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

Cheers, I’m enjoying the feedback I’m getting it’s a great place for sharing info.

 

Re the 22nd Field Regiment, I think the diary you’re after would be WO 167/476, and for the 76th, WO 167/496 covers September 1939 - 30 June 1940. Apologies if you already know that

Oh, just a thought, but have you also considered contacting the Royal Artillery Museum and asking whether it would be worth getting the DRAMA reports for each of your dad’s Regiments?

They’d cover the whole war, not just the time he was with them, but may be worth a look. They’re obviously not as hour-by-hour detailed as the diaries but the one I got for grandad’s Regiment, 11 pages, still gave me a very good account of where he was and when and was well worth the money.

They charge £15 for each DRAMA report (or they did when I got one last October), but you can ask them first whether they consider it worth you paying out, as some are much more detailed than others. They’ll not be offended and actually suggest you ask them if it’s worth your while. Contact them here:

Contact - The Royal Artillery Museum

 

Hi thanks for that I didn’t know what the WO number was or about the RA museum. What is a DRAMA report? Any info is useful, as you say just getting an understanding of what was going on.
Thanks for the help, appreciate it.
Cheers

paul

 

I’m not sure exactly what it stands for, Paul, but I did receive this helpful “Gunner Family History” leaflet from them back in 2019 which explains:



You will see that they say that some units have detailed entries, some not and also that some Regiments have quite detailed entries for WW2, as well as their suggesting you ask whether the report, if there is one, is worth paying for etc.

By the way, after I finally got round to requesting the DRAMA, the fee had changed to £15, not the £25 mentioned above.

This thread here may also be useful:

Has anyone ever seen or use a DRAMA report?

SteveDee managed to attach the whole leaflet to his post in that thread, but it would not let me do this myself, so I took screenshots for you, here (but you’ll probably find Steve’s download easier):

 

Thanks for this. Looks like a great resource. I will make contact and see where it leads.
Thanks again

paul

 

I’ve sent you a PM with a snippet from “my” DRAMA, just so you can see what you may get if you go for it.

 

Hi Andy
Thanks for your message. I couldn’t get your excel link to open to check if the war diary I’m looking for is on the list. I would like a war diary of 151/51 HAA royal artillery from Nov 1940 Crete please. I not sure what info you require so if I’ve left something out please let me know. Many thanks

 

Hi I think you need to contact Andy

 

Hello is it possible Andy for you to let me know if it is possible to get the 552 RASC Coy Diaries for me. My grandfather was in North Africa from March 1942 until he returned to the UK in Dec 1943. and then embarked for BLA on the 17th of June 1944. Thank you

 

Hello,
My name is Marco Dalmonte, I'm from Northern Italy and I make historical research about what happened in my area during WW2.
I'd like to obtain the following war diaries:
WO 170/4637 = 8 RTR (1945)
WO 170/4636 = 6 RTR (1945)
WO 170/4418 = 7 Armoured Brigade (1945)

In particular, I'm looking for only part of them, i.e. all the pages/maps/additional documents covering March and April 1945 only.
I was wondering if there's anyone here who could be so kind to help me. It would be very much appreciated.
Hoping not to give you too much bother with my message, thank you very much for any help you may give me. And sorry for my English, which is not very good.
Kind regards
Marco

 

Hi does anyone have copies of the War Diaries for the following regiments and time periods as listed below.
75TH HEAVY ANTI-AIRCRAFT REGIMENT ROYAL ARTILLERY - 233 Battery between 16 Sept 1940 and 13 Oct 1940. 306 Battery between 14 Oct 1940 and 10 June 1944.

7TH BATALLION OXFORDSHIRE & BUCKINGHAMSHIRE LIGHT INFANTRY - 167TH (LONDON) INFANTRY BRIGADE - 56TH LONDON INFANTRY DIVISION “BLACK CATS” Between 11 July 1944 and 25 Sept 1944

2ND/6TH BATALLION “QUEEN’S” ROYAL REGIMENT - 169TH INFANTRY BRIGADE - 56TH LONDON INFANTRY DIVISION “BLACK CATS” between 6 Jan 1945 and 15 Mar 1946.

 

Hi Marco,

If Andy can't help drop me a message and I can assist with the above.

Regards,
Gary.

 

Hi,

I have the last two and can get you the other one as well. Start a conversation with me if you want further info.

Regards,
Gary.

 

Hi mate, started a conversation with you

 

Does anyone have the 7th OBLI war diaries for the period between 11 July 1944 and 2 December 1944 please.

 

Does anyone have a copy of War Diary for 5th Royal Tank regiment for the days around the 24th August 1944? Just trying to cross reference the War Diary insert for 4 Field Squadron RE that says on the 24th August 44 1330hrs "Scissors laid for 5 R Tks at 883925" as I believe the co-ordinates are wrong and should actually be 883952.

 

Does anyone have a copy of War Diary for 151/51 HAA royal artillery from Nov 1940 Crete please? If not is anyone going to National Archives and would be willing to copy it for me for a fee? Thanks

 

If nobody here already has it, from personal experience you can do no better right now than asking Gary Tankard. Did a grand job for me. Why not drop him a PM.

 

I can help out, you just need to let me know what file and what months you require. However, just so it is clear I don't copy files for free (I travel from Sheffield to Kew) and I'm having to start asking people for a deposit before I copy anything. Unfortunately a couple of members here have asked for files and then 'disappeared' after I'd spent hours copying them.

 

There are no words mate, sorry to hear that.