Anyone require War Diaries or other files from the National Archives?

Discussion in 'For Sale & For Trade' started by Drew5233, Mar 8, 2011.

  1. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    Another testimonial from me.

    I've just received another batch of diaries from Andy and they're excellent. Given the sheer weight of paperwork (1 Field Regt R.A. managed 850+ pages for just the first six months of 1944!), the man must have achieved a zen-like state of focus/non-focus where each page is clear and sharp yet the content floats across his mind without landing.

    This is the first example of a R.A. diary I've examined so far and my first impression is that it is far more technical and includes and awful lot more jargon that the infantry paperwork. That said, there's also a lot of descriptive detail where, say, the Indian Army files seem to be light on colour, adjectives and adverbs.

    Am most pleased.
     
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  2. Rich Payne

    Rich Payne Rivet Counter Patron 1940 Obsessive

    'Zen' and 'Andy' in the same sentence ? Have you met him ? He's manic ! Mind you, not BEF files.....
     
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  3. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    Given that, I shall resketch my mental image.

    How about an improbable-looking Heath-Robinson device made flesh, which - despite constantly threatening to keel over or explode - churns out inexplicably flawless products.
     
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  4. olaf99

    olaf99 New Member

    Thanks Andy for saving me all the leg work and sending my requested diaries. Had a flick through last night. All very interesting.

    If anyone out there is looking for war records and is unable to get to the National Archives at Kew you will get a very reliable and very resonably priced service with Andy i would urge you to contact him first.
     
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  5. ClémentH

    ClémentH Member

    Just received the files I ordered, looking forward to a great read. Thank you Andy !

    Clément
     
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  6. charge

    charge Junior Member

    Hello Andy,

    I'd like you to get me a copy of some / a diary from the National Archive.

    As far as I can make out, the 69th Anti Tank Regiment left UK 10/1/1942 on the WS15 convoy bound for South Africa and on to Bombay (India). I'd like to confirm this journey and find it written up in the War Diary for that time. So the diary covering the period, say, 1/1/1942 to 15/3/1942.

    How extensive are these records? I know you can't give a quote but are you able to give any guide?

    Thanks, Kevin
     
  7. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    For an entire year including appendices the shortest set of diaries I have runs to ninety or so pages; the longest is over eight hundred pages for just three months. Andy has always suggested to me that a year including appendices averages at 200 to 400 pages and this has proved pretty accurate. Some months have more material than others, but they're fairly consistent in length - especially when the unit's location remains the same. If you do the division, you might be looking at thirty to sixty pages per full month.

    We've found the British units typically produce more paperwork than Indian ones, and Italy generally means more that Africa - logistics got very complicated.

    The appendices to the diaries very often exceed the daily diary entries by multiples of three, four or more and are of wildly varying importance.
     
    Last edited: Aug 21, 2016
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  8. charge

    charge Junior Member

    Wow, that's a lot of paper. So putting it on a CD makes sense, I'll cross check my dates before making an order.
     
  9. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Hi,

    Charley Fortnum has pretty much hit the nail on the head. Just shout if you need a hand, I've just come back from Kew so not planning another trip now until mid to end September (3 to 4 weeks) as my order book is completely empty.

    Cheers
    Andy
     
  10. peter.t

    peter.t Member

    I received my Wife's Grandfather's war diaries today from Andy. Andy got the diaries for 44,45,46.
    Andy kept me up to date and was very quick in getting the diaries copied and sent to us.
    Highly recommend Andy to carry out any research that you may need. If I ever need any more help Andy will be my first point of call.
     
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  11. RRTB

    RRTB 145 Fd Regt (Berkshire Yeomanry) RA

    I'm very happy to second that opinion about Andy. Very helpful indeed and supplied me quickly with a CD all about the 126 HAA Regt which my father served in here in Northern Ireland in 1943-44 before he was posted to OCTU Catterick.

    RRTB
     
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  12. sol

    sol Very Senior Member

    Was on vacation last two week, and when I returned your disk was in my mail box. Great stuff, as usual. Andy thank you very much, you did a great job not just with this one but with all other diaries during this last two years.
     
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  13. Alan Huime

    Alan Huime Member

    Hey there, just found this excellent site and your very kind services.

