Lothians Men - Who Were They?

Monday 13 May 1940: Corporal Jimmy Akers killed in action near Remeling. Cpl Akers was from B Squadron: No. 1 tank troop (gunner of tank 1). He is buried in Choloy War Cemetery. Note that a burial was carried out on site (Bois de Luttange) during the war but the body was later moved.

Monday 13 May 1940: Trooper S Crooks wounded in action near Remeling. Tpr Crooks was from B Squadron: No. 2 tank troop (but possibly crew of tank 2 troop 1).

Monday 13 May 1940: Corporal WC Fraser wounded in action near Remeling. Cpl Fraser was from B Squadron: No. 1 tank troop and he was part of the crew in tank 2.

Monday 13 May 1940: Sergeant Ian Grant killed in action near Remeling. Sgt Grant was from B Squadron: No. 1 tank tp. Although a burial was carried out on site during the war, Sgt Grant's body was later moved. His name is included on the Dunkirk Memorial.

Tuesday 14 May 1940: Trooper Allington killed in action in the Grossenwald. Outpost No 15 held by the regiment was attacked during the night 14/15 May and Trooper Allington of B Squadron was killed. He is buried in Choloy War Cemetery.

This section is not yet complete.

This section is complete.

RHQ

HQ Squadron

HQ Squadron: other staff

The Despatch Riders (DRs) consisted of 41 men: one officer; one sergeant; two corporals; and 37 troopers.

The War Diary states that between 12 and 18 June 1940:
Major CJY Dallmeyer, Captain RK Watson, SSM E Lawrence arrived at Winchester with two men.
Second Lieutenant D M Otter-Barry, L\S R Mitchell arrived at Devizes with six men.
As usual, the War Diary concentrates on officers and we are left to work out who were the other men who made it home.

One of the men who made it home with Major Dallmeyer was likely to be his batman, Charlie Hoy.
We know that Dougie Cox made it home and went on to serve with the reformed 1st. Rab Smith also made it home and saw out the war with the reformed 1st. Other possibilities are:
L/Cpl Blues;
Sandy Clark;
WA Woolward;
JR 'Slim' Walker;
J Ferguson;
JS Sutherland;
GN Smith;
J Loughton.

Casualties previously evacuated or those in England on a course include the following, although not all of them may have been included in the reformed regiment:
Stonewall Jackson (on a course in England);
Davy Arbuthnot (wounded and evacuated from the Maginot line);
WC 'Safety' Fraser (wounded);
NB Baird (wounded and evacuated from the Somme);
RM Robertson (wounded and evacuated from the Somme.

Where possible, there is a link to any photos of the man/men. If the only photo is a group shot, then there will be a note pointing the reader to the relevant section in the photos page. Once the website is developed more fully, the actual photo number will be included. Where there is an individual photo, the link will take the reader to that photo.

If you have any photos or if you recognise anyone in a photo who has not been named, please let us know. The biggest challenge, as always, is to put names to faces of men 70 years later!

Sergeant Bobby Mitchell became the sergeant over the D/Rs when the Regimental Police was started. Bobby Grieve was the RP Sergeant and Sandy Fairley and Bill Miller were the RP corporals. They were distinct from the D/Rs although they all worked with bikes.
The RAOC mechnical engineers detachment were allocated to each regiment to repair and salvage vehicles beyond the vehicle driver's capability.
Sgt Arnold and the RAOC Armoury was detached to deal with weapons e.g.zeroing rifles.