Hi I am new to the forum so appolagies if I am breaking any rules. I am trying to find details of an uncles company during WW2. Mainly the areas he may have served and potential role the company would have taken. I have the following details. Joseph Walmsley 2006248 Royal Engineers 253 Seated company Driver Any help just pointing me in the correct place to begin researching would be really appreciated. Thanks Jim
Hi Jim The best route for you to take is to obtain his service records, from them you can piece together the answers to your questions without going down blind alleys - the link provides details of the forms and where to send them, they are currently taking something like 4 - 8 weeks Request records of deceased service personnel By the way whats a Seated company - not heard of one of those before TD
Thanks TD. Yes the seated bit has confused me, our relative has read this from Joe's medal. However i believe it is actually field company. (Not sure where seated bit from). Cheers
Medal (?) - generally he would have received a minimum of 2 - service records first then the gap filling can start TD
To clear up the medal this is the information I have. 2006248 Joseph Walmsley Lance corporal Royal engineers Driver 253 company (as earlier msg i was told seated but believe this to be field) Deceased last year Altho nothing to do with records an amazing man and one of the kindest men you could hope to meet. I thought the info came from a medal, if they did not engrave in WW2 then I am incorrect. I am not next door to my relative but i thought they had engraved on medals so advised them to look at the medal for his conscription number. My guess is they found the info in some of his records. I am trying to find his possible movments and specifically if there was involvment at Arnhem. I wondered if it was possoble to follow the company first as i thought it maybe easier than an individual. I am new to this (24 hours) and so far I think either a trip to the archives or the link as recommended earlier. Thanks. J
According to the link (below) 253 Field Coy, RE, were divisional troops of the 3rd Infantry Division. The 3rd Div fought with the BEF in Belgium/France in 1940, were then in the UK until June 1944, thereafter being an assault Division on Sword Beach on D-Day and the fighting in NW Europe. If you search 3rd Div online and follow their path from 6 June 1944 onwards you will gain a good idea of where your Uncle served. 3rd Division 1939-1945 Best, Steve.
If it's 253 field company then there are a couple of diaries at Kew but as on phone, difficult to post links till this evening. 44 didn't seem to be there so research may lead looking at higher formations for that period
If he had been a Territorial he may have an Efficiency medal,they were named ? (Possibly not with the level of detail supplied ?) Kyle
Thanks for the help guys and sorry about the poor info supplied. I was hunting the info for a trip that my wife and I have returned from our Market Garden to follow in Joe's footsteps. It was an emotional trip and unbelievable to see how close the fighting was. I was very pleased at how well the Dutch recieve the British and the work taking place in their museum's. Following further hunting we found the info we required on Joe he was in fact in the 553 (long story on the confusion and will not bore with the details). He cleared mines on the way to Nijmegen, obviously he did not make it to Arnhem (at that point in the war). We did get to see where he got to in Nijmegan tho. Thanks J
Good to heard that you were able to get to the bottom of your uncle's service details and, as a result, follow in his footsteps. I did a similar trip earlier this year (in France) tracing my dad's evacuation route in 1940 from the frontline on the Rivers Andelle & Bethune, back through Rouen to the Normandy coast, visiting locations and it certainly gave me a better insight in what they all went through. Steve W