Photos of My Father & Uncles During WWII.

[leigh kitchen]

Uncle Alf Kitchen, the eldest brother of a sister & 4 x brothers (there were also 2 x step sisters & a step brother).

Uncle Alf served in the Royal Marines in Burma, I believe.

[leigh kitchen]

Uncle George. He joined the Welsh Guards in the 1930's (although a Londoner).

An impressive figure, 6'4" tall. A large man for his generation, born in 1916.

[leigh kitchen]

Married to aunt Rose.

[leigh kitchen]

George as a CQMS, 1st Battalion Welsh Guards.

He served in both 1st Bn & 2nd Bn of the Welsh Guards, including "The Prince of Wales's Company" of the 1st, & took part in the campaign in France / Belgium of 1940, being evacuated via Bolougne, & the Normandy Invasion & ensuing campaign of 1944 - 45.

Edited March 25, 2009 by leigh kitchen

[leigh kitchen]

Uncle George had let his standards of dress drop by July 1944, as can be seen from the photo shown below:

A well known photo of British infantry preparing to assault German positions in Normandy, 1944. It appears on the wikipedia entry for Welsh Guards with the title "Welsh Guards in action near Cagny 19th July 1944"

Uncle George is the man laying in the foreground & is named on the photo which appears in John Ellis's book "The Welsh Guards in War" & shows men of No. 4 Company, 1st Bn Welsh Guards just prior to assault.

The Company Commander, Major John David Alfred Syrett, standing next to Sergeant Veasey (Later Company Sergeant Major of The Prince of Wales's Company) who is pointing into the distance, was killed a couple of days later on 22nd July aged 28 years & is buried at Banneville La Campagne War Cemetary, Calvados, about 8 kilometres east of Caen.

Most of the men buried there were killed in the fighting from the second week of July 1944, when Caen was captured, to the last week in August, when the Falaise Gap had been closed and the Allied forces were preparing their advance beyond the Seine. The cemetery contains 2,170 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, 140 of them unidentified, and five Polish graves.

The photo was taken during "Operation Goodwood", the largest armoured assault that had yet taken place in western europe & intended to break through the German positions east of the Orne and north of Caen & clear the Germans from the Bourguebus Ridge.

The Guards Armoured Division, of which 1st Bn Welsh Guards was an infantry battalion, was one of 3 x British armoured divisions of VIII Corps taking part. Although it was expected that the British would sustain heavy losses of tanks, they could ill afford to lose infantrymen, and the operation was planned to avoid such losses.

The Guards Armoured Division were to advance around Cagny & Vimont, along with the 7th Armoured & 11th Armoured Divisions they had to cross the River Orne & the Caen Canal, and also a mine field prior to reaching the start line for the assault. The British combined arms teams were broken up as the armour was sent over the 6 x river bridges ahead of the other arms. They then traversed a recently laid British minefield of mixed anti-tank & anti-personnel mines.

As the minefeld was under German observation, minimal mine clearance was carried out, tracks wide enough for one tank to pass being cleared at night.

Anxious not to alert the Germans by moving the Armoured units into position to attack too early, the British moved them & the supporting artillery too late. The Germans had been aware of the impending assault by 15th July & had reinforced their positions.

The lead division was the 11th Armoured, tasked with clearing front line villages instead of bypassing them & leaving them to be dealt with by the following units. Thus its tanks & infantry were split up, so that the armour attacked the Germans on Bourgebus ridge whi8le the infantry were fighting through & clearing the villages.

The area chosen for the operation was filled with small villages, garrisoned by infantry, armour and artillery, & thus divided into a series of strongpoints overlooking the intended line of advance as did the numerous dug in heavy weapons on the Bourgebus ridge.

