The previous posts have shed some light on the movements of 59 (Staffordshire) Division, 177 Infantry Brigade and 5th Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment and the training that they undertook, firstly with the role of home defence and later in preparation for the invasion of Continental Europe that had to happen at some point in the future.
With the exception of the enlistment documents and his transfer to Lichfield I.T.C. at the point of embodiment in January 1940, all of this information has been gleaned from Peter Knight’s ‘The 59th Division Its War Story’. Other records that provide detail from this period are few and far between as there was no requirement for battalions to maintain war diaries until they commenced active service.
So here I will attempt to scrape together what little I have and this comes in the form of the information recorded in his ‘Soldiers Service and Pay Book’ (Army Book 64), in which much of the day to day, often rather mundane, information was recorded including inoculations received, training completed, leave and uniform size requirements.
The inside page of Army Book 64 records his name, rank and number. There are four entries in his own hand, none dates and for each, the entry for Regiment (if infantry) has been carefully excised from the record with a blade, clearly as a security/intelligence measure in the event of a soldier being taken prisoner.
In the absence of dates, I cannot be sure of what these entries relate to with certainty, but I would assume that his time with the North Staffords, the South Staffords and the Royal Scots Fusiliers is represented. That would account for three of the four entries, one being a mystery since I do not assume that it would relate to his time in an administrator within No.12 Unit Displaced Persons Assembly Centre (D.P.A.C.S.) within the British Army of Liberation (B.L.A.) at the end of the war.
Then follows some basic personal/physical information. Note that again on the stamp, possible information of enemy intelligence value has been obscured.
Page 4 details ‘Particulars of Training’. Under ‘Courses and
Schools Specialist Qualifications'. Showing result’. Here is recorded the
following:
Courses
and Schools Specialist Qualifications. Showing result
|
Date
|
Initials
of Officer
|
D.M. Chamber *
|
Feb 1940
|
?
|
2” Mortar Qualified **
|
11.5.40 to 18.5.40
|
?
|
D.M. Test
|
Feb 1942
|
?
|
Asst Armourer’s Course
Qualified as Asst Armourer
|
19.5.43
|
?
|
*The use of the gas chamber to test if Service personnel could fit their respirators properly dates back to 1918. Servicemen fitted their respirators, entered the chamber and walked round for 5 minutes in an atmosphere of tear gas. After leaving the chamber, respirators were worn for a few more minutes to allow gas to dissipate from clothing. Special capsules of CAP, an early tear gas, were issued for this training. This routine was augmented in 1935. After going through the procedure to check respirators had been fitted properly, each man briefly re-entered the chamber without protection as a demonstration of the protection afforded by the respirator.
By 1941 all Service personnel went through this respirator test and unprotected exposure every three months. Personnel were also required to experience a nose gas, DM, so that they might be able to recognise the gas and appreciate its delayed action effects.
Personnel were exposed to DM for two minutes: no-one was required to experience DM more than once. These arrangements continued after World War II.
The requirement to experience DM ceased in 1963. CAP, or CN as it was also called, remained in use as a riot control agent until the late 1950s, when it was replaced by CS. By 1964 CS was being used instead of CAP in what became known as the "CS chamber" test. Every member of the Armed Services was required to undergo the test. The test continued through the 1980s, by which time most permanent military stations and training camps had a CS chamber.
**The 2" mortar was for use within infantry platoons. It was a short barreled (21 inch) weapon, effective over a 500 yard range, operated by teams of two (one guiding the direction of fire and one loading the shells.
British 2" Mortar
Men of the Royal Scots Fusiliers firing a 2-inch mortar, Scotland, 27 August 1942 (© IWM (H 23477))
http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205198634
http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205198634
Later in the book under ‘Record of Specialist Employment
Whilst Serving’, ‘Mortar Pl. 3”’ is detailed from March 1940. Under ‘Remarks
and Initials of Officer’ are what could be initials, but equally could read
‘Fail’. Other employment is barely legible but one entry ‘25t’ could correspond
to the responsibility for driving a 2.5 ton lorry. This I know he did as he
mentioned this acquired skill frequently as one of his wartime achievements and
the fact that it was the Army who taught him to drive.
One page of the ‘Record of Specialist Employment Whilst
Serving’ section has been adapted to record periods of leave.
