Richard Cosmo Alderson

[garydevine]

Hello,

I was wondering if i could get any help with information on said above man. he died on Jun 10th 1944 aged 38 and is buried in Italy. he was in the Coldstream Guard 2nd bt. and was the husband of Gillian Barrington

Looking for any info on what his battalion done and where they went, when he signed up etc

Thank you

Gary

[rosie99]

His service records will still be with the MOD
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=651361.0

Hopefully someone will be able to give you more information on his battalion 

[MaxD]

Rosie is absolutely right about his records.  In the case of the Guards regiments, you are also able to apply to the regimental archivist as they kept duplicate records, it may be quicker than the other route.  Details here: https://www.coldstreamguards.org.uk/histories-of-the-coldstream-guards/archives.html

His commission as a 2nd Lieutenant was on 18 September 1939.  Once you have his record to tell which battalions he served with until 1944 (he may have changed battalions) you should look for histories covering the time frame.  For example, there is a history covering the 2nd Battalion in 1942/43 Tunisia but he may or may not have been there https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tunisia-Battalion-Coldstream-Guards-1942-1943/dp/0993285104.  Earlier, 1st and 2nd Battalions were in the British Expeditionary Force in 1939/40.

There are war diaries of course and the period when he died in Italy is covered in this one:
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C960754.  I would not go for any others until you are sure which battalion his was in throughout.

There is a Facebook page/group for 2nd Battalion 1939-45 if you are into that.

Good luck.

MaxD