Nominal Roll 2Bn Welsh Guards: 27 August 1941

Introduction

Those who follow me here, and on my social media channels, will be well aware of my quest to gather as much information as possible on the brave men who served during the Second World War. To that end, I am extremely grateful for the overwhelming support I have received from several families of officers and men who have allowed me the absolute privilege of being able to view, copy and photograph items, pics and documents. All of this provides a vast amount of additional information which is enabling me to deliver a more informed, accurate and detailed account in The Forgotten Fighting Third.

Followers will likely have read several articles on this blog referencing the importance of these personal archives retained by families. Whether they are small or large, they have all provided additional information in one way, shape or form.

Lt.Col. Jocelen Gurney D.S.O. M.C. Bar & His Family

I was extremely fortunate to be able to connect with the daughters of Lt.Col. Jocelyn Gurney who commanded 3WG between June 1944 and April 1945.

Colonel Gurney was an incredibly hard working, fastidious and caring man. He commanded 3Bn with absolute distinction which evidenced in him being awarded the Distinguished Service Order (D.S.O.) on 18 January 1945. His citation reads as follows:

“Lieut-Colonel Gurney has commanded the 3rd Bn Welsh Gds for 7 months. During this period the Battalion has been continually in battle. Colonel Gurney has on all occasions led his Battalion with extreme gallantry and military efficiency, capturing all objectives with the minimum loss.

This Battalion has played a large part in the 6th Armoured Division’s advance from CASSINO to FONTANELICE, and a large measure of their success was due to the tireless energy Colonel Gurney expended on making certain that every precaution that military efficiency could provide was taken to ensure success. In the last 3 months, the 3rd Bn Welsh Gds distinguished themselves on POMINO RIDGE, PESCHIENA, BATTAGLIA, TOMBARELLA and many other extremely unpleasant positions. The high morale and great efficiency of this Battalion, which has been noticed by all who have seen it, is to a very large degree due to Colonel Gurney’s example, his refusal to accept anything but the best, and his own considerable personal bravery. At all times in all these battles he has shown himself quite impervious to his own safety. With his great military skill and high standard of leadership this officers stands as an example of all that is best in an officer of the Brigade of Guards.”

Andrew Gibson-Watt writes in his book ‘An Undistinguished Life’ that Colonel Gurney:

“was a kindly man … and a … first-class soldier, who had won a good M.C. in France in 1940 … he was a figure to revere and admire.”

Colonel Gurney actually won two Military Crosses in France in 1940 whilst serving as adjutant with 1WG in France on 21 and 29 May 1940. Both citations recount confronting German Panzers at close range (at 40 yards in the action of 29 May!!).

His bravery, courage and steadfastness were seen again in Italy – he led from the very front and was never far from the action evidenced in him being wounded during 3WG’s assault on San Marco, Perugia in June 1944. He has several further near-misses.

He retained an incredibly large and rich archive of items from his service including diaries, documents, maps, photographs, curios – an endless treasure trove which has provided a wealth of new information and clarifications.

Whilst my primary interest is inevitably inexorably linked to 3Bn, as the Welsh Guards regiment expanded from a single pre-war service battalion, officers and men who would later serve in 3Bn in the Mediterranean (particularly those pre-war soldiers) served in other battalions too. For example, one of my grandfathers Glyn Spowart served in all three service battalions and the training battalion during his 12 years with the regiment. He saw action in Boulogne, France with 2Bn in 1940 and the entire Tunisian and Italian Campaigns with 3Bn:

• 1st Battalion : 26 Jun 1934 – 17 May 1939
• 2nd Battalion: 18 May 1939 – 13 Sep 1941¹
• Training Battalion: 14 Sep 1941 – 19 Jan 1943
• 3rd Battalion: 20 Jan 1943 – Discharge

In 1941, (then) Major Gurney was the No.1 Company Commander in 2Bn. This battalion would eventually transition to become an Armoured Reconnaissance Battalion (Cromwell Tanks). It would ultimately serve in North West Europe within the Guards Armoured Division and see action in the Normandy Campaign, Belgium, Holland and Germany.

Whilst outside the immediate scope of my interest, within Colonel Gurney’s archive was a full battalion nominal roll to 2Bn dated 27 August 1941.

What Are Nominal Rolls & Why Are They Important ?

A nominal roll is essentially a list of personnel assigned to a specific group to aid organisation, management, and record keeping. In my experience, at least in relation to my own research, these types of documents are rare.

For 3Bn I have fortuitously been able to locate a roll of 3 Coy from February/March 1944, a roll of ‘W’ Coy which was attached to 2 Scots Guards in January 1944, a roll of 2 Platoon 1 Coy in early 1945, and a roll of Sjt’s at some point in 1945. Three of those four rolls have come from family archives. To date I am, sadly, yet to find a complete Bn roll.

Notwithstanding this, and again referencing other articles written on this page, I have been painstakingly constructing my own ‘full’ roll by taking information from several sources including books, documents, letters, photographs etc. I’m pleased to report that this far I have c.1450 of the c.2000 men who served in 3Bn between 1943 and 1945 documented. I continue to regularly add a few extra names each week which is always pleasing progress. Inevitably, I will make this available to the regiment, museum and will host it here once the book has been published.

Nominal rolls are extremely important for several reasons. At their core they are a detailed list of individuals and contain various pieces of valuable information such as names, rank, service number, role, awards, next of kin, addresses and so on. This offers a vast array of information which can provide a spring board for further research for families or tie individuals to events for historians.

In addition, they provide an insight into organisation of units at that time, including for example, size, compositon, structure, supervision ratios, oddities, roles and command details. This enables a whole host of comparisons to be made and illustrates such things as war establishment changes, evolution, tactical changes and nuances etc m. Being able to tie individuals to Coys is fundamental to the understanding that modern historians of today crave.

The multifaceted importance of such a document is, without doubt, plain to see.

The Roll

This roll retained by Colonel Gurney shows the disrtribution of resources throughout 2Bn as of 27 August 1942.

It provides service number, rank, name and previous unit or Coy enabling further insights. It summarises each Coy strength including first reinforcements, command details, provides a location for the Bn at that time and sets out the distribution of the document.

I recognise several names within it of those who would later serve in 3Bn. I’m about to start comparing my 3Bn roll to this document to discover those who served in 2Bn prior to service in 3Bn to provide extra context and information to my records of individuals.

Conclusion & Thanks

I am extremely grateful to Sarah and Tessa in giving their consent to share the roll. They recognise the significant social and historical benefit of making this document available.

I regularly get enquires and requests for support from families seeking additional information regarding their relatives who served with the Welsh Guards during the Second World War. Whilst 2Bn is outside of my area of expertise, I have used this document to give information to families on three occasions since having copied it a few weeks ago. It’s so heartening to receive messages such as that below, and inevitably illustrates the importance of documents such as these:

I remain hopeful of finding a similar document for 3Bn. That would be a monumental step forward in clarifying identities to better tell the stories and to squarely attribute them to a definitive individual. I live in hope …

Anyway, the Gurney family and I are absolutely confident that this will help others and concluded that it was too important a document to not share. I have also forwarded a copy to the regiment and the museum on a ‘belt and braces’ to ensure they have a copy for the future (just in case they don’t already).

I’m sure it will be of significant benefit to many.

Diolch yn fawr.

Gareth

1. These dates are taken from his Service Record. Interestingly, despite Glyn being shown as a member of 2Bn until Septmeber 1941, he does not appear in this roll. ↩︎