I have just received my paternal grandfather's WW2 records. This is a man I never knew as he left when my father was 6 years old. His pre-war service with Irish Fusiliers was fairly unremarkable, he served in India from 1927 to 1932. However, his WW2 service is a bit of an eye opener as his records are littered with charges for AWOL and desertion almost constantly thoughout his Home Service - ranging from 2 years to 31 mins!! However, the one thing I'm interested to note that he was sent to NWE in May 1945 for approximately 2 month with 145 Coy Pioneer Corps. Am I correct in thinking the NWE Campaign which began in June 1944 with the Normandy Landings ended in May 1945 with Montgomery overseeing German surrender? Is it likely that my grandfather would have been sent out to help with the post-victory operations such as withdrawal of troops or even the release of PoWs and/or liberation of PoW or Concentration camps? Any thoughts/views on what this brief period of service may have entailed or even which area of NWE he would possibly have been sent to? Thank you
Perhaps you need to obtain a copy of the War Diary for 145 Coy Pioneer Corps WO 171/7319 1945 Jan.- Nov. 145 Coy. Reference: WO 171/7319 Description: 145 Coy. Date: 1945 Jan.- Nov. Held by: The National Archives, Kew Legal status: Public Record(s) Closure status: Open Document, Open Description It will explain what they were doing TD
Thanks Tricky Dicky - have literally just found that reference myself in Discovery! Plan to visit soon.