According to my late father’s service record he enlisted on 15 Sept 1938 into the Royal Regiment of Artillery as Gnr and posted to Field Branch 22 RA Training Regt. On the 1 Oct 1939 he disembarked from the UK for France with the 14th Anti-Tank Regiment. He was granted leave to the UK on 19 Feb 1940. I would like to know what he did during this period. Where his training was carried out, ship he sailed on to France, where he was in France etc. Can anyone help or point me in the right direction. Regards, Roy
Bit late but hopefully this is the man UK, World War II Royal Artillery Tracer Cards, 1939-1948 Name: Robert Smith Attestation Date: 15 Sep 1938 Attestation Place: Edinburgh Regiment: Royal Artillery Service Number: 884971
Ancestry has this database About UK, World War II Royal Artillery Tracer Cards, 1939-1948 Historical Context Since its inception in 1716, the Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as 'The Gunners', has served as the artillery arm of the British Army, supplying it's firepower. At its peak during the Second World War, there were over one million men serving in 960 gunner regiments and at the end of the War, the RA was larger than the Royal Navy. This Collection This collection comprises cards created to track the movements of soldiers between units within the Royal Artillery during WWII. The role of the Tracer card was to answer the question 'where is that man right now?', saving the burden of administration and searching through many files. Only 'Other Ranks', or in other words those who were not commissioned officers, are included. Please be aware that some cards will include dates outside of 1939-1948. The following information can be found, where available: Name Inferred date of birth Place and date of death Place and date of enlistment Date of discharge Inferred gender Regiment and unit Service rank Service number Updates: Mar 2020: Updated collection to include records for surnames beginning Q-Z Unfortunately your relative doesnt show up even when using a variety of combinations of surname. Did he join the RA at enlistment?, what records did you pay for - his MOD service records or another subscription web site??. This is the only place to go for service records on WW2 soldiers - Request records of deceased service personnel TD
I've had it from the Royal Artillery Museum that this card archive is not complete, because I have been looking for some men and they are not found either ... regardless of spelling combinations.
I may be wrong but I understood it that the archive was incomplete, rather than not all had been scanned by Ancestry. From Royal Artillery Museum: "I've run different variations through one of our databases (which lists names of some officers) and through our WWII Tracer Cards (which are for other ranks only, not for officers). I've not had any success with either. Unfortunately neither of them are complete, ,,,"
Maybe thats a question that needs clarifying by the RA Museum - are their records incomplete? this would answer somewhat why I havent been able to find other records rather than blaming Ancestry for transcribing incorrectly TD
Just a thought - is the service record that you have a single page typed summary or photocopies of original documents? Perhaps other members can give more advice on this, but I believe that the MOD used to provide a summary of the documents they held rather than direct copies. A clerk would read it through and type up a précis of the key points of a man's service, which might omit some of the useful details (and relied on the clerk's accuracy). This could be why you don't have his attestation papers or tracer card. Not sure when the process changed, but if you don't have photocopies of the original documents then it might be worth applying for his records again to see what can be provided under the more recent system.
Arthur Edward Pinnock, as there is a specific post under his name I have put his attestation on there, here is the link: 22526431 Buckland-Pinnock A.E. Gunner 14th Anti Tank Regt RA
They are not his service records, just an extract of the main points, you may consider getting the official version. Get a copy of military service records: Apply for the records of someone who's deceased - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) As you already have a thread in his own name, I wonder if it would not be better to keep all his things together there rather than a thread in someone else's name? Note also the other thread has an incorrect 1950 service number - may be worth editing.