Description
Object description
A collection of papers relating to his service with the 99th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment Royal Artillery (1943 – 1945), and 1st Battalion East Kent Regiment (The Buffs) (1945 – 1946), consisting: a ts letter (1p, November 1943) from Lt Col Wilkinson, Commander 99th LAA Regiment, to 327, 328 and 329 Batteries congratulating them on their defence of the port of Augusta in Sicily (1943), and quoting from German sources; a report (4pp, February 1944) by Lt Col Wilkinson about the use of Bofors guns as ground attack weapons owing to the lack of air targets, and shooting at targets in the village of Torricella, Italy (January 1944), hitting a church tower and German HQ, with conclusions and lessons learned from the exercise; a ts letter (1p) from the Chief Engineer, HQ XIII Corps, thanking 99th LAA Regiment RA for their assistance in providing smoke cover during bridge construction (May 1944); a ts letter (2pp, June 1944) from Lt Col Wilkinson containing congratulatory messages to 99th LAA Regiment from Brigadier H Greene, CCRA, XIII Corps, and GOC 8th Indian Division, on its performance in aiding the Rapido crossings and at Cassino, with Wilkinson mentioning a new Regimental flash being designed; a ms timetable (1p) for a river crossing; a photocopy of a nominal role (2pp) for 'C' Company, 1st Battalion East Kent Regiment (The Buffs) for Exercise Hosannah (March 1945); a ts copy of a citation recommending Sgt T Whitehead, 1st Battalion The Buffs for an award for his action in taking a bridge at Lake Comacchio (13 April 1945); a photocopy of a ms account (3pp written in a letter to Williamson), by Bombardier John Stirling, of 'D' Troop, 328th Battery 99th LAA Regiment, of his experience during the Battle at Agenta Gap (April 1945), with 1st Battalion The Buffs, crossing lake Comacchio in a Fantail (LVT-4), manning a Piat Gun, being injured by a Tiger Tank, and his subsequent evacuation and treatment; a ts nominal roll (1p) of 'D' Troop 328th Battery 99th LAA Regiment RA (May 1943); a photocopy of a casualty list for The Buffs from a Kent newspaper (1946); an order of service for the Eighth Army Service of Thanksgiving (May 1945); a letter granting him the honorary rank of Captain on his release (August 1946); printed maps, with ms annotations, of Copparo, Atessa, and Argenta (Lake Commachio) (1943 – 1945); a newspaper article (1p) about a record number of Axis planes being shot down in Sicily by a LAA Regiment (August 1943); a page from 'Picture Post' (10 June 1944) showing a LAA troop firing 4.2 inch mortars in Italy; an article in the 'Sunday Pictorial' (2pp, 21 December 1941) about Lt Col Wilkinson being awarded the George Medal for saving one of his men from a minefield; a ms menu with an image of a gun from 329th LAA Battery RA, for Williamson's birthday dinner (February 1944); two printed menus from troopships (December 1942); a programme for an ENSA presentation of 'Blythe Spirit' (1943?); and four Christmas postcards with Italian images and messages for his family (8pp, n.d.).
Content description
A collection of papers relating to his service with the 99th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment Royal Artillery (1943 – 1945), and 1st Battalion East Kent Regiment (The Buffs) (1945 – 1946), consisting: a ts letter (1p, November 1943) from Lt Col Wilkinson, Commander 99th LAA Regiment, to 327, 328 and 329 Batteries congratulating them on their defence of the port of Augusta in Sicily (1943), and quoting from German sources; a report (4pp, February 1944) by Lt Col Wilkinson about the use of Bofors guns as ground attack weapons owing to the lack of air targets, and shooting at targets in the village of Torricella, Italy (January 1944), hitting a church tower and German HQ, with conclusions and lessons learned from the exercise; a ts letter (1p) from the Chief Engineer, HQ XIII Corps, thanking 99th LAA Regiment RA for their assistance in providing smoke cover during bridge construction (May 1944); a ts letter (2pp, June 1944) from Lt Col Wilkinson containing congratulatory messages to 99th LAA Regiment from Brigadier H Greene, CCRA, XIII Corps, and GOC 8th Indian Division, on its performance in aiding the Rapido crossings and at Cassino, with Wilkinson mentioning a new Regimental flash being designed; a ms timetable (1p) for a river crossing; a photocopy of a nominal role (2pp) for 'C' Company, 1st Battalion East Kent Regiment (The Buffs) for Exercise Hosannah (March 1945); a ts copy of a citation recommending Sgt T Whitehead, 1st Battalion The Buffs for an award for his action in taking a bridge at Lake Comacchio (13 April 1945); a photocopy of a ms account (3pp written in a letter to Williamson), by Bombardier John Stirling, of 'D' Troop, 328th Battery 99th LAA Regiment, of his experience during the Battle at Agenta Gap (April 1945), with 1st Battalion The Buffs, crossing lake Comacchio in a Fantail (LVT-4), manning a Piat Gun, being injured by a Tiger Tank, and his subsequent evacuation and treatment; a ts nominal roll (1p) of 'D' Troop 328th Battery 99th LAA Regiment RA (May 1943); a photocopy of a casualty list for The Buffs from a Kent newspaper (1946); an order of service for the Eighth Army Service of Thanksgiving (May 1945); a letter granting him the honorary rank of Captain on his release (August 1946); printed maps, with ms annotations, of Copparo, Atessa, and Argenta (Lake Commachio) (1943 – 1945); a newspaper article (1p) about a record number of Axis planes being shot down in Sicily by a LAA Regiment (August 1943); a page from 'Picture Post' (10 June 1944) showing a LAA troop firing 4.2 inch mortars in Italy; an article in the 'Sunday Pictorial' (2pp, 21 December 1941) about Lt Col Wilkinson being awarded the George Medal for saving one of his men from a minefield; a ms menu with an image of a gun from 329th LAA Battery RA, for Williamson's birthday dinner (February 1944); two printed menus from troopships (December 1942); a programme for an ENSA presentation of 'Blythe Spirit' (1943?); and four Christmas postcards with Italian images and messages for his family (8pp, n.d.).
History note
Cataloguer SJO