Soldier's Service and Pay Book Army Book 64 for Sergeant Ronald Henry Ashby
subject: Sergeant Ronald Henry was born September 19th 1916. His home address was in Maidstone. He began the war in the 45th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery and then was converted to an infantry role in the Queen's Own Royal West Kents sometime in early 1945 due to manpower shortages. The inside front cover of the book shows the remnants of a leave pass for Cairo. There are also two leave passes tucked inside for Venice and Naples after he had been reassigned to the Queen's Own Royal West Kents. There is also a movement control infectious disease card stamped RAF Glatton upon his return to the UK.
description: 45th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery (45th LAA Rgt), was a British Territorial Army (TA) unit formed in July 1940. After serving in Anti-Aircraft Command during the Battle of Britain and The Blitz, it went to North Africa as part of Operation Torch and fought in Tunisia and Italy. It ended World War II as a garrison regiment. The regiment was formed on 10 July 1940 as part of the rapid expansion of Britain's Anti-Aircraft (AA) defences during the Battle of Britain. It was originally constituted with 500 to 507 LAA Troops, which had been formed on 1 July. It was then joined by 102 and 135 LAA Batteries, which had been formed on mobilisation of the TA (23–25 August 1939) and by 142 LAA Bty transferred from 22nd LAA Rgt, a TA unit based in Birmingham. It formed part of 1st AA Bde, which had been reformed after the Dunkirk evacuation and had been assigned by Anti-Aircraft Command to defend the industrial town of Crewe in the West Midlands under 4th AA Division. Light AA guns were usually deployed to defend Vulnerable Points (VPs) such as factories , rail junctions, airfields etc, but AA Command was suffering a severe shortage of suitable LAA guns: with too few of the preferred Bofors 40 mm guns available, the newly-formed regiments were largely equipped with Light machine guns (AALMGs) until 1942. As AA Command expanded, 4th AA Division was split, and 1st AA Bde at Crewe was assigned to a new 11th AA Division. The West Midlands was badly hit during the Blitz of November 1940 to May 1941. By the end of the Blitz 45th LAA Rgt with its three batteries had transferred to the command of a new 68th AA Bde in 11th AA Division. The regiment sent a cadre of experienced officers and men to 224th LAA Training Rgt at Aberystwyth where they provided the basis for a new 265 LAA Bty formed on 12 June 1941. When this battery was regimented with 45th LAA Rgt on 4 September 102 LAA Bty transferred to a new 82nd LAA Rgt forming in Norfolk. Later that month, while the regimen…
source: Acquired from the London Medal Company in London, UK. Unit info provided by Wikipedia.
date: March 15, 1939 - September 3, 1945

Soldier's Service and Pay Book Army Book 64 and Medal Grouping for Guardsman Robert James Devine
subject: This is an army paybook and medal grouping for a guardsman in the Irish Guards who died on March 5th, 1945. He was from Londonderry (Derry) in Northern Ireland. He enlisted on the 21st of June 1944 so was available post D-Day for Operation Market Garden. The paybook shows he was on leave both before and after the operation, but was on duty during the ground push through the Eindhoven‑Nijmegen‑Arnhem corridor. He was killed early in 1945 only 64 days before VE Day. He is buried in the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery near where he was likely killed in the fighting to cross the Rhine River.
source: Purchased from Gordon Power in Dublin, Ireland
date: June 27, 1943 - July 7th, 1945