6 Deaths in the Family
This chapter looks at the misfortunes of three sister battalions that were associated with three of Britain’s worst disasters of the war, and how this impacted the 2/5th. The 8th Battalion was largely destroyed in Norway and later disbanded, but several officers and men transferred to the 2/5th. The 1/5th, after heavy losses in France, was sent to Singapore in early 1942 just in time to be taken captive by the Japanese. It had received drafts of men from the 2/5th, and its demise led to the renaming of the 2/5th as the 5th Battalion. Finally, the regular 1st Battalion surrendered with the Tobruk garrison in June 1942. This represented the nadir of both the regiment’s war service and the British war effort overall.
This chapter is mainly drawn from secondary sources, especially Barclay's regimental history (1959) and Richard Garrett’s unpublished history None but the Brave (n.d.). The action at Tretten is briefly covered in the official history of the Norway campaign by T. K. Derry (1952), and more extensively in Cliff Housley, ‘First Contact’ (1997). There are no good monographs on the battle of Gazala, in addition to Barclay I have used Playfair's official history (1954–1960) and Michael Carver, Tobruk (1972). The overall history of post-Dunkirk operations is covered in Basil Karslake, 1940 The Last Act (1979). The sad story of the 1/5th Foresters at Singapore is told in Cliff Housley, First in Last Out (1995). Some use has been made of the battalion war diaries as primary material, but where entire units were captured these are naturally limited, that of the 1/5th Foresters for example did not survive the fall of Singapore.
Notes
pp. 107-8 The 8th Battalions history is given in Barclay, pp. 50–55 and 133-35; Housley, "First Contact' ([1997?]) pp. 25–78; Derry, (1995) pp. 97–112, pp. 135–139. Richard Garrett’s story is in More Sherwood Foresters Memories, pp. 48–56; Harold Mellors’ account in More Sherwood Foresters Memories, p. 131 and also from correspondence with his son, Tony Mellors, October 2022. Primary source is WO 166/4667 WD 8th SF War Diary, May-June 1940.
p. 109 The 9th Battalion post-Dunkirk history from Barclay, p. 135; and WO 166/14603, 112th Regt RAC WD, January–October 1944.
p. 109 Accounts of the 2nd Battalion in France can be found in Barclay, History, pp. 40–44; Garrett, None but the Brave, pp. 58–60; Lt-Col J.E. Wright, ‘Dunkirk’ Firm and Forester11.1 (April 1990) pp. 20–22; Lt-Col J.E. Wright,, ‘Dunkirk: The Withdrawal to Dunkirk’ Firm and Forester 11.3 and 11.4 (1991) pp. 210–212 and 298–301. Primary source is WO 167/823, WD 2nd SF, May-June 1940.
p. 109-10 Operations of 1st Battalion described in Barclay, pp. 57–64; Major General I.S.O. Playfair, The Mediterranean And Middle East Vol. I: The Early Successes against Italy (1954), p. 326 and Vol. III British Fortunes reach their Lowest Ebb (1960), pp. 262–279; and Garrett, None but the Brave, pp. 101–08. Primary sources are WO 169/50062, 1st SF War Diary, June 1942 and CAB 106/601, Lieutenant-Colonel GRG Bird, ‘Tobruk: account of operations of 1st Battalion the Sherwood Foresters 1942 June 1–21’ (1947).
p. 110 Reconstitution of 1st Battalion in Barclay, pp. 64–65.
p. 110 Operations of 1/5th Battalion in France in Barclay, pp. 46–48; Garrett, None but the Brave, pp. 72–77.
p. 111 For background to the Lancastria story see Raye Dancocks, ‘The Lancastria – a Secret Sacrifice in World War Two’ (2011) at <https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/lancastria_01.shtml> [accessed 7 Nov 2022]; Stephen Wynn, The Lancastria Tragedy, Sinking and Cover Up (2020) pp. 120– 121;
pp. 111-12 Personal accounts of the Lancastriafrom IWM Sound Archive, #18618, Harry Higton interview with Peter M Hart (1998); and #8638, Gilbert Skelton interview with Conrad Wood (1984); also ‘They sang as they went to their deaths’ Nottingham Evening Post, Thursday November 17 1994, p. 15. I have not been able to trace a trawler named Derbyshire, it may have been the Derby County, which saw service in the war.
pp. 112-13 The role of the 1/5th Foresters in the fall of Singapore and the aftermath is from Barclay, pp. 66–71; Garrett, None but the Brave, pp. 96–100. The sixty-three casualties are extracted from the CWGC database, including those who died of wounds or were killed by the Japanese in hospital. Over half of these have no known grave.
p. 113 Castellette’s story in ‘Survivors remember maritime tragedy’ Nottingham Evening Post, Saturday November 26 1994, p. 11.
p. 113 For 12th and 13th Battalions, Barclay, pp. 135–136.
p. 112-14 Higton’s story in Nottingham Evening Post, Thursday November 17 1994, p. 15, other accounts from IWM Sound Archive, #13347, Joseph Knowles interview with Peter M Hart, (1993), Reel 1; WO 166/5895, WD 5 SF Jan-Dec 1942, May and July; Markham IWM Tape #13561, Reel 7.
p. 114 For 14th Battalion at Alamein, Barclay, pp.72–76.