[rawilliauk]

Hello All,

I'm new to the forum and would appreciate help in trying to confirm whether my grandfather was in RSR during WW2. His name was Glyndwr Williams (RAFVR 1419660) and came from Porth, Rhonddha Valleys in South Wales. Glyndwr Williams Service Number was RAFVR 1419660.

He joined RAFVR Air Sea Rescue in 1941 and was the Gunner on their High Speed Launches, initially in UK and then North Africa. The HSLs that he served on had Vickers MGs and were later upgraded to Oerliken.

Family believe that whilst in North Africa he became involved with irregular units. He often spoke about working with LRDG, PPA and SAS. We initially thought that he may have been a member of one of these, but both the LRDG Preservation Society and the PPA Association have confirmed that he was not an official member and is not recorded in their unit diaries. The various SAS texts that have been published over the years do not mention him either.

Piecing things together slowly, family have begun to wonder whether he was affiliated with Raiding Support Regiment, and specifically due to his expertise in using Vickers MGs, whether he was part of A Battery for a period of time. We know that if he was, then he wouldn't have been part of the RSR until the end because we know that he took part in operations that the RSR may not have been part of. For instance, we understand that both LRDG and PPA at some point used RAF HSLs for ingress and extrication during the skirmishes in the Mediterranean before Operation Husky and the advance of Land Forces up Italy. We note that he took part in the Salerno Landings and was taken POW with US troops sometime afterwards. They escaped, during which my grandfather was shot in the shoulder but continued to give covering fire, after this he ended up in a US Field Hospital - this is documented in his RAF Medical Records, but not in the Service Record. We also note that his HSL was involved in Operation Dragoon which initiated the liberation of Southern France in 1944. Finally, he was part of Monte Cassino and his close colleague, who became his best friend died there and is buried in the Commonwealth Grave there.

We know he was associated with RAF HSLs that took part in operations around North Africa and Mediterranean. Specifically, these were: Elba, Corsica, Crete, Yugoslavia, Pantellaria, Lampedusa, Sicily and Southern France - we have a hand painted tankard that lists the places where his crew were involved. We have a number of photos from when he was on either mainland Italy or in Yugoslavia, but as the guys are predominantly bare chested, there aren't any insignia, berets or uniforms to confirm what units he was associated with.

I've uploaded two photos of Glyndwr. Family also think that he may be in the photo uploaded by Zogon (courtesy of Simon Dawkins) - the one in October 1944 on Poros. We think the guy on the left hand side with shirt off in front row (one using hands behind his back to prop himself up) may be him. Obviously can't definitively confirm that, but to family there is a very close resemblance.

As you can imagine, this is providing difficult to research. I have been trying to piece the jigsaw together over the past 10-15 years. Slow, but steady progress.
Any help or pointers in the right direction to confirm whether Glyndwr was in RSR would be gratefully received. I've read the book by Walter Jones, so know that he wasn't in C Battery - his daughter and grandson have been very helpful there by looking through his notes. As such, A Battery with Vickers MGs seems a logical next step to investigate.

Regards, Richard