I've just got this extract of the War Diary of the Royal Engineers 107 Field Company but I can't understand it as the writing is terrible. It also has military abbreviations that I don't understand too. Can anyone 1) Read it and 2)Translate it for me please? Driver Parker is my Granddad!
C.E. P ??? sad news that Dr Parker and Spr Jones- 2 ?? killed apparently set off BT ? when collecting Te....? for blasts RE ?? Weather pleasant and bathing in sea good-possible hot evenings-sea very salt(y), nice and warm, very rapidly shelving beach. Will have another look to fill in blanks-sorry cannot add any more! Lesley
C.E. brings sad news....and Spr (Sapper) Jones , 2 pl (Platoon) ... when collecting Tellermines .... A Tellermine was a German anti-tank mine.
... for blasting RC ... this possibly means 'blasting reconnaissance positions' - but that's a pure guess.
Far as I can get, with adding a couple from below C.E. brings sad news that Dr. Parker and Spr Jones - 2pl killed. Apparently set off B.T. when collecting Tellermines for blasting RC (??fois/pors??) Weather pleasant and bathing in sea good - possible most evenings - sea very salt (?wish it weren't?), very rapidly shelving beach. W
Gents, that is great. And I never would have gotten Tellermines, thanks tmac. I'd guessed at Booby Trap but now it makes sense; the Germans would have Booby Trapped as much as they could of any usuable kit left behind. I realise that some equipment can be used by all, but I would we have used mines for Blasting something? Would we not have "disposed" of them? Anyone know what C.E. is? Company "something" perhaps? Thanks again everyone!! Andrew.
"C.E. ????? bad news...." Could this be "C.E. Brings bad news....."? but still don't know/understand what C.E. might be.
If 'C E' is not identifiable as personal initials elsewhere in the diary then I'd expect an unofficial shorthand for CRE - 'Commander (Royal) Engineers'
Hi, In the list of abbreviations that came with my fathers service record from Glasgow CE is "Chief Engineer (RE)"
This is an extract from my 92nd LAA history, July 1944, when the regiment was in Normandy .. Another experiment by the 92nd around this time proved to have its share of hazards – instant excavation of gun pits. ‘We soon cottoned on to the fact that there was quicker way of producing a large deep hole than by merely using a pick and shovel,’ recalled Jack Prior. ‘This was to get hold of some anti-tank mines and set one of them off in the desired location. We tried this several times and it worked a treat, so long, of course, as one took ample cover while the debris was being flung to the four corners.' ... so anti-tank mines may well have been utilised for unusual purposes. They were obviously useful for producing an effective explosion in a defined area.
Upon further reading of the rest of the War Diary, I think that "C.E. ????" is "C.E. Brings"; it makes sense in the context of the sentence and the "B" in "Brings" is the same as the "B" in "B.T.". So that makes the last sentence end "for blasting RC B???". Is it "Brs"? It must be something that regularly occurs as its used again on the 9th, and in fact this whole line is repeated regularly throughout the Diary. I also can't read the first work on the 9th. Is it "Work on the high level Brs"? Anyone any idea of what regularly occurs in an RE Company at high or low level?
What handwriting! 8th Work on road continues Massive scheme on all? blg brs (building bridges??) and recce report on inland road sent to C?? 9th Work on high level brs (bridges?) Perhaps the Royal Engineers were working on building a Bailey bridge?? Lesley ps Am I barking up the wrong tree??
I think that you're right. It is 'Brs' for 'bridges' which makes the 'RC' suddenly obvious - 'Reinforced Concrete' - a standard abbreviation even today. The extensive use of this in Europe during the 1930s caused quite a lot of demolition problems and it is quite likely that there would have needed to be further demolition before parts such as existing footings could be used for replacement roadways. The report was sent to 'CRE' - Commander, Royal Engineers.
9th, (under the line Lesley already translated!), it looks to be "Dimiss plans with contractors ???" Or is it "discuss" ?
...so that would mean that the entry dated the 7th, first paragraph would read "..for blasting RC Brs (Bridges?)". Is an RC bridge a bailey bridge? Or another type? (completely out of my field here ).
