Hi I have just received my grandfather's military records and I'm after a little clarification. On his Military history sheet it states that country served in from Sept '43 to Jan '46 as being BNAF. I know this means British North Africa Force so am I right in saying that this term was served somewhere in North Africa? I'm a little uncertain as I know at the time he was serving in an heavy AA Battery and I have letters written by him which seem from their contents to be written from Italy. I'll be grateful for any help. Thanks
Hi Steve and welcome to the forum, There are many on here with a interest in the Africa and Italy campaigns including some veterans. I suspect they are one and the same thing as the force from Africa went on to invade Italy. Cheers Andy
Steve Using my mob as an example, we started off in N.Africa as BNAF (British North African Forces) Once we'd moved to Sicily (and later Italy) we became CMF (Central Mediterranean Forces) Hope that clarifies. Ron
Steve - to answer your question - " am I right in thinking that this term- Sept '43 - Jan '46 was served somewhere in Africa " - the answer is probably NO ! He obviously went out as a reinforcement landing in Algiers which was the central part of BNAF along with Morocco and Tunisia - joined his AA unit - which became part of a larger group - Division etc -moved to Italy (CMF)) in early '44 i.e. 4th Div - 6th Armoured div - 21st and 25th Tank Bdes - then after May '45 probably went on to either Austria or Greece......or stayed in Italy....many AA units were broken up in the October of '44 as we were short of manpower about that time......any idea which Division he was with ? Cheers
I too have just received my father's service records. The summary showed he had served at home and in N Africa. In the detail of service etc., it gives the date of disembarking in N Africa as 26/5/43 and returning to England on 25/6/45. There is no mention of movement to any other location. This was confusing as I knew he had been in Sicily, Italy and Greece and I also still have postcards (passed by censor) and photos (one taken with St Peter's basilica as the backdrop). In the detail of the service and casualty form, there are entries from 26/5/43 to 17/2/44 under BNAF and then from 1/7/44 to 16/6/45 under CMF. The entry of 16/6/45 shows he was taken off strength to return to England, and arrived on 25/6/45. It seems that anyone appearing to have served the whole time in N Africa may in fact have been serving in other areas. He was a driver attached to 93 Airborne Division Coy. He was promoted to L/Cpl but asked to revert to driver. After the war he never drove a vehicle.
Hello and welcome jclark. I am not too surprised about the service records query. My fathers records stated he had been in North Africa for over 2 years, in fact he also went to Sicilty and Italy!! Could you post up his records so we can take a look? On his records there should be notes as to his receipt of the Africa and Italy stars, and this will in fact confirm he was in those places. Lesley
I have just received my father's medals. On his discharge papers it only showed 'awarded War Medal 1939-1945'. He did not qualify for the Africa Star as this was only given for service up to 11/5/1943 and he arrived on 26/5/1943. He received the 1939-1945 Star; the Italy Star; the Defence Medal, and the War Medal 1939-1945. I am pleased with the result. Now I will have to decide which of my grandchildren will be the custodian!
