Did my dad never see any action during WW2?

PackRat - Thank you for all that information. I was born in the first week of January 1941 in a Manchester maternity hospital and my mum said that all the babies were put into the airing cupboards during the air raids, whereas the mothers just had to stay in bed where they were. I know my mum went to Manchester for my birth as she had a shop in Cheshire, a few miles away, and didn't think it appropriate to have a baby born on the premises (we lived behind and above the shop) so she went to my paternal gran's house in North Manchester before the birth. I don't think my dad was in Manchester at the time, my mother never mentioned him being around. My dad never talked about what he'd done during the war, but I do remember he said when they were training they didn't actually have any guns, so were using broom handles, then again that could just have been my dad making things up, as he often did.

I guess someone would have to go to the National Archives to copy the battery and regimental diaries, as they are not digitised yet. I know I can order copies on line, but I have a feeling that is a very expensive way of getting copies, although I believe that this service is not available at the moment.

 

Thank you - I guess most of the information in these diary records will only mention officers by name. I have the war diaries for my g.uncles regiments in WW1 and although the privates are mentioned, they are never named.

I don't know where those 2 unexploded bombs are supposed to have been dropped, unless it reads Belmont, Cheshire. I know bombs were dropped about a mile from where my mum lived in Cheshire at the same time as the Manchester bombing raids.

 

Elizabeth. Don't dismiss the possibility that 'other ranks' will appear, even if it doesn't' the narrative of their activities and detail locations will be of considerable interest especially if you have local connections.
Graham

 

The National Archives' own copying service is eye-wateringly expensive - hundreds of pounds for a diary. A couple of members of this forum (PsyWar.Org & Drew5233) offer a copying service at a fraction of the cost, though access to the archives is limited at the moment.

What you find in a war diary varies hugely and is dependant on how much effort the diarist put in. Sometimes you'll find nominal rolls naming everyone in the unit and all kinds of fascinating details saved in the appendices, but other diary keepers apparently hated the job and recorded just the bare minimum of events and locations. They can be goldmines but you have to be prepared to be disappointed.

 

Thank you all for your help. I'll contact the members of the forum mentioned, but probably next week as we have one of our grandsons coming to stay for the long weekend.