Fred Greaves
Painter and Decorator working for Mr Cotton of Mansfield.
- Family History
- Military history
- Extra information
- Photographs
Son of Mr and Mrs J W Greaves, of 14 Scarcliffe Street, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire
Siblings: May (1919), Beatrice (1920), Elsie (1922), John (1924) and Ronald in 1926.
1/5th bn along with the 1/6th bn and 1/7th bn becme 131 (Queens) Brigade and they where deployed to the WesternDesert in 1942 as part of the 8th Army (Desert Rats).
Their battalion also took part in the Italian Campaign before returning to England.
War Diary of the 1/5th Bn:
3/6/1944: boarded M.V. Leopoldville at Tilbury.
5/6/1944: joined the convoy at Southend.
6/6/1944: Set sail from Southend at 11:00 hrs, passed through the Straits of Dover at 17:00 hrs heading to Portsmouth.
7/6/1944: anchored off Portsmouth.
8/6/1944: arrives off the French coast at 06:00 hrs. Disembarkation starts at 14:30 hrs and they march to Ver Sur Mer.
1/8/1944 (D-Day+56): Moves from Ecorigny towards Cahagnes at 09:10 hrs. Throughout the day they capture some German soldiers. By 19:30 hrs they have reached their obective but are under machine-gun and mortar fire.
Mansfield Chronicle Advertiser: 21/9/1944: Pte Fred Greaves.
The oldest son of Mr & Mrs Greaves of 14 Scarcliffe St Mansfield , Pte Fred Greaves aged 27 served with the 8th Army in El Alamein, Tripoli,Tobruk, Benghazi, Tunisia and Italy. Before the war he was employed by Mr Cotton, painter and decorator of Mansfield.
Ver Sur Mer+ a town close to D-Day's "Gold" beach.
Ecorigny and Cahagnes are south of Bayeaux and west of Caen.
No photos