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211663 Pte. Frank Moth British Army 2nd Battalion The Buffs from:Kentish Town, London Frank Moth. Enlisted: Canterbury, Kent, 18th April 1940
From dad’s wartime diary (my words in brackets for clarity): -
28/5/42 – ‘12o’clock embarked Liverpool’ (this would have been on the SS Laconia with the 2nd Battalion The Buffs)
- 29th – 30th May ‘42 – ‘Laying off coast’
- 31/5/42 – ‘11.45 left River Mersey’
- 1/6/42 – ‘Big escort, lads mostly sick in North Atlantic, 7o’clock 18 miles Iceland’
- June – Freetown, (Sierra Leone)
- June - Cape Town, South Africa
- July – Aden & Port Tewfik Egypt
- August – Khatatba Egypt
- Sept – Bare Ridge & Hineima?
- Oct – Alamein (Second & decisive Battle of El Alamein)
- Nov – Alamein & Alex (Alexandria) Egypt
- Dec 42 – Aleppo Syria / Arabia / Trans-Jordan / Palestine / Lebanon
- Jan 43 – Djerablous Syrian/Turkish border
- Feb 43 – Baghdad, Iraq
- March 43 – Quisil, Iraq
- April 43 – Kiffai, Iraq (possibly Kifri near border with Persia/Iran on ‘road’ to Teheran)
- May to Sept 43 – C.M.P. (Corps of Military Police?) Teheran Persia (Iran)
- Oct – Kermanshah, Persia
- Nov – Teheran, Churchill Conference
- Dec Xmas – Kanakin (probably Khanaqin) Iraq-Iran border
- Jan 44 – S.P.Z mountain training
- Feb – Kirkuk, Iraq
- April – Beirut (Lebanon &) Syria
- May – Karid, Persia
- June – Baghdad, Iraq
- July – Basra, Iraq
- August – Bombay, India
- Sept – Bangalore, India
- Oct – Balliona, India
- Nov – India Assam & Burma
- Dec 44 – Indian Xmas Burma
- Jan 45 – Bahe / Molong / Mogok - Burma
- Feb – Mong Mit / Maymyo (Mandalay Region) – Burma
- March – Mandalay & Meiktila Burma
- April – Imphal & Manipur Road
- May – Visapur & Secunderabad India
- Jun to August - Visapur India
- Sept 45 – Ahamednagar (Maharashtra Province 200kms from Mumbai/Bombay) & Visapur
- Oct 45 – Poona & Bombay for riots
- Nov - Blighty
- Dec – Xmas?
Following is in a Christmas card issued to all troops ‘To Goat Moth, A happy Christmas and the Best of New Years from all Ranks, 2nd Bn. The Buffs. Many thanks and the very best of luck’. From ‘Lt Col 2 Buffs S.E.AC. 1945’
Goat = Greatest of all time
S.E.AC. = South East Asia Corps
Contact names from dad’s diary: -
- GNR Moth.R, 11400281, 386 LAA Battery, Main Camp, Ballykinlar Camp, Co Down
- Rfn L.E.Moth, 12 Ladycroft, Bolton on Deasae?, Nr Rotherham, Yorks
ACWI Moth L.E. 2050506, C/O 2 Addington Road, Reading, Berks
- Sgt Moth 858403, 952 Def Batt RA, C/O GPO Woolacombe, Nth Devon
- GNR G Day, 1685378, D Tp 129 AAL Batt, 11 Pow mans, Pow Drive, Batt: SW11
- Pte Gill.W, C/O Hurst Farm, Oweslebury?, Nr Winchester, Hants
- Cpl Creasey.F 6404132, A Coy, 4 R.S.Regt, Richmond House, Harestone Valley Road, Caterham, Surrey
- GNR Moss J.R. 6474378, A Battery, 94th /T Regt R.A., Home Forces
Ernie Wheeler, 15 Coningsby Rd, Sth Ealing, W5. 6288869, c Coy 30th Buffs, Coolinge Lane, Folkestone
- Rfn L.E.Moth 6910734 Rifle B’de, HQ 1st Corps, Home Forces
- Gnr Moth.R. 11400281, 386 LAA, C/O Waverley Hotel, Aberdeen
- 6285465 Pte Shorter.A., C Coy 13th Kings Regt, Napier Bar, Karachi, India
- 6910734 Rfn Moth L.E. (R.B), Q Mov: Rear HQ, 21st Army Group, B.L.A.
