Anyone help me here? Looking for any war diary info for 572 RE, particularly in N/Africa, western desert & Egypt. Also 249 Fd Coy 1945-1946. Basically trying trying to find out the places Dad was at before transferring to to 4 Para Sqn RE. Any help would be helpful if I need to visit Kew to trace war diaries. Thanks SM
SM, for when you get to Kew, here are the references for 572 Fld Coy RE. 249 to follow in a mo. WO 166/3810, ROYAL ENGINEERS: COMPANIES: 572 Field Company. (1940 Aug.-1941 Feb.) WO 169/1912, 572 A. Fd. Coy. (1941 May- Dec.) WO 169/5328, 572 Army Fd. Coy. (1942 Jan.- Dec.) WO 169/10720, 572 Army Fd. Coy. (1943 Jan.- Dec.) WO 170/1722, Companies: 572 Coy. (1944 Jan.- Dec.) WO 170/5249, Companies: 572 Coy. (1945 Jan., Feb.) WO 171/5576, 572 Coy. (1945 Mar.- June, Aug.) Lee
TNA references for 249 Fld Coy RE (can't find anything after May '45): WO 166/3718, ROYAL ENGINEERS: COMPANIES: 249 Field Company. (1939 Sept.- 1941 Dec.) WO 166/8159, 249 Coy. (1942 Jan.-Dec.) WO 166/12115, 249 Coy. (1943 Jan.-Dec.) WO 171/1605, 249 Coy. (1944 Feb.- Aug., Oct.- Dec.) WO 171/5523, 249 Coy. (1945 Jan.- May) Lee
Devonshire and Cornwall (Fortress) R.E. HQ, No. 1 (EL & W), No. 2 (EL), No. 3 (EL) Coys: Plymouth No. 1 Coy in 1940 as 571st Army FC RE Formed 570th Corps Field Park Company, RE; 571st, 572nd, 573rd Army Field Companies, RE Converted to VIII Corps Troops RE with: 570th FPC – Plymouth; 571st – Plymouth; 572nd FC - Totney; 573rd FC – Cornwall After Dunkirk VIII Corps Troops was based at Ottery St. Mary in Devon. Companies sailed to North Africa in Feb. 1941 as X Corps Troops via Gibraltar and Cape Town. 570th in May 1941 involved in operations in desert. 570th attached to XXX Corps in 1941. Served in NA 11/41-1942 as X Corps Troops RE Served in NA 1942-43 as X Corps Troops RE X Corps Troops at El Alamein – 23/10/42 571st att. to 10th Armoured Division 23/10/42 as part of Minefield Task Force (ex X Corps) Served in Italy under X Corps Troops 1943-early 1945 To NW Europe March 1945
249th (East Anglia) Field Company: Luton u/c 54th (East Anglia) Infantry Division 4/9/39-20/5/43 u/c 6th Airborne Division 7/6/43-31/8/45 as 249th (Airborne) FC, RE Landed by sea 6/6/44 in Normandy
My grandad was in this same regiment - did you find out any further info or war diaries? I would love to know more about what he was involved in. We have photos of his time during the war. Thanks