Royal Engineer Research

Discussion in 'Royal Engineers' started by Jane Hope, Mar 22, 2011.

  1. Tom Canning

    Tom Canning WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Jane
    we have seen the Sheet 4 before which chronicles his stay at both Southampton and Romsey Hospitals - Sheet 5 however just indicates his complete disregard for authority in that he is sent to his billet for 120 hours detention - this again is at Marchwood - another suburb of Southampton- so he didn't travel too far from that area it would appear..probaby told his Officer to "get stuffed " and as he was close to release this was all they do with him !

    the Y list -of Dec 4th '45 just means that he was "unemployed" awaiting release on Class A(T) which meant that he was liable to recall for e.g Korea etc ....
    Cheers
     
  2. Jane Hope

    Jane Hope Junior Member

    Thanks Tom.

    Jane
     
  3. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Your best bet would be to go to the National Archives and view his units war diaries or pay someone to copy them for you.
     
  4. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Hi Jane, I've copied and paste your post on here to remind me to add some bits about your fathers evacuation.

    The war diaries for 1940 for 661 construction company RE has given me a great insight of what happened to my father at the evacuation at Dunkirk. At the moment I'm looking at the fact that he was evacuated from the pier on the Queen of Channel which was then bombed and sank and they were brought back by an oil tanker Doreen Rose - now know why he never even went paddling in the sea when we went on our hols.
     
  5. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    by Naval Historical Branch MoD.

    At 0415 on the 28th May the Queen of the Channel, loaded with 904 troops, was attacked by one aircraft; 3 or 4 bombs were dropped, which straddled the ship abaft the mainmast and broke her back, the starboard propellor shaft and the rudder. By good fortune the Dorrien Rose, en route for Dunkirk, was in the vicinity and rescued the troops: the Queen of the Channel sank about 1/2 hour later.
     
  6. Rich Payne

    Rich Payne Rivet Counter Patron 1940 Obsessive

    He was with 661 General Construction Company at the start of the war and went to France with them as part of the BEF.

    He then went to 691 EW Company RE. He appears to have been at a few depots too at sometime before and after the other two units. I only know EW in Signals terms which is Electronic Warfare. Not sure what it will be from the RE back then.

    I seem to have missed this thread first time round. I read the second unit (if we're talking about the same thing ?) as 'AW' - Artisan Works. Presumably 691 Artisan Works Company was a post BEF position ?

    [​IMG]
     
  7. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Rich, Looking at the War Diary appendices he is listed by name along with the rest of the Company (all 100 ish all ranks) in 661 Con Coy along with where they were evacuated, what time and on what boat. Quite a remarkable piece of information and if only all the other units followed their lead.

    So 691 Artisan was post Dynamo.
     
  8. Rich Payne

    Rich Payne Rivet Counter Patron 1940 Obsessive

    I guessed that it had to be post Dynamo as I couldn't find them in Andrea's war diary list.

    I have the diaries for the 2nd Div RE units and 208 Field is unique amongst those in having comprehensive listings in the appendices. It seems to have been an RE TA speciality. I can imagine that those chaps training together pre-war were very much a community and that feeling was not immediately lost when joining the impersonal regular army in 1940.
     
  9. Jane Hope

    Jane Hope Junior Member

    What I'm amazed at with the appendices is the fact that they actually list what looks like the time they actually boarded the ship. Wouldn't have thought anyone would have kept that type of record what with all that was going on!

    You guys are great - but what is Andrea's war diary?

    Jane
     
  10. Rich Payne

    Rich Payne Rivet Counter Patron 1940 Obsessive

    Andrea is the driving force behind Drew5233 - She keeps him more or less on the straight and narrow and she prepared a document listing the BEF war diaries which is far easier to deal with for most of us than the 'needle in a haystick, in the dark with one hand tied behind the back' sort of search facility that the National Archive seems to have. Sometimes I can use that one but other days, I can't even find a war diary !

    Drew can probably tell you where the link is on the forum. I downloaded it and can't find it here now !:rolleyes:
     
  11. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

  12. Jane Hope

    Jane Hope Junior Member

    I'm impressed - really impressed! Takes a woman to sort things out - well done Andrea!
     

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