Picture help!

[TracyM]

I was wondering if anyone could help me with this picture.
I believe it to be my grandfather and would appreciate any help at all.
Does anyone know what regiment he belonged to, what rank he held, even a name?
The picture was taken in September 1940 and from stories i have heard he possibly died somewhere off the coast of Crete after crash landing in a glider in 1941.....
If anyone has any information i would be extremely grateful

Many Thanks

Tracy 272

[Bombardier]

Im proud to say in that picture he is wearing the insiginia of the Royal Regiment of Artillery.

Now as for why he would have been in a Glider?, Ill have to look into that but it would have been possible to land a gun crew with gun and ammo in a glider.

watch this space....

PS he was a gunner (private) I cant see any stripes on his arm

[TracyM]

Many Thanks Bombardier,

That was really quick, you have answered more for me in two minutes than i have researched in 3 weeks. A friend of a friend had said he was a lance corporal in the Royal Fusiliers so that led me up the wrong path.

The only other little bit of info i have is that he was possibly shot down by friendly fire, possibly american, but thats about it, so anything else would be great.

Thanks again,

Tracy

[Drone_pilot]

Hi Tracy, first wellcome to the site, can i ask is this all of the photo or is there more, do you have any more images of him in uniform.

Also a name would help.

[Bombardier]

Having thought about this a bit, I dont recall why the British would have had to conduct a glider invasion into crete in 1940 as we were already holding Crete. It s my understanding that the British Sailed to Crete on 29/10/1940

I know that the Germans took back Crete in 1941 but their losses were such that Hitler decided never to do another large airborne operation, so the German paratroopers served the rest of the war as elite infantry.

It might be that the story has been distorted a little over the years (kinda like Chinese whispers). It is possible that your Grandfather was an air Defence gunner and shot down Aircraft/Gliders of the Fallschirmjager(German paratroopers) which resulted in the story being changed slightly over the years?.

Just a theory, anyway Ill keep looking for you and as droney says "Welcome to the site" (Y)

[Bombardier]

Some more info about the German Invasion of Crete 'Operation Mercury'

In the morning of May 20, 1941, Crete was again heavily bombarded by the Germans, but this time the bombers were followed by large and dense formations of Junkers 52s carrying paratroopers or towing gliders. They attacked in several places but the main attack was in Canea and in nearby Maleme in the West side of Crete's North coast. There was an airport and a harbor there and both were defended.

[Drone_pilot]

Only 2 British Gunner unit's took part in Crete,

7th Medium Regiment, Royal Artillery No equipment - used as infantry (14th Infantry Brigade)

15th Coastal Defense Regiment, Royal Artillery Mobile Base Defence Organization

More info on the Gunners in General

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Artillery

Battle of crete (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Crete)

Order of Battle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crete_order_of_battle)

[TracyM]

Thanks Guys,

I have spoken to my mum and asked more questions and it seems that the part about gliders and friendly fire is a definite but the date and place maybe wrong. During my research i found information about gliders being used on the attack on Scicily and Operation Husky....maybe an idea even though it was two years later.
I'm afraid i dont have any name as it was left blank on my mums birth certificate and her mum refused to talk about him, so this is the only picture i have. It is a faint possibility that i could be Rolfe but this would be speculation.

Once again, thanks, your knowledge is amazing...

Tracy xunworthy;

[PanzerBob]

welc. Aboard Tracy,

Operation Husky, fits the story you have. It seems most likely he belonged to The 2nd South Staffords. These guys were specially trained glider troops and all volunteer unit, considered to be elite. So Grandfather likely made your Grandmother very upset when he volunteered for dangerous duty and then of course he never made it home. I'm sure it happened a lot in those dark days. I've provided several extracts plus a link to what is most likely your best bet to track him down. This unit has a museum with an Email address. If you can't visit I'm sure the curator may be able to help you out. Being an elite and new type of unit there may be better records and more photos than usual, at least one can hope. Let us know how you make out.

