53 Heavy Regiment, Royal Artillery

[PeteB]

Having fought a lengthy battle with the National Archives and MoD Service Access Team I have finally received my father's service records! Having confirmed that he was in 25 Battery, 53 Heavy Regiment I would now like to find out his movements from late June 1944 to the end of the war.

I find the structure of the RA quite confusing, but does anyone know if the War Diary of the regiment is available on Ancestry? I'd quite like to know if it's available before taking out a subscription!

I recall my mother telling me that he was involved in the liberation of Bergen-Belsen, and I believe that he certainly saw the camp at close quarters. It would be interesting to discover the extent of his involvement.

Earlier this month I stumbled across a documentary on the liberation which contained "interviews" with inmates, guards and British soldiers. I don't think that it was the Sam Menzies documentary. Although the interviews appear in "What They Found" I'm sure that in the programme that I watched the interviewees gave their names, and the camp guards had to confirm the date at the beginning of the interview.

Any ideas, anyone?

Apologies for the long post and many questions!

Pete

[Andy J2022]

Hi Pete,

I don't have a current sub for Ancestry, but checking the National Archives shows that the war diaries for 53 Heavy Regt RA have not yet been digitised.

If you would like to search TNA holdings, be sparing in what you type into the Discovery search, as too much detail may mean than that some of the diaries don't show up in the results. Since you are interested in the period from June 1944 to VE day (and maybe a little after that) then the diaries you want are in WO 171. That should be your first filter term. Then in the main search bar just type '53 Heavy'. That will bring up all the relevant diaries, namely;
WO 171/1037 to 1041 for 1944
WO 171/4878 to 4880 for 1945
and in case you need it, WO 171/9091 for 1 Jan to 31 Mar 1946

Obviously if you aren't able to get to TNA that information is of limited use. Since the war diary files are big, I don't think asking TNA to  make copies for you is a viable option as it would be expensive. Almost certainly some military historian will have previously made copies or extracts and so a detailed Google search might just turn up something. Alternatively, go on one of the many forums which deal with either WW2 in general or specifically Royal Artillery matters. I can highly recommend the RA section of WW2Talk forum. Also, take a look at the  Royal Artillery in World War 2 website.

When searching generally be aware that 53 appears in the name of several RA units including a Field Regt, an Anti-Tank Regt, three Anti-Aircraft Regts (light, Heavy and Driver Training), and a searchlight Regt, and the word Heavy appears in the titles of a lot of Regiments (eg Heavy Anti-Aircraft, and Super Heavy).

[Andy J2022]

On the subject of Bergen-Belsen, the only information I have is that the first British unit to take charge of the Camp was 63rd Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery, commanded by Lt Col Richard Taylor RA. Obviously men from other units may have been drafted in to assist in what was a massive task. Taylor's initial report here: National Archives

63 AT Regt were replaced by 113 LAA Regt RA, and on 22 May 1945 113 LAA Regt were relieved by another LAA Regt. After the initial demilitarisation of the camp the primary need was for medical and sanitation personnel, and so it seems less likely that other Gunner units were required for general duties at the camp. 53 Heavy Regt are not mentioned in any of the reports I have found so far. If they were, the war diary will certainly confirm this.
 

[nanny jan]

PM sent regarding a copy of the War Diary.

[PeteB]

Many thanks, both!