World War 2

154th (Leic. Yeo.) Field Regt. R.A 

8th Army, 13 Corps, 50 Div. SP Regt for 151 Brigade.

RHQ

CO Lt Col R A G Tilney

(Pictured above as a Lieutenant)

Below is a Christmas card sent to relatives (Dolly & Francis Tilney) by Col. Tilney. Inside is a drawing of a field gun and quad tractor leading to a mounted Yeoman. Col Tilney was captured in Crete and spent time as a POW, the regiment did not go to Crete and it seems that Col Tilney was on other duties at the time..

Major GE Bouskell-Wade

Major. The 2nd Lord Hazlerigg

The 2nd Lord Hazlerigg, who has died aged 92, was awarded an MC in Italy in 1944; he also captained Leicestershire and Cambridge at cricket.
In the last six months of 1944, Hazlerigg, a major in 154 (Leicestershire Yeomanry) Field Regiment Royal Artillery, was responsible for controlling the artillery and other supporting arms of the 1st Battalion, the Durham Light Infantry. His fire plans played a key role in the capture of two strategic features overlooking the Tiber valley, Monte Acuto and Monte Cedrone, in the defence of the Anghiari ridge, and at the crossing and holding of the bridgehead over the Montone river. His courage, coolness and organisation in these successful actions, in circumstances of considerable personal danger, were recognised with the award of the Military Cross.
The Hazleriggs have been prominent in England's affairs since 1066, when Simon de Hesilrige came over with William the Conqueror. A baronetcy was created for Sir Thomas Hesilrige in 1622, and the spelling of the surname was altered to Hazlerigg by Royal Licence in 1818. The Noseley estate in Leicestershire came into the family by marriage in the late 13th century; Noseley Hall itself was built in 1729 by the 7th baronet shortly after his marriage to Hannah Sturges, said to have been the inspiration for Samuel Richardson's Pamela.
advertisementThe most celebrated member of the family was the 2nd baronet, Sir Arthur Hesilrige. In 1642, with his guardian John Pym, Hesilrige was one of the five Members of Parliament whom King Charles I attempted to arrest for treason, so sparking the Civil War. Oliver Cromwell is believed to have stayed at Noseley for several days in 1645, having concealed his horses in the chapel in the grounds, while he made his preparations for the decisive battle at Naseby. Sir Arthur Hesilrige's descendant, the 13th baronet, was raised to the peerage as Lord Hazlerigg in 1945 for services to Leicestershire.
His eldest son, Arthur Grey Hazlerigg, was born at South Kensington, London, on February 24 1910. Arthur was educated at Eton, where he was in the cricket XI for three years, captaining the side in his last two years before going up to Trinity College, Cambridge, to read Land Management. A right-handed batsman and a medium-pace off-spinner, he took seven wickets for 66 runs in the Varsity match as a freshman, and was captain in 1932. He went on to play for Leicestershire and, in 1934, like his father before him, he captained the county side. Between 1930 and 1934 he played in 66 first-class matches, taking 112 wickets at an average of 31.03 and scoring 2,515 runs, including three centuries, at an average of 25.92.
In 1939 Hazlerigg was commissioned into the Leicestershire Yeomanry. This converted from cavalry to field artillery the following year, and divided into 153 and 154 Field Regiments. With the latter, Hazlerigg saw service in North Africa, Syria, Palestine and Italy as a battery commander.
In September 1944, in the rugged, mountainous terrain of central Italy, an officer of the 1st Battalion, the Durham Light Infantry, led a patrol of 20 men to the village of Bulciano to reconnoitre the strength of the enemy there, and to occupy it if it was not held. Just short of the village, the patrol came under intense small arms and artillery fire which caused several casualties.
Hazlerigg, in command of "P" Battery, directed his guns with such skill that the patrol was subsequently able to withdraw without further loss. In thanking him for the magnificent support provided by his battery, which had saved many lives, the commanding officer of the DLI paid Hazlerigg the compliment of saying: "Arthur, you shoot guns even better than you play cricket."
Having finished the war in Austria, Hazlerigg retired from the Army in the rank of colonel, then qualified as a chartered surveyor. He joined the firm of John German at Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire; Guy German, one of the partners, had been the senior British officer at Colditz.
Hazlerigg succeeded to the peerage and in the baronetcy on the death of his father in 1949. He retired in 1972, but retained his enormous zest for life into great old age. A passionate golfer, he was still playing at the age of 85.
In 1999 Hazlerigg sold seven paintings at auction to pay for pressing repairs to Noseley but, much to his frustration, a planning inspector later decided that, as they had been in the family's possession for 270 years, they were part of the fabric of the house and therefore could not be disposed of.
Hazlerigg was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Leicestershire in 1946.
Arthur Hazlerigg died on September 30. Patricia Pullar, whom he married in 1945, died in 1972. They had a son and two daughters. Their son, Arthur Grey Hazlerigg, who was born in 1951, succeeds to the titles.

