Thread: Guards

Hi Greta,

Welcome to the forum. Have you done any research on the 6th Guards Tank Brigade yet? They seem to of fought through northern Europe after landing on 20 July 1944 at either Sword or Gold beach. I would be interested to read what you have managed to find out so far. I hope that you have managed to get some information from you Dad, its a priceless resource.

Sniper

Hi Greta,
Two of my uncles Bobby and David Mills were with the Coldstream Guards in North Africa.

Hope you enjoy the forum
Cheers
Keith

Thank you both for your responses. My Father died in 1987. Unfortunately, when one should ask the right questions, one does not. My keen interest only really began after reading "Band of Brothers" in 2001. There are references to the Guards Armoured in that book and it really amused me when the 82nd Airborne were told not to ridicule the way that the Guardsmen spoke. The Americans were informed that the Guards were from the aristocracy; my Father was a former steelworker from County Durham. I know that my Father's unit liberated the Bergen-Belsen camp and I never knew this until I started reading about the unit's experiences. My Father never talked about it and back in 1977 when I did happen to ask him where he was during WWII, all he said was "the Ardennes." I have several books in my collection with regard to "Goodwood" and "Caen." When next in the U.K., I plan on visiting the Imperial War Museum and picking some more books on the 6th Guards Tank Brigade. I live in Michigan in the U.S.

Hi Greta,

Thats a long way to come to get a couple of books. I also wish i had talked to my dad about his experiences in Korea, it took me years to find out what unit he was with. If there is anything we can help you with then please just ask and we will do what we can. Please have a look around the forum and join in with the chat thats going on.

Kind regards
Sniper

Yes, that is a long way to come just for books. Sometimes I am able to order books about the Guards Armoured Division in the U.S. and have ordered from military book stores in the U.K. During my next visit to the U.K., I will be taking my Father's WWII medals to the Guards Museum in London to be cleaned. Apparently, they have retired guardsmen who do this. Also, I will be taking a trip to Normandy with my brother and sister-in-law to visit the invasion beaches, museums and everything entailed. I have observed that they have the better books in U.K. bookstores with regard to the Guards Armoured. American military bookstores focus mainly on the American side of things.

Yes, I will enjoy this World War II Chat Forum and thank you.

Kind regards.

Greta

Hi Greta,

When is your next planned visit to this side of the pond? I would love to visit the invasion beaches at some stage, its just getting the time to do it. Have you checked Amazon for your books? I'll be checking through my books this weekend for any mention of your Dad's unit and will let you know if i find anything which may interest you.

Sniper

welsome to the forum Greta (i'm a bad Mod, am always late). my grandfather was RASC and I understand he was sent to Belsen a week after liberation. Despite asking him manay many questions he would never answer them, and it took tricking him into giving his service number to get his records, which threw up far more questions than answers.

I am sure your time at the guards museum will be fantastic (my father was Household Cavalry, so pfft! to the Coldstreams ) as will your time in France. And sniper, I promise on day we will get there. I have a silver tea service to locate on Dunkirk beach.

Well, I did travel to the U.K. in May of last year to meet up at Heathrow with a friend from Dublin. We travelled into London and went to the Trooping of the Colour on June 12th followed up with a visit to the Guards Museum. I had not been to London in 40 years and enjoyed it so much that I cannot wait to get back. The Normandy trip is still in the planning stages and will hopefully take place sometime within the next two years.

I have ordered some books from Amazon before. Some books about the Guards Division that are sold on E-Bay tend to be extremely expensive. I did order a reprint from a military bookstore in Kent last December but unfortunately it is a big snooze. The last third of the book is a section about throwing hand grenades etc. Well, the book was published in 1956 and I found it very disappointing.