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General => Armed Forces => World War Two => Topic started by: joannecarter on Friday 10 May 13 12:36 BST (UK)
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Hello
I am trying to find any info on the 65th Armoured tank, my grandad was in this division and would love to find some info, i have his army number.
Even googling i cant seem to find the correct info..can anyone help please
Thank You
Joanne.
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Hi Joanne,
I'm sorry your question has not got a reply until now, but I expect the experts are as bewildered as me by the Unit description. Can we please establish which Army we are talking about British, Canadian or American? I cannot find any British Armoured Division or Arm'd/Tank Brigade with that number attached so I'm floundering without a little more info.
Alan
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Sorry...Thank you for your reply.
My grandfather was born and bred in Leeds,Yorkshire..so i am guessing it was a Yorkshire regiment.
He was a wireless conductor and was inducted...just noticed the info i have states 7th Armoured as the division and 65th Anti Tank.
Joanne
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Hi again Joanne,
. . . just noticed the info i have states 7th Armoured as the division and 65th Anti Tank.
Well that's something a bit different but it's progress. My guess is that it may turn out to be something like 65th Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery. I'll keep looking along those lines.
Alan
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65th AT attached 7th Armoured Division.
see
http://www.ra39-45.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/atk/page22.html
Buzancy18
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I found an Order of Battle in one of my books that confirms that the 65th were the Divisional Anti-tank Regiment of 7 Arm'd Div. Thanks to Buzancy's link we now know they were real Desert Rats too before "doing" NW Europe. Ta Buz!
Alan
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Thank You Buz and Alan for looking into this for me..I looked at the link from Buz and saw the listing....where can i go to look at info on where they went etc
Regards
Joanne
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As is often said "Mr G**g*e is your friend here!" ;) Look for 7th Armoured Division or 'Desert Rats' and you will swiftly see the Division's travel itinerary. Briefly this covers North Africa, Tunisia, Sicily, Italy, then back UK to prepare for D-Day, followed by France, Belgium, Holland and finally Germany. Plenty to study there! ;D
Alan
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Hello Alan
Thank you for your reply.
I remember i had saved two episodes of Tankies on the TV for my dad...he likes war stuff anyway we watched it and although it dosent mention my grandads section individually from what you said and the mentioning of desert rats...these episodes were about them!
Following them through and the types of tank...my grandads was a valentine according to my dad.
Very interesting and another thank you
Joanne
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Hi Joanne,
Following them through and the types of tank...my grandads was a valentine according to my dad.
It wouldn't be a Valentine, but a Valentine Archer Self-propelled Anti-tank Gun. It was a Valentine tank hull with a 17pdr gun built in to a new armoured hull top, the gun firing backwards over the engine covers. Wikipedia has a good article explaining things.
Alan
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I'm so sorry to jump in here so please forgive me.
I know my great uncle Samuel Sankey served with 65th Anti Tank Norfolk Regiment.
he was killed on 03 August 1944 and is buried in Bayeux.
Im trying to find out how he made his way to France and then on, I know 65th came under 7th armoured. Can anyone confirm that the 65th was involved in Operation Bluecoat?
Any extra info would be massively appreciated!
Kindest Regards
Carolyn xx
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Carolyn,
Not sure if you are still using the site, but my Grandfather also fought with the 65th Anti-Tank RA (Norfolk Yeomanry) 260 Bty.
I am also researching his history and the following book is great giving details of their movements during WW2:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Norfolk-Yeomanry-Peace-Jeremy-Bastin/dp/0951166409
They had a pretty hard time, fighting in North Africa (hence the Jerboa of the Desert Rats), then Salerno before landing at Gold Beach on D+1.
There is also an online copy of the regimental diary during their time in Holland here:
http://www.royalartilleryunitsnetherlands1944-1945.com/65-anti-tank-regt.html
I have very few photos of my grandfather as his papers were burnt out in a tank (technically it was an M10 Achilles) in Europe so would love to see any pictures as they may have known each other.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Andy
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There is a very good 2 volume pictorial history of 7th Armoured Division by George Forty who is/was curator of the Tank Museum at Bovington. Well worth having and probably not that expensive.
