RAF RADAR units in the Battle of the Bulge

Discussion in 'The War In The Air' started by chick42-46, Mar 4, 2011.

  1. Jmch

    Jmch Member

    Sorry photo did not attach properly
     

    Attached Files:

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  2. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    Welcome to the Forum
    thank you for posting
     
  3. Noel Burgess

    Noel Burgess Senior Member

    Welcome Jmch, Interesting post. I, and I am sure others, would be interested to see higher resolution scans of the pictures - particularly those including vehicles.
    The photo of vehicles parked on an Autobahn looks similar to the one I posted earlier(post #8).
    Regards
    Noel
     
  4. chick42-46

    chick42-46 Senior Member

    Most definitely welcome, Jmch! Please post the photos as individual scans - the ones of the temporary bridge look an awful lot like some of my grandfather's (which reminds me, I need to re-post those!).

    Do you know which unit your father was with?

    You might want to check out this thread if you haven't already - http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/14165-raf-units-in-d-day-landings-on-omaha-beach/

    Cheers

    Ian
     
  5. NeilXA

    NeilXA New Member

    I recently discovered that my late father was a member of 72 Signals Wing and an RAF flt sgt of some sort of radio mobile unit in the Ardennes suring the battle of the bulge. I have my dad's RAF war posting information, which shows he went on much training in the UK up until he was posted to the Ardennes area in November 1944. How can I find out more information on what he did?

    thanks,

    Neil
     
  6. chick42-46

    chick42-46 Senior Member

    Hi NeilXA and welcome - and apologies for the lack of response.

    You need to start with getting your father's service records from the MOD - search the forum for the relevant threads or google it and you should find the address and instructions on what to do. After that it's a slow case of tracking down the operational records of the units he served with (from the National Archives) and seeing if they shed any light on where he went and what he did. You might be lucky if he was a Flt Sgt there may be more chance he is mentioned than if he was just an airman.

    I have a report on the operation of the 72 Signals Wing. Send me a message and I'll send you a DVD Rom with the files.

    Cheers and good luck

    Ian
     
  7. Jmch

    Jmch Member

    It's been a long time but I've finally made headway in my fathers story. His personal records which I finally managed to get from MOD showed very little except that he was posted to 72 Wing in May 1944 and then 70 wing in late 1945 but I could get no further.

    Today a chance meeting by my with Maurice Fletcher who served with a GCI unit in 72 wing (94 years old and still sharp) gave me the clue that my father was in AMES 114 the GEE - H unit in the Battle of the Bulge. If anyone has any information on this unit I would be most grateful. I have found another cache of photographs which I will scan in in hi Rez and post. The pontoon bridge in my earlier post I have now identified as Remagen as I have found photos of my father and some of his colleagues happily posing with the original bridge in the background. I will post all photos in the next few days.
     
  8. chick42-46

    chick42-46 Senior Member

    Good to hear from you again Jmch and I look forward to the photographs. Send me a message - I have photos of the operations records book for AMES 114 and will send them to you on a DVD. Who knows, your father may be mentioned. But even if he isn't, they should give you some more information about what his unit did and where it went. Cheers, Ian
     
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  9. Jmch

    Jmch Member

    Below, I hope. Are some of the photos I found in a box belonging to my father. They are of some of the equipment and vehicles in what I believe is AMES 114 in the Ardennes just before or during the Battle of the Bulge

    Tech Site
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    Generator Truck
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    Convoy in La Roche
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  10. Jmch

    Jmch Member

    The Photo below of a US MP manning a road junction is scarily reminiscent of the scene in the film, Battle of the Bulge with the SS troops dressed as Americans and mis-directing traffic.

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  11. Jmch

    Jmch Member

    From what I remember my father telling me The following pictures are of the unit reassembling in Mons after the escape from the Ardennes.

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  12. Jmch

    Jmch Member

    Below are the Hi Rez Remagen Photos

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    [​IMG]The




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  13. Jmch

    Jmch Member

  14. chick42-46

    chick42-46 Senior Member

    Excellent photos, Jmch. Thanks for posting these.
     
  15. stolpi

    stolpi Well-Known Member

    Last picture in Post # 49 looks like Hotton in the Ardennes, not far from La Roche.

    See attached picture of troops of the 53rd Welsh Division (4th Welch) which was taken at almost the same spot on Jan 4th, 1945. The 53rd Welsh started the counterattack against the German salient on that day.
     

    Attached Files:

  16. Jmch

    Jmch Member

    Thank you Stolpi that's a great help. I have another photo with a sign pointing to La Roche I'll post it and see if it can be identified. I found over 100 photos all together tho a lot of them are killed tanks.
     
  17. Jmch

    Jmch Member

    [​IMG]

    Village near La Roche
     
  18. stolpi

    stolpi Well-Known Member

    Location on Google maps. The trucks are moving along the N86 from Marche to Hotton and are about to move across the (make-shift) bridge over the Ourthe and up the Rue des Ecoles. The sign points to the Rue Simon, the main road following the Ourhe River valley to La Roche-en-Ardenne, nowadays the N833. The N86 leads to Aywaille, Chaudefontaine and then on to Liège.

    Attached also a picture of the bridge at Hotton, view from the southern bank to the north. The bridge was destroyed in September 1944 by the retreating Germans and rebuild by US engineers during the Fall. In December 1944, during the Ardennes Offenisve, the Germans tried to retake this crossing point of the Ourthe, but failed miserably. There were a lot of Ko'd German tanks at Hotton. Would be interesting to see some of the pictures you got jmch!

    The location of your last picture (post # 57) is hard to tell, other than it is 27 km distant from La Roche.
     

    Attached Files:

  19. Jmch

    Jmch Member

    Some ko'd tanks


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  20. Jmch

    Jmch Member

    Wrecked German Vehicles

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