Edited September 17, 2009 by leigh kitchen

[leigh kitchen]

1,000 bombers droppd over 15,000 bombs on the German positions, those to the east of Caen were carpet-bombed. Many villages were destroyed. Although the defences were disrupted & the shock of the bombardment effective, the German artillery on the Bourgebus ridge, at Cagny, and at Emieville was'nt hit by air or ground bombardment

The initial armoured advance under a creeping barrage was slow, despite little resistance, mainly because of the congestion caused by the 17 x single tank width paths through the minefield.

By the time theBritish reached the Caen-Vimont railway the Germans had recovered from the bombardment.

The Fife and Forfar Yeomanry lost 12 x tanks to 88 mm guns at Cagny. Shermans were infamous for their tendency to burn when hit - "Tommy - Cookers". Pushing across the railway line & approaching the Bourgebus Ridge the British met elements of 21st Panzer Division, the Panther battalion of the 1st SS Panzer Division, and numerous towed guns. The 11th Armoured Divisions 29th Armoured Brigade maintained the attack, but the infantry was held up to its rear, clearing villages. The Guards Armoured & 7th Armoured Divs were negotiating the river crossings and minefield.

Restricted by the terrain, the British armour fought as unsupported battalions in successive actions rather than as mixed arm groups in concerted attacks.

Nearly all of the ground taken by the British was taken on the morning of the 18th, German armour counter-attacked late in the afternoon & fighting continued on the 19th & 20th. The British failed to break through, losing about 400 tanks. At about 5,500, casualties amongst the British & Canadian infantry involved were as high as in previous operations.

[leigh kitchen]

The same photo as it appears in a "British Official Photo" in a wartime publication -

?IN THE FRONT LINE NEAR CAGNY, south-east of Caen, men of the 2nd Army await the order to attack. Each carries a pick or shovel ready for instant digging-in on reaching new positions, and a D.R. stands by to take back word of the assault to headquarters. This incident was a preliminary to operations which resulted, at the end of July, in the establishment south-east of Caen of a new line extending from Caumont, east of the Orne River, through Bourgebus and Frenouville to the neighbourhood of Troarn, a distance of about 20 miles, with a varying depth, in the whole area won, of from 2 to 10 miles.?

[leigh kitchen]

1st Battalion Welsh Guards

The Battalion was to experience heavy fighting and many casualties as they pressed forward across France, Belgium and Holland towards the German border. The route from the beaches included Bayeux, Caen, Cagny, and on the 9th August they met and engaged an SS Panzer Division before moving on to Falaise. On 28th August they crossed the Seine and entered Arras on 1st Sept. It was at the Battle of Arras back in 1940 that the Welsh Guards had gained their second Victoria Cross, awarded to Lieutenant The Hon Christopher Furness who was killed in the action. After being the last British unit to leave for the legendary Evacuation of Dunkirk beaches in 1940, here they were again, the first of the Allied troops to enter Arras on their mission to liberate occupied Europe.

The next big advance was from Douai to Brussels, a distance of 93 miles.

Leaving Brussels, the weather and the action changed. The weather became wet and cold and the Germans had regrouped to resist and defend the bridges across the many canals in the area. The Battalion crossed the Albert Canal battling on through Helchteren to Beeringen and Hechtel against very tough Paratroop opposition..pressing onwards to the Waal Bridge at Nijmegen and then over the Meuse to Namur. By this time it had been decided that in view of the heavy casualties the Battalion should return to the UK and other duties.

After a spell in Hawick, Scotland, the Battalion was shipped out to Palestine where they were engaged in peace keeping and internal security duties in Sarafand, Mattula and Haifa

An illustration by Mike Chappell, showing men of 1st Bn Welsh Guards in Normandy.

Edited April 10, 2009 by leigh kitchen

[coldstream]

Leigh, thanks for posting this and thanks for the detail regarding the Normandy photo. As you stated it is a well known and often published image and nice to get some first hand information about it. :cheers:

[leigh kitchen]

Yes, it was a pleasant surprise for me to find the details of that photo.

