CPL W. T. Baxter 3061213 Royal Scots & Black Watch

Here's my friends father record. Did his training with the Royal Scots, then served with Tyneside Scottish with the Alabaster Force and then with the 5th? Bn. Black Watch until he was injured in '44.

Will direct his son and family to this web site so they can take it from here.

Thanks in advance for any light you can shed on Williams service record for his family.

 

Can you post up the originals or make them larger or something? They are too small for me to read.

Cheers
Andy

 

Here's the 1st page again. Hopefully legible this time.

 

Pg 2 & 3

 

Thanks - Up to him joining the 5th Bn he was with training units by the looks of it.

Regarding the Black Watch you could do worse than get a copy of the regiments history for a good overview - The Black Watch and the King's Enemies by Bernard Fergusson.

There is also the units war diaries held at the National Archives in London which I can copy for your friend for a modest fee. You'll probably struggle to get more detail on the battalion than these.

WO 166/4144 5 Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment).1939 Sept-941 Dec
WO 166/85995 Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) 1942 Jan-May
WO 169/49905 Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) 1942 June-Dec
WO 169/101795 Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) 1943 Jan-Dec
WO 171/12665 Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) 1944 Jan-Dec
WO 171/51595 Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) 1945 Jan-Dec

The battalion was part of 153 Brigade in the 51st Highland Division during WW2 when the Division was reformed after the 1940 Campaign in France, most of the Division was captured in and around St. Valery during June 1940.

 

Thanks Mutley,for starting this for me.
I hope to get more information here, I was led to believe that my father was injured at Dunkirk,however,since I received some war records,he was injured in 1944.
I would like to find out if he was at the Dunkirk landing and what he did after that.

 

Dunkirk was an evacuation not a landing. He was in the UK 'Home Forces' when that took place. The 5th Battalion wasn't part of the BEF either. I suspect you may be confusing Dunkirk with D-Day? D-Day happened on the 6th June 1944 and his records state he landed in France on the 11th June so that would be D-Day +5.

There's some info in the link below but it doesn't tie in with the 11th June really which leads me to suspect he may have been unfit to initially deploy or may have been allocated rear party duties, could just as easily be something else. There's nothing jumping out of the regimental history.
http://51hd.co.uk/history/normandy_landing

Regarding his injury I would guess, again the history isn't very clear date wise, that he was wounded somewhere between St. Valery and Le Harve.
http://51hd.co.uk/history/valery

 

Thanks Drew5233, for the information. I did get confused with the D-day dates.
I have started to read up on the links you put forward etc.