Date
|
Nature
of Grant + Period
|
Whether
Free Warrant Issued
|
Initials
of Officer
|
18/3/41
|
28/4.4.41 Priv.
|
Yes
|
?
|
26/6/41
|
Privilege 26/6 – 2/7/41
|
Yes
|
?
|
7.10.41
|
Privilege 9 – 15.10.41
|
No
|
?
|
10.3.42
|
Privilege 12 – 27.5.42
|
Yes
|
?
|
30.9.42
|
- “ - 1 – 9.10.42
|
Yes
|
?
|
23.11.42
|
Compassionate 23/11 - 9/12/42
|
Yes
|
?
|
22.2.43
|
Priv. Leave 27/2/43 – 3/3/43
|
Yes
|
?
|
1.6.43
|
Priv. Leave 1 – 10.6.43
|
Yes
|
?
|
1 – 9.5/45
|
Priv. Leave B.L.A.
|
Yes
|
?
|
A couple of things are worthy of note from this record of
leave, one relates to one period, shortly after the birth of his daughter
Margaret Anne (my mother) where he had one of two brushes with the long arm of
the military law. According to the family story, Margaret became ill at the age
of about three months during which time he was absent without leave. Time wise
this would tally with the period from 9th to 15th October
1941, but whether this relates to the ‘No’ recorded under the free warrant
issue column I cannot say.
The last period of leave is significant as this week spans
the period of formal surrender of the German Armies in Rheims and Berlin. This
8th May was to become known as V.E Day (Victory in Europe) and on
this day Jim Heath was with the family in New Brighton, then a popular British
seaside resort on the Wirral peninsula, Merseyside.
Another significant record in the book is the periodic
medical classification. Of note here is the reclassification that was
documented on 10th April 1945 from A1 to B6. This was the result of
wounds sustained in the Nijmegen area on 7th April 1945. But that is
some way of yet in this narrative.
Date
|
Category
or Grade
|
Medical
Examiner of Recruits, or Other Medical Authority
|
Initials
of Medical Officer
|
19.3.40
|
A1
|
RL
|
|
20.7.43
|
A1
|
Category Confirmed
|
JKB
|
10.4.45
|
B6
|
MED. BOARD 8 xxxxxx
|
?
|
22.11.45
|
B6
|
DEMOBILISATION
|
RH
|
In terms of medical classification, from 1939 the letter designated the following service options:
A – Fit for general service at home and abroad,
B – unfit for general service abroad but fit for base or garrison service at home and abroad,
C – fit for home service only,
D – unfit for any form of military service.
In 1940, the classification system used by the British Army was further refined to relate the grade to the ability to perform service relevant activities such as marching, shooting and driving. I have noted in research reference to the classification through B to 5, but not to 6.
Vaccines and inoculations received follows (see above for the scan):
Date Vaccinated
|
Initials of Medical Officer
|
13.4.40
|
RL
|
Protective Inoculations
Nature
of Vaccine, “T.A.B.”
Cholera,
Plague etc.
|
Date
|
Initials
of Medical Officer
|
TAB ½ cc TETTOX 1 cc
|
3.4.40
|
RL
|
TAB 1 cc
|
13.4.40
|
RL
|
TET
|
May/40
|
RL
|
TAB xxxxxxx
|
24.3.41
|
HA
|
TET
|
1.10.41
|
HA
|
½ cc TAB. 1 cc TET
|
19/11/42
|
JKB
|
½ cc TAB. 1 cc TET
|
17.12.43
|
JKB
|
Typhus (3)
|
26.1.44
|
JKB
|
TAB .25 cc
|
31.8.44
|
JKB
|
Typhus. TAB .25 cc
|
11.2.45
|
JKB
|
T.A.B. = typhoid-paratyphoid A and B vaccine
TETTOX = tetanus toxoid vaccine
Next of Kin Now Living
Nearest
degree of relationship
|
Names
|
Date
|
Latest
known Address in full
|
Wife
|
June Heath
|
29.1.40
|
‘Shangrella’
Leylands Road
Burgess Hill
Sussex
‘Clovelly’
Western Road
Burgess Hill
Sussex
40 Albermarle Road
Cross Heath
Newcastle
Staffs
|
Children
|
James Kitchener Heath
Margaret Anne Heath
|
Next, details of the wardrobe, not very snappy admittedly.... but I would love to have seen him in a pith helmet (described below as a topee)!
And finally,
Soldier’s Name and Description on Attestation
Army Number 5051929
Surname (in capitals) HEATH
Christian Names (in full) JAMES KITCHENER
Date of Birth 14-9-1914
Place of Birth Parish
--------------------
In
or near the town of REDACTED
In
the County of REDACTED
Trade on Enlistment Tile
maker
Nationality of Father at birth British
Nationality of Mother at birth British
Religious Denomination Unitarian
Approved Society Prudential
Membership No
Enlisted at REDACTED
On 6-1-40
For the:-
*Regular Army *Supplementary
Reserve
*Strike out those inapplicable
For D of W years with the Colours and ___________ years in the Reserve.
Signature of Soldier ___________________________
Date 29-1-40
(D of W meaning the duration of the war).
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