- 6098540 l/Sgt W.Woodhouse, HQ coy, 1st Bn Queens Royal Regt, SEAC
- 6474378 Gnr Moss.J. S Trp, C Bty, 1st Field Depot Regt: RATD (Main)
Pickles, Burnham House, Main Road, Queensboro’, Kent
- Fred Timms, A/TPln, 1 Coy QRR, B.L.A.
- Alf 6092211, Redholme Camp, CISD RASC, Chilham, Nr Canterbury
- Alf, 37 Piper Rd, Kingston, Surrey
- Ron, Gordon Rd, Luton, Chatham –
- Alf, 15 Robin Hood Way, Greenford
- Harry, 1 Livingstone Road, Stretford, E15
- Patsy, 23 Swinton St
- Boy Boy, 4 Etloe Road, Leyton, E10
- Alf, 37 Piper Road, Kingston
- Erb, 52 East St, Dartford
- Tom Bedworth, 19 Burnaby Gardens, Chiswick
- Bill Seas, Shortland(s) Road, Sittingbourne
- Johnny Webb, 97 Selsdon Rd, South Croydon
- 6288668 Ron Blackwell
- Alf Shorter, Ulley Rd, Kennington, Ashford
- Harry Bowen, 42 Oldfield Circus, Greenford, Midd
- Trpr Jock Bell 14239717, B Sqdn, 146 Regt R.A.C (DWR), Alfsea
- Bill, 20A Pilgrimage St, Long Lane, Boro SE1
- Alf Newman, 185 Twick (Twickenham) Rd, Isleworth, Mid
- Pug, 66 Brooks Rd, Plaistow, E13
- Ron Blackwell, 18 Stuart Rd, Grays, Essex
Abbreviations: -
LAA or AAL Batt = Anti Aircraft Light Battery
Batt RN = Battery Royal Artillery
B.L.A. = British Land Army
Bn = Battalion
Bty = Battery
Coy = Company
GNR or Gnr = Gunner
l/Sgt = Lance Sergeant
RASC = Royal Army Service Corps
Regt = Regiment
Rfn = Rifleman
SEAC = South East Asia Corps
Sqdn = Squadron
Trp or Trpr = Troop
Our dad & his brothers all survived the Second World War. His brother Lionel (Rfn L.E.Moth) was a professional soldier who joined the Army in the 1930's & served with the Rifle Brigade. I don't currently have any information on his other brothers. Dad served in the 2nd Battalion The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment)with the 8th Army in North Africa where he was wounded by grenade fragments & temporarily blinded, released from hospital & served with CMP escorting prisoners of war. Went to Teheran with 2nd Battalion The Buffs for Churchill Conference, before serving the rest of the war in Burma with the 14th Army. He was also attached to the Indian Army in Iraq & Persia, the US Army in Assam, India, & Burma, the 9th Army in Arabia & Transjordan Desert, & the 10th Army in Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, & Turkey. Dad passed away around Christmas/New Year 1996/97. |
Additional Information: | I am the son of Ron Blackwell mentioned in your Dad's diary.
I'm sorry I don't have any information for you but wanted to say thanks for the information you have provided. I was born when my father was 42 and like many of the men who served at this time he never spoke of his war time service. All I knew was that he served in the Buffs (didn't know which Battalion) and that must've mentioned Dunkirk, Tehran conference and Burma as these are the only memories I had, he never gave anymore detail. Thanks to your information a lot of the blanks have been filled in and it seems he served in the 2nd Btn Buffs with your father. I have no photos of his wartime life or any other information but your article has inspired me to find out a bit more. Paul Blackwell |
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