I am tracking L/Cpl. William Andrew Miller, #C/9710 who died of diphtheria on Dec.10, 1945, in Holland just before he was to be shipped home to Canada. I have good family info but I cannot find locations in the field. I have his WWII military service files with the various general postings. He did land in France on June 18, 1944. He was TOS on Sept, 1945 from 11 Prov to 7 Coy. He ended up stationed in Holland near Amsterdam. How do I determine what he did from June 1944 to VE Day, 1945?
Kurt, There are many fine experts at WW2 Talk who either possess or can point you to the appropriate war diaries for his unit.
Hi, The National Archives, Kew, have two War Diaries for this unit. WO 179/3703 Royal Canadian Military Police. 11 Provost Coy. 01/01/1944 - 31/12/1944 WO 179/5208 Royal Canadian Military Police. 11 Provost Coy. 01/01/1945 - 31/12/1945 I have noticed that some of the Canadian War Diaries at Kew do not have the appendix in them. The first copy should have these in them. Believe these might be held in the LAC in microfiche form. If you are thinking of getting a copy and cannot get there yourself you could contact PsyWar.Org (Lee) or Drew5233 (Andy) on the forum who both offer a copying service that will be cheaper than the National Archives copying service. http://ww2talk.com/index.php?members/psywar-org.2876/ http://ww2talk.com/index.php?members/drew5233.6786/ The Library and Archives Canada (LAC) has these two documents for No. 11 Canadian Provost Section, Canadian Provost Corps. Maybe someone can provide information on how you go about getting copies of them. 1944/07-1945/06 Archives Search - Library and Archives Canada 1945/07-1946/04 Archives Search - Library and Archives Canada Regards Danny
Here is a bit about No. 11 Provost Company, up until their departure for the UK: No. 11 Provost Company History 1 May 1942 – Authorized – Serial 532 (GO 212/42) (Dated 2 June 1942) 18 May 1943 - Redesignated: No. 11 Provost Company, Canadian Provost Corps (GO 317/43) (Dated 28 July 1943) 24 April 1946 – Disbanded (GO 201/46) (Dated 21 August 1946) Notes 11 May 1942 – Authority is granted for the formation of the Company. On arrival overseas the Company will undertake the duties of Nos 1 and 2 L. of C. Provost Sections. Company to be supplied as follows: [1947 Army Central Registry] Company HQ – 19 ORs – Supplied from Nos 16 and 16A Provost Companies in MD No. 6 No. 1 Section – 16 ORs – No. 11 Provost Company in MD No. 1 No. 2 Section – 16 ORs – No. 12 Provost Company in MD No. 2 No. 3 Section – 32 ORs – No. 12 Provost Company in MD No. 2 No. 4 Section – 16 ORs – No. 14 Provost Company in MD No. 4 No. 5 Section – 16 ORs – No. 17 Provost Company in MD No. 7 No. 6 Section – 16 ORs – No. 17 Provost Company in MD No. 7 No. 7 Section – 32 ORs – No. 20 Provost Company in MD No. 10 No. 8 Section – 16 ORs – No. 22 Provost Company in MD No. 12 No. 9 Section – 16 ORs – No. 23 Provost Company in MD No. 13 Concentration will take place at Aldershot, NS on 10 June 1942. 7-10 June 1942 – Sixteen ORs moved from Regina to Aldershot, NS. 19 October 1942 – Formed in MD Nos. 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 10, 12, 13 and located overseas under Army Troops. 14-16 (or 24-26) December 1941 – Moved from London, Ontario to Camp Debert, NS. 20 August 1942 – Moved from Camp Aldershot, NS to Halifax on TS-702 to embark on E-511 Awatea. 1st Canadian Army Troops HQ Units War Diaries 16480 – 1942/05-1943/09 16481 – 1943/10-1945/06 16482 – 1945/07-1946/04 I have a copy of "Watchdog: A History of the Canadian Provost Corps" by Andrew R. Ritchie. It has some details of the company's service in Northwest Europe as part of 1st Canadian Army Troops. The section is about 40 pages that covers all Provost activity in NW Europe. I could possibly copy this section if you are interested. Start a conversation with me with you email if you are interested.
***************** Thanks for responding. I did peruse the Watchdog history book but I found scant information about the 11 Coy's activities in the NWE chapter -- very little info on specific soldiers, other than officers. So I am perplexed because I cannot tell how this Provost spends 11 months during the war and another 7 post-war months but I cannot find where he was.
As suggested, the best move it to get a hold of the war diaries from the Library and Archives of Canada in Ottawa. Since you are interested in North-West Europe 1944-45, you need to see: Reference: RG24 , National Defence , Series C-3 , Volume 16481 Serial : 532 , Access code: 90 File Title: No. 11 Provost Company, Canadian Provost Corps Outside Dates: 1943/10-1945/06 Finding Aid number: 24-60 4716 Reference: RG24 , National Defence , Series C-3 , Volume 16482 Serial : 532 , Access code: 90 File Title: No. 11 Provost Company, Canadian Provost Corps Outside Dates: 1945/07-1946/04 Finding Aid number: 24-60 If you are interested, I have the name and email of an Ottawa researcher who can make copies of this volume for a reasonable price. He has done a number of jobs for me in the past and is very good and reliable. Again, start a conversation with me and provide your email and I will provide you with the information.
Yes, I would like to contact your recommended researcher to determine fees etc. for this war dairy search. I am looking at 18 months of L/Cpl Miller's activities with the 11 Coy. But I think it may be wiser to get someone who knows how to focus on the task of examining June 18, 1944 to Dec. 10, 1945. I live about 80 kms nw of Ottawa so it may still be a good trip to the Library Archives of Canada downtown building. Thanks for your interest Kurt
Kurt: It is not a good idea to post your email on a public forum. You should go to post and edit it and remove your email. Moderators, could you help Kurt remove the email address from the above post. dryan67