My mother's brother was 6RTR in 7AD until he was transferred to Divisional Tank Squadron (7 tanks)(guarded divisional HQ) sometime in 1942, earlier than later. He was a regular and credited his survival to peacetime training. He went all the way from Libya pre-war (Heavy Armoured Brigade) to Berlin.
Apparently, I was in my pram in spring 1944 when my mother came out to check on me. She saw a fit bronzed soldier walking up the drive. It was her brother. They were back in UK for retraining and re-equipment for Normandy. Many years later he told me that tank crews were sent to the factories to see the new British wonder tank the Cromwell. They were not impressed, having met Panthers and Tigers in Italy.
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Coincidently I was looking in the book last night regarding an inquiry on another forum. The book is quite good as far as regimental histories go. I'd also recommend considering the units war diaries at The National Archives. If anyone is interested, just ask and I'll post up the war diary ref numbers for them.
Cheers
Andy
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Andy,
That would be great. I plan on heading there next month so that will save me some time.
Thanks
Another Andy
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yes, the War Diaries of units and formations are the way to go. Unfortunately, the NA have periodical prunings. I got photocopies of armoured regiment states and divisional daily tank states from Kew. That was probably 10 years ago and there was no complete run June 1944 to May 1945 then. Many had gone to the shredder.
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Here you go.
WO 166/1637 65 Anti-Tank Regiment 1939 Aug-1940 Jan, July-Nov
WO 167/586 65 Anti-Tank Regiment Royal Artillery 1940 Feb-June
WO 169/1521 65 Anti-Tank Regiment 1940 Dec-1941 Dec
WO 169/4722 65 Anti-Tank Regiment 1942 Jan- May, July- Dec.
WO 169/9622 65 Anti-Tank Regiment 1943 Jan- Dec
WO 171/921 65 Anti-Tank Regiment 1944 Jan-Dec
WO 171/4774 65 Anti-Tank Regiment 1945 Jan-Dec
WO 171/9030 65 Anti-Tank Regiment 1946 Jan-Feb
Cheers
Andy
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yes, the War Diaries of units and formations are the way to go. Unfortunately, the NA have periodical prunings. I got photocopies of armoured regiment states and divisional daily tank states from Kew. That was probably 10 years ago and there was no complete run June 1944 to May 1945 then. Many had gone to the shredder.
What was the file refs? I suspect a lot has changed since then, I've only been going for around five years and I cringe at some of the stories I hear. I'm wondering if they are now available as I'm sure I copied something like this sometime ago along with a file examining destroyed British tanks in NWE and daily or monthly British Tank Production figures.
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yes, the War Diaries of units and formations are the way to go. Unfortunately, the NA have periodical prunings. I got photocopies of armoured regiment states and divisional daily tank states from Kew. That was probably 10 years ago and there was no complete run June 1944 to May 1945 then. Many had gone to the shredder.
What was the file refs? I suspect a lot has changed since then, I've only been going for around five years and I cringe at some of the stories I hear. I'm wondering if they are now available as I'm sure I copied something like this sometime ago along with a file examining destroyed British tanks in NWE and daily or monthly British Tank Production figures.
Give me a bit of time. I don't actively study this stuff nowadays. I have a mixture of photocopies and what I copied out longhand. One thing I can say it is pure gold. Without checking, there was June and July and then it jumped to October. I will send you all I've got but I will need to sort it all out.
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Just the reference number will do for the file. It's not an area I'm interested in was just happy to check if any others were available for you if you are interested :)
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Just the reference number will do for the file. It's not an area I'm interested in was just happy to check if any others were available for you if you are interested :)
OK.
Regards,
Roger
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Hi all,
Resurrecting this thread as I am currently researching the 65th AT Regt, RA for a living history project starting in the next couple of years. I am involved with a group covering Royal Norfolk's and I am interested in getting as many stories of veterans and their families as possible as well as any other information you may have in order to make our portrayal as realistic as possible and do the men of the 65th AT Regiment justice. If you would like to provide any information regarding a relative from a photograph to a story you were told once I would be forever in your favour as sadly there isn't much information regarding the Norfolk Yeomanry around.
I look forward to hearing back from you.
All the best,
Matt
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Hi Milly,
Sorry about that... all sorted now?
Thanks,
Matt
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