Having recently received my father’s service records, I still cannot identify the specific unit he served in and would appreciate any help to resolve this. His release book states that he was with HQ Squadron of the 6th Armoured Division for five years. He fought in North Africa, Italy and ended the war in Austria where he sent photographs of himself and several comrades climbing to a weather hut near the village of Heiligenblut in July 1945. In the photos the Mailed Fist emblem is clearly visible on one of the uniforms and he mentions two men in particular - Les Elworthy and Bert Wells. I am in possession of his medals, his RTR cap badge, a US Air Force silver wings badge and an oak leaf emblem for the mention in dispatches he received. From the records I note that he was hospitalised on 5th Sept. 1944 and again on 2nd Jan. 1945 at 31 General Hospital in Arrezzo. Liddell Hart’s history of the RTR, states that 2 RTR was the only tank regiment in Austria in 1945/6 and their history corresponds with my father’s movements. However I am informed that there were no tank regiments in the 6th Armoured Division. I have contacted the Tank Museum and REME archivists and they could not find him in their records. I have attached photos of the relevant documents and hope that someone can help me solve this puzzle.
That's his unit. The HQ Sqn of 6th Armd Div. See this thread , it lists the posts in an Armd Div HQ Sqn. Scroll thru it to the relevent bit. Division headquarters
Richard. From the Service Record, it would appear that he did his Basic Training at 57 Heavy Training Regiment RAC before being posted momentarily to City of London (Sharpshooters). It looks like there was then a change of plan and he went to 6 Armd Div HQ Sqn as a mechanic - but not a REME one, an RAC one. From the thread provided by Trux, I think that under the HQ Sqn list he was one of these: He may well have worn an RTR beret but, from his Service Record, and the letter of recommendation noting that he served 5 years in HQ Sqn, he does not appear to have served with an RTR battalion. Regards Frank PS. The important thing to know is that wherever 6 Armd Div went then so did he.
Frank Thank you for your response. Apart from the cap badge I remember my father explaining to me the meaning of the colours of his RTR tie which he proudly kept in his wardrobe. However, based on your information I will now focus on finding the war diaries for the units you identified specifically around the dates he was hospitalised.