The Wartime Memories Project

- 178th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery during the Second World War -


Allied Forces Index
skip to content


This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site you agree to accept cookies.


If you enjoy this site

please consider making a donation.




    Site Home

    WW2 Home

    Add Stories

    WW2 Search

    Library

    Help & FAQs


 WW2 Features

    Airfields

    Allied Army

    Allied Air Forces

    Allied Navy

    Axis Forces

    Home Front

    Battles

    Prisoners of War

    Allied Ships

    Women at War

    Those Who Served

    Day-by-Day

    Library

    The Great War

 Submissions

    Add Stories

    Time Capsule



    Childrens Bookshop

 FAQ's

    Help & FAQs

    Glossary

    Volunteering

    Contact us

    News

    Bookshop

    About


Advertisements











World War 2 Two II WW2 WWII 1939 1945

178th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery



   178th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery was formed in January 1942 and consisted of 122nd Field Battery, 366th (10th London) Field Battery and 516th Field Battery. In May 1942 they joined 49th (West Riding) Division. They served in India and Burma with 36th Division from July 1943 later transferring to 23rd Indian Division, and saw action in Malaya and Java.

 

19th January 1942 Reorganisation

19th January 1942 On the Move  location map

20th January 1942 On the Move

21st January 1942 Arrivals

22nd January 1942 Visit  location map

22nd January 1942 Orders  location map

23rd January 1942 Arrivals

24th January 1942 Arrivals  location map

26th January 1942 Visit

26th January 1942 On the Move  location map

27th January 1942 Move  location map

28th January 1942 Posting  location map

28th January 1942 On the Move  location map

29th January 1942 On the Move  location map

30th January 1942 On the Move  location map

31st January 1942 Arrivals

1st February 1942 Posting  location map

2nd February 1942 On the Range  location map

22nd February 1942 Equipment  location map

23rd February 1942 On the Range  location map

25th February 1942 Equipment  location map

26th February 1942 On the Move  location map

26th February 1942 Equipment  location map

27th February 1942 On the Move

28th February 1942 On the Move  location map

1st Mar 1942 On the Move  location map

2nd Mar 1942 Move  location map

4th Mar 1942 Equipment

9th Mar 1942 Inquest  location map

11th Mar 1942 Posting  location map

12th Mar 1942 Visit  location map

14th Mar 1942 Visit  location map

17th Mar 1942 Course  location map

18th Mar 1942 Advance Party  location map

19th Mar 1942 Accomodation  location map

23rd Mar 1942 Enquiry  location map

24th Mar 1942 On the Move  location map

26th Mar 1942 On the Move  location map

27th Mar 1942 Visit  location map

1st Apr 1942 Change of Command  location map

4th Apr 1942 Postings  location map

11th Apr 1942 Move  location map

11th Apr 1942 Move  location map

20th Apr 1942 Lectures  location map

27th Apr 1942 On the Move  location map

28th Apr 1942 On the Range

29th Apr 1942 Calibration  location map

30th Apr 1942 On the Range  location map

1st May 1942 On the March  location map

2nd May 1942 Postings  location map

12th May 1942 CO Returns  location map

14th May 1942 Advance Party  location map

15th May 1942 Command

18th May 1942 Training  location map

20th May 1942 Draft  location map

22nd May 1942 Conference  location map

24th May 1942 Postings  location map

28th May 1942 Visits  location map

30th May 1942 Preparations  location map

31st May 1942 On the Move  location map

1st Jun 1942 Equipment  location map

3rd Jun 1942 Advance Party  location map

4th Jun 1942 On the Move  location map

5th Jun 1942 On the Move  location map

6th Jun 1942 On the Move  location map

9th Jun 1942 On the Move  location map

10th Jun 1942 Course  location map

16th Jun 1942 Arrival  location map

19th Jun 1942 Arrival  location map

22nd Jun 1942 Arrival  location map

27th Jun 1942 Arrivals  location map

3rd Jul 1942 Exercise  location map

4th Jul 1942 Exercise  location map

8th Jul 1942 Exercise  location map

9th Jul 1942 Exercise  location map

10th Jul 1942 Exercise  location map

11th Jul 1942 Exercise  location map

12th Jul 1942 Exercise  location map

13th Jul 1942 Lecture  location map

15th Jul 1942 Exercise

16th Jul 1942 Exercise  location map

17th Jul 1942 Exercise  location map

20th Jul 1942 Exercise  location map

21st Jul 1942 Exercise  location map

22nd Jul 1942 Exercise  location map

25th Jul 1942 Exercise  location map

26th Jul 1942 Exercise  location map

27th Jul 1942 Exercise  location map

27th Jul 1942 Attachment  location map

15th Oct 1944 On the Move  location map

5th May 1945 On the Move

15th May 1945 On the Move  location map

5th Jul 1945 On the Move  location map

11th December 1945 Hostility


If you can provide any additional information, especially on actions and locations at specific dates, please add it here.



Those known to have served with

178th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery

during the Second World War 1939-1945.

  • Jones Glyndwr Llewllyn.
  • Jones James Cledwyn. Pte.
  • Twigg Percy. Gnr.

