Robert Smith-Service Record, Royal Artillery

Discussion in 'Royal Artillery' started by Dannemois, Jun 19, 2011.

  1. Dannemois

    Dannemois Member

    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
     
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  3. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    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

    61820_003374_0158-02117.jpg
     
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  6. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    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
     
  7. heatherannej

    heatherannej Junior Member

    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.
     
  8. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    So I would assume at the speed Ancestry work - it is still being updated

    TD
     
  9. heatherannej

    heatherannej Junior Member

    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, ,,,"
     
  10. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    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
     
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  12. PackRat

    PackRat Well-Known Member

    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.
     
  13. Tony56

    Tony56 Member Patron

    Last edited: Dec 22, 2020
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  18. Tony56

    Tony56 Member Patron

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  19. The above is the service record received from MOD at a cost of 15 pounds in 1994
     
    Last edited: Dec 23, 2020

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