Dunkirk 236 Field Squadron Royal Engineers

Can anyone help? My uncle, Driver William Orr Paterson was at Dunkirk and family history says he was one of the last to leave the beaches. However his military record shows he returned to UK several days before Operation Dynamo finished. War diaries for this time are largely lost.
Thanks

 

Hello Bob,

Your uncle's service records are held within The National Archives at Kew.

They will hold the answers to the vast majority of questions you may have about William.

Note that they are a "closed" record. There is a process you could go through to apply and have them made "open" and available. This can take a while so if you wanted William's service records the sooner started the better.

Screenshot below of TNA catalogue entry, plus link to same.

Good luck with your quest.

Kind regards, always,

Jim.



Name: W O Paterson . Service number: 2079962 . Date of birth: 11 April 1920 . | The National Archives

 

Also Bob,

Please note that your Uncle was listed as with 238 Field Company Royal Engineers at the time of his death.

Courtesy of CWGC.



https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2229770/william-orr-paterson/

 

Bob,

A reason why William may have been an earlier evacuation:

"some Royal Engineer companies were given priority for evacuation from Dunkirk under Op Dynamo because they were required to build field defences on potential invasion beaches in the UK"

Extract from and courtesy of :

Royal Engineers Association

Given the information within on the Scottish RE Field and Field Park companies it's worth a read through.

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

 

Hello Bob.

Please read this older thread on the Forum here:

238 Field Coy RE, 18 June 1943

The fateful day. Your uncle William is mentioned within.

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

 

Bob, please, is this you from a few years back? Or another Bob in the family?



If it is you please let me know and I'll stop sending you things you are maybe already aware of.

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

 

The War Diary for the time period you are interested in Bob is available via TNA Kew.

The fact that it survived could be because 236 were evacuated earlier in Dynamo.

Here's the link to TNA website, followed by screenshot of catalogue entry.

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

236 Field Company Royal Engineers | The National Archives

 

Hello Bob.

Here's the link to 238 Field Company Royal Engineers War Diary for June 1940, available from TNA Kew.

238 Field Company Royal Engineers | The National Archives

The reason I'm posting the link up is that in everything available via the internet relating to William has him serving with 238 Field Company.

It's possible I've missed a 236 reference on William's documents of course, but as of now they all point to his service being with 238, including the BEF in France and Belgium part.

Here's William' RE Tracer Card, should you not have seen it (both front and rear sides):





What do you have that puts William in 236 BEF wise please Bob?

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

 

And here's William's RE Casualty Card.





And the Official Casualty List that reports/records William's death.





Kind regards, always,

Jim.

 

Bob,

It appears that 238 were back in the UK by 2nd June 1940, so not "last off the beaches" either.

See the post in the old thread I referred to earlier here:

238 Field Coy RE, 18 June 1943

Kind regards, good luck with your research, always,

Jim.

P.S. Service records the only way to go I think to give you any chance of certainty with William.