I am hoping that the experienced people on this board can help... The Army Personnel Centre in Glasgow has sent me a pile of stuff on my late father, but there appear to be some discrepancies between the detail noted in Army Book 439 and (I think) Army Form B199A (this was attached to another form bearing this number). The book shows that he was transferred into 616 Water Transport Coy, RASC on 5/12/42, whereas the B199A doesn’t mention this unit, but quotes “No 3 Water Transport Coy, RASC” and “No 4 Motor Boat Coy, RASC” at near enough the same date. There are also some dates that are not concurrent in the Army Book 439, whereas the 199B seems to have most of the time covered (scans attached). The National Archive Discovery search cannot find anything on 616 coy, No 3 Coy or No 4 Coy (though something was returned on the No 4 Coy search, but that appeared to be for Nos 19 & 5 Coy). Other units he was posted to (247 Coy & 797 Coy) do appear in the National Archive, so I am planning a visit, but before I do I thought I’d post here for some advice first. It’s all rather puzzling! Inevitably I have other questions and some pics of water transport if anyone would like to see them. Any and all help gratefully received. Thank you
Reference: WO 166/12185 Description: 616 Coy. Date: 1943 Jan.-May Held by: The National Archives, Kew Legal status: Public Record(s) Closure status: Open Document, Open Description Access conditions: Closed For 29 years Reference: WO 166/15654 Description: 616 Coy. Date: 1944 July-Dec. Held by: The National Archives, Kew Legal status: Public Record(s) Closure status: Open Document, Open Description Access conditions: Closed For 29 years Reference: WO 166/17269 Description: 616 Coy. Date: 1945 Jan.-Aug. Held by: The National Archives, Kew Legal status: Public Record(s) Closure status: Open Document, Open Description Access conditions: Closed For 29 years TD
TD Thank you. I'm mystified that my searches turned up nothing and deligted that your's did! I now have another record at Kew to search! I don't suppose you know what "RTHYY" (seen on form 199B) means do you? Thanks again BD
Yes - the RTHYY refers to a code similar to todays boarding pass, at the time all the men and equipment being shipped on that particular ship would have that code stencilled in some way onto to it, that way the dock staff would know what to put on which ship. His records show him being shipped from Guildford to BNAF (British North Africa Force) It was randomly generated for each boat loading You might also need: Reference: WO 169/11790 Description: Royal Army Service Corps: 247 Motor Boat Company (RASC) Date: 1943 July- Dec. Held by: The National Archives, Kew Legal status: Public Record(s) Closure status: Open Document, Open Description Access conditions: Closed For 29 years Reference: WO 170/2603 Description: Companies: 797 Coy. Date: 1944 May- Dec. Held by: The National Archives, Kew Legal status: Public Record(s) Closure status: Open Document, Open Description Reference: WO 170/5861 Description: Companies: 797 Coy. Date: 1945 Jan.- Dec. Held by: The National Archives, Kew Legal status: Public Record(s) Closure status: Open Document, Open Description Reference: WO 170/8418 Description: Companies: 797 Coy Date: 1946 Jan.- July Held by: The National Archives, Kew Legal status: Public Record(s) Closure status: Open Document, Open Description TD
That's great - thank you TD. Thanks also for the additional references which I have added to my list for Kew. If I may trouble you one more time (for now!). Have you any experiece of Kew? Is it possible to ask for a number of war diaries on the same day? Would I be able to get through them all (I now, with your help, have 11 records) in one day? I think I've worked out why you can find records that I can't - Discovery seems to like very specific search strings! BD
Bernie I did a quick search on this site for "Kew tips" and came up with a list, of which one is National Archives - Kew Tips? you might try searching/reading othere threads I have been to Kew once many years ago, it might be worth asking members: http://ww2talk.com/index.php?members/drew5233.6786/ http://ww2talk.com/index.php?members/psywar-org.2876/ I have used both of them to copy files - so they should be able to answer your questions TD
Thanks TD, you've been very helpful. I'll search these threads. It may be worth paying someone rather than travelling (cost, time etc) - you can get a lot of pages copied for the price of a tank of fuel, parking not forgetting lunch for my wife!! Your help is appreciated Bernie
The other problem of course is that you have no idea how bigh the files are - although it might be a help to request a quote from the TNA to have an estimate to the size of the files. This is Drew's thread - Anyone require War Diaries or other files from the National Archives? This is Lee's (Psywar) - Archive Research - www.arcre.com They may be able to help out with understanding the file sizes and hence the costs involved - although it must be said they are far cheaper than TNA TD
I'll do as you suggest TD. Thanks for all the helpful advice you've given me - I now have a few avenues to explore. It may be that I'm back on the boards with further questions! BD