    I would like copies, if possible, of After Action Reports/Combat reports or war diaries for the Royal Scots and
    Lothian and Borders Horse/Yeomanry in WW2 if at all possible

    I only have £40 free at the moment so not sure just how much that will get me :)

    In particular I am after information on the 7th/9th (Highlanders) Battalion, The Royal Scots fighting in the Teutoburger Wald, near Ibbenburen around 4th - 7th April 1945 (think I have the approximate dates there)

    Any help much appreciated and, as I say, I can spend up to £40 at the moment

    All the best, look forward to hearing back from you

    Alan
     
  14. Alan Huime

    Alan Huime Member

    bit of a bugger that I just missed your last trip down to Kew I guess, ah well, such is life :)
     
  15. Alan Huime

    Alan Huime Member

    heh, I can't figure out just how to send you a Private Message on this forum so, if I may, I'll list the dates and stuff I was looking for just now, hopefully £40 will cover it, if not I can go up to £50 before I run out of cash

    C Company, The First Battalion,The Royal Scots, 2nd Infantry Division, BEF

    Le Cornet Malo, France, 26th to 29th May 1940

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    2nd Battalion The Royal Scots, British Hong Kong Garrison

    Hong Kong, 8th - 10th December 1941
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The First Battalion,The Royal Scots, 6th Independent Brigade Group, 2nd Division, IV Corps, Eastern Army

    Indin, Burma, 2 - 5th April 1942

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    First Battalion, The Royal Scots, 2nd Infantry Division, 4th Brigade,

    XXXIII Corps

    First Battalion, The Royal Scots, Carrier Platoon, 2nd Infantry Division, 4th Brigade, XXXIII Corps

    THIS ONE IS A BIT DIFFERENT, THEY WERE FIGHTING TOGETHER ON THE SAME DAY THOUGH

    B Squadron 3rd Carabiniers (Prince of Wales's Dragoon Guards), 254th Indian Tank Brigade, XXXIII Corps

    Burma, 31st January – 3 February 1945

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    2nd Battalion, The Royal Scots, 66th Brigade, 1 (British) Division

    ITALY 16- 20th September 1944
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    2nd Battalion, The Royal Scots, 66th Brigade, 1 (British) Division

    ITALY 27th - 30th th November 1944

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    7th/9th (Highlanders) Battalion The Royal Scots, 155 Infantry Brigade

    7 Armoured Division, XXX Corps, British 2nd Army, 21st Army Group

    Germany 3rd - 8th April 1945
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    8th (Lothian and Peeblesshire) Battalion, The Royal Scots, 15th (Scottish) Division, XII Corps

    28-30th June 1944
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    8th (Lothian and Peeblesshire) Battalion, The Royal Scots, 44th (Lowland) Infantry Brigade, 15th (Scottish) Division, XII Corps, 2nd Army, 21st Army Group

    A Squadron, 44th RTR, 4th Independent Armoured Brigade, XII Corps, British 2nd Army, 21st Army Group

    Got another non Royal Scots unit in here as they fought in this battle together

    23rd -26th March 1945
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Royal Scots, in Germany January 1945 (whole month if my money stretches that far :)
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Lothians and Border Horse/Yeomanry

    not got much for them yet, need to go back to the library to check the book to get more dates but, for the moment I would like to see this please
    2nd Lothians and Border Horse


    Italy 29th November - 1st December 1944

    Italy 11th - 17th May 1945
     
  16. Alan Huime

    Alan Huime Member

    Certainly the 7th/9th (Highlanders) Battalion, The Royal Scots fighting in the Teutoburger Wald, near Ibbenburen April 1945 is my most important one to be honest (after that I would say the Lothians and Border Horse)

    anyhow, look forward to hearing back from you
    All the best
     
  17. Incredibledisc

    Incredibledisc Well-Known Member

    Hi Alan,

    Might I suggest that you have a look on the National Arhcives site? Go to the Discovery page and type in the units you're interested in and that should give you catalogue numbers etc which you can then send to Andy - it'll make his job quicker. So far most of the stuff Andy has done for me has clocked in around £30 so your £40 will get you one decent sized war diary. I tend to put in an order every couple of months once once saved a bit of spare cash. Andy goes down a few times a year so you'll get other chances to get stuff on your wanted list.

    Another place to try are regimental museums. I got some after action reports from the Argyll and Sutherland Highlander's museum in return for a £20 donation. Good luck with your research!
     
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  18. John Lawson

    John Lawson Arte et Marte

    Hi Drew, didn't know how else to contact you, although I've just tried through my original FWTSV. I re-read Kensington to St Valery and they recieved reinforcements from 5 & 6 Infantry Base Depots and the MGTC ( I also think there may be some mileage in WO166/4568). If you could gain any War diary info, I would be grateful.

    Cheers, John
     
  19. Alan Huime

    Alan Huime Member

    Many thanks, that's a good point (and I haven't done it yet, will try and get round to it when I get some free time but won't be free until next week now at the earliest) yeah, I tried my friend at the Royals museum up at the castle but it never turned up much to be honest (well, he did me proud and got me a lot of stuff just not the exact stuff I was after is all)
     
  20. Incredibledisc

    Incredibledisc Well-Known Member

    Yeah, that's the only downside is you're never sure what you're going to get sometimes. I was lucky enough that I knew exactly what files I was looking for as they were listed as sources in a book I had read so I knew the museum had them. It would be great if all the ww2 documents in the National Archives were scanned and made public the way a lot of the ww1 stuff had been but it's an expensive and time consuming job so until then Andy is probably your best bet - the archives should put him on commission!
     

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