Hi folks, Just joined and trying to track down information on my late fathers war activities without having to travel down to London just yet. He was in the territorial service prior to being called up 1939. He joined the Royal Regiment of Artillery, 291st AA battery, RA (TA). He then joined 292/94 AA RA and shipped overseas to Eygpt 22/4/1941. The xmas telegrams he sent back during the 4 years and 115 days in Africa showed he was perhaps also attached to the 94th HAA regt RA in the MEF (?). He was a cook and gunner and I always wished he had talked more about his time out there but as I am researching my family tree I would like to try and get some infromation on where his unit served as I remember some of the names of the places but in what context. Any pointers or links would be appreciated.
Hi weescotty, I think you will find that 92 AA became 92 HAA. Once Light Anti-Aircraft units became formed, they needed to retitle them to differentiate between light and heavy HAA units. Cheers - Rob
Weescotty I've checked what war diaries are listed at Kew for 94 HAA and they served in the Middle East between April 1941 and July 1944, so this ties in with the Xmas telegrams you have. The war diary refeerences at Kew are:- WO169/154 - APR TO DEC 1941 WO169/4810 - JAN TO DEC 1942 WO169/9850 - JAN TO DEC 1943 WO169/16153 - JAN TO JULY 1944 Even better, is that there are war diaries for 292 HAA Battery and these are:- WO169/1626 - APR TO DEC 1941 WO169/4862 - JAN TO DEC 1942 WO169/9929 - JAN TO DEC 1943 WO169/16180 - JAN TO JUNE 1944 Regards - Rob
Thanks Rob for this information. How do you go about getting access to these war diaries and does it mean a visit to Kew ( pardon my ignorance but is this the War Museum?) Colin
It would be simpler to read this link to the National Archives at Kew, where the war diaries are stored. Visit us | The National Archives
