DEMS

I have obtained my fathers WW2 army records. But he was attached to the merchant Navy, as part of DEMS. I am trying to track down his maritime records, as I have no idea of which ship he sailed on and/or ports of call.

I the meantime, I am trying to make sense of the Army records. There's a lot of paper, with lots of abbreviations. I am attaching a copy of part of the records, and wonder if anyone could help.

Many thanks

 

Hi Stephen and welcome,
I cant help with his army records but there are plenty on here that can. I can help with his DEMS service although I will need a name to point you towards these records.
Regards
Hugh

 

Thanks for replying his name was John Green, born in 1922.

 

According to the service record he is transferred to the First Maritime Regiment in March 1943. There are a few John Green's around that dob who were gunners, some I have proven to be RN DEMS but there is one possibility [unproven] aboard JAMAICA PLANTER in 1944 - not enough evidence at this stage to link him. We can use MN crew lists should we need to at a later date if required as long as we know at least one ship.

Royal Artillery DEMS gunners' sea service is not recorded on their military service records they have a maritime card which is filed separately and this card should list all of the ships he served aboard as a DEMS gunner. You will need to check the following files at TNA Kew which are kept in surname order but you may have to check two of them because his surname overlaps into another box.

WO 436/13

WO 436/14

Once you get his sea service records, I am happy to help you if you need any more info.

Regards
Hugh

 

Thank you very much for your help. Onwards and upwards tomorrow.

 

Looked on TNA site for the numbers, but not sure what I am looking for. There is no direct mention of John Green, do I assume it could be within another file?

 

Those boxes hold names in surname block order WO 436/13 holds surnames (Gibb, Albert to Green J.A.D). So this box holds all the surnames from Gibb to Green.
The other box WO 436/14 holds surnames (Green J. to Hanson W). So he could be in this file too. I just don't know how the staff filed his particular card.

I have to say if you can visit Kew would be your best option otherwise you are at the mercy of the Kew research services and they are not cheap. You could try our own guys on here who copy for a reasonable cost - Gary Tankard is a very helpful guy that I have used. He won't rip you off.

Regards
Hugh