Second World War Medal Group – Corporal Arthur Gerald Haywood, 2/7th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment (Later RAPC) -Wounded in Action Sicily 1943
1939-45 Star – unnamed as issued
Italy Star – unnamed as issued
Defence Medal – unnamed as issued
War Medal – unnamed as issued
Territorial Efficiency Medal – 6206683. CPL. A. G. HAYWOOD. R.A.P.C.
Arthur Gerald Haywood served in the British Army under service number 6206683. His records show that he was born on 7 June 1916, later dying in the Colchester registration district in December 1989, aged 73. On attestation he gave his full name as Arthur Gerald Haywood, and stated that he was born at Aldershot, Hampshire. He enlisted at Hornsey on 26 April 1939, aged 22, for service with the Territorial Army, being taken into the Middlesex Regiment, specifically the 7th Battalion. At that time he was a Post Office employee, was recorded as single, and was described as 5 ft 6½ in tall, weighing 153 lbs, with fresh complexion, grey eyes, and brown hair.
His pre-war Territorial service is clearly shown in the papers. He was serving with the 7th Middlesex Regiment in 1939, attended annual training, and was then posted to 2/7 Middlesex Regiment on 30 May 1939. When the war began he was called up for service and formally embodied on 1 September 1939. During this early period he also attended the Army School of Cookery (London Area) from 22 November 1939 to 6 January 1940, where he qualified in 1st class. This is a nice little extra detail from the file and suggests he was trained for specialist duties connected with army catering.
His statement of service shows that after long home service he went overseas in May 1943, serving first in North Africa from 16 May 1943 and then in Sicily from 6 August 1943, though the casualty material makes clear that he had already been involved in the Sicily campaign before that latter administrative entry. The wartime casualty lists record Private A. G. Haywood, 6206683, 2/7th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment as wounded in the Middle East–Sicily theatre. The original entry in Casualty List No. 1226 did not state the date, but a later correction in Casualty List No. 1231 confirms that the date of casualty should read 20 July 1943. His own military history sheet also records him plainly as “Wounded in action, 20.7.43.” That gives the file real substance, as it ties him directly to active operations in Sicily with the 2/7th Middlesex.
At some stage after his wound he was transferred away from the Middlesex Regiment. His service papers show a transfer to the Royal Army Pay Corps, with the later documents and medal records all identifying him as Corporal, R.A.P.C. A post-war medal card and separate long-service record both confirm him under the same service number as a Corporal in the Royal Army Pay Corps. He was eventually released to Class “Z” (T) Royal Army Reserve on 12 February 1946, classed as a Class A release.
Haywood’s medal entitlement is well documented. His medal application form, completed as Mr A. G. Haywood of “Glendale,” Rayleigh Road, Hutton, Essex, confirms entitlement to the 1939–45 Star, Italy Star, Defence Medal, and War Medal 1939–45. The file also records the Efficiency Medal (Territorial), and a separate index entry confirms A. G. Haywood, Corporal, 6206683, Royal Army Pay Corps, under authority A.O. 48/46, which fits with his long Territorial and wartime service.
His personal details are unusually full. He married Dorothy Grace Ellis, a British spinster, on 14 October 1939 at the Parish Church, Great Burstead, Essex. Later entries give his wife as Mrs D. G. Haywood, with an address at 2/3 Brook Cottages, Little Burstead, Billericay, Essex. By the time of his medal claim he was living at Hutton, Essex, showing a clear post-war Essex connection that also sits well with the later Colchester death registration.
Overall, this is a very solid Second World War service story: pre-war Territorial Middlesex Regiment service, embodiment on the outbreak of war, specialist cookery training, active overseas service in North Africa and Sicily, a confirmed wound in action on 20 July 1943, later transfer to the Royal Army Pay Corps, and entitlement to a useful group of campaign medals together with the Efficiency Medal (Territorial).
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AJMS Medals