Tpr. Daniel J.J. Laing
British Army 46th (Liverpool Welsh) Btn. Royal Tank Regiment
from:Forres, Moray
Dan Laing was my great uncle and I have been researching his wartime background. He was a tank driver with the 46th Btn. Royal Tank Regiment and may have also served with the 42nd Bn RTR. He is reported wounded on 22nd July 1942 at the First Battle of El Alamein, a date which ties in exactly with the unsuccessful action of 23rd Armoured Bgde where they took heavy casualties; the 46th Btn being part of 23rd's order of battle.
He went on to serve in Italy and maybe (unconfirmed) in Greece at the end of the war. Unconfirmed family stories say he was also wounded in Italy though I found no record online of this. The story goes that Dan was wounded in Italy and ended up in the same Field Hospital (at the same time) as his brother (Jim Laing) who was with the Pipes and Drums of 9 Commando. Jim was wounded (corroborated) on 22nd December 1943 during Operation Partridge when 9 Commando conducted a raid across the Garigliano River. Jim was playing the pipes that night and stood on a landmine. Fortunately, the pipes took most of the blast, allowing Jim to recover and go on to serve with 9 Commando in Greece.
Dan married and settled in Bangor, North Wales after the war. He died in 1956. Jim went on to marry Dan's widow though he too passed away prematurely in 1966.
