My Father was in 74 Field Regt RA.

Hi there. My father served with 452 Battery, 74th Fld Reg through North Africa, Sicily, D-Day, Market Garden and ending with occupation duty in Germany. Even though we have an extensive personal record, compiled by my mother, over the years I have always considered investigating the National archives to add detail. For example, it has always been a mystery as to how a young man from South Wales ended up in the TT's? I can see from this thread that advice is to avoid (due to excessive cost / quite an overwhelming experience for noobies) obtaining information directly from Kew and to perform the research through this online community. Any help would be gratefully received,especially in obtaining details of his service record / company diary. Many thanks.

 

Martin,

Welcome aboard.

His Service Record is the definitive document for his service, currently the waiting time after application is a year plus. Details on: Get a copy of military records of service

See guidance on: How to Start a new Thread / Edit Post / Upload Image

There will be interest in your mother's personal record.

Please make clear what sources you have already looked at, this is often missed, and members can spend a lot of time looking for detail already known.

The "go to" RA reference, run by two members here, has a short history of his regiment. See: 74 (Northumbrian) Field Regiment RA (TA) - The Royal Artillery 1939-45 Note 452 Battery was formed in April 1942.

Some research tips next.

 

He was in the British Army.
Men were sent to any unit that needed them, no matter where they or the unit came from.

 

An online search with: "74 field regiment" site:ww2talk.com id'd a number of threads here. More can be id'd with: "74th field regiment" site:ww2talk.com

There are helpful posts on their history on: 74th Field Regiment R.A (Northumbrian T.A) It all depends on when he joined them.

Most of the war they were part of the 50th Infantry (Northumbrian) Division, a starter is: 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division - Wikipedia

 

Thanks for accepting me. Other than plenty of Googling I haven't subscribed to any official military database.

 

The story he told us is that he left the UK on a ship that stopped at Durban, SA. There some soldiers were transferred to another ship destined for the far east and my father headed to north Africa. He recounted that he was eternally grateful for that "roll of the dice"...

 

Martin,

All troop movements to North Africa went via the Cape of Good Hope once Italy joined the war, that also meant movements to India, India and beyond did too. Durban was one of two ports convoys called at, the other being Cape Town. From memory all convoys assembled at Durban and the local population, mainly English-speaking, greeted the convoys and entertained them for a few days.

That diversion of troops to Singapore has appeared here before, though I cannot immediately remember which one or more it happened to.

I used an online search with: "durban" + "convoy" + "split" + "singapore" site:ww2talk.com and that id'd several threads that might help.

 

Welcome Martin. Great name by the way.

As David said, your father’s service record is the one to have.

Another thing you may like to try getting is the Regiment’s DRAMA report from the Royal Artillery Museum, at Larkhill, Wiltshire. A potted history is one way I’d put it and the super helpful researcher there told me that the DRAMAs are based on the war diaries. The one I obtained has been a really useful point of reference, cross referencing with the war diaries I have and even family letters.

I understand from the Museum that the content of the DRAMAs can vary, some have a lot more information than others, but I was assured before I ordered one that they check first to make sure there’s enough information to warrant you spending the money, which I thought was a nice touch.

In my case, they said it was a good detailed entry, so worth buying, and it was! It cost me £15, but that was in 2021. I was lucky actually, when I first enquired in 2019 the cost was £25, but it had gone down considerably by the time I actually ordered it.

I’m not sure if the museum is accepting online enquiries at the moment, although their website says they should be doing so this year, but you can visit in person, by appointment. Details here:

Page 2 - The Royal Artillery Museum

Another phone number and email address here:



Of course, there are the war diaries themselves, but as you say, try to avoid asking TNA to copy them for you as it ain’t cheap. There are members here who regularly visit Kew and offer a copying service at a very reasonable price, as many of us here have gratefully discovered.

For example, members Gary Tankard and Drew5233.

Here’s a few of those available for 74th Field:

Royal Artillery: 74 Field Regiment (Fd Regt) | The National Archives

Royal Artillery: 74 Field Regiment (RA Fd Regt) | The National Archives

Royal Artillery: 74 Field Regiment (Fd Regt RA) | The National Archives

Here’s a link to the index for diaries of all the Field Regiments:

Browse records of other archives | The National Archives

If you know when he sailed from the UK you may be able to find the convoy his ship was in. Chances are he was in one of the WS convoys (Winston Specials), but I can’t swear to that, of course. Here, as a taster, you can see details of the convoys from January to June 1942:

WS (Winston Specials) Convoys in WW2 - 1942 Sailings

WS Convoys

Best of luck with your research, you’re in the best place for it here.

 

Thank you, that's very helpful information. We have a letter in our collection from a lady from Durban that we couldn't explain. So, it looks like it was from a family who looked after him for a short while before his onward journey. Of course, now you mention Italy it makes sense why they took the long route to Egypt! Out of interest, was there any algorithm for who went to North Africa and who went to the far east?

 

Algorithm?

Higher command decided on the deployment of divisions to a theatre of war in accordance with the current strategic situation and future war aims and convoys were despatched.

There were rare occasions when circumstances changed once a convoy was at sea and the final destination was altered - such as in late 1941 when 18 Division destined for Middle East were diverted to Singapore and arrived just in time to be taken prisoner of war.

Steve

 

Thanks for all that information, I'll follow up the leads you suggest and maybe visit the RA Museum as I live in Wiltshire, though the opposite side to Larkhill!

Just checking our personal archive, I can see telegrams from my grandmother and mother, to Cairo dated early July 1943, with an outgoing letter from my mother to the MET (Mediterranean Expeditionary Force?) dated June 1943, thanking my Dad for transferring some of his wages. This was just before the invasion of Sicily, however I can't find anything that dates his arrival in Egypt.

 

I remember my father explaining the split being half the troop carrier going to north Africa and half going to the far east, and it appearing arbitrary from his perspective. Of course, it would be from the position of a mere Gunner, however I was wondering if there was more to it? For example, different units on the same carrier being assigned different destinations prior to leaving the UK or reacting to evolving situations on arriving at SA?

 

Hi,

I’m sure Private soldiers would always feel decisions made were arbitrary….

If you look on the WS link you will see large troop convoys left U.K. and largely stayed as a complete convoy until they reached South Africa. Troops usually disembarked there for a few days (or weeks) and the convoy split at that stage in to smaller convoys and sailed for their final destinations. Men would often arrive in South Africa on one ship and leave for their final destination in another ship.

The final destination of a unit would usually be predetermined prior to leaving U.K. as different kit would be required for different climates etc. I doubt the final destination would be officially communicated to junior ranks until they left South Africa for fear of it falling in to enemy hands although rumours and informed guesses would be rife amongst the troops.

Steve

 

MEF is Middle East Forces, you can read about it on this thread here:

MEF

Here too is a link to a very useful page about WW2 abbreviations and acronyms:

WW2 Abbreviations and Acronyms | Researching the Lives and Records of WW2 Soldiers

I have not been to the RA Museum myself, but I know member JohnG505 was there quite recently. He said they were very helpful and I get the impression he had a fine ol’ time. Wiltshire eh, what are the chances!

Here’s a link to that very thread on the Museum:

Royal Artillery Museum Help?

 

Hi Martin

Thanks for the mention Wobbler. I don't have any of the 74th Field Regiments war diaries in my archives but can copy them for you at my 10p per page rate.

Cheers
Andy

 

There are two diaries for 74 Fld on Ancestry covering 1942 & 43 in N Africa & Sicily. They are on my list for downloading in the near future.