The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed, please Add a Name to this List

Records of 178th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery from other sources.



The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website.

Announcements



    25th Annversary

  • 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 178th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery ?


There are:525 items tagged 178th Field 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.


Pte. James Cledwyn Jones 178th Field Regiment, Signal Sec. Royal Artillery

Cled Jones was transferred to the 36th Division as part of the 178th Assault Field Regiment on 24th of October 1943. The Division took part in the Arakan offensive in 1944 where there was tough jungle fighting to try to extricate the Japanese from the hill country around Ngayadauk and Mayu which was difficult given the tenacity of the Japs to fight to the last man. In June 1944 his unit entered the concessional area in north west Burma where they came under the Command of Vinegar Joe Stilwell and his American Chinese forces. He spoke of being flown in by glider and taking over from the remains of the Chindits.

His qualification was as an electrician signaler where the training he had previously had in Doncaster, Bury and Huddersfield was used to help supply power, telephone cables and send and receive messages by Morse Code. He recalled tough fighting around Myitkyina and Mogaung. He spoke of the reliance on American planes which supplied everything and occasions when members of his unit ran out of food for several days when a drop missed its targets. He spoke of the Japanese calling out in English to get responses to locate where the British troops were. During this period they were the British troops furthest away from home. They needed machetes to cut through the jungle which was full of snakes many of which were poisonous. They were trained to stay put and not to attempt to flee or surrender when they were encircled by the Japanese . From time to time he went down with Malaria and was in hospital.

In January 1944 the division crossed the mighty Irrawaddy River by raft over to its western bank and came under command of General Slim's Fourteenth Army and took part in the tough fighting as that Army moved south as part of the final assault that broke the final Japanese resistance in Burma. He spoke of the Banzai charges by the Japanese and the hand to hand fighting that ensued. He spoke highly of a visit to the unit by Bill Slim of whom he was a great supporter.

He recalled receiving the news that the enemy had surrendered after the dropping of the Atomic Bombs which removed the need to be part of an assault invasion force in Indonesia. However his unit was transferred to Jakarta then called Batavia in November 1944. On 18 November his Commanding Officer signed off his form for notification of impending release. His comments "conduct was assessed as exemplary and described as having performed his military duties with the greatest efficiency and can be trusted to do so without supervision. In his capacity as electrician signals he is painstaking and thorough proving himself cooperative and willing to give of his best at all times".

He finally arrived home on 31 March 1946. He arrived with a bush hat and a Jap cap. He had been away with the Army for almost six years and found that those who had skived off military duties had been promoted above him. Although by nature a great raconteur be spoke rarely about the war and never wore his medals. He put it all behind him and got on with making up for lost time going out dancing with Megan. In 1954 they were given a home fit for heroes, a council house in the Clase in Swansea and he worked hard in the Post Office eventually becoming a Head Postmaster in Ludlow and finally in Neath. Megan died of breast cancer in 1977 and fortunately after early retirement during his wife's illness Cled went back to work handling the insurances taken out by Alun Griffiths Contractors in Abergavenny until well into his seventies. Occasionally when it was hot in the summer he had some Malaria type fevers which went away when it got cooler. He was and is still much loved. When he died in 1992 he had three funeral services and a large bench was given in his name to the bowls club in Pandy near the England Wales Border north of Abergavenny where he was remembered well. It is kept overnight in a shed and brought out for the matches.

Martyn Jones



Gnr. Percy "Sam" Twigg 178th Field Regiment

Percy Twigg enlisted in August 1941 under the National Service Act 1939. He was 34 at the time. He was posted to 25th Medium and Heavy Training Regiment and then to the 178th Field Regiment when it was formed in January 1942. He embarked in March 1943 for India, travelling via Cape Town, arriving in Bombay in June 1943. He was hospitalised in September 1943 for 2 months suffering from Malaria and again in July and October 1944. His regiment was part of the 36th Infantry Division, that for a time was in the Northern Area Combat Command under American General Joe Stilwell.

In December 1945 he was formally discharged and embarked for return to the UK from Batavia as part of Group 25 A release, arriving home in February 1946. He received an exemplary record of conduct. He was employed mainly as a driver of all types of vehicles. In May 1946 he was transferred to 2(T) Reserves and discharged on completion of engagement.

Kate Renton









Recomended Reading.

Available at discounted prices.







Links


















    The free section of the Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers. We have been helping people find out more about their relatives wartime experiences since 1999 by recording and preserving recollections, documents, photographs and small items.

    The website is paid for out of our own pockets, library subscriptions and from donations made by visitors. The popularity of the site means that it is far exceeding available resources and we currently have a huge backlog of submissions.

    If you are enjoying the site, please consider making a donation, however small to help with the costs of keeping the site running.



    Hosted by:

    The Wartime Memories Project Website

    is archived for preservation by the British Library





    Copyright MCMXCIX - MMXXIV
    - All Rights Reserved

    We do not permit the use of any content from this website for the training of LLMs or for use in Generative AI, it also may not be scraped for the purpose of creating other websites.