Hello good people of the forum. I have my Grandmothers Officers Auxiliary Territorial Service, service record, on the record it says On 12th November 1940 she is posted to Shoeburyness to 7 Group E E Experimental Station. Then On 27th November 1940 she is posted as Adjutant, 7 Group ATS, HQ Eastern Command. The question I have is, was 7 Group Royal Artillery, and what was EE experimental station, was it RA. My other question is please, when she was posted as adjutant 15 days later, was it RA attachment? Thank you for your time and help, it's greatly appreciated. C
Hello C. The Experimental Establishment was located in Shoeburyness, and it was Royal Artillery. More about its history here: MoD Shoeburyness - Wikipedia The first war establishment VIII/261/1 appeared on 22.10.1941 (no predecessors found): A colonel's command ("superintendent of experiments"), total, all ranks was 557 including attached cooks. No A.T.S. personnel then. Version 2 of this war establishment, effective 01.03.1943, shows its structure by wings. There is (concerning A.T.S.): - A.T.S. Administrative Wing (1 subaltern, 53 all ranks) - A.T.S. Experimental Wing - 1 assistant superintendent of experiments (senior or junior commander) - 1 ballistic officer (junior commander) - 4 experimental officers (junior commander or subaltern) - 129 all ranks. The total, all ranks for the whole establisment had risen to 777. Aixman
Thank you for your reply Aixman, much appreciated. So in 1940 when she was posted there she wouldn't have been attached to the RA? And no ATS personnel in 1941 So why was she there, any idea? Thank you for your time C
War establishments are a complex system. It would be wrong to conclude she was NOT there. There were surely many war establishments in use concerning other units in or around Shoeburyness. And not having found a predecessor of the first table does not necessarily mean there was no such establishment before. There are long lasting establishments from the system before the "1931" system. Besides, many establishments were promulgated by War Office letters and other means of which I have not found any yet.
You might need to need to find the organisation of the ATS. The "7 Group" in the 7th November posting may refer to an ATS detachment from No 7 Group ATS rather than RA. The Experimental Establishment Shoeburyness was an organisation in its own right, like Royal School of Artillery. I wasn't aware it was part of a Group of anything. There is a history of the ATS The History Press | The history of the Auxiliary Territorial Service HQ Eastern Command was in Hounslow Barracks in 1940 and then moved to Luton Hoo in Bedfordshire.
Thank you all for your replies. I need a list of all the ATS units. I've got a typed version of her service record that says 28th Eastern E company E C. Does that mean anything for Shoeburyness? Chris
