Hi according to my father's service record(Leslie Rossiter) he was transferred from 2nd LAA Regiment to what looks like 1st Field Regiment on 8/6/44 and then was posted to CMO 10th Indian Division on the 16th August 1944 He remained with them until he was posted to the 71st Field Regiment RA on 31/7/45. He then served in Austria until Dec 1945. I have downloaded a booklet "Teheran to Trieste" which has certainly given me an insight as to his time with the 10th Indian Division. Can anyone give me any more information on this period of the war in Italy. Unfortunately I cannot tell from his record which Regiment he was posted to. According to wikipedia 68th Field Regiment RA 97th (Kent Yeomanry) Field Regiment 154 (Leicestershire Yeomanry) Field Regiment and 30th Light AA Regiment were attached to the 10th Indian Division I would also like to know what CMO means. Could it be Central Mediterranean Operations? Any help will be appreciated. Diane
Dianne If you were to google for " The Tiger Strikes" you will find the history of all three Indian Divisions who served in Italy - the time frame is just after Rome was "liberated " Cheers
You want The Tiger Triumphs, which is available here: http://www.ourstory.info/library/4-ww2/Tiger/triumphs01.html
You might also try and find the volume of the Indian Army's Official History on the campaign in Italy: Prasad, Bisheshwar, Ed. Official History of the Indian Armed Forces in the Second World War 1939-45. Combined Inter-Services Historical Section (India and Pakistan). Calcutta: Orient Longmans. Dharm Pal. The Campaign in Italy 1943-45. 1960. It may be hard to find but worth the effort. There is a publisher in India that selling reprints of this series as well: http://www.pentagonpress.in/servlet/ppDispinfo?offset=0&text1=Campaign+in+Italy&searchtype=Keywords&image.x=-722&image.y=-232
CMO might be [the staff of the Divisional] 'Counter Mortar Officer'. I notice he was originally HQ RA but this has then been refined. He would have been involved in trying to locate German mortar batteries so that they could be engaged by our guns. There's a little bit here, for example.
thanks but would a CMO be a Gunner in the RA. Though I do remember Dad saying he was offered a promotion but refused it. He was uncomfortable giving orders to his comrades in arms
The actual CMO would have had a small staff to process and collate information, plus roles like drivers or a batman, so it's likely there would have been a couple of gunners involved.
Thanks for that. It makes sense to me. By 1944 Dad had accumulated quite a lot of experience. Like so many he rarely spoke of his experiences.
CMO organisations were being created in all divisions from late 1944 onwards. They were in addition to the existing corps CBO staff and the batteries of the corps Survey Regiment. They were not just an HQ element, a new sound ranging system was being introduced specifically to deal with mortars and there were also CM listening posts.
The CMO organisation was created from AA Gunners, redundant with the reduction of the German air threat. The 21 OR group published their report no 11 into the effectiveness of different counter mortar technology. Artillery Sound ranging bases deployed 4000-5000 yds from the front line only detected mortars as a very faint signal, The more sensitive four pen recorders were developed to detect mortars. There were electrical problems with the equipment and it needed trained technicians to get the best from the technology. The problem with sound ranging devices is that they needed time to set up and would not work close to friendly artillery or in high winds. For this reason they could only be effective on static fronts. There were experiments in using air defence radars in spring 1944 and 2nd Army put up a case to take some radars to Normandy, which was turned down. One was deployed experimentally and worked well - as long as it could be deployed in a good position. A radar could work in all weathers and handle many more contacts than a sound ranging system. It was also faster into action and could support mobile operations. All of which explain why radars form the basis of modern mortar locating systems.
Thanks everyone for all your help. Apologies for not replying sooner but we have just moved house. I have a lot of reading to do. Thanks also for the insight into the C M O Organisation. Dad's service records have proved to be very interesting and are certainly telling me things that he never spoke about. I have found War Diaries for some of his time in the Middle East so I will be contacting Drew. Thanks again Diane Thanks again D
Does anybody have the June 1942 Diary for 10th Indian Divsion (G-Branch--the main HQ one)? Hoping to check for any orders/instructions/discussion of SMITHCOL/ROBCOL. WO 169/7575
Have also turned up the following: Western Desert: Account of operations of 10th. Indian Division 1942 June 21-July 10, by... Reference: CAB 106/462 Description: Western desert: account of operations of 10th. Indian Division 1942 June 21-July 10, by Major General J. S. Nichols, officer commanding. Date: 1945
Just came across this 2014 MA thesis from Birmingham University and it may be of interest: The 10th Indian Division in the Italian Campaign 1944-1945: Training, Manpower and the Soldier's Experience' by Matthew Kavanagh (207 pgs). Link: http://etheses.bham.ac.uk/5632/1/Kavanagh15MA.pdf I did look at the many hits on the division here and this thread appeared as a good a place as others (still looking through the list).