"In the drops on Sicily, the Americans were especially scattered, but both the Americans and the British caused great confusion among the Germans and accomplished their mission of covering the landings against counterattack. Misidentified en route to the target, the Americans were subjected to friendly fire. Inexperienced glider and transport pilots caused more men to be wounded and killed. Casualties among the airborne forces were very high, amounting to 27% of the Americans and 23% of the British. The airborne doctrine was called into question and changes were made before further operations would be undertaken."

Sicily Landings

The 2nd South Staffords were sent to North Africa in May 1943 as part of the 1st Airborne Division, to take part in the first Allied invasion of Europe, the Sicily Landings. These took place on 10th July 1943 and were preceded by dropping parachute and glider borne troops to seize and secure vital ground and bridges in advance of the seaborne landings.

This was the first major airborne assault attempted by the Allies and, perhaps inevitably, everything did not run smoothly. The weather was overcast with unexpected high winds. In their night approach to Sicily thunder and anti aircraft fire from the shore and from the landing ships confused many and led to gliders being cast off whilst still too far out to sea. Forty seven out of one hundred and thirty four gliders failed to reach land. Many were picked up by naval vessels and eventually joined the battle, but many South Staffords were drowned.

Those who made it to the land found themselves widely dispersed, many key personnel having been lost at sea. The battle was fought by-sub units and detachments. Most objectives were taken by these small groups, notably the Ponte Grande Bridge, a key point carrying the main road to Syracuse. Only two gliders from C Company (assigned to capture the Ponte Grande Bridge) actually landed near their objective and one of these (with the Company Commander on board) blew up on landing. So it fell to Lt Withers (who won an MC in this action) and 15 Platoon to take and hold the bridge for some fifteen hours with other South Staffords, part of the Brigade defence platoon, glider pilots and Royal Engineers. By 1600 hours, they were out of ammunition and over-run by the enemy but almost immediately were relieved by the seaborne Royal Scots Fusiliers before the bridge could be demolished by the enemy. The nearby railway bridge was captured by A Company and the way to Syracuse was open. This action was integral to the successful and rapid advance through Sicily.

http://www.assaultgliderproject.co.uk/south_staffs.html

Give us some time we may find something more yet. Bob Given

[Bombardier]

The photo you provided is clearly an Artilleryman however it s possible he may have transferred to an infantry unit (it did happen) however the evidence at present suggests he was artillery and artillery units were involved in Operation Husky.

Heres a link to the order of battle for OP husky. If you scroll down you will see the British units involved and there are plenty of Arty units to choose from.

ORDER OF BATTLE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Husky_Order_of_Battle)

[John A Silkstone]

Hi everyone,

I've been away for the day but I must say that you have done the sight well by helping Tracy.

To you Tracy I say welcome to the site.

Silky

[PanzerBob]

Good day, Tracy

With the ORBAT help from the Bomber, it would appear he could have stayed Artillery, but still have been with the Glider Bourne troops, the only Artillery Unit that went in to Sicily was the 1st Airlanding Anti-Tank Battery, RA (http://www.pegasusarchive.org/arnhem/batt_1stATBat.htm). Now the other unit and museum I directed you towards still might be some help or at least direct you towards the right people, There must be records of this unit, with hopefully labeled photos, to help ID your Grandfather.

However, I still have a few places to check and with a unit name may have more luck,

Have a nice day, Bob

[TracyM]

Hi Guys

Have been doing some research on the leads that you gave me.
I came across a site called Find A Grave, which in turn led me to a cemetery in Scicily called Syracuse cemetery. I went through all 926 records and found a lot of the South Staffs 2nd Airborne battallion are there. Most died on 9th July which seems to fit with what we know so far.
It seems now though that unless someone recognizes the picture or somewhere there is a labelled/named picture of this unit then i am not going to get much further. Do you have any ideas?

Thanks

Tracy x

[Reloader]

Tracy,
I don't know if this helps, but I found

Gunner Benjamin B. Rolfe, Royal Artillery, 112 (The West Somerset Yeomanry) Field Regt.,

on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website. He died on 24.09.1944, at the time of the battle for Arnhem Bridge. Many gliders were used in that operation, too. Follow this link for the rest of the casualty details and certificate of remembrance:

http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=2661508

Good luck.