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Those known to have served with Ayrshire Yeomanry during the Second World War 1939-1945. 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,
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Records of Ayrshire Yeomanry from other sources.
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Want to know more about Ayrshire Yeomanry? There are:1376 items tagged Ayrshire Yeomanry 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. Edward Stollar 124th Bty. 151st Field Regiment Royal Artillery I have a very complete record of the war service of my Uncle Ted, my mother's brother.
Edward Stollar joined on the 27th of February 1941 at the age of 29 and joined the 72nd Coastal Training, 223rd Battery He had served in the Orkneys before joining the Ayrshire Yeomanry in 151st Field Regiment, B troop of A Battery on the 8th February 1944.
151st Field Regiment had spent 1941 travelling up and down the country developing and becoming proficient in its Gunnery skills. In May 1942 it became part of the Order of Battle of 11th Armoured Division with the Black Bull being the divisional sign.
Following training in Yorkshire and the Isle of Wight on the 8th June he left for Tilbury where the regiment was divided in two to be loaded on the Empire Canyon and the Empire Farmer bound with full escort to the English Channel and Normandy. The coast came into view at dawn on the 13th June and 124th Battery landed on the most easterly beach near Ouistreham. Ted and his mate concentrated on Lantheuil village eight kilometres inland for ten days whilst the bridgehead was established.
From the 26th of June to 6th of July he was involved in bridgehead Operation Epsom with the aim of passing Caen and crossing the River One to the south. Further operations included Goodwood (18th - 22 July) and Bluecoat (30th July - 7th August). From the 14th - 19th August the next phase of battle commenced with the closure of the Falaise pocket with Flers liberated on the 16th. The 22nd saw Ted and his mates in action at Face against Tiger tanks. The Allied Liberation of Paris was completed on 30th August ending Operation Overlord. The period 29th Aug to 4th September took Ted across the Seine and in the six days the division had advance 340 miles fighting on five of the six days. This took them to Antwerp. The next stage was moving into Holland and on the 12th September, 151st Regiment fired in support of the Welsh Guards eventually assisting them and breaking through to Arnhem which turned into a bridge too far. Over the next few weeks 151st fired at targets over the Maas.
He returned to the UK and was discharged to the Reserve on 16th Jan 1946, being awarded the France & Germany Star, 1939-45 Defence Medal and Victory Medal.
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Gnr. George William "Jum" Rouse 152nd (Ayrshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment Royal Artillery My father George Rouse joined 16.05.1940 training at Bordon on the 16th of May 1940, training with 12th Field Training Regiment RA then 127th Field Regiment RA. I have his war record. He transferred to 152nd Field Regiment, RA on 2nd of September 1942 Ayrshire.
He embarked 8th of November 1942 for North Africa and was involved in various engagements, including the Battle for Tunis. Then to Italy, at Cassino he was caught out in the open during the night and attacked by a bomber before they could dig in. A few ORs were wounded, this was on 25th of May 1944. He remained on duty, George was wounded in the foot.
There was one death, Gunner Allan, 14258833 is buried in Cassino War Cemetery.
Dad transferred from 152nd RA HQ in Rome 22rd August 1944 to 1st Regiment RHA, until 10th of November 1945.
I have no other information concerning members or even what battery he was in. One thing he spoke of was that the whole of the batteries were addressed by a very senior officer, who stated that they had been given a verbal order that no prisoners were to be taken for three days during the next push. After discussing the order to all officers they refused the verbal order on behalf of everybody. As the advance took place and they moved forward they found some Germans dead who had been tied up and mutilated, some were found to have the left sleeve of their uniform cut open. Nobody knew why, the Poles had advanced on foot in the area. When they arrived in Austria, units of the Ukrainian SS surrendered to dad's unit that's when they found out about the blood mark of the SS. A representative of Tito's forces arrived and asked for the Ukrainian SS to be handed over to them. Nobody in Dad's unit understood why. Word was quick to arrive from London not to hand them over.
He arrived home on 1st of April 1946 and was based at Foots Cray in Kent until his release on 10th of May 1946. He was in the reserves until 1951.
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Gnr. Francis Kelso 155th Field Regiment Royal Artillery Francis Kelso was captured during the fall of Singapore by the Japanese Imperial Army. He was interned at Changi initially before being moved to Kinksaeki where he worked for years in the copper mines there. Eventually, he was freed by American troops and taken to America for rehabilitation before being returned to Scotland where he was piped down the streets of Wishaw on his return home.
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Gnr. Joseph Patrick O'Donnell 152nd (Ayrshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment Royal Artillery (d.17th July 1945) Joseph O'Donnell was killed when the army vehicle he was travelling in crashed and overturned.
