRAI and was advancing on the Canal position - as a result all bridges were to be blown forthwith - the two main road bridges at all costs.

At 23:50 hours the C.O. of 233rd Engineer Company, Major LINTON, was injured in a fall and evacuated to hospital.

'''19th May 1940'''

At 04:00 the Commander, Royal ENgineers finally reached the main BAPAUME - CAMBRAI bridge - his journey having been delayed by refugees ''(a common story which would repeated many times across the Divisional area)'' and ordered its immediate demolition. Messages were also sent to complete the other bridge demolitions on the 70 Brigade front.

At 06:00 hours enemy tanks approached the position and opened fire on the demolition parties, although, despite their action, all bridges were blown without casualties. 2/Lt EDGAR completed one demolition while under fire for half an hour, with no support weapons available to deal with the enemy - resulting in an award of the Military Cross.

AQ Branch 23rd (Northumbrian) Division February 1940.

2011-05-31T13:41:36Z

70bgadmin2:

'''23rd (Northumbrian) Division'''

'''War Diary February 1940'''

'''Appendix A - Manpower Status of the Infantry Battalions'''

There is no "text" page for the month in the File.

This Appendix is the first item remaining in the AQ Branch War Diary File for this month. It consists solely of a single table, setting out the War Establishment figures for an Infantry Battalion, and comparing those with the number in each of the six Infantry Battalions in the Division.

The total War Establishment for a Battalion of this type is shown as 641, plus 129 First Reinforcements, and 108 to make Infantry Section strength up from seven men to ten - that figure is calculated on the basis of three sections per Platoon, three Platoons per Company, and four Companies per Battalion - making 36 Sections in all with provision for three extra men each. These extra men would act, it is assumed, as additional reinforcements - reference to their role may be found in the part of the history which describes the social and geographical background to the Brigade, based on the 1st Tyneside Scottish Reconnaissance Platoon.

These figures produce a total requirement of 878 men per Battalion.

The table compared the present strength of the six Battalions, allows for around 55 men per Battalion held for Brigade and Divisional duties, identifies the number of "immatures" as at 1st September 1940 (who would not be able to go overseas), notes the number of unfit men, and estimates the number needing to be transferred to Pioneer Battalions. Making those allowances, and comparing the adjusted strength against the War Establishment total of 878, produced a shortfall for each Battalion as follows:-

5th East Yorkshires 540

6th Green Howards 366

7th Green Howards 423

10th D L I 428

11th D L I 346

1st Tyneside Scottish 275

It will be seen, therefore, that 69 Brigade was 1,329 Infantrymen short and 70 Brigade some 1,049 short of their theoretical requirements for manpower. These figures should be considered against the position for equipment and vehicles and, I suggest, reflect the transfers which were made to bring the first-line Battalions of 150 and 151 Brigades up to strength before their departure for the B.E.F. It is possible that the ability of 1st Tyneside Scottish to recruit locally direct to their ranks may have affected their better position as against other units.

'''Appendix B – Equipment Return'''

This Appendix is only the second item remaining in the AQ Branch War Diary File for this particular month. In addition, there is no filed material for this Branch for the period September 1939 to January 1940 - this may be to do with the Division being administered initally by 50th Division, its parent formation.

Rather than prepare a complete table of the manuscript summary of the Equipment Return included within the War Diary, key features have been extracted and set out below.

It should be borne in mind that the Division – having been in existence at that time for five months or so – contained the following units:-

Two Royal Artillery Regiments (124th and 125th)

Two Royal Engineers Field Companies (233rd and 507th)

One Royal Engineers Field Park Company (508th)

Three Divisional Signal Companies (Nos 1, 2 and 3)

Six Infantry Battalions (5th East Yorks, 6th and 7th Green Howards, 10th and 11th Durham Light Infantry, and 1st Tyneside Scottish - though this unit was still being shown in some documents in its former name of 12th Durham Light Infantry, despite having transferred to the Black Watch on 1st February 1940)

One Motorcycle Battalion of Infantry (8th Royal Northumberland Fusiliers)

Two RAMC Field Ambulances (186th and 187th)

In addition, there were the following attached units:-

Two Royal Artillery Survey Regiments (4th and 6th)

One Machine-Gun Battalion of Infantry (9th Royal Northumberland Fusiliers)

One Royal Armoured Corps Regiment (2nd East Riding Yeomanry)

Two Royal Tank Regiments (43rd and 49th)

One Army Tank Signals Brigade (25th)

The manuscript table lists the full range of weapons and equipment of all kinds, and compares, unit by unit, the actual holdings against the expected levels set out in Army Form G 1098 – the “bible” as regards the items a unit was expected to have in use or in its stores. The differences between those two figures, together with the manpower situation, provide a useful perspective on the state of readiness of a unit, and its ability to transport itself and carry out the required training. The summary shows the “peace” scale of G 1098 equipment.

