Searching for Sapper Smith RE 51st Highland Div

Discussion in 'Searching for Someone & Military Genealogy' started by Ian Marriott-Smith, Nov 10, 2017.

  1. Ian Marriott-Smith

    Ian Marriott-Smith New Member

    Hi,

    I am not sure where to start looking for info on my Uncle - Peter Leonard Arthur Marriott-Smith. I think he mostly dropped the Marriott bit of his name in the military so might just be Peter Smith.
    I have found a number on a Royal Artillery Attestations document as 1428008 along with other info that i am unsure of:

    21.03.39 Para 204 (15) T.A.R ( then a word i'm unsure of ) R.E.

    My Dad didn't know about him until a few years back and the only info we have from his mother, my Nan ( now unable to remember) is he was a Sapper in the 51st Highland Div, 30 corp and was at Dunkirk and was believed to have left or been discharged from the army at some point due to being "Shell Shocked" no one in the family has any clue what happened to him.

    Any help in where to start my research would be really welcome! I have attached his attestation document from 1939 and the only photo i have of him

    GBM-ROYALART-1427623-1428600-00044.jpg
    Peter_Marriott-Smith.jpg
     
  2. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

  3. idler

    idler GeneralList

    The 'unsure' entry appears to be Reg[ular] Army RE. As TD has said, you need to apply for his service record, perhaps in the name of your nan as his next of kin.
     
  4. Ian Marriott-Smith

    Ian Marriott-Smith New Member

    Thanks Tricky Dicky & idler!
     
  5. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    A copy of the service records will reveal most of what you want to know. Let me know when you identify his unit in 1940-I may be able to tell you when he left France and on what boat.
     
  6. Ian Marriott-Smith

    Ian Marriott-Smith New Member

    Thanks all - looks like i need the death certificate of my Uncle to get that info. No one is sure where he went on to possibly he became homeless so i don't think i'll ever be able to get his service records as no genealogy searches have shed any light on his whereabouts after the war
     
  7. amberdog45

    amberdog45 Senior Member

    Ian, do you know where & when he was born? A date of birth might help the search.
     
  8. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    Ian - do you laso have any details of his parents and siblings, dates of birth or roughly where in the UK/world they may have been born etc. Often little details such as these can open searches

    TD
     
  9. Alucard

    Alucard Member

    Hi Ian,

    I am not in any way making any hard and fixed assumptions as there can very often be exceptions, but are you sure he was at Dunkirk, as the 51st Highland Division were further to the west at the time of Dunkirk evacuation, and ended up surrendering at St Valery en Caux in Normandy on 12th June 1940. However a few were evacuated by boat.
     
  10. amberdog45

    amberdog45 Senior Member

    Can't find a birth in GRO or Scotlandspeople and not on the 1939 ID reg. With him being signed up early in '39 that's of no surprise.

    There was a Leonard J. Marriott-Smith born 1901 on the '39 register in Bexley, Kent, may have been an influence on Peter's middle name. This Leonard divorced in the 1930s according to TNA and GRO had him remarrying in 1939. Died in the 70's.

    This is a complete aside and was the only other Marriott-Smith on the '39 I.D. reg in Winchester, Hampshire, born 1846 and the same man is noted in the Find My Past Collection British Army R.A. Officers as having died in 1944 (noted also as born 1846). Why would this have been? He was 98 by then.

    Is it just me, but the photo of Peters clothes look more like something worn in the Middle East?
     

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