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William Latuske 152nd (Aryshire Yeomanry) Regiment Royal Artillery My grandfather William Latuske served in the 152nd (Ayrshire Yeomanry) Regiment, Royal Artillery in North Africa and Italy. A true gentleman who sadly passed away in the 1990s but will always be loved and never forgotten.
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Bombadier Lionel "Roby" Rogers 151st (Ayrshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment, C Batter Royal Artillery I served in the Ayrshire Yeomanry between 1941 and 1946.
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Bmdr. James Arthur Tudor 152 (Ayrshire Yeo) Field Regiment, C Troop, B Batt Royal Artillery My father, James Tudor refused to discuss his service in the Italian campaign, but one or two facts did come out that began a story that I could relate to in later life. That was the reality of war, and the realism of the trauma our relatives suffered, is emotional to say the least.
For example he told my Mother of dozing off under a tree, presumably at the Monte Cassino bombardment phase of the campaign when a raindrop landed on his helmet, and such was the tension of the situation he thought he had been blown up. Then in Rome he told her of searching ordinary houses with ordinary families in residence,and his feeling that how would he have felt if it had have been our home that foreign troops were searching.
In September 1944 he had a portrait painted by Artists of Florence at a studio that still exists (I visited it in 2011 on a trip to Italy) these paintings were done for many British soldiers, his name and detail was inscribed on the back.
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W/O Peter McDermont Ayrshire Yeomanry Royal Artillery (d.29th Seotember 1941) From what I have been told, Peter was a loving father of 2 children. His wife died in childbirth with their 3rd child in 1938. When he was killed, he left behind 2 children with no parents. My mother-in-law, Mary McDermont, Peter's younger sister, raised both children in her parent's home in Kilmarnock. That was when family was important and meant everything.
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S/Sgt. Denis George "Lofty" Goddard MID Royal Artillery My Father Denis George "Lofty" "Badgie" Goddard joined the Royal Artillery Boys Service in Woolwich in 1938. His early wartime service 1939-42 included being a very young staff sergeant training anti tank crews in Wales, most of whom ended up in North Africa.
Overseas wartime service from 1943-45 included Special Operations Executive (SOE) attachment as radio operator in various Greek Islands followed by special forces operations in the Balkans, Northern Italy and Southern France in the following units:-
Special Raiding Squadron (SRS), Raiding Support Regiment (RSR), and Special Air Service (SAS)
He finished the back end of the war in a 25 pounder RA unit (the Ayeshire Yeomanry) in Northern Italy (Argenta gap etc.) and Southern Austria where he was part of the operation that handed back to the Soviet Red Army the White Russian Cossacks who fought for the Nazis.
Post WW2 Lofty continued as a professional soldier until 1972. Units included 33rd RA, 66th RA, 7th RHA, 17 RA. Postings included:- India 1945/6
, Palestine 1946/7, Malaya 1950/52, Singapore 1952/53, Dusseldorf 1954/56?
, Cyprus 1956?/60 then was UK based after that.
Lofty faded away in June 2007.
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Pvt William Barr Webster Ayrshire Yeomanry My Dad, Willie Webster was called up 1940, first stop Maryhill Barracks in Glasgow.
Dad confirmed he was a Lorry Driver in Civies but the Army, being the Army, made him a signaler.
Attached to the Ayrshire Yeomanry, he saw action in Sicily, Italy and North Africa. He was involved in blocking Jerry at the Kasserine Pass, where he always said we stopped the rout with smaller guns than the Yanks going the other way!
I always loved the stories he told, he was very matter of fact, no heroics just human stories about his life as a soldier in WW11.
After seeing the movie "To Hell and Back" with me as a kid, which was about Audie Murphy,American's most decorated soldier, Dad realised that Murphy had paralled his tour in Italy but mentioned he'd never heard of this hero!
Out pinching eggs with a Yorkshire pal one night, they came across an immaculate Jerry Officier, who pulled out his side arm. Dad, nor the Yorkie, didn't have a pea shooter between them and thought their number was up...until the Jerry offered surrender and passed over his side arm....seems he'd only landed recently with German Youth and realised the game was coming to a close...he could tell Dad was a Jock and his pal was a Bradford man as he'd spent time in the UK before the War at University. Apart from relief, Dad's immediate reaction was joy contemplating how much the side arm was worth to the next Yank!
The stories seemed endless and were repeated time and time again to my delight. I used to rib him about never seeing an angry German. As time has gone by and I've experienced more of the world and had time to think about it, who the hell did I think I was, if I could only take these words back, he was a hero and the truth is they were all heros in the every true sense of the word!!
I miss you Dad.
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Recomended Reading.Available at discounted prices.
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A Short History Of The Ayrshire Yeomanry 151st Field Regiment, R.A. 1939-1946Major Young & Capt Gray
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