This is uncle Sid Kitchen, he was a pre-war Territorial, a member of the old 20th (County of London) Battalion (Blackheath and Woolwich), which traced its history back to the Greenwich Volunteer Unit of the English Civil War, but was a direct continuation of the Rifle Volunteer Corps of the mid-19th centurythe 20th Londons were formed in 1908, by amalgamation of 2nd & 3rd Volunteer Battalions of The Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) as part of the new City / County of London Regiment.

In 1935 the battalion converted from infantry to a Royal Engineers searchlight unit, in 1936 losing the reference to "The London Regiment" from its title, becoming the 34th (The Queen's Own Royal West Kent) Anti-Arcraft Battalion, RE.

In 1937 a fourth company, No. 302 Company RE joined the battalion, but retained its RE cap badge instead of adopting the battalions white horse of Kent badge.

In 1940 the battalion became The 34th (Queen's Own Royal West Kent) Searchlight Regiment Royal Artillery, 302 Company becoming 302 Battery & adopting the RA cap badge although the white horse badge continued in wear by the remander of the unit.

The unit participated in The Battle of Britain & was credited with the destruction of 7 x German aircraft by small arms fire, remaining deployed in Kent & Sussex until 1944, beng disbanded in January 1945.

Uncle Sid told me that he wore the white horse badge, as well as the RE & RA badges.

This photo shows the Royal Engineers cap badge, collar badges & buttons, worn on the pre WWII Service Dress, & is dated "12940" on the back..

[leigh kitchen]

This photo is dated "1944" on the back, Uncle Sid is wearing the Royal Artillery cap badge on the Service Dress cap, & a Royal Artillery white lanyard on Battledress blouse.

[leigh kitchen]

My father, James Kitchen. At about 6' tall, not as tall as his brother George.

He wanted to join The Grenadier Guards, the army wanted him in The Coldstream Guards, so he followed his elder brother into The Welsh Guards, serving in the 1st Battalion.

Serial number 2738613 (2738612 was killed in Italy, 2738614 in Normandy).

This is from a photo of "Sgt D. Jones' Squad", taken at The Guards Depot, Caterham, in July 1943.

Note the unusual positioning of the bayonet on the waist belt - normally worn to the rear on the left side, at Caterham it was worn well forward as shown here.

Edited July 14, 2009 by leigh kitchen

[leigh kitchen]

The Training Squad photo, poppies indicating those who were later killed.

Note the Trained Soldier badge worn on the upper right sleeve by Trained Soldier Gardiner, sitting to the right of the Squad Instructor, Sgt Jones, as viewed.

Edited April 1, 2009 by leigh kitchen

[leigh kitchen]

James Kitchen, the date on the reverse of the photo appears to be "1st March 1945".

[Iank]

George as a CQMS, 1st Battalion Welsh Guards.

He served in both 1st Bn & 2nd Bn of the Welsh Guards, including "The Prince of Wales's Company" of the 1st, & took part in the campaign in France / Belgium of 1940, being evacuated via Bolougne, & the Normandy Invasion & ensuing campaign of 1944 - 45.

Thanks Leigh it was good to see photos of the oldies again although the ones of your father were new to me.

I'm probably teaching my cousin how to suck eggs but I looked up the Cagny photo. I followed the directions of the wikipedia entry for the Welsh Guards and ended up in the photo collection of the Imperial War Museum where the original resides and found more Welsh Guards photos.

I remember that Dad said at the time of the Bolougne evacuation (they were picked up by navy destroyers) that they threw their packs and some other gear into the harbour to make room on the ships.

Regards

Ian

[leigh kitchen]

Hi, I wondered when you would show up - I thought you had the photos of my old man, I'll sort some out for you.

I knew that the Cagny photo was an IWM one & have always intended to follow up the other photos in the series but never got around to it.

Packs & other gear into the water...................& what documentation went in with the packs?

It's uncle Sids 90th soon, I'm waiting for a reply from E.G.Frames about getting a frame made up for him - photos of the four brothers, above each photo their regimental cap badge mounted on regimental silk, perhaps below the photos a formation sign for each, but I don't know what formation uncle Alf served in. Any ideas?

