Assistance Understanding Service Record - Captain T.P.B. Smith, Essex Regiment

Good morning

I am writing a biography of the Essex and England cricketer Peter Smith, and have been provided with a copy of his service record. I believe he began the war in the Essex Regiment before being transferred to the Royal Engineers to serve in Combined Operations in Egypt, checking shipping entering ports.

Would this Army Service Record bear this out?

 

Hi,

Thanks for sharing the record albeit some of the pages are poor quality - especially the crucial copy B199 at Page 57 in the file.

I can see that he attended a Combined Operations Training Course in U.K. before being posted to Egypt in late May 1943. He was employed as a Combined Operations Trainer - specific role or location not shown. He had a period of sickness in late summer 1943 and on recovery he was attached (posted in 1944) to Royal Engineers Movement Control - specific role or location not shown other than 16 Area. He had a further period of sickness in July 1945 but eventually returned to MCO and was at Sid Bishir when he was returned to U.K. in late 1945.

Combined Operations were not part of Royal Engineers.

Steve

 

RMP to 2/4 Essex Regiment who stayed in the UK supplying drafts and replacements to other units of the regiment serving abroad as well as other infantry regiments. From Wiki.

Initial Service Number 7685418 and then when commissioned 128035. Not seen here before today. His full name (for searching): Thomas Peter Bromley Smith.

22 March-14 April 1943 Combined Ops course @ Dunoon, Scotland.

 

2/4 Essex, not 1/4 Essex.

2/4 Essex remained in the UK.

Edit: those endless/pointless redactions are a real frustration when reading.

 

Thank you everyone so far. As Peter Smith was quite a famous cricketer, there is mention of his comings and goings in wartime newspapers, so I shall post up on here so people can see the progress in this research.

In fact, rather than serving with the Military Police, he was meant to have been travelling to India with the MCC / England party in October 1939 to play a Test series. That was cancelled for obvious reasons.