london irish rifles 1944

[Pete Keane]

Thanks,

I'm sure we'll find that he was posted to the LIR end August time, that would explain the changes to the letter address, certainly the changes fit in with parts of his later unit details ie 15, 78Div etc.

I'm struggling to find anyone with a copy of the 2/18 war diary, will keep looking.

Pete

[Sarmat]

Hi Pete and mmm45 , Any news on the battlefront?  I know it isn't even a week since your last post but I'm just curious if you have discovered anything else.  I'm trying to see if I can find an "in" to get his service records but the pickings look slim.  I will try one more source.  If you can post some news even just to say you are still interested, that's fine.  Thanks for all your information up to now.

[Pete Keane]

Hi

Have tried to find a copy of the Bn war diary, but no luck i'm afraid.

The only way to get a copy is to go to the National Archive at Kew, but even ignoring the practicality there is a question as to what it will reveal, If we could get a copy easy its worth checking, but I dont think its going to be worth the effort.

Have you looked at the addresses at all?

Pete

[Sarmat]

In what sense do you mean - the addresses - of the people who wrote to this soldier?  Yes, most definitely, but this too  has uncovered nothing so far.  I have joined many other forums to spread the word about these individuals but so far no replies.  I am disappointed but have not thrown in the towel yet - not by a long shot.  I need to find one good lead, whether military or civy, and be on my way to bring closure to Laurie's whereabouts.  I ask you to keep your ears and eyes open for anything you might find and  to let me know at this forum.  Thanks again.  M.

[Combover]

If he was sent to G company, that would put him in the 38th (Irish) Brigade of the 78th Infantry Division.

The 78th fought at many horrid places including taking part in the 2nd battle for Cassino (where the fought at Castleforte).

G company was one of the line rifle companies meaning they were used how Battalion HQ saw fit. Officers did try to vary which company led assaults etc to try an even out any potential casualties. Despite this casualties were high and it was not unusual for men to cmae and go very quickly which would explain why the records the LIR have on their soldiers are sparse at best.

I must mention that I have some copies of the war diary but probably not for 43 - i'll check anyway. It is also worth mentioning that war diaries won't mention ORs (Other Ranks - i.e. not officers) as they weren't militarily important to the diary unless they were being deocrated or had done something which warranted mention. A result of this is that you probably won't find him mentioned by name at all.

Please PM me if you think I can help.

Best wishes,

Tom

[Sarmat]

Hi Tom,  Let me know if the message I sent a minute ago arrived.  If not, I will write you again.  In the meantime, thank you for this very interesting information.

Martha

[Combover]

I've not received anything yet...

[Sarmat]

Hi Tom,

I thank you for your new and interesting information on the London Irish Rifles, company "G".  My first message contained an attachment, a newspaper article about this particular soldier but a few minutes later, a message came back saying, the attachment was too big.  I'll try again in a separate email.  To make a long story short, I tracked down the family of this soldier, who had died in 1986, so I missed out on meeting him.  However, the family came to Italy to retrieve the lost letters of their father. I live in Italy!!

[Sarmat]

Hi Tom,

The site won't let me send it cause it's too big.  Do you want to send me your email address?  I'm quite harmless!  I'm: *

Cheers,
Martha
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