Hey guys,
Here is the RCHA uniform I picked up a couple of weeks ago. My aunt works with the widow of the vet and she gave me the uniform so it will be respected and maintained in it's current state. She has since sent me a letter asking me to bring a tape recorder to her place and record her wartime stories because in her words "so many stories to tell, no one to tell them to and so little time." I will be honoured to spend a few hours with her and record her memories. She was a young lady in England when the war started so she has been through a lot. At some point she met a young soldier from Canada, they eventually married and moved to my home town to reside.
The soldiers name was Willard "Ross" Wormworth, his service number C1050.
Can someone in the know tell me what the prefix C means in his service number?
A brief history of the RCHA's:
<!--emo&:thumbs_up:-->In December 1939, the First Field Brigade RCHA (later the First Field Regiment RCHA) moved its headquarters from Kingston to England as part of the First Canadian Division. 1 RCHA, now equipped with the 18/25 pounder howitzer and under the command of LCol J.H. Roberts, was on, 11 June 1940, steaming its way to Brest as part of the Canadian Division's attempt to maintain an allied foothold in France. By the time of 1 RCHA's arrival on French soil the French Army had effectively capitulated leaving the two British Divisions plus the newly arrived Canadians in an untenable situation. Faced with a withdrawal by sea, it was due to LCol Roberts’s insistence and determination as well as l RCHA that allowed the Regiment to save its guns during the evacuation at port of Brest. The Regiment again entered action in 1943 in the Sicilian Campaign with 25 pounder MK1 guns. l RCHA experienced some of the Western Front's heaviest action in Italy, particularly near Ortona when it lost 6 FOO's in one week. In early 1945, l RCHA with the First Canadian Division was transferred to North Western Europe until the war’s end. The Regiment fired its last round in action on 3 May 1945. In June 1946, A, B, and C Batteries were located at Petawawa as the 2/1 Field Regiment, RCHA but moved later the same year to Shilo which was chosen as the permanent site of all field branch Active Force Artillery. The 71 Field Regiment RCHA, as it was designated in 1949, was upon its own request, granted its wartime designation namely 1st Field Regiment RCHA in 1950. B Battery, RCHA, was honoured in 1949 by being given an airborne role. Later this became the nucleus for the formation of Z Battery (Para). Copyright © 1997 1st Regiment Royal Canadian Horse Artillery
The widow has yet to locate his medals and ribbon bar but when she does wishes that they remain with the uniform, which of course I will do.
The uniform itself is in excellent condition with only a couple of small holes in the right breast pocket and the right collar.
There are threads on both sleeves indicating a missing piece of rank insignia. I hope the widow can enlighten me as to what rank her husband was. There is also some threads on the left breast from where his ribbon bar was. She took the ribbon bar off to have the uniform dry cleaned many years ago and it was never reattached.
Regards,
Jeff
Here is the RCHA uniform I picked up a couple of weeks ago. My aunt works with the widow of the vet and she gave me the uniform so it will be respected and maintained in it's current state. She has since sent me a letter asking me to bring a tape recorder to her place and record her wartime stories because in her words "so many stories to tell, no one to tell them to and so little time." I will be honoured to spend a few hours with her and record her memories. She was a young lady in England when the war started so she has been through a lot. At some point she met a young soldier from Canada, they eventually married and moved to my home town to reside.
The soldiers name was Willard "Ross" Wormworth, his service number C1050.
Can someone in the know tell me what the prefix C means in his service number?
A brief history of the RCHA's:
<!--emo&:thumbs_up:-->In December 1939, the First Field Brigade RCHA (later the First Field Regiment RCHA) moved its headquarters from Kingston to England as part of the First Canadian Division. 1 RCHA, now equipped with the 18/25 pounder howitzer and under the command of LCol J.H. Roberts, was on, 11 June 1940, steaming its way to Brest as part of the Canadian Division's attempt to maintain an allied foothold in France. By the time of 1 RCHA's arrival on French soil the French Army had effectively capitulated leaving the two British Divisions plus the newly arrived Canadians in an untenable situation. Faced with a withdrawal by sea, it was due to LCol Roberts’s insistence and determination as well as l RCHA that allowed the Regiment to save its guns during the evacuation at port of Brest. The Regiment again entered action in 1943 in the Sicilian Campaign with 25 pounder MK1 guns. l RCHA experienced some of the Western Front's heaviest action in Italy, particularly near Ortona when it lost 6 FOO's in one week. In early 1945, l RCHA with the First Canadian Division was transferred to North Western Europe until the war’s end. The Regiment fired its last round in action on 3 May 1945. In June 1946, A, B, and C Batteries were located at Petawawa as the 2/1 Field Regiment, RCHA but moved later the same year to Shilo which was chosen as the permanent site of all field branch Active Force Artillery. The 71 Field Regiment RCHA, as it was designated in 1949, was upon its own request, granted its wartime designation namely 1st Field Regiment RCHA in 1950. B Battery, RCHA, was honoured in 1949 by being given an airborne role. Later this became the nucleus for the formation of Z Battery (Para). Copyright © 1997 1st Regiment Royal Canadian Horse Artillery
The widow has yet to locate his medals and ribbon bar but when she does wishes that they remain with the uniform, which of course I will do.
The uniform itself is in excellent condition with only a couple of small holes in the right breast pocket and the right collar.
There are threads on both sleeves indicating a missing piece of rank insignia. I hope the widow can enlighten me as to what rank her husband was. There is also some threads on the left breast from where his ribbon bar was. She took the ribbon bar off to have the uniform dry cleaned many years ago and it was never reattached.
Regards,
Jeff
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