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Those known to have served with 2nd Battalion, Royal Berkshire Regiment during the Second World War 1939-1945. - Brown Arthur Thomas. Pte.
- Burton William Robert. Pte
- Flaherty Martin. Pte. (d.26th Dec 1944)
- Goodwin William Frederick Charles . Pte.
- Houston Dennis James. Pte.
- Murphy Joseph Thomas Frederick. L/Cpl. (d.7th Jan 1945)
- Smith Eric James Owen. C/Sgt.
- Topham Leonard. Pte. (d.29th July 1941)
- Turner Thomas George. Pte.
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 2nd Battalion, Royal Berkshire Regiment from other sources.
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Want to know more about 2nd Battalion, Royal Berkshire Regiment? There are:1471 items tagged 2nd Battalion, Royal Berkshire Regiment 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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Pte. Dennis James Houston 2nd Btn. Royal Berkshire Regiment Dennis Houston served in Burma in WW2. He enlisted into the General Service Corps, embodied in the Territorial Army, and posted to 67 Primary Training wing on 1st April 1943. On 13th May 1943 Dennis was transferred to 17 Infantry Training Centre. On 20th July 1943 he was posted to the 9th Battalion, Royal Berkshire Regiment and on 28th January 1944 was posted to the 2nd Battalion, moving yet again to Relegated Reserve on 11th June 1946.
He served overseas in India between 24th of October 1943 and 10th June 1946. At one point, Dennis was bitten by a snake and nearly died. He spoke little of his war years but some things he did say. He told of his time in Dad’s Army. On one occasion, he told how the men were given grenades to clean. One of the brighter sparks decided that placing them on a village hall heater would melt the grease and make the grenades easier to clean. Dennis said you have never seen men move so fast to get away, diving through doors and windows. On another occasion, he said that he was once paired with an elderly man to guard a crossroads. A car came along and was stopped. The elderly man asked the driver for his identification papers but when given them couldn’t read them because he didn’t have his glasses on. Dennis watched as his partner handed his rifle to the driver so that he could put his glasses on.
His time overseas was not spoken about in any detail, but he did talk about the Gurkhas alongside of whom he fought and for whom he had a great respect. He also talked of walking between mules so he wouldn’t be shot by Japanese snipers. Dennis gave money all his life to the RSPCA as a thank-you to the poor mules who took a bullet instead of the soldiers. He said the only American anything he saw in Burma was an American plane and that was shot down. He suffered from malaria all his life.
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Pte. Thomas George "Old Man" Turner 2nd Battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment  Before World War Two my great granddad, Thomas Turner, worked as a bricklayer living in Whitley to the south of Reading. Meaning once war was declared his job was protected and he did not have to join up which is why from 1939 to 1943 he worked for the Government and helped build military structures and buildings for the war effort. During this time he also was an ARP warden before he left this position and became an independent Whitley firewatcher with many of his colleagues who had fallen out with local ARP officials in 1941.
He was called up to the Royal Berkshire Regiment in 1943 and when his papers came through he was working on a building site near Oxford so his wife had to take a bus to give him the papers. He was aged 36 when he was called up which meant he was one of the eldest in his company which was why he was given a nickname "The Old Man".
He served throughout the 2nd Battalion's campaign in Burma and was part of the force that stormed Mandalay Hill from the 10th to the 12th March 1945.
He returned to Britain towards the end of 1946 and my great aunt remembers him being one of the last soldiers to return home and how he greeted her at the school gates in his military uniform, slouch hat and satchel over his arm to give her a hug.
When asked about his military service he said that "he enjoyed his time in the Army" probably due to the experiences of a new country, culture and the feeling of togetherness within his company. He also said that "I was never really one for fighting to the death for my country" and my great aunt says that "if he could of avoided being called up to the Army he would have done". He also told my dad that when his company came into contact or engaged the Japanese forces he would always try and "avoid getting too involved" and "do his best to just stay alive".
He was awarded the Burma Star, Defence Medal and British War Medal. He sadly passed away in 2000 at the age of 94.
Thank you great grandad and all those that served in Burma and the Far East whose names have sadly been overshadowed by the war in Europe. We will never forget.
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C/Sgt. Eric James Owen Smith 2nd Btn. Royal Berkshire Regiment  My father, Eric Smith told me while in Burma he was awakened one night to a feeling of something heavy on his chest, it turned out to be a very large snake that had found a warm place to curl up. He managed to get the attention of another soldier in the next cot who after much deliberation took the side of an axe and flipped the snake off my Dad. Of course, by this time everyone in the tent had awoken and they finally got the snake into a sack.
Another time he was a guard on a train carrying mail through to Mandalay when the roof of the train caught fire, they were able to get all the mail bags off but the train was left with nothing but the engine and another coach so the mail did get through.
Dad started out with the Royal Gloucestershire Regiment which was disbanded and was ordered to join the 2nd Battalion, Royal Berks attached to the 19th Indian Division. After moving through jungle and swamps he said just about everyone was suffering from some form of dysentery or malaria. They finally located the camp emplacement of the 2nd Btn who had consolidated their position on the plains of Zeyawady. He said they used their Japanese prisoners to clear roads. He got a telegram saying his mother was seriously ill in hospital so the Army sent him back to England where he served the remainder of his Army time in a camp guarding German prisoners, one of whom made him a shoe caddy. That prisoner was just a young man who was a carpenter in Germany. Dad always said they were all young men full of passion and willing to die for their own countries. My dad was a wonderful, compassionate man who lived his life with integrity, loyalty and loved his whole life.
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L/Cpl. Joseph Thomas Frederick Murphy 2nd Btn. Royal Berkshire Regiment (d.7th Jan 1945) Joseph Murphy was the son of Anne Lauretta Murphy and Thomas Richard Murphy, born in London in 1916.
He is buried in the Taukkyan War Cemetery, Rangoon, Burma.
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Pte. William Frederick Charles Goodwin 2nd Battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment I have been trying to find out about my father's war service. His name was Frederick Goodwin, he served with the 2nd Battalion Royal Berkshire and the Royal West Kents and was awarded the Burma Star. My father died in 1948, due to a motor cycle accident, I was one year old. Can you help in finding out about my father's Army service record.
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Pte. Martin Flaherty 2nd Btn. Royal Berkshire Regiment (d.26th Dec 1944) Martin Flaherty who died aged 27 was born in Jarrow in 1917, the son of Martin and Rose Flaherty (formerly Collins nee Coyne) of Jarrow.
Martin is buried in Taukkyan War Cemetery and is commemorated on the WW2 Roll of Honour Plaque in the entrance of Jarrow Town Hall.
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