If I send for my late Grandfathers Service Record from the official Irish Guards source, what detail can I expect to see, I know he landed at Arromanches on the 23rd June, and was shot two weeks later, passed around medical facilites until being flown home sometime after the 7/6/44. Will the records contain info on where he was treated, whilst awaiting the trip home, will it also show here he did his initial training etc etc.....I do realise there was a war on so recording info on paper wasnt the number one priority. But Im just wondering how much info I can expect to see.
Hi here are a couple of examples of IG records, although they will be much the same as other examples elsewhere on the forum. http://www.ww2guards.com/ww2guards/Photos/Pages/ODONNELL,_JOHN,_2BN_%26_3BN.html#4 http://www.ww2guards.com/ww2guards/Photos/Pages/1929-1956_ARTHUR_ANDREW_TABS_MAHONEY,_2ARMD_%26_1BN.html#59 Records will give details on enlistment, training, courses, promotions, any disciplinary action, campaign medals, date of embarkation, dates when take off strength (i.e. illness, injury), etc. What's your grandfather's name? Do you have any idea in which company he served, name of officer?
My Grandfather , Guardsman H Worrall 2721534, was in the 3rd battalion and thanks to a chap at the IG headquarters I know this... "He arrived in France 20 June 1944, on the 3 July he was transferred to’ X(ii) List’ (medical station), he was evacuated back to the UK 7July" Im afraid I know nothing of what company he served in, but now I know that there is a good chance his records will have good detail, I will send for them, I simply wanted to see how other IG records were. We sent for my other Grandads records from the RAF, and they were very sparse... I Have learned some info on the 3rd batallion on the whole from another post on here, but as for individual company info, I know nothing.. Thanks
If the 3rd July is also the date he was wounded, then this entry for the battalion war diary is relevant: http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/47101-war-diary-3rd-battalion-irish-guards-jan-dec-1944/ I have no note of your grandfather's name in my own records, so I'm afraid I can't add anything specific. But I have added his name to my unofficial roll in this link http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/46310-irish-guards-unofficial-nominal-roll-by-army-number-order/?p=545945 Good luck with the application for records and if you have any difficulty interpreting them, post them up for the forum members to have a look. The abbreviations and jargon can be a bit confusing at first.
Please excuse my lack of knowledge, but is this the whole entry form the diary, is this from a document held at Kew, and is this the ref no. WO 171/1257 Im assuming this refers to the IG war diaries, is there a method of ordering certain Day entries, as ordering the whole diary would be expensive. Travelling to Kew itself isnt an option really. what does No.1 Coy refer too. Again I apologise for my lack of knowledge, but your assistance is so very much appreciated....
Hi That's the whole entry for the day, yes, though others can be much longer. I'm afraid 3IG diary isn't particularly detailed as these things go, but there are usually appendices to the diary containing daily intelligence reports, movement orders and the like. These tend to flesh things out a good bit. That's the correct catalogue number for the diary some of which I have transcribed in the link I added earlier http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/47101-war-diary-3rd-battalion-irish-guards-jan-dec-1944/ TNA do offer a copying service for those who cannot attend in person, but it's rather expensive. There are members on this forum who go to Kew regularly and who offer to do the work for you at very reasonable prices. No need to apologise, this is what the forum is for. No. 1 Coy stands for number 1 Company. Each infantry battalion consisted of 4 rifle companies (in this case 1, 2, 3, 4, which were further split into platoons and then sections), as well as a H.Q. Company. Each company would be given detailed different tasks or objectives, so on any given day men serving in the same battalion could experience totally different circumstances. It's only guesswork; without confirmation of his date of injury from e.g. a story he may have related, there can be no certainty he was in 1 Coy. It's unlikely that the service records will show this. Do you have a copy of the Irish Guards regimental history by FitzGerald? Thanks for posting up his discharge papers. Would it be right to assume your grandfather's injuries stopped him from returning to active service? I'm just wondering as some did return to their unit after recovering. Do you have any photos of him which you could share, any of his training squad might also be of interest to others also searching for information about their relatives. If you have names of comrades or officers I can look them up for you. Can you also confirm which campaign medals he was awarded, the stars will indicate in which Theatres he served e.g. France and Germany Star?
My Grandad is bottom row 2nd from left, He did once tell me many of the names, and I dearly wish I would have written them down. I pretty sure this is pre D-Day. As far as I know he stayed in the Guards until 1945 but never went back to the battalion as he was deemed unfit due to his injury.
Thanks for posting. Great photo, shame about the names but the letter confirms date of wounding to the the 3rd July. So, your grandfather was one of the four men wounded by mortar fire that day.
So the 3rd instant actually means the 3rd July.....great info, thanks for that, his medical release paper states GUN SHOT wound, would that simply be a generic reason....?
Yes it refers to the month in the letterhead. I would have thought GSW should be just that rather than e.g. shrapnel etc.
The IG War diary copies arrived today, many thanks to Andy for supplying them, It makes fascinating reading, even though my Grandad was only in there for just over a week, its a strange feeling knowing that the details in the diary, remotely refer to my Grandad, Even the pages which arnt applicable to him make good reading, and contain fascinating info, and as they are actual documents, you know its the real thing......Will his records state which platoon he was in etc etc, and will they record his training. this is is service and pay book if any info can be read from this, I think I have asked this before but what does the NSACT mean,
Hi, NSACT is shorthand for National Service Act - the 1939 Act of Parliament that introduced conscription. Steve Y