Hello, I am trying to find out more about the Persia and Iraq (PAIForce) command, especially the tasks of the MEN of the Royal Corps of Signals. BUT NOT the books about PAIForce's commanders, but what the MEN actually did. I did contact the Royal Signals museum, but all they could do is refer me to the official books written by commanders and they advised me that the Royal Signals was in a supporting role. I knew that. My father was in the Royal Corps of Signals serving in PAIForce command and he mentioned being in small units up in the mountains and his unit had a dog as a "runner". Have photo of him and the unit's dog. Unfortunately my father has passed away thus I cannot question him more. He did joke about the "pink" elephant of their formation badge. Has anybody any information on what these Royal Signals units did. Regards Brian
Welcome Brian I see you have made your way from our sister forum at ww2f Have you looked at this thread I mentioned? http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/15335-the-royal-corps-of-signals/ Lesley
Recently on Fb... (Shows the "Pink" Elephant mentioned in #1 above) https://www.facebook.com/172538936907913/posts/1109365059891958/
From: British Formation Signs Needless to say the opening post's author has not been here since 2014. PAIFORCE is rather obscure, although when I looked before there was information here, not on the Royal Signals though. There are some mentions of them when searching, no complete articles so far and I have stopped.
There a few clues scattered around the forum. Iraq was covered by a different command, Iraq Force and later PAIFORCE, as each had its own allocated Army command structure. It had a significant garrison and was used for R&R for units that had been damaged in North Africa. See: Docs – Persia Iraq 1941-1947 – Overview Higher Formations and Iraqforce - Wikipedia Quite a few units arrived there, "worked up" and then moved onto North Africa, later Italy. A large portion of the military there were from the Indian Army. To be fair I am unsure that this "working up" extended to Persia. This thread illustrates what one Indian Army infantry battalion did: 1st Afridi Battalion This thread covers a post-war matter, but includes who was in Southern Iraq and just a little on Persia: Force 401 in Iraq August 1946-August 1947 Not a signaller, rather an Intelligence Corps member remembers: Letters Home: Frank Goodridge's wartime letters, 1943-6 This one does mention a signals unit though: Royal Signals 1942 to 1946 - Fred Brackstone There are other threads. I don't recall from previous research here that individuals wrote their memoirs later on their time with PAIFORCE, let alone signaller specifically. It was a "back water" most of the war, important for logistics and ensuring the oil around Abadan / Kirkuk was available. It was in places very inhospitable and the locals were invariably "dirt poor" so the Allied presence bought opportunities.
I can't really add much but there is a mention of PAIFORCE on my Gt-uncle's service record. George Haylock was with the Royal Signals and it looks to me that he was with 56 Div Sigs whilst there between 1-11-42 and 24-3-43. Mac.
Searching for "PAIFORCE" at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archives brings four results. Arabian Gulf Digital Archive Search the archives | Arabian Gulf Digital Archive
No Frank, he stayed with 56 Div until October 1943 when he transferred to 'J Service, 8th army signals' as a wireless operator. J service was a monitoring organisation set up by Monty in N Africa to listen in on allied radio nets. It's objective was to report rapidly back to Monty's HQ what was happening in real-time on the battlefield circumnavigating the established cumbersome system which was often very historic by the time it reported. Below is an extract from Monty's memoirs (p137-138) talking about J service; "This was an organisation for intercepting the signals sent out by our own forward units and relaying them to Army and Corps HQ. We called the service J for short......... Receiving wireless sets "listened" on division, brigade and armoured corps forward controls and broadcast the information obtained." "J" gives to a higher commander a good indication of the fighting spirit of his troops....Wireless links became intimate links between men engaged on the same enterprise. It ended the remoteness of the staff". J service also operated during the Italian campaign until 1943 when it was swallowed up by GHQ Liaison regiment - better known as 'Phantom'. All the best. Mac.
Thanks for that Frank, I hadn't made that connection. I developed an interest in the Italian campaign and Salerno in particular after finding that my gt-grandad was there with 87th HAA regt RA but your info gives me another angle to look at it from. Mac.
Is there a war diary specifically for 56th Div Signals ? Or would it be broken down more specifically ?