I need to do a seperate frame for a photo of aunt Kit, but if she was in something like Home Guard Auxhileries then I would include her with a badge etc in the main frame.

[Iank]

Hi, I wondered when you would show up - I thought you had the photos of my old man, I'll sort some out for you.

I knew that the Cagny photo was an IWM one & have always intended to follow up the other photos in the series but never got around to it.

Packs & other gear into the water...................& what documentation went in with the packs?

It's uncle Sids 90th soon, I'm waiting for a reply from E.G.Frames about getting a frame made up for him - photos of the four brothers, above each photo their regimental cap badge mounted on regimental silk, perhaps below the photos a formation sign for each, but I don't know what formation uncle Alf served in. Any ideas?

I need to do a seperate frame for a photo of aunt Kit, but if she was in something like Home Guard Auxhileries then I would include her with a badge etc in the main frame.

I don't have the one from the squad photo but I do have the others.

I just know that uncle Alf was in the Royal Marines and was sick and unfit for duty with them and was transfered to the Artillery. It was some kind of kidney problem and I think he died from kidney failure eventually at about 75.

I was told they put their pay books in their packs the pay records were lost and some were paid twice.

There didn't seem to be a series of Cagny photos just the one I was hoping for more but the 2nd batallion tanks came out well.

Dad also told a story of a german sniper in a factory chimney in Bolougne. They kept firing back at him with no result and a sergeant from the Irish Guards fired a Boyes anti tank rifle from the shoulder and demolished the chimney. Dad was not small and he said laying prone he moved back about 2 ft when he fired the thing. Others who know said it was impossible to fire one from the shoulder but that was his version.

regards

Ian

[leigh kitchen]

My father told me that yours was a Boyes gunner at one time - it figures I suppose, you need a big man to carry & use the weapon.

My father on sentry go: white / green / white horsehair plume to left side of bearskin, curb chain worn below lower lip, white embroidered leeks to collar & to shoulder straps, buttons in fives on tunic front & cuffs.

Note the No. 5 Bowie blade twist pommel bayonet & the absence of medals for some reason (entitlement was 1939 - 45 Star, France & Germany Star, Defence Medal, War Medal & General Service Medal clasp "Palestine 1945 - 48".

I believe that this was taken in 1947.

Edited July 14, 2009 by leigh kitchen

[leigh kitchen]

Camp Guard Report (on Guard Report Army Form B 160), No. 3 Company, 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, Metulla, Palestine, mounted 16:30 hours Sunday 10th May, dismounted 16:30 hours Monday 11th May 1947.

Guard Commander 2738613 Lance Sergeant Kitchen.

A clue to the fact that the unit is a Welsh one is in the names of most of the men who form the guard.

Edited July 14, 2009 by leigh kitchen

[leigh kitchen]

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[leigh kitchen]

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[leigh kitchen]

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Edited April 10, 2009 by leigh kitchen

[leigh kitchen]

James Kitchen, The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (Princess Louise's) 1958.

The tartan is the "Black Watch" or "Government Tartan", the large white metal bonnet badge is a Kings Crown version (still, despite the date of the photograph).

Medal ribbons worn are 1939-45 Star, France & Germany Star, Defence Medal, War Medal, GSM clasp "Palestine 1945-48".

Edited March 5, 2010 by leigh kitchen

[jagwca]

Leigh,what years did your father spend in Canada?

The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders are a Reserve Army Unit based in Hamilton,Ontario.Have spent many happy hours in the Officers Mess with friends that were Company Commanders with the Regiment.

Nice to see the old photos of the pre-war and wartime vets.

John

[leigh kitchen]

The photo was taken in 1958, in our back garden (I thnk we lived in Hamilton) - I don't know how long he was a member of the Canadian A & SH for, not long I think, perhaps only a matter of months between 1957-59.