hello everyone! as you can see from the attached service records of my grand dad (Robert Boyle) he was posted to Lancashire Fusiliers 10/10/44 when his Royal Artillery 467 Battery was disbanded. my questions are: 1) which Lanc Fus battalion was he posted to? 2Bn (part of 11th infantry brigade, 78th battleaxe division) or 11Bn (66th Infantry brigade, 1st infantry division). both were in italy at the same time he was there... 2) where was 8 IRTD (infantry reinforcement training depot)? He volunteered for parachute training early 1945 - as you can see he was posted to 2 para HQ and 5th Battalion scottish regiment for which i have the war diaries. Question 3)what is 't.o.s.' and 'x(4)' or 'SOS x(5)' mean? 4) is it likely that the diaries of the 2nd para mentioning the intake of volunteers from IRTD could have been him? (see the record). thank you in advance!! jeremy
He was posted to a reinforcement depot and never got posted to a unit by the looks of it. Soldiers went to this to replace battlefield casualties in units as and when required.
There are various posts on this site concerning x lists, have a look here: http://ww2talk.com/index.php?threads/x-lists-service-records.15663/ For others do a search for x lists in the box top right. TOS = taken on strength ie joining unit SOS = struck off strength ie leaving unit
so the only IRTD i could find in italy was in Cervinara. does anyone know of any other locations in italy? and was training about 3 months? cheers
Hi, To save members duplication of effort here is OP’s original topic on which I addressed the first point he makes in this new topic - Steve Robert Boyle: Artillery to Infantry to Parachute
hey Steve, your idea of checking field returns worked out! he returned january 15, 1944 from no.2 Depot 33 general hospital. now to figure out where that was the unit was in Palermo, italy at the time. thanks again! jeremy
Hi, Glad you are making progress From the ever helpful scarletfinders website - Hospitals WW2 - Scarlet Finders 33 British General Hospital Peebles 4/41 to 6/42 then overseas; Barjisita Camp (Iraq) 9/42 to 10/42 then to Musaitib; Musaitib 10/42 to 5/43 then to Malta; Malta 6/43 to 8/43 then to Syracuse; Syracuse 8/43 to 1/45 then to Catania; Catania 1/45 to 4/45 then to Hatfield; Hatfield House 4/45 to 5/45 then to Goodwood; Goodwood 5/45 to 7/45 then overseas; Coimbatore 8/45 to 12/12/45 then disbanded. Without seeing the entry I’d hazard a guess that the Number 2 Depot is likely to be Number 2 Convalescent Depot. Steve
i believe you are correct so what did he do for the extra couple of months at the IRTD? hanging out there possibly saved his life! cheers
