MEMORIES AND INFORMATION - STAFFS HOME GUARD
22nd STAFFS (WOLVERHAMPTON) BATTN.
GROUP IMAGES
(Magnified, High Definition)
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BATTALION
OFFICERS - 1942
at
"Ellerslie", Riley Crescent, Penn
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Officers'
names
(above)
Back Row
Lieut. J. Dyson
-
2/Lieut.
R. Smith - Lieut. F. W. Meakin, M.M. - 2/Lieut.
F. Woodman - 2/Lieut. J. Holmes - 2/Lieut. H.
Redwood - Lieut. F. H. Baker - Lieut. B. L.
McMillan - Lieut. P. S. King - Lieut. W. Davis -
Lieut. J. R. C. Brain - Lieut. L. J. Miller
Third Row
Lieut.
J. C. Lewis - 2/Lieut. R. F. Mummery - Lieut. P.
R. Lowe - 2/Lient. J. D. G. Hodgetts - Lieut. D.
Appleby, M.M. - Lieut. B. W. Guest - Lieut. C.
Perks - Lieut. A. P. Petrie - Lieut. D. J. Duffy
- Lieut. J. A. Lloyd
Second Row
2/Lieut. B. C. Powell, M.M. - Lieut. J. B. Hall
- Lieut. S. D. Walker - Capt. W. Stocking -
Major A. V. Russell - Lieut. D. M. Maclaren -
Capt. L. B. Paling - Lieut. W. C. May - Capt. T.
Pursell - Lieut. F. Arnold - Capt B. Butler
Front Row
Capt. W. S. Wright - Capt B. J. R. Evans - Major
J. E. Robinson
-
Major C.
Hamilton Shaw - Major W. T. D. Morgan - Lt.-Col.
A. F. R. Godfrey - Capt. J. Stewart - Major E.
P. Peel - Major A. W D. Stackhouse - Capt. J.
Greene, D.C.M. - Capt. S. T. Richards
The date of
this photograph is 22nd February 1942.
Forty-four officers are shown. This compares
with the thirty-eight listed at 1st February
1941; and with the sixty-four in 1943/44 shown
below.
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BATTALION OFFICERS - 1943/1944
at
"Ellerslie", Riley Crescent, Penn
|
The above group shows 22nd Battalion officers at
some time in 1943 or 1944. It may even be an
image commemorating the end of the service which
would happen in early December 1944.
Most
of the officers shown in the 1942 photograph are
again present. One notable exception is
Lt.-Col. Godfrey, the Battalion Commanding
Officer, who by now has been succeeded by
Lt.-Col. (formerly Major) W.T.D. Morgan.
Identities of many individual officers can
therefore be established by reference to the
earlier image. Of those who appear for the first
time, almost all will be those commissioned
after February 1942. Amongst them are
2/Lt. J.H. Penrose, (standing,
extreme left); and
Lt. or 2/Lt.
M.A.V. Mayes (back row, 4th
from the right; he also appears as a Sergeant in
the earlier, probably "C" Coy. image below) ).
It is assumed that all the officers shown are
members of the Battalion. In this case the
officer strength has grown significantly from
earlier days and now stands at sixty-four.
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A SMALL GROUP OF
OFFICERS
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A small group of officers - date, occasion and
location all unknown.
From left
to right:
Capt. T.
Pursell - Major A.W.D. Stackhouse - Capt. J.
Stewart - Capt. W. Stocking
(n.b. Capt. Stocking is probably, but not
positively, identified)
Note the wings worn by Major Stackhouse denoting
Great War RFC/RAF service as a pilot, a
distinction shared by another 22nd Battn.
officer, Capt. W.S. Wright.
(All ranks as of February 1942)
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"C" COMPANY
at
"Ellerslie", Riley Crescent, Penn
|
above,
6th and 7th
from left, second row from front:
Sgt.
Geoff Hanley -
Alf Stockton
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probably "C"
COMPANY
|
From left
to right, front row:
? -
Sgt. M.A.V. Mayes - ? - Lt. J. Holmes - ? - Capt. T.
Pursell - Major A.W.D. Stackhouse - ? - Lt. J.A.
Lloyd - ? - ? - ? - ? - ?
(All ranks as of February 1942)
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8 PLATOON, "C" Coy.
- December 1941
commanded by Lt. J.A. Lloyd
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Back row
Bickerton - Hall -
Hunt - Bucknall - Jukes - Skarratt
Middle row
Sowden
- Hynes - Palmer - Boswell - Weaver - Green -
Meddings - Holt
Front
row
Hemmings - Miller - Stokes - Lloyd - Box -
Grainger - Griffiths - Oakeley
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MACHINE GUN CORPS
("attached to 22nd Staffs Battn.")
at
"Ellerslie", Riley Crescent, Penn
|
The officer i/c is
Capt. S.T. Richards.
In the absence of specific information about the
formation of this group and its date,
interpretation of this image depends on
experience elsewhere, particularly that of a
Kent Battalion - KT54. If the latter's story is
typical, this image shows 4 Vickers
machine gun sections, each section comprising
around
6 other ranks and one Officer/NCO. In
that Kent Battalion in January 1942,
reorganisation led to this instruction:
"The Vickers gun
teams will work, train and function as a unit".
In Kent, the Vickers weapons were
withdrawn in the first half of 1942,
presumably in favour of the regular forces, and
were replaced by Browning .300 Heavy Machine
guns, Colt Machine guns, .300 Lewis guns and
extra B.A.R.s. If
these moves were widely mirrored, the above
image may illustrate them - numbers of men,
level of equipment and specialisation of the
unit within the Battalion implied by the phrase
"attached to". And it might suggest a 1941 or
early 1942 date.
(Information from Mick Ackrill).
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In Memory of
all members of the
22nd Staffordshire
(Wolverhampton) Battalion,
Home Guard |
FURTHER
INFORMATION
Other
pages in this website with information about the
22nd Battalion and its members:
2/Lt. John Penrose
Pte. Jack Higgs
Sgt, Geoff Hanley
Further information about the Home Guard in
Staffordshire is contained elsewhere in
various parts of this website. To view the
Staffordshire summary page, please use the
Mems-Staffs
link below or the site
SEARCH
function..
And if you
can add anything to the history of the
Home
Guard in the West Midlands, please contact staffshomeguard via the
Feedback
link.
Images ©
staffshomeguard 2016 with exception of:
M/c Gun Corps image
HQ Group image
© Robert Hanley 2016
Band
images ©
Philip Higgs 2016
Grateful
acknowledgement:
To John Green for having brought most of these
22nd Battalion images to the attention of
staffshomeguard; to Bev Parker and his
Wolverhampton History and Heritage Website for the Machine Gun Corps image;
to Mick Ackrill for information and opinion on
Machine Gun section make-up; to
"SomersetDave" (Rootschat) for identification of
members of 8 Platoon in which his father, Mr.
Sowden,
was a member;
to Robert Hanley for information concerning
his father and the HQ Group image; to Philip
Higgs for information about his father and the
Battalion Band; and to Janet Douzi for
identifying her grandfather,
W.A.V. Mayes.
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x131 -
February 2016, revised October 2016, October 2024 |
