Hello, hope I'm now in the correct section, I'm a newby! My late father was 1757248 Gunner Andrew Hanson Royal Artillery, he died in 1960 when I was 6 and was a lot older than my late mother. I did manage to write to the MOD some years ago, and have some details but wondered whether it's possible to find more about my Dad's experiences. It says, deemed to have been enlisted into the Royal Artillery embodied Territorial Army and posted to 210 Anti-Aircraft training Regiment 23.01.41. Posted to 414 Battery 8 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment 10.04.41 Posted to 123 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment 20.11.41 Posted 414 Battery 146 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment 02.12.42 Posted to Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment 23.10.45 Released to Army Reserve 02.02.46 Service with colours. Exemplary conduct. Overseas service Northwest Europe 10.06.44 - 05.12.45 Is there any way I can find out the actual troop movements and battles he may have been in? When I try and search it comes up with all other Regiments and no details I'm looking for. I remember my Mum saying she remembers Dad saying he'd never forget the sight of all the ships, and notice he was posted abroad 10th June, would that have been Normandy? Any tips would be appreciated, I do remember my dear Dad with love and it's a great shame I didn't know him for longer, so would love to know more about his war service, and I do have photos.
Hi and welcome to the forum Carole46, good luck with your research. Hang in there someone will be along and help out soon. David
Just a thought do you have his complete service history from the MOD. If so could you post them on here, It will help the guys help you. David
Hello and welcome to the forum. We have forum members who know quite a bit about Royal Artillery Regiments on here and I am sure they will be along to help further. Good luck with your research Lesley
Info if you need to apply for his records. https://www.gov.uk/requests-for-personal-data-and-service-records David
Hello, thanks for your replies. I applied to MOD and paid the fee some years ago and all I received was the information I've posted. There were just 2 pages the first with his name and number and posting dates, and went on to say his conduct was exemplary his medals etc. It then went on to give further information such as his address, civilian trade, height hair and eye colour. It went on to say about records held at the records office and I must admit I've never been up to Kew. I do have some photos but cant see insignia on the men's uniforms. I don't know what extra information is available, I suppose I was hoping someone would say he took part in a particular battle, so I could read up about it. He died aged 53 in 1960. Thanks in advance for any help. Carole
Hi Carole, when you applied for his records, did you ask for his complete records, they cost £30. Would you mind posting what you have, I understand if it's to personal and you do not wish to. Personal records are not held at Kew. David
Hi Carole - It sounds like you applied for a copy of his records when they typed up a basic list of units he served with on a sheet of A4, is that what you have? When you apply now you actually get scanned copies of the original documents. It may be an idea to ring the MoD office in Glasgow and ask if you can have a copy of the original documents or would you have to apply again and pay another £30. You can find this sort of info via the units war diaries which as you have mentioned are held at the National Archives in London. Cheers Andy
Hi Carole I did the same for my Dad, got 2 pages, but when I wrote back asking about getting all his service records, they copied and sent the lot. They are more informative than just the summary, so well worth asking about them. As for the war diaries that Andy mentioned, here is an example of some of them for 146 Heavy AA Reg - http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r?_st=adv&_aq=146%20heavy%20anti%20aircraft%20regiment&_cr1=wo&_dss=range&_sd=1940&_ed=1944&_ro=any Your best way to get them is to ask Andy- click on the red letters at the bottom of his post above. Have a look here for an example of service records - http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/17527-war-records-help-with-abbreviations-interpretation-of-service-records/ , you have to through a few pages to see them. regards Robert
In June 1944, 146 HAA Regiment were part of 76 AA Brigade which was responsible for the AA defence of Gold Beach, Mulberry Harbour (Arromanches) and the Port en Bessin (Fuel terminal).
Hi - I am researching my grandfather and he was also in 146 HAA regt but in a different battery 176. I am about to apply for his records to get more details but do have quite a bit of information based on a collection of letters that he wrote to my late father (then aged 6) which relates to his training in the uk, crossing over to france and then his time in belgium holland and germany ending up in Lubeck. I have a larger collection of postcards he sent with th eletters detailing the places he went to. I created a photo book for my family so the letters are retained as they are very delicate and an online version is here if you are interested View online photobook I would think that as they were in the same regiment they would have not been too far away from each other doing not disimilar things - one thing I do know is that he was a Belsen when it was liverated as he told us that on his 80th birthday (not even his wife knew that until then) he drove a lorry but I am not sure what he was transporting but in the book there is a drawing of his lorry done by a 10 year old boy who loived in a house he visited in Ostend. My intention is to find out al I can about the movements of his regiment and battery and track his proigress in line with the letters he was sending back and hopefully try and get them publishjed in some way so any advice and guidance on researching is welcome as well
I have done this three times now, this is what I did very successfully. Personally I would forget the publishing bit for a while but later consider having them professionally printed and bound into a book. You will need a home Computer and scanner/printer or find someone who will do it for you. Buy sets of ARCHIVE QUALITY Acid Free scannable clear pockets and a ring binder to keep them in while working on them. Arrange the lettersl/photos in chronological order one to a pocket so that you can read both sides without handling them unnecessarily. Scan them while in the pockets and load them into manageable files so that you can read them in order of appearance. You can then enhance any that need attention. If you have MS Office or similar, load them onto Power Point saving them one to each slide. Once all done "save as pdf". You now have a virtual e book all digitalised and viewable as slides or to scroll read. There are many fairly low price printers who will print a book from pdf. or if necessary you can send copies to publishers to view. Publishing can be very expensive but privately printed books are great for family use. PM me if you wish but I am sure plenty of others here can add to my posting.
Ref post #12 above. Failed to clock "the Brigadier" standing behind me with a load of empty shopping bags so had to drive to the supermarket to fill them. pdf software is generally available free on line. Regarding printing and binding, I have done several books over the years a lot of them for my extended families. Just use thicker paper for the cover and your own design. You have two options either use card twice the size of the front and back plus an allowed amount for the page thickness. You really need to make up a jig to line up and hold the pages tightly. There are plenty of ideas on how to do this on youtube. Then run some pvc glue down the spine and let it dry. To make a tougher finish use a plastic spine cut to length. Down side is you need to practice it to get a decent finish and the cost of paper and inkjet ink is as expensive as having a print from a pdf. I just find it very satisfying to make a descent book for relatives at Christmas.