Cpt. E V E White

Lt. D H Whyte

Lt. David henderson Whyte In 1940 he enlisted in the Royal Artillery and was commissioned in 1941 into the Leicestershire Yeomanry. 1942 saw him serving in the Middle East. In 1943 he was transferred to the Raiding Support Regiment where he served in Yugoslavia and Albania.

Lt. W R H Joynson

Cpt. L Watt (R.A.M.C)

Lt. M P M Ollard (R.C.S)

Lt. (Q.M.) W I Simmonds

Lt. H E Skelson

The photo was taken in 1943 in Jerusalem, and it was that year he went to OCTU.

Sgt. Eric Hoare, BSM Harry Skelson, Sgt. Harlod Hacking

Giza, Cairo, Egypt, 9th of December 1942.

154th on a practice shoot near Lebanon in June 1943. 

W.O. (R.S.M) L Lumb

Sgt. Dormer

Cpl. O F (Ossie) Jordan

RHQ Office Staff

Reg Heasman

154 RHQ Survey Party

"P" Battery

Major The Hon. J P Phillips  

Capt. R Tom D Wilmot

Born in 1915, the younger son of an army doctor, he was educated at Tonbridge. His career began with the Alliance Insurance Company during the Depression. By the outbreak of war he had risen to secretary’s assistant. Having joined the Inns of Court Regiment as a Territorial in 1936 (Inns of Court Regiment (3rd Cavalry Officer Cadet Training Wing) [personal number 55284?])
 he was commissioned into the Leicestershire Yeomanry on 22/10/1939 (Emergency Commission) and spent most of the war in North Africa, including Alamein, the Middle East and Italy. 15/2/1940 he transferred, Royal Regiment of Artillery. In 1944 he volunteered to act as liaison with the partisans and during street fighting in Florence was wounded when the partisan leader he was assigned to was killed. He ended the war in Germany, back with the Leicester Yeomanry as part of the Guards Armoured Division.

He became chief executive of the British Insurance Association after the industry moved to establish its first professional organisation.

Cpt. F Hayton

Cpt. A B Harvie

Lt. S G Woolgar

2/Lt. B W Hagar

2/Lt. F G Hannell

2/Lt. C C Douglas-Jones

2/Lt. F H Walker

2/Lt. M C Terry

2/Lt. D L Hooker

A Troop

"A" Troop, P Battery at Burgess Hill 1941

B Troop

"Q" Battery 

June 1942

Major Sir Eric O F Faulkener MBE TD

Cpt. W R N Maxwell

Cpt. A H Dunn

Cpt. E L Thwaites

Lt. L V Hurst

Lt. J M Donald

Lt. F R Bishop

Decorated for actions while serving in Italy in 1945, "for courage and resourcefulness over a long period of determined assaults on stubbornly held positions ideally suited for defence." 

Military Cross was Gazetted 13 December 1945 and full citation reads "Captain Bishop has commanded A Troop, P Battery, 154th (Leicester Yeomanry) Field Regiment, RA for the past year. During this time he has been almost continually in action as a field observation officer or observation post officer in support of the first Battalion Durham Light Infantry. His courage, cheerfulness and resource have been outstanding and he has enjoyed the fullest confidence both of his battery commander and of the officers of the battalion.

"He acted as F.O.O. in a hard night attack by the first Battalion DLI on the to the Quarada feature, just north of the river Senio on 15 December, 1944, controlling fire and sending back valuable information in spite of almost continuous mortar and shellfire. When the river Senio was reached he occupied the most forward position in the sector at Tebano and between 22 December 1944 and 2 January 1945 carried out excellent shoots on to enemy houses and defences from it.

