I wonder if anyone could help me with interpreting my grandad's service record please. He served with the REME. I was always told that he had served as a Dispatch Rider, delivering important messages in Belgium and was injured when he was thrown off his bike by trip wire left by the enemy, and he laid unconscious in a ditch for 24-48 hours. Can anyone tell me if his records state this at all and also I can see that he was awarded a certificate for good service, what sort of certificate would this have been? Many thanks for your help in advance.
The entry for 28.5.45 states that he was posted to the x(ii) list, this means he was evacuated on medical grounds. He may well be mentioned in the casualty lists, although they are unlikely to provide information other than say wounded, unfortunately without a name & number these can't be checked. They are available online via genealogy sites. X lists (Service Records) | WW2Talk
I have tried casualty lists with no luck but his name is Albert Charles Jeffery (sometimes incorrectly spelt as Jeffrey), Service No 14336734. Thank you.
Thank you for those details. Firstly Army service records online, that's a new one to me, I'll have to investigate further. As you say that number doesn't appear in the casualty lists, that may indicate that he wasn't posted as a battle casualty, hospitalisations for illness for example unlikely to be on the lists. Looking at other pages on his record (not posted) it looks like he was with the 2nd Echelon 21 Army Group at the time of posting to the x list. The Service & Casualty Form (B103) is normally where most of the detail can be found, although in this case it would seem to have been completed in one go by the same hand and is certified as a true copy, perhaps the original was lost? I am guessing that the information was taken from the B102 card which gives brief details, it is almost a word for word transcript. Note that he was posted to the x list on 28.5.45 and to CREME on 4.6.45, obviously a very short time after. Have a look here for abbreviations: WW2 Abbreviations and Acronyms | Researching the Lives and Records of WW2 Soldiers Not sure I can add more, perhaps others will be along. Good luck.
CREME 79 Armoured Division are mentioned here, but nothing I can help with: ROYAL ELECTRICAL and MECHANICAL ENGINEERS - Introduction
He was initially enlisted in the General Service Corps, this all-arms initial assessment and training formation started in mid-1942. Men were posted according to the army's need and their role assessment. There are threads here that explain a bit more. His number has not appeared here before today. His injury happened after VE-Day 8/5/1945 and by then I am sure all of Belgium had been liberated.
Information gleaned from copied Form B103 This generally follows the units listed in 1943-45 79th Armoured Division (United Kingdom) - Wikipedia. Initially the division based on the 27th Armoured Brigade included infantry, artillery and engineers but the infantry unit, 185th, and its artillery regiments were all removed by April 1943. Its engineer units were generally removed by November 1943. In March 1943 Hobart met Brooke who gave him the role of developing and training a division of specialist armoured vehicles that would lead the invasion of France in 1944. The initial new organization of the 79th was a tank brigade, an armoured brigade, and a Royal Engineers assault brigade; this was expanded with additional brigades of the new armoured vehicles developed by the 79th
