|
|
|
16th Medium Regiment, Royal Artillery
16th Medium Regiment, Royal Artillery was formed from Coast Defence Gunners. They joined 9 Army Group Royal Artillery in June 1943. The regiment was disbanded with HQ and 426th Battery transferring to 107th Medium Regiment, Royal Artillery in March 1944.
If you can provide any additional information, especially on actions and locations at specific dates, please add it here.
|
|
|
The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website.
Announcements
- 1st of September 2024 marks 25 years since the launch of the Wartime Memories Project. Thanks to everyone who has supported us over this time.
- The Wartime Memories Project has been running for 25 years. If you would like to support us, a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting and admin or this site will vanish from the web.
- 18th Dec 2024 - Please note we currently have a huge backlog of submitted material, our volunteers are working through this as quickly as possible and all names, stories and photos will be added to the site. If you have already submitted a story to the site and your UID reference number is higher than
265120 your information is still in the queue, please do not resubmit, we are working through them as quickly as possible.
- Looking for help with Family History Research?
Please read our Family History FAQs
- The free to access section of The Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers and funded by donations from our visitors. If the information here has been helpful or you have enjoyed reaching the stories please conside making a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting or this site will vanish from the web.
If you enjoy this site
please consider making a donation.
Want to find out more about your relative's service? Want to know what life was like during the War? Our
Library contains an ever growing number diary entries, personal letters and other documents, most transcribed into plain text. |
|
Wanted: Digital copies of Group photographs, Scrapbooks, Autograph books, photo albums, newspaper clippings, letters, postcards and ephemera relating to WW2. We would like to obtain digital copies of any documents or photographs relating to WW2 you may have at home. If you have any unwanted
photographs, documents or items from the First or Second World War, please do not destroy them.
The Wartime Memories Project will give them a good home and ensure that they are used for educational purposes. Please get in touch for the postal address, do not sent them to our PO Box as packages are not accepted.
World War 1 One ww1 wwII second 1939 1945 battalion
Did you know? We also have a section on The Great War. and a
Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations.
|
|
Want to know more about 16th Medium Regiment, Royal Artillery? There are:431 items tagged 16th Medium Regiment, Royal Artillery available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War. |
|
Geoffrey Francis Young 16th Medium Regiment, 107bty. Royal Artillery (d.8th Feb 1945) Geoffery Francis Young was in a reserved occupation as a driver for a local delivery firm in Wrexham and did not have to join, but as many of his mates where already in the forces and being early 1945 the war seemed in its final stages he decided to see out the last stages of the war in uniform. Enlisting in early 1945 he soon found himself as a gunner in 107 Battery, 16th Med Regt (The South Notts. Hussars), Royal Artillery.
By this stage of the war UK forces were seriously depleted with little reserve left to replace 5 years worth of casualties and so within weeks of joining (and according to his letters only receiving only brief on the job training) Geoff was in Holland preparing for "operation veritable" the big push over the Rhine.
Operation Veritable lasted from Feb 8th to March 10th 1945 and was the northern part of the Second World War pincer movement by Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery's 21st Army Group with the objective to clear the land between the Rhine and Roer rivers. General Eisenhower, the Allied Commander, had decided that the best route into Germany would be across the relatively flat lands of northern Europe. This required that Allied forces should close up to the Rhine along its whole length.
Operation Veritable began at 05:00 with an artillery support of over 1000 artillery pieces (not including bofors and anti-tank guns). The initial barrage lasted for over 5 hours with a mixture of destructive firepower on enemy defences interspersed with a build up of smoke to assist the infantry advance.
107 were in constant action throughout the operation but sometime during the 8th of Feb 1945, Geoff as one of a crew of 10 manning a 5.5" gun was positioned somewhere near Kerzenheim on the German border when a USAAF plane mistook them for an enemy position and dropped bombs on their position. Two 5.5 guns were destroyed, 10 men including Geoff were killed and 8 wounded.
Geoffery Francis Young was buried at Uden war cemetery aged 19.
|
Recomended Reading.Available at discounted prices.
|
|
|
