Hi, I am researching my dads unit (573 AF Coy) during WW2 when it was sent over to Egypt during 1941. From his war diaries it mentions that the unit embarked aboard a H.M.T G21 on the 20th March 1941 and was at sea nearly all April before anchoring at Port Tewfik on the 5th May 1941. I have tried to find out which ship/convoy he was on but to no success. I am assuming that the G21 is a convoy code?? When researching the ships i got slightly confused as to the difference between a transport ship and a troopship. Can anyone help me please. I would be interested to know the actual route the ship took and 4 weeks at sea seems a long time. Thanks in advance Geoff
Hi Geoff, There is an amazing website with a lot of convoy information here: ConvoyWeb However I have not looked for G21. My grandfather - a merchant mariner on a freighter - was in convoy OS.39 from Milford Haven and the info I have is: left 29th August 1942. Arrived Durban 10th October. Arrived Suez 5th November. So that's even longer than your dad's trip. Chris
Hi, He likely sailed on convoy WS7 from the Clyde 24th March 1941 as per this link - WS (Winston Specials) Convoys in WW2 - 1941 Sailings As for the ship he sailed on the unit War Diary (assuming the diary you mention was his personal diary) may assist you but it is not the ship listed as 21 in the convoy formation diagram. Steve
I think G21 is a ship ref. I haven't found a way of linking War Diary ship refs to ship names. So may be better to start by looking for convoys that match the dates you have. Edit: sorry, Tullybrone has beat me to it!
Hi, Just to thank you all for your help and pointing me to a couple of good web sites. I am working through them Geoff
Take into account that the date of embarkation is not the date of sailing, with many troops to get on board, embarkation could take days or weeks.
Also, troops may have boarded at one port before sailing to another to join the convoy. For Operation Torch, many boarded in Liverpool then sailed north to join convoys leaving from the Clyde. Another reason why the dates may differ.
Steve, Not having any family alive to ask the question, did troops have the opportunity to go home before being posted aboard. The reason I ask is that my dad was born in Liverpool and did all his military training in Devon with the Devon & Cornwall Fortress Engineers (which eventually became the 573 Army Field Company) before he was posted to Egypt. If you say that many troops boarded in Liverpool then sailed north to join convoys leaving from the Clyde. It begs the question whether my dad had the opportunity to go home first before sailing. I suppose I will never know.
Troops did have embarkation leave before sailing of 2 weeks IIRC, but I suspect once on the train from the South West he would not be permitted to go home again enroute as this was a time when men went AWOL. Secondly though some in his company might have known where he was going, the information was kept very close to the chest for fear the U Boats might be able to home in to a troopship. I have one battalion's records and several men were missing after they were supposed to return from embarkation. leave. Other accounts indicate men didn't know which port they were leaving from until they got there. Those who must have known were unit transport drivers taking vehicles and company HQ clerks/officers.
I can post up the narrative of WS7 as taken from the book Winston's Specials if that would be of interest.
I can't believe that troops were advised on either sailing dates or destinations in advance, as there was a real need for secrecy. I think my dad must have realised that there was a high chance that he would be posted abroad in 1942, possibly due to the type of training the regiment had been through, or maybe just because 'his number was sure to come up' eventually. Either way, he & mum were quick to get married in September of that year, just in case. Sure enough, he was heading to North Africa before the year was out. Also, despite the need for secrecy, censorship was not perfect. In a letter home he asked mum "...not to forget to give the dog a bone". They didn't have a dog, so she looked on a French map and located Bone (now Annaba) in French North Africa.
