basic query- 2nd battalion

[annabelle]

Hello all,

I have just started to research my granddad, Charles Norman Dobson, who fought with the 2nd manchesters in the 2WW. i am a little confused! I have read that the 2nd batt were the machine gun Battalion of the British 2nd Division. Does this mean that the 2nd batt was made entirely of machine gunners, had a lot of machine guns, just the machine gun section was sent to Kohima (i read this info in an article about Kohima) or was it just a regular battalion? I think my granddad was a signaler.

My local library has ordered me the book by Bell. Does anyone have any other books they could recommend to me?

thanks, annabelle

[Robert Bonner]

Annabelle.
The 2nd Manchesters, a regular army battalion, was the machine gun battalion of 2nd Infantry Division. Lieutenant Colonel Rex King-Clark commanded the battalion in Burma after taking over from Lieutenant Colonel Charles Archdale.  You should   try and get a copy from the library of his book The Battle for Kohima 1944.  Unfortunately it is out of print but is a must to understand what the battalion was doing in WWII.  The other book to read is King-Clark's follow up, also essential reading, and this is Forward from Kohima available from bookshops or from the Manchester Regiment Museum.  See their website for details.

For your other query, the battalion's weapons were Vickers machine-guns and 4.2" mortars.
Robert

[annabelle]

Robert,

Thank you very much for your response, it was very helpful. One more question if i may. If the 2nd batt were a regular army battalion why were they a machine gun battalion for the 2nd inf division? My knowledge of army organisation is somewhat limited!

thanks, annabelle

[tonyrod]

hi annabelle, welcome to the forum try this link for info on the battle and the regiments involved,
http://www.veterans-uk.info/pdfs/publications/comm_booklets/kohima_book.pdf      tonyrod

[harribobs]

If the 2nd batt were a regular army battalion why were they a machine gun battalion for the 2nd inf division?  annabelle

the term regular army battalion means the battalion was made up of professional soldiers rather than territorials or conscripted men. their job was to provide support by way of machine guns and mortars to the rest of the division

make any more sense?

chris

[annabelle]

Hello Chris,
thanks for taking the time to reply. So it was battalion of men mostly trained to use machine guns to support the division? Makes sense!
Thanks