In looking at the figures I have concentrated on the units most directly associated with 70 Brigade.

The Divisional Artillery was short of everything – particularly guns, gun equipment (such as sights) and transport, although they did have some “Drill purpose” Howitzers in the 124th Regiment for training use, and nine out of the required twelve Howitzers in 125th Regiment. It is not surprising that the artillery units were given Infantry tasks in this early part of the War, as they did not possess any of their 24 Field Guns.

Small Arms showed a mixed picture. In respect of the Division’s units (other than those attached) there was in fact a surplus of .303 rifles – 457 more than the required 5,427 – roughly half of the surplus being in 70 Brigade, but in all other weapons in this category deficiencies were seen as follows:-

Item Required In Stock 70 Brigade Position

[http://www.rifleman.org.uk/Enfield_Boys_Anti-Tank_Rifle.htm Boys A/T Rifle] 171 108 36 short

Bren Gun 318 221 101 short

Lewis Gun 34 22 Not applicable

Pistol .38 252 245 47 short

Pistol .45 NIL 103 32 in stock

Mortar 2" 72 NIL 36 short

Mortar 3" 12 NIL 6 short

Ammunition;

Rounds .303 Ball No scale 542,281 157,021 in stock

Rounds .303 Tracer No scale 15,367 3,617 in stock

Rounds .38 No scale 2,094 816 in stock

Rounds .45 NO scale 1,044 NIL in stock

Webbing and anti-gas equipment showed a very mixed picture. Each Infantry Battalion was supposed to hold 779 Respirators, both container and facepiece, and a Haversack for each respirator. 1st Tyneside Scottish was best equipped, with 625 of each. 11 DLI had 170 containers, but only 70 each of facepieces and Haversacks, while 10 DLI had 721 containers, but only 91 each of facepieces and Haversacks.

Anti-gas capes – sometimes confused with groundsheets – were on a better scale with what appears to be around one for each man. Packets of 6 anti-gas eyeshields were less evenly distributed with, again, 1st Tyneside Scottish best provided at 777, while 10 DLI had only 63 and 11 DLI 240.

Steel helmets in the Brigade almost exactly matched the anti-gas cape numbers, although the Division as a whole had an overall surplus of over 1900.

Webbing equipment was an extremely mixed picture with three patterns in use – 1908 pattern (familiar from the First World War as the standard set), Leather equipment – which again may have been the First World War 1914 pattern – and the then current 1937 pattern webbing set. Each Battalion should have had 752 full sets of 1937 pattern.

10 DLI had only 61 sets of 1937 pattern, plus 581 leather sets. 11 DLI had only 66 sets of 1908 pattern, leaving one wondering how they carried ammunition, water and so on in training, whereas 1 Tyneside Scottish was again best equipped Battalion in the Brigade with a total 691 of the 1937 pattern sets. Overall, the Division was 3,855 webbing sets short.

The Brigade had no wireless sets at all, no camouflage equipment, and no portable cookers. Some, but not all of, these deficiencies will be seen to be addressed as later pages in the War Diary are documented.

The position with regard to transport and fighting vehicles was no better.

Each Battalion was expected to have 7 Bren Carriers, and each had only one.

Each needed 8 G.S. 8 cwt trucks, and had none.

Each needed 18 G.S. 15 cwt trucks and each had only one.

Each needed 1 War Department Car and did not have one at all.

Each needed 11 War Department Motorcycles and did not have any.

Some of the shortfall was met by purchasing or hiring vehicles and there were 13 purchased and 6 hired cars between the Battalions, plus four hired three-ton trucks and seven motorcycles.

Again, references will be found in later War Diaries to the disposal and acquisition of vehicles from War Office sources – many at almost the last minute before unit movements took place.

Dixon Robert Bagnall Pte 4455504

2011-05-31T13:36:18Z

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Dixon Robert Bagnall Pte 4455504

2011-05-31T13:35:24Z

70bgadmin2:

Dixon Robert Bagnall Pte 4455504

2011-05-31T13:34:08Z

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