My father was born in April 1913 and so this year marks the 100th anniversary of his birth. I have been a keen family historian for many years and have researched my family name back to the early 1700's (so far!). However I have always wanted to produce a detailed biography of my late father and it seems appropriate to get this done this year whilst I have such a good incentive! I have 5 grandchildren aged 5 years and under, and I would like them to know about their great-grandfather. Sadly he died back in 1995 and, typically, he didn't talk much about his army days during WWII and I didn't ask him much either. As this was obviously quite a significant event in his life I need to find out as much as I can. At the moment I do not have sufficient information to bring to this forum in order to ask for help and I know from experience on other unrelated forums how frustrating it can be for others who want to help when the OP does not provide enough info! All I would like to say right now is that he was with a Field Ambulance unit in the RAMC and was in North Africa, Italy and finally demobbed in Austria. I have a box of stuff to look through which I know contains quite a lot of details but I'm sure I'll be grateful for additional help in the near future. With best wishes for a Happy New Year to all members, Jeff
Hello and welcome to the forum Jeff. A very Happy New Year to you also When you find the time please post any details or photos as I am sure some of us will be able to help. Lesley
Hello.....Do you know which Field Ambulance unit he was with ? Drew5233 - Yes, 11th Field Ambulance, RAMC. His army number is 7390286. Name: Private H.A.Britten.
Jeff As he is your father you should be able to obtain his Service Record at no cost if you are the surviving NOK. Try this - Historic Disclosures, Mailpoint 555, Kentigern House, 65 Brown Street, Glasgow G2 8EX Tel: 0845 600 9663 Email: disc4@apc.army.mod.uk Tony
Jeff As he is your father you should be able to obtain his Service Record at no cost if you are the surviving NOK. Try this - Historic Disclosures, Mailpoint 555, Kentigern House, 65 Brown Street, Glasgow G2 8EX Tel: 0845 600 9663 Email: disc4@apc.army.mod.uk Tony Sorry Tony but sons and daughters of deceased servicemen have to pay Lesley
Tony Only the service person or their wife/husband can get them for free. Out of interest did he serve with the BEF in 1940? I'm away from my records so can't check if 11 FA were out there.
Jeff. In case you did not know, 11 Field Ambulance were one of three Fd Ambs for 78 British Infantry Division at Cassino. They supported 11 Infantry Brigade. FdeP
Tony Only the service person or their wife/husband can get them for free. Out of interest did he serve with the BEF in 1940? I'm away from my records so can't check if 11 FA were out there. I have his service book ("Soldier's Service and Pay Book") and this states that he enlisted at Boyce Barracks on the 14th November 1940, so no, I presume he would not have been part of the BEF in 1940? Although of course the 11th Field Ambulance could have been? I see that Boyce Barracks (Crookham near Fleet, Hants) was indeed used by the RAMC since 1938, so that ties in.
Jeff. In case you did not know, 11 Field Ambulance were one of three Fd Ambs for 78 British Infantry Division at Cassino. They supported 11 Infantry Brigade. FdeP Minden1759: thanks for that info. All I knew was that they worked their way up through Italy but not that they were at Monte Cassino. I am a complete novice here but having just read that the 78th Division were also known as the BattleAxe Division, this makes sense as there are some examples of the BattleAxe logo in amongst his papers. There is a boxful of stuff to go through with lots of photographs etc. so I guess there will be lots of discoveries yet to be made!
Jeff As he is your father you should be able to obtain his Service Record at no cost if you are the surviving NOK. Try this - Historic Disclosures, Mailpoint 555, Kentigern House, 65 Brown Street, Glasgow G2 8EX Tel: 0845 600 9663 Email: disc4@apc.army.mod.uk Tony Tonym - thanks for the info. What sort of information would the service record provide - will it be a kind of chronological history of his time in the army (including the places he would have been in)? Jeff
Minden1759: thanks for that info. All I knew was that they worked their way up through Italy but not that they were at Monte Cassino. I am a complete novice here but having just read that the 78th Division were also known as the BattleAxe Division, this makes sense as there are some examples of the BattleAxe logo in amongst his papers. There is a boxful of stuff to go through with lots of photographs etc. so I guess there will be lots of discoveries yet to be made! Now you've found out he was in the "Battleaxe" Division, may I recommend you read a book by Ken Ford called "Battleaxe Division". It is a good starting point to learn about the 78th Division's war. My father was in 56 Recce which was the same division. Also a thread about the 78th Division here: http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/allied-units-general/30220-78th-british-infantry-division-%22-battleaxe-div%22.html Lesley
Tonym - thanks for the info. What sort of information would the service record provide - will it be a kind of chronological history of his time in the army (including the places he would have been in)? Jeff Hi Jeff Take a look at my albums-it will show just how much information I received from the records office about my father.
Welcome Jeff You might want to check out the articles in the RAMC Journal linked to on this thread - http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/allied-units-general/47622-what-role-field-dressing-station.html The one about WW2 gives a useful overview of what the various RAMC units were supposed to do. Cheers Ian
Hi Jeff Take a look at my albums-it will show just how much information I received from the records office about my father. Sorry, but how do I get to look at your albums? Jeff