"Throughout the winter months he was continually manning observation posts on the hills and mountains where weather conditions were extremely bad. In spite of this, his work and enthusiasm never slackened. Finally he was with the DLI in the attacks across the rivers Sillaro and Quarderno from 16 to 20 April 1945, where, by his courage and experience, he was able to give valuable support."

Also mentioned in dispatches.

2/Lt. G N Stone

2/Lt. I C Blair-Fish

2/Lt. I L Lampitt

2/Lt. D Menzies

C Troop

Fred Barrett, Tony Felgale, Tubby Tunord, Stan Loach, Les Loach & Walter Smith.

D Troop

"R" Battery

In 1939 Hazlerigg was commissioned into the Leicestershire Yeomanry. This converted from cavalry to field artillery the following year, and divided into 153 and 154 Field Regiments. With the latter, Hazlerigg saw service in North Africa, Syria, Palestine and Italy as a battery commander.

In September 1944, in the rugged, mountainous terrain of central Italy, an officer of the 1st Battalion, the Durham Light Infantry, led a patrol of 20 men to the village of Bulciano to reconnoitre the strength of the enemy there, and to occupy it if it was not held. Just short of the village, the patrol came under intense small arms and artillery fire which caused several casualties.

Hazlerigg, in command of "P" Battery, directed his guns with such skill that the patrol was subsequently able to withdraw without further loss. In thanking him for the magnificent support provided by his battery, which had saved many lives, the commanding officer of the DLI paid Hazlerigg the compliment of saying: "Arthur, you shoot guns even better than you play cricket."

Cpt. J P du Croz

Cpt. K Lomas

Cpt. G P Smith

Lt. P A Mathews

Lt.W J Kerr

Lt. I P D Collett

2/Lt. P J E Male

2/Lt. G Lewis

2/Lt. P V W Score

2/Lt. R H Ellison

E Troop

Lt. J A KINCAID

"Captain" Kincaid was one of the first Officers in the 154 to receive and award, it was the  Military Cross, the unidentified LY Gunner received the Military Medal. 

E Troop, O Party, La Verna, Italy in October 1944.

Upcraft, Webb, Lt. Kincaid, Brace (in the vehicle), Owen, Wall, Rodwell.

E Troop, B Sub section, south of Talla, Italy, in September 1944.

James, Burdett, Sadler

Bliss, Crooks, Brinkley, Radford, Cook.

E Troop, C Sub Section, south of Talla, Italy, in September 1944.

Smith, Flint, Salter

Stafford, Buckley, Allsop, Turner, Farrow.

E Troop Line Signallers, La Verna, Italy, in October 1944.

Pawley, Brown, Pratt, Bamford.

F Troop

Unassigned (at the moment)

Lt. Colonel I O'B MacGregor 

Lieutenant Colonel 18220 IAIN O'BRIEN MacGREGOR 154 (The Leicestershire Yeomanry) Field Regiment., Royal Artillery. Who died in a motorcycle accident on Friday 16 June 1944 . Age 43 . Son of Colonel John MacGregor, Indian Army, and Mabel MacGregor; husband of Diana Evelyn MacGregor, of Camberley, Surrey. Cemetery: CASSINO WAR CEMETERY Italy Grave or Reference Panel Number: XVIII. D. 10 

Lt. R F Wilson (LY, D Sqn) Battery Not known? 

Lt. Robert Filmer "Robin" Wilson, born 26 April, 1903, died 14 August, 1944 in a car accident in Italy while on active service as a Lieutenant in the Leicestershire Yeomanry, and is buried in the Military Cemetery at Assisi, Italy. He married 11 September, 1937 to Patricia, Countess of Jersey (only daughter of Kenneth Richards of Cowcumbla, Coota mundra, New South Wales, Australia).

Serjeant Edward Kenneth Hayward McAvoy, 326124, 29 April 1942, 154th (The Leicestershire Yeomanry), Field Regt., Royal Artillery - Grave Ref: Grave 54. Buried in Seagrave Cemetery, Leicestershire.