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8th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery
8th Field Regiment Royal Artillery was made up of AA, V, W and X batteries. When war broke out in 1939 they were
stationed in Lucknow, India with the 6th Indian Infantry Brigade. They moved to Egypt in 1940 to join Mersa Matruh Fortress Command armed with with eight 18pdrs and eight 4.5" Howitzers. In May 1941 they came under command of HQ Western Desert Force, 7th Support Group and saw action with their sixteen 25pdrs during Operation Brevity. In June they became part of Artillery Group, Escarpment Force under 22nd Guards Brigade.
Later that year they served under HQ RA 8th Army, in the Western Desert. In 1942 they joined 2nd Armoured Brigade supporting 6th Indian Infantry Brigade, 4th Indian Infantry Division then transferred to 70th Infantry Division. In march 1943 they left Egypt to return to India and were assigned to 25th Indian Division and saw action in Burma.
25th Aug 1940 On the Move
13th Sep 1940 On the Move
9th Dec 1940 Reorganisation
8th Feb 1941 Conference
9th Feb 1941 Reliefs
18th Apr 1941 Defences 
26th Apr 1941 In Position
27th Apr 1941 Withdrawal
5th May 1941 Support
15th May 1941 In Action
16th May 1941 In Action
15th Jun 1941 Change of Command
16th Sep 1941 Reliefs
12th of December 1941 Advance
2nd Feb 1942 Change of Command
6th Mar 1942 On the Move
23rd Mar 1942 On the Move
April 1944 Reliefs
29th Dec 1944 Orders
3rd January 1945 Landing
3rd Jan 1945 Landings
4th Jan 1945 Advance
6th Jan 1945 Patrols
16th Jan 1945 Advance
18th Jan 1945 Patrols
20th Jan 1945 Preparations
If you can provide any additional information, especially on actions and locations at specific dates, please add it here.
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Want to know more about 8th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery ? There are:457 items tagged 8th 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. |
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Gnr. Fred Wearden 8th Field Regiment Royal Artillery    Fred Wearden was an Apprentice Metal Coach Builder
before he enlisted on the 17th of Dec 1942
joining 24th Primary Training Corps (PTC) Middleton at Heysham.
He transferred to 37th Signal Training Regiment, Royal Artillery at Scarborough on the 27th of January 1943 and remained there until 5th ofJul 1943. Fred was appointed Driver i/c on the 17th of March 1943 and
was classified as a Signaller on the 26th of May 1943
Posted to 180th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery on completition of his training, he embarked for India (Draft code REHYA) on the 25th of October 1943 and disembarked at Bombay on the 28th of Nov 1943, Convoy KMF25a, SS Strathmore left Liverpool on 25th of October 1943 sailing via Alexandria, Suez and Aden to arrive Bombay 28th of Nov 943.
Fred was posted to 2 Holding Battery (RA) and on the 11th of Dec 1943
was posted to 8th Field Regiment RA in 25th Indian Division.
He was admitted to hospital on the 23rd of Feb 1944, returning to his unit 2 days later. He was posted to HQRA 26th India Division the 14th of Jul 1945
HQRA 26th India Division became part of 34th Corps, which was raised in 1945 for the invasion of Malaya, they were being embarked for Malaya at the time of the Japanese surrender. Two of its divisions however carried out landings in Malaya as was planned, the Corps then moved to the Dutch East-Indies for peace keeping duties after the end of the war.
Fred was repatriated to UK via Singapore on Python Date unknown (15 Aug 1946)
Note: PYTHON was the name given to the scheme started after VE day that concerned repatriation and accumulated leave of regulars who had been servicing overseas, plus leave entitlement.
Back in the UK Fred was posted to depot RA on the 19th of Dec 1946 and was released from the Army on the 12th of Aug 1947.
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