Family revelation. Where do I start? 2337435 Cyril James IMMS, Royal Signals

Hello everyone

We've recently made a surprising discovery about my father-in-law’s father, Cyril James Imms (born 1919) who served as a signaller during WWII in North Africa. Until now, very little was known about his service, as he rarely spoke of it. However, we’ve just learned that he was awarded the rank of Sergeant Major in 1948.

We’re keen to find out more about his unit and military service during the war. Does anyone know where we might begin our search, or have any suggestions on resources that could help us uncover more about his time in the forces?

Many thanks in advance for any guidance!

 

Hi,

Welcome to the forum.

Best place to start is by applying for his service record via this link -

Get a copy of military records of service

You could look on Ancestry and/or Forces War Records to see if he applied for his campaign medals after the war.

Once you have his service record you can research his unit war diaries. Obtaining a service record is not a quick process - there can be a wait of a year or more.

Good Luck

Steve

 

You could try posting here
Royal Signals - Index

In my next post I have posted what may be the card he sent off to apply for his medals post war. Ex-Servicemen obtained a blank card from a post office. This is post marked Birmingham 27 June 1948 & shows that he qualified for the Africa Star & for at least part if not all of his qualifying service for this he was in the 8th Army.
Africa Star - Wikipedia

This also shows the rank he had finished his service on as SGM. As he was in the Signals this may be short for Signalman, the signals name for the rank of private.

His service number does not appear in the WW2 British army casualty lists on ancestry.

It was issued by the Royal Signals before 2nd July 1942 after which all new recruits received numbers from the General Service Corps sequence & as he appears on the 1939 Register taken 30 Sep this gives an early war window for his enlistment. Looks like the army made good use of his 1939 trade of electrical engineer.

I also checked the wartime papers on the British Newspaper Archive, but no mentions seen.



Travers

 

Steve has already given some excellent advice regarding service records but in the meanwhile :-



Name Cyril James Imms
Rank Sergeant Major
Award Date 25 Nov 1948
Applicant's Delivery Address 8, White Road Shethwick Staffs
Service Group Number 29
Class of Release A
Service Number 2337435
Regiment Royal Signals
Stars/Medals Issued 1939-45; Africa; War




Kyle

 

Isn't SGM , Signalman not Sgt-Major ?


Royal Signals ranks

 

Many thanks Kyle, that is a much clearer image than the one I have.

 

Image of card deleted as Kyle has beaten me to it !

Travers

 

Thanks Steve. Yes, my father-in-law is applying for the records.

 

Thanks Travers. This explains the number 8 next to Africa.

 

Signalman is abbreviated to Sigmn on other records, but i'd defer to an expert on this.

 

It’s likely Signalman…..if he was a “Sergeant Major” the acronym could be one or other of RSM, CSM, RQMS, SSM, BSM etc depending on the unit but never SGM.

From his medal application it would appear he didn’t serve in a theatre of war after the North African campaign ended as there is no entitlement to the Italy or France & Germany Stars.

Steve

 

Thank you. We’d be surprised if he were a sergeant major tbh. The mistake on the form is understandable, especially since Cyril filled it in himself. It must have been a transcription error by Ancestry.

 

Sergeant Major is a title and not a rank.

If he was a Sergeant Major then his rank would be shown as Warrant Officer Second Class or WO2 if abbreviated.

Regards

Frank

 

Welcome to the forum and good luck on your research.

 

Well I never knew that.

 

The Sergeant Major of an infantry Company would be WO2 (CSM) A Buttocks. The Sergeant Major of an artillery Battery would be WO2 (BSM) A Buttocks. The Sergeant Major of a signals, engineer or armoured Squadron would be WO2 (SSM) A Buttocks.

F

 

Thanks all. Some great info and advice here.

I'm well versed in Great War research but this is a first entry into WW2 research.

I'm sure there's still plenty more to uncover, but for now, here's a photo of Cyril somewhere in North Africa

 

*UPDATE* The family have received the service records, they arrived much quicker than expected!

His abbreviated service is attached.

My next task is to locate the war diaries of the units he served with and corroborate the story of him falling from a telegraph pole in Egypt!

 

Pleased to see the records arrived so quickly.

Travers