I am trying to find out what happened to these companies after France 1940. The last order of battle location for the 216th, 217th Field Companies, RE and the 293rd Field Park Company, RE are with III Corps in England in September 1940. A search of the National Archives for War Diaries brings up the following for Home Forces (WO 166): 293rd Field Pk Coy - WO 166/3762 - 7/40 to 4/41 216th Field Coy - WO 166/3685 - 7/40 to 7/41 217th Field Coy - WO 166/3686 - 9/39 to 3/40 and 7/40 to 7/41 In searching the other theaters, there appears to be only one other mention of what might be the 216th in WO 169 (MEF): WO 169/7906 - 216th Port Operating Company (Ox and Ace Op Coy) - 1/42 to 3/42 and 6/42 to 12/42 WO 169/15143 - 216th Port Operating Coy - 1/43 to 12/43 WO 169/19122 - 216th Port Operating Coy - 1/44 to 12/44 It was unusual for a Territorial Army field company to disappear from the order of battle during the war. Some were renamed such as the 42nd Div companies that became field squadrons. Does anyone have any other clues as to what happened to the 216th and 217th Field Companies and the 293rd Field Park Company?
Hi My uncle was in the 216th field coy After evacuation from Dunkirk he was sent north to a racecourse (Doncaster, I think) and was stationed near Coventry when it was destroyed. He recently passed on and I haven't gone through his papers yet but as I remember from here he was stationed in Scotland constructing the Whale, part of the Mulberry harbour. Interesting you mention that the 216th became a port operating company as he ended up with 1050 port maintenance coy landing on Sword, where he stayed pretty much till the end of the war. Hope that helps Stuart
Stuart: It seems to make some sense since it appears that the 216th was probably converted before it moved to the Middle East. Maybe your uncle transferred to the 1050th before the move. The 216th may have helped create the 1050th. Hopefully some others members can help. David
216th (1st London) Army Field Company 1st line TA Sept 1939 Bethnal Green, emboided with 1st London Corps Troops Engineers with BEF GHQ troops 1939-1940 Assigned III Corps Jul 1940. (III CTRE Disbanded Middle East Apr1942 no details on company) 217th (1st London) Army Field Company 1st line TA Sept 1939 Bethnal Green, emboided with 1st London Corps Troops Engineers troops Assigned III Corps Apr 1940. (III CTRE Disbanded Middle East Apr1942 no details on company)
293rd Field Park Company 2nd line TA Sept 1939 Stafford GHQ, emboided with 46th (North Staffordshire) CTRE Assigned III Corps Apr 1940. as 293rd Corps Field Park Company (III Corps Re Disbanded Middle East Apr1942 no further information on company)
Oldman: Thanks for the information. It sounds like it comes from the work I did with Graham Watson for the Royal Engineer Institute a number of years back. I knew that the III Corps Troops RE HQ moved to the Middle East and was disbanded in April 1942, but I am not sure if these three companies moved with it. The war diary entry about the 216th Port Operating Company in the Middle East war diaries seems to point in that direction. As I stated, these companies, or at least two of them, seemed to have disappeared off the order of battle. There are some other cases of companies that were disbanded, such as the 223rd FPC, which was disbanded in May 1942. Also the 232nd FPC, 251st FPC, 287th FC and 288th FC were captured at Gazala (232nd) and Singapore. The majority of the TA RE seem to continue on to the end of the war even when the divisions they served under were disbanded. David
Two other RE TA Companies seemed to disappear as well. The 292nd Field Company moved to Egypt in July 1940 and its war diary ends in the Middle East in June 1941. The 296th Field Company moved to West Africa in August 1941, arrived in Cyprus in May 1941, and its war diary ends in June 1942. One sub-section pops up under Force A in the Tobruk Raid in Sept-Nov 1942 though. Anyone have any information on these two companies as well? David
David You need to look in the following http://orbat.com/site/uk_orbats/files/6/RE%20World%20War%20II.pdf This the Order of battle for the Royal Engineers in WWII, the person who devised this is Olson and it is good but does contain errors and mistakes. It goes through by unit so you sholud be able to resolve your problem.
Thanks for the information of the RE Orbat. I do have that document already and was one of the contributors for the document for the RE Institute.
