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General => Armed Forces => World War Two => Topic started by: daisynook on Tuesday 01 March 11 14:23 GMT (UK)
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My father-in-law Robert Harry Lock was a Chindit who walked into Burma from India, I think with the first wave. Mother-in-law who is now 89 cannot remember details but he was in the Royal Engineers, she believes blowing bridges up etc. He had malaria and thinks that he was air lifted out before the end of the campaign.
He lived in Manchester when he lied about his age to join the army at the start of the war and went on to Dunkirk. Died in 1992.
Can anyone suggest where I can find any more details on his war record, I have had no successes with my searches.
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hi daisynook
are you aware ma in law can get his service record for nothing all she / you need is his death cert if you go to this site www.veterans-uk.info/service_records/service_records.html from there you can download the forms and send off for the record .
they were a brave bunch of lads the chindits , please give ma in law my very best wishe and i hope she has many more years ahead of her if she has any photos of robert in the forces why not post them up it,s always nice to see the old boys in uniform .
very best wishes
trevor
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They were very brave men, got behind the Japanese lines and sabotaged whatever they could, like a guerrilla force.
Ord Wingate was the Commander.
Had they been captured by the Japanese it it unbearable to think what would have happened to them.
It would be lovely to see a photo of a Chindit. Your Mother -in-law must be very proud of him.
Viktoria.
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Sadly. many were.
You are lucky that one of the contributors here is very knowlegeable on the first Chindit op., sure he'll be along shortly.
Your mother-in-law can get his service history free of charge, but apply asap as it is now up to a year wait!
Royal Engineer blowing up bridges, sounds a bit like 142 Commando Company, who formed part of the columns and was made up of such brave lads.
Regards
Pete
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Hi daisynook,
As some of the other posters have said the best thing you can do is apply for his Service records. I have been researching the First Chindits of 1943 for about 4 years now, it would be great to think Robert was one of these men.
The 1943 Chindits were really used to test the Wingate theories of Long Range penetration and air supply. None of the first wave were ever flown out when wounded or sick with malaria and so on. 17 men were lucky to have been picked up when one plane did manage to make a landing on a jungle clearing, but I have the list of those men and Robert was not one of these.
However, 16th Brigade did walk in to Burma in 1944 and many of these men were flown out when they became ill or had been wounded, so my gut instinct would head in this direction. His service records would tell you his regiment and other associated units and then we can really narrow things down.
If you would like an overall good read on the Chindits and their exploits then I would recommend the book 'March or Die' by Phil Chinnery.
Let us know how you get on with the records or if you find some other information on his regiment etc.
Good luck.
Steve.
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Thanks very much to all of you who replied, I am very grateful to you all. I will download forms and get mother-in-law to sign them and go from there, I already have his death certificate.
I will let you know if I have any luck.
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hi d n
yes please do let us know what,s on the record and even a scan of them if you and ma in law would like to do it , those men along with the long range desert group were very brave men taking the fight behind the lines to the enemy .
very best wishes
trevor
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A snippet of information I have come across was a note from his brother with an address of - 249 Party Accom, TB RC, Chatham, Kent around 1937 when he first joined the Army as a Sapper, he was about 16, lied about his age.
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That would be for his initial training, which was carries out at the RE depot at Chatham.
At a guess the number was the reference for his intake.
You could contact the RE museum and see if they can offer any further info.
Regards
Pete
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THIS IS SOMETHING NEW REGARDING THE CHINDITS------CHATHAM 1937
EVEN WINGATE WASNT AROUND THEN AT LEAST NOT IN THE FAR EAST. BESSINGBY
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Hi Bessingby
For the first Chindit op. each Column had attached to it a party of Royal Engineers & Commandos who were trained in demolition practices.
Some of these guys were from either 142 Commando Company, or had been staff at the Jungle Warfare Training School at Maymyo.
The Royal Engineers would have undergone their own RE training at Chatham upon joining, prior to being assigned to their own unit. This would have been prior to the Chindit Ops.
I believe that this is what occured with the chap above, he underwent his RE training in 1937, prior to the war.
Pete
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HI PETE
I DIDNT THINK THERE WOULD BE A REPLY TO MY POKING MY NOSE IN
BUT COME ON 142 COMM COMP...JUNGLE TRAINING AT MAYMYO
WHY WOULD THE R.ES BE TRAING LIKE THAT.THE WAR HADNT STARTED.
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I think the training he did in 37 was his RE basic training in Chatham.
The RE's were heavily involved in the jungle warfare training school, but if memory serves me (I've passed my copy of its war diary on) it was started up in 1942.
pete
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I now have some paperwork in my hand which I am trying to decipher. Does anyone know what SOS Struck of Strength mean please?
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It meant he left a unit.
The next entry will be TOS ? Taken on strength.
Shows a change in unit.
Pete
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Thank you Pete, I will probably be asking more questions!
Just reading back, you were right, my father-in-law did his training at Chatham. The only mention in his records of Burma is that he was awarded the Defence Medal Burma Star. I am still trying to decipher the records.
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Another question - Medals and Decorations reads:
1939-43 Star Pt II SF/49/44 Micro Pad (could be Miero) R200 126A.L.F.
Defence Medal Burma Star. RERO DIV3 MB/32/47 MB/128
Can you tell me what all that means?
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The 39-43 Star was for serving in the forces for a min period during those years (it later became the 39-45 Star).
The Burma Star was awarded for serving in Burma for a minimum period of time between two set dates - cant remember wht they were offhand.
Look for attachments to brigades, or names of places. Also he would have disembarked in India first.
If you want to post it here we can decipher it for you.
Pete.
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Here are the dates:
http://www.burmastar.org.uk/medal.htm
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It looks like my father-in-law spent a lot of his time in India and Burma in hosital. One hospital quoted was BMH Coloba in 1945. His unit was TBRE 5 Field Company 219 Field Park Company and he went out to India in April 1942. It also states he Entered Concessional area in January 1944.
Does any of this pin him down to any particular area?
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Malaria, I reckon.
Can you scan the relevant pages and post them here (or email them to me if you dont want to post them) and they can be deciphered.
Pete.
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I put 219 field park company into yahoo and it came up with a few hits, including one from a BBC website from a member of the company.
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It looks like my father-in-law spent a lot of his time in India and Burma in hosital. One hospital quoted was BMH Coloba in 1945. His unit was TBRE 5 Field Company 219 Field Park Company and he went out to India in April 1942. It also states he Entered Concessional area in January 1944.
Does any of this pin him down to any particular area?
I am researching my father who served with 61 Air Supply Company RASC and was on the second Chindit campaign in 1944. Prior to that he was stationed in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), training the air despatchers. He married my mother out there in 1943, she was a nurse at the RN hospital, COLOMBO - I am wondering if this could be the same hospital to which you refer. If you think it might be I have some photos which might be of interest.
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It looks like my father-in-law spent a lot of his time in India and Burma in hosital. One hospital quoted was BMH Coloba in 1945. His unit was TBRE 5 Field Company 219 Field Park Company and he went out to India in April 1942. It also states he Entered Concessional area in January 1944.
Does any of this pin him down to any particular area?
I am researching my father who served with 61 Air Supply Company RASC and was on the second Chindit campaign in 1944. Prior to that he was stationed in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), training the air despatchers. He married my mother out there in 1943, she was a nurse at the RN hospital, COLOMBO - I am wondering if this could be the same hospital to which you refer. If you think it might be I have some photos which might be of interest.
I should have done this earlier. There was a BMH Colaba - see this thread
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=rm9p12n5fd7ucg5v0u2paeb9c1&topic=409424.0
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:) Thanks very much for this thread.