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- 2nd Battalion, Essex Regiment during the Second World War -


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World War 2 Two II WW2 WWII 1939 1945

2nd Battalion, Essex Regiment



   2nd Battalion, Essex Regiment were deployed to France with 25th Infantry Brigade, 50th (Northumbrian) Division and were evacuated from Dunkirk in late May 1940. In early 1944 they transferred to 56th Independent Infantry Brigade, and saw action across North Western Europe from mid 1944 onwards.

 

12th Oct 1939 Recconaissance

13th Oct 1939 Reliefs

14th Oct 1939 Front Line

15th Oct 1939 Entrenching

16th Oct 1939 Digging in

17th Oct 1939 Difficulties

18th Oct 1939 News

19th Oct 1939 Poor Weather

20th Oct 1939 Recconaissance

21st Oct 1939 Recreation

22nd Oct 1939 Recreation

23rd Oct 1939 Front Line

24th Oct 1939 Recconaissance

25th Oct 1939 Visit

26th Oct 1939 Shortages

27th Oct 1939 Conference

28th Oct 1939 Work Required

29th Oct 1939 Exercise

30th Oct 1939 Exercise

31st Oct 1939 Exercise

10th of November 1939 Provision of Working parties  location map

18th of November 1939 Machinery

27th Apr 1940 Training

3rd Jun 1944 Preparations

5th Jun 1944 On the Move

6th Jun 1944 Almost to Plan

6th Jun 1944 Under Fire

6th Jun 1944 Difficulties

6th Jun 1944 Heavy Sea  location map

6th Jun 1944 Ashore

6th Jun 1944 Mortar Fire

6th Jun 1944 Behind Schedule

7th Jun 1944 Town Taken

7th Jun 1944 Advance

7th Jun 1944 Objectives  location map

7th Jun 1944 Advance

7th Jun 1944 Attack Made

7th Jun 1944 Moves  location map

7th Jun 1944 Objectives Taken

8th Jun 1944 Prisoners

8th Jun 1944 Consolidation

9th Jun 1944 Reliefs

10th Jun 1944 Bocage

15th Jun 1944 Holding the Line

6th Jul 1944 Orders  location map

7th Jul 1944 On the Move  location map

8th Jul 1944 Attack Made  location map

9th Jul 1944 Counter Attack  location map

10th Jul 1944 Mortar Fire  location map

7th Sep 1944 Planning  location map

8th Sep 1944 Planning  location map

9th Sep 1944 Bad Weather  location map

10th Sep 1944 Attack Made  location map

11th Sep 1944 Attack Made  location map

12th Sep 1944 Attack Made  location map

1st Nov 1944 Contact

2nd Nov 1944 Conference  location map

3rd Nov 1944 Attack Made  location map

9th March 1945 Water Falling

9th March 1945 Shelling

11th March 1945 Reliefs

11th March 1945 Reliefs


If you can provide any additional information, especially on actions and locations at specific dates, please add it here.



Those known to have served with

2nd Battalion, Essex Regiment

during the Second World War 1939-1945.

  • Bambridge Edwin John. Pte. (d.21st Jan 1945)
  • Coles Leslie. Pte.
  • Morley Arthur Henry. Pte. (d.11th June 1944)
  • Morley Arthur Henry. Pte. (d.11th Jun 1944)
  • Shaw .
  • Wright Sidney William. Cpl.

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, Essex Regiment from other sources.



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Want to know more about 2nd Battalion, Essex Regiment?


There are:1380 items tagged 2nd Battalion, Essex 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.


Pte. Leslie Coles 2nd Battalion Essex Regiment

Pte Les Coles in Berlin

Les Coles served with the 12 platoon, B Company, 2nd Battalion, Essex Regiment between 1944-1946. Previous to this he was in the Royal Artillery on Anti-Aircraft guns at Dover.

Andrew Coles



Shaw 2nd Battalion Essex Regiment

For some months I have been searching for information on a British soldier, named Thjou, Shaw or something like that. I have a photo of him and with the signs on his uniform he has to be a member of the 49th Infantry Division, which badge is over the Sphynx which was the badge of the Essex regiment.

The 2nd Battalion Essex Regiment were at Nijmegen in the Netherlands (my birth and living place) on 6 January till May 1945. In the period a German V1-flying bomb attacked on 18th of February 1945 Nijmegen in the neighborhood of a house where British soldiers were sleeping. Thjou or Shaw was one of them and he helped the family by cleaning up the house, which was damaged by the V1 attack. He should be a cobbler and was around 28 years old in February 1945.

Now I have connected several persons to get more information about him and his relatives, so far without result. Maybe you can help me with that. It should be very nice because I'm writing a small book with stories of people who lived on the place of the V1-attack and I will write something about the English soldiers who were sleeping in the house of Dutch inhabitants. Hopefully you can help me with this.

In 2010 it was my father, then 80 years old (he died 6 years ago) who realized a monument for the 4 citizens which died and the many wounded people which houses were destroyed. The old people which I have spoken are all very positive about the British soldiers which give them some meat (corned beef) and chocolate in the time that food was very little available. Yearly, I'm organizing now rememberances and the primary school is involved with that. In 2010 we realised a first small book and now I have much new stories, so I will make a second little book. See this link for the first book.

Ronald Ruijters



Pte. Edwin John "Bimbo" Bambridge 2nd Btn. Essex Regiment (d.21st Jan 1945)

Edwin Bambridge is commemorated on the War Memorial of Cann Hall and Harrow Green Baptist Church, Leytonstone, London, where he was an active member from boyhood.

Muriel Gibbs



Cpl. Sidney William Wright 2nd Btn. Essex Regiment

1940 in France, 2nd from right front row

Sidney Wright served with the 2nd Btn. Essex Regiment.

Colin Wright



Pte. Arthur Henry Morley 2nd Btn. Essex Rgt. (d.11th June 1944)

My great uncle, Pte. Arthur Henry Morley, was born around 1919 and died on 11th June 1944 during the landings after D-day. He is commemorated on the Bayeux Memorial, XIV.D.6.

Update

If your great uncle was killed with the 2nd Essex on 11th June 1944 he was certainly a casualty of the first big battle of his battalion in the Normandy campaign. This bitter fight was near the villages of Verrieres and Lingevres and there were 15 memebrs of his battalion killed in action on that fateful day and quite a number of wounded. They even renamed the local wood "Essex Wood" in honour of the regiment. There was a memorial unveiled for that particular action on 7th June 2004 in the presence of several veterans of the Essex Regiment. (Francis Huijbrechts)

Charlotte









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