Charles W. Haines

[ClaireS]

I am busy with my family tree and am trying to locate some information on my Grand father.
According to his marriage announcement in the local paper in 1941 it states:
Charles William Haines... the bridegroom who survived the horrors at Dunkirk, is a member of the Worcestershire Regiment, being a Territorial before the outbreak of hostilities.

Can anyone please assist with any information about him as I cannot seem to find any records.
I have been told that his Commanding Officer, at the time, has written a book about their experiences and he was mentioned.
He was born in 1919 and died in 2005 (Evesham).

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

[scully]

Hi Claire,

There is a large section on this website about the 7th and 8th Battalions at Dunkirk. Select HISTORY then from the dropdown menu select "1938 to 1946" then select "Dunkirk 1940".

ERROR://www.worcestershireregiment.com/h_dunkirk.php

Also in the Books section of the website you will find details of a book "Battlefield to Castle Keep" by Captain Roger Eustace Cleverley (first published 1st April 2008) about the 8th Battalion before and during the time at Dunkirk (ISBN-10: 1905795130 or ISBN-13: 978-1905795130)

Regards,

Louis (webmaster)

[ClaireS]

Hi Louis,

Thanks the site has provided me with a lot of information and into the battle of Dunkirk, I found some of the personal encounters to be very interesting reading and quite sad at times.
Through some more "digging" and going through some old family documents I have found my grandfathers "service number".

This was from 1942 so not sure if it would have been the same for his service during WW2.

Pte: 5252710
Worcestershire Regiment
Occupation: Van Driver

He was trained in Malmsbury before being sent to France.
Any additional information you can give me on his army history would be of great value to me.

Many Thanks
Claire

PS: The book in question has turned out to be by one of his war pals and was of his "war memories and personnel recollections of a man in the Territorial Army" and I do not think it was a published book - unfortunatley I do not have his name but he lived in Bromsgrove.