After my Dad's initial training (Leslie Rossiter) he was posted to 254 battery 81st HAA regiment RA. According to his record (see below) he was posted to Longhope Orkney in February 1941.. I did a little bit of research and there were 3 batteries there Lyrawa Hill, Scad Head and Skerry. so far so good but it must have been a bit grim there in winter. Then in January 1942 he was attached to CRS Middleton Camp Heysham Can anyone help with the abbreviation? I have checked various databases without success. CR could be Coastal Regiment................. I couldn't find out much about the camp. It seems that Christmas 1941 and part of January 1942 he was at Sunderland Point (not far from Heysham) The next line is that he is in hospital for a few days in West Hartlepool. Bearing in mind that it is war time would it be unusual for part of the record to be missing? I left England in 1970 and Geography was never my best subject so it took a while for the penny to drop that Heysham and West Hartlepool were not exactly next door to one another!! As a matter of interest Dad went from home Fleetwood, to Kinmel to Cleethorpes to Longhope Orkney to Heysham to Sunderland Point to ,West Hartlepool to Greenock then to Egypt. I calculated the miles he did in the UK. On today's roads the mileage is about 1570. I hate to think what it was like in wartime. Unfortunately I couldn't find a War Diary for this period at Kew. Possibly the Firepower Museum has a copy but it would be too expensive for me to obtain a copy. Cheers Diane View attachment L Rossiter War Record 6.pdf .
Hi DianeE I have my fathers service records and today I received a confirmation letter from 'Historical Disclosures, Glasgow' following my phone call to them regarding these records, and their response was, "I have reexamined it thoroughly and unfortunately there are no further documents held on file which expand his military service between 1942 and 1945" TD
Hi TD That must have been very disappointing for you. Hard to imagine 3 years of records missing. Though I do marvel at the fact that so many records exist. cheers Diane
I am not sure I can help much Diane but I think it could be Coastal regiment station. I cannot find a particular site to link to but it looks like there was a Searchlight Battery unit around Heysham. If you google Middleton Towers holiday camp, Heysham there are a few results. This camp was taken over by the Army in ww2. Lesley
Thanks Lesley, I did google Middleton Towers and as you say there are not many results. Still I have a very good idea where he was before being shipped to Eqypt. Like so many men he said very little about his wartime experiences. Diane
Hi Diane, I've just registered and found your post - my grandfather, Stanley Crame, was with 254/81st on Orkney from Feb 41 - May 42 and through to N. Africa until 1944. This is the first time I've found anyone connected. Keep an eye on this thread: http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/56404-244-78th-laa-254-81st-haa Best wishes mark
Hi There is a bit here on the 81st - http://www.ra39-45.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/haa/page44.html War diaries - http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C1010648 http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C1005612 http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C788431 http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C1016984 http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C1010719 http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C1005653 http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C788594 regards Robert
