Hi Guys My Nan and I are trying to decipher her fathers war records. He never once spoke about his experience during the war but she was always curious about what he did, where he was etc, as am I! First of all, I am currently living in Canada, so my access to the National Archives is very very limited. I did however read somewhere on this forum that people visit the archive and will send through diaries for a fee, which I am more than happy to do, please let me know if anyone is still doing this! The below link has a PDF of my great-grandfathers war records and what I could figure out from them, please let me know if I have misinterpreted any of this, I’m not the best at reading what can only be described as some very flamboyant handwriting! Dropbox - John Crier Service and Casualty Form.pdf - Simplify your life Home: 118 COY 4/9/41 - 8/10/41 47(L) DIVL? PEL? COY 8/10/41 - 20/11/41 ATT to 34 Army Tank Bde 9/1/42 - 12/7/42 ATT to 3 Div RASC 12/7/42 - 3/9/42 25 Tank Bde RASC 3/9/42 - 5/9/42 1 Div Troops COY 5/9/42 - 5/11/42 25 Tank Bde 5/11/42 - 19/1/43 Field (N. Africa/Italy): 25 Tank Bde 1/2/43 - 3/43 27 Tank Bde COY 3/43 4/1/44 (designation changed) 27 Tank Bde COY 9/1/43 - 27/9/45 TOS LM283? (I’m confused about what this means) 16/10/45 Delt L? 24/11/45 SOS L/B/GT? 1/12/45 27 Tank Bde COY 1/12/45 - 30/4/46 Sub to 315 BPSS? 30/4/46 - 2/5/46 HQ 82 bolh? 2/5/46 (I assume he is back home at this point) There is a note in his records stating that he was admitted to 59 Gen Hospital on 7/9/45. Looking through the web, this looks like it could have been in Orvieto, Italy at this time. My source is here (though I’m not sure if this is correct at all?): Hospitals WW2 - Scarlet Finders Is anyone able to shine some light on the events of 13/3/44 and 27/9/44? It appears that he was a naughty boy, perhaps skipped his watch? Is there any way I can obtain document D2R/S/9648/3085, dated 20/06/45, I assume this is an account of one of the incidents. He was awarded the Africa Star (1st Army Clasp), Italy Star and the 1939/45 Star (we hope to find these one day!). Any help on any of the above, or direction on how you guys have gone about researching your own ancestors records is very much appreciated! I'm obviously not the most knowledgeable with this but am very interested. Thanks!
47(L) DIVL? PEL? COY 8/10/41 - 20/11/41 - could be 47 Division Petrol Company DIVISIONS: 47TH. DIVISION: Petrol Company. | The National Archives events of 13/3/44 and 27/9/44 - Awarded 1st Army Clasp - Africa Star - Wikipedia but it goes on to say "found in bed when he should have been on his beat (feet) during guard duty" In Sept 1945 was admitted to 59 Gen Hosp - 59 British General Hospital Peebles 4/41 to 12/41 then overseas; El Ballah 2/42 to 3/42 then to Gebeit; Gebeit (Sudan) 3/42 to 6/43 then to Moascar; Moascar 6/43 to 9/43 then to Tripoli; 9/43 to 10/43 then to Mercattella; Mercattella (Salerno) 10/43 to 2/44 then to Castellammare; Castellammare 2/44 to 8/44 then to Orvieto; Orvieto 8/44 to 11/44 then to Fano; Fano 11/44 to 4/45 then to Fortii; Fortii 4/45 to 5/45 then to Forli; Forli 5/45 to 10/45 then to Bologna; Bologna 10/45 to 15/9/46 then disbanded. It also looks as though he worked in 27 Tank Brigade Company (27 T B Coy) Subsubseries within WO 170 - ROYAL ARMY SERVICE CORPS Companies: 27 Coy. | The National Archives Reference: WO 170/5664 Description: Companies: 27 Coy. Date: 1945 Jan.-Dec. Held by: The National Archives, Kew Legal status: Public Record(s) Closure status: Open Document, Open Description TD
Sub to 315 BPSS? 30/4/46 - 2/5/46 This is a Bulk Petrol Storage Section There appears to be once diary for them for 1945 only and the ref (WO170 6145) would confirm they were in Italy. 59 General Hospital has a diary for 1945 WO177 1309 It's unlikely to name the patients but may have a summary of the general conditions being treated.
Thank you TD, your help is very much appreciated! I can't believe I got the year wrong for the 59 Gen Hosp in the excitement of finding that source!
Thank you Hutt, this is great! From yours and TD's responses I have done a little bit of trial and error and figured out how to better use the National Archives website to get the relevant WO references.
Hi Ryan You have to play around with the search parameters on TNA discovery to try and find what you want - its all part of the fun of research TD
