Italy. National Service (?). c. 1950' ish ?

Discussion in 'Postwar' started by Steve G, Mar 2, 2009.

  1. Steve G

    Steve G Senior Member

    :unsure: Yeah, I know; " Could ye be any More vague, Steve ? ".

    Sorry, peeps. Just a Really desperate bit of fishing. Probably a year After 1950, than a year Before. Presumed to be National Service? Person concerned would have been about twenty and 'Joined the army because .....' So I'm really not sure it they " Ran away to join " or simply decided this was a fair time to " Get Some In. "

    Either way, they appear to have ended up in Italy. Anyone here make head or tail of any of that?

    Thanks, if so! :huh:
     
  2. Tom Canning

    Tom Canning WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    National servicemen served all over the place - Cyprus - Italy - Austria -Egypt - Palestine - and elsewhere - they were conscripted as I recall.

    Cheers
     
  3. Steve G

    Steve G Senior Member

    Cheers for that, Tom. Actually, I was completely distracted and rather shattered when I popped that seemingly off hand question, last night. Now I'm fresh as a daisy and ye comments sent me off to Google (where I should, of course, have gone in the first place :rolleyes:) Now I'm absolutely bloody intrigued! I want to work this one to the bone!

    Unfortunately, I'm guessing it'll be next to impossible, to track down a given individuals Service from that era? Only, I've just worked out that my man would have been aged twenty six when definitely in uniform. NS only seems to have lasted a year. I was quite categorically told he " Joined the army " as a matter of choice. (Granted. One must Never accept, without thorough examination, Anything which one hears from family members regarding such things)

    Wonder what he was doing in Italy?
     
  4. Ron Goldstein

    Ron Goldstein WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Wikipedia has this to say:

    Full-time conscription in the United Kingdom was first introduced in 1916, and lasted from 1916 to 1919 and from 1939 to 1960. From 1948 it was generally known as National Service - during World Wars One and Two it was usually known as War Service or Military Service (though the act re-introducing it in 1939 was entitled the National Service (Armed Forces) Act).
     
  5. Steve G

    Steve G Senior Member

    Ron; Things have taken a turn for the mind bending! 'National Service', my foot! It transpires, because of my simple inability to count, that I've gone through my entire life on the 'out of thin air' assumption that my Dad was just a chavvie during the war!

    Wrong!!! He was born in October of 1924! He served in Italy too! Ye may have met him? :lol:

    I'm completely blown away with this finding. My Sister's going to need oxygen presently, when I tell her she, as the eldest, will have to be the one to apply for his Service Records and check out any medal entitlement!

    I can't get over this. All my new found and growing interest in the war. And my own bloody Dad was There!!! Oh, Wow! :D

    It was trying to find some trace of National Servicemen being in Italy, post war that set me off. I was walking my Dogs ~ nicely head clearing ~ and thought back to when, as a chavvie myself, I asked my Dad if he'd ever - as kids do - " Shot any Germans, in the war? ".

    His answer was that he didn't know. When I questioned this, he further explained that he'd be in a hedge, firing at a hedge on the other side. Neither side really knowing what they were shooting at.

    Hedges sort of took the fifties, Malayan business out of the picture. So I was stumped. Then I looked at his date of birth and started counting on my fingers ..... I'm absolutely wiped out!
     
  6. Ron Goldstein

    Ron Goldstein WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Steve

    Calm down son.........

    No excuses now, you really must send away for his records and THEN you can start some real researching.

    Good luck !

    Ron
     
  7. Tom Canning

    Tom Canning WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Steve G -
    don't forget that you have another ten digits hiding in your boots if you need them - as you say - he was born October 1924 (85 this year) it is unlikely that he was called up at that time so perhaps spring 1943 - six weeks primary training - then a further six months to become a proficient Infantryman - so earliest to go overseas would be around August 1943 - when Sicily was on - so he probably went to North Africa - some more training settling into a battalion - then over to Italy - don't think there was too much need for reinforcements until after Salerno in the September when the Mutiny took place with the 8th Army returnee's were forced into the 5th Army - much to their disgust as by then the XXX corps had been earmarked for D Day.... the Normandy one that is .....

    It will be interesting to set this against his service records, which - if your sister applies this week - you might get them by August... 2009 that is !

    Cheers
     

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