Hi all, and hello from this brummie ;o)

Hi all and thanks for having me. I stumbled on this site by doing a few searches about the net. I'm really glad i found it. What a fantastic site!!

I started off doing my family tree , and then got into genealogy. Throughout my searching and mooching i managed to order and get my dads ww2 records which are fabulous to have and i'm incredibly proud of him.

I'm trying to decipher what all the abbreviations mean and trying to find out what activities he did and what theatres of war he was involved in.
It's very interesting stuff but very confusing too.

I'm going to have a good go of it myself, but i may have to call on some of you experts to help me out. (if you don't mind of course)..

I'm off for a mooch about the site now.
Happy searching all ;o)
Rachel

 

Hi and welcome to the forum

 

Thank you Drew and Diane x

My dad was in the 2nd battalion Royal Warwicks regiment.

From what i can gather so far he was in the BEF (possibly Wormhoudt)
Then later in the D-Day landings of Queen beach( Sword beach)..
I'm only just touching the surface of my info on him though so i'm not altogether sure if i'm finding out the right stuff yet ;o)

It's fascinating stuff though and i'm loving it.

Regards
Rachel ;o)

 

Rachel have you seen this thread from my trip a few months ago?

http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/1940/24549-battle-massacre-wormhout-28th-may-1940-a.html

If any of the pictures don't open hit the refresh button...You maybe interested to know there is a memorial service next month for the massacre at Wormhout.

I have quite a bit of info on the Warwicks from researching Wormhout. Whats your fathers name and I'll have a look over the w/end to see if he is mentioned in anything I have.

Regards
Andy

 

That is really kind of you Andy thank you so much.

I've read most of your account on Wormhout, and it's in great detail.
What an awful occurence there. If my dad was part of that it's any wonder he got back alive.
His name was George William Davies
Private 5110798

He signed up in April 1939 aged 19yrs.. For the Royal Warwicks Regiment.

He was posted to DEPOT for ITC on 7th April 39 (not sure what the depot means)
he was then posted to field with ITC 2 on 2nd sept 39 (not sure where the field was) (incidently i know it's not just a green field lol)

He then Embarked Southampton 23rd Sept 1939
Disembarked France 24th sept 1939 (Not sure where in France at this point)

He was granted 10 days leave to uk from field on 27th Feb 1940

Then the next entry says on 2nd June 1940 he re-joined from BEF uk.. (i think he was brought back on the 1st June, maybe by the ships?)

I'm guessing that between 24th september 1939 and the 1st June 1940 he served in France with the BEF. With the 10 days leave in between.

There are some numbers in the columns next to that info but i'm not sure what they mean.. They are in the part 11 order or other authority part. (hope that makes sense)..

There is a lot more on the papers of course but thats the part which i think links him to the BEF and Dunkirk.. (would you agree?)

Thanks again Andy.. ;o)
Kind regards
Rachel.. ;o)

 

I'm not an expert of service records, I'm sure someone else will help with that, Depot is where he would have done his basic training I believe.

Be back in a bit just going to skim through a couple of books for him.

 

You're an angel, thank you..
I'll be back in a bit too. Got two monsters to get to bed. lol

 

On the 10th Sept 39 the Battalion was in Aldershot waiting orders to deploy to France.

The Battalion was upto strength with 27 Officers and 796 men.

Lt. Col. P D W Dunn DSO MC.

The Battalion sailed from Southampton at 5.30pm and arrived at Cherbourg early on 24th Sept. 39.

The Battalion left Cherbourg by train and was then billeted as follows:

'A', 'B' and 'C' Companies at Auvers le Hamon, 'D' Company at Ronceray Farm and HQ Company at Chateau de Varenne.

I don't suppose you know what Company he was in by any chance?

Andy

 

Rachel,

As your dad went in with 2 Bn on D-Day, it will be worth reading some of Sapper's posts - he was a Royal Engineer (i.e. a Sapper) in the same division (3rd Infantry Division) as your dad.

Now, I don't know how closely the 'rejoined from BEF' date ought to tally with the actual return date but we might be able to add an extra bit of detail. Most of what was left of the Battalion embarked on May 29 (probably - it's not crystal clear in the regimental history).

The exception was C Company who had been detached from the Battalion at Wormhoudt and had fought a separate battle back to the beaches where they formed part of the 'last British rearguard force'. It states that they were digging in on the evening of 31 May and successfully disengaged later, so they would have come back around 1 June. So, going by the dates, it's possible that your dad was with C Company; though we can't exclude the other possibility that he got back to Dunkirk on his own or with a different unit altogether.

 

Hello Rachel and welcome. Enjoy.

 

I'm amazed at the detail you people can bring forth!

Welcome, Rachel, you have seen already you've hit the right spot!

 

Hi again Andy.. Thank you for that info.. I have no idea what company he would have been in. That was my next question to you ;o)..



Hi Idler , thank you for your info too.. I'll read Sappers posts about that D-Day post.
Also the dates of service that i have for my dad are
home british 4.4.1939 - 22.9.1939
france 23.9.1939 - 1.6.1940
home 2.6.1940 - 31.5.1944
nwe 1.6.1944 - 2.4.1946
home 3.4.1946 - 4.4.1946
release leave 5.4.1946 - 29.6.1946

then section b reserve until he went to korea..

On 25th August 1945 he was transferred and posted to 2 Glosters..
He was awarded 4 medals too..
don't know if that makes a difference to companys etc..
1939-45 star
war medal
defence medal
france and germany star

Thank you again..

 

Hi and thanks Gage and Za Rodinu..
I'm impressed already.
I've gone from knowing nothing to lots already.
;o)

 

He's not listed in either of my books but I haven't checked the battalions diaries from May 1940 yet. As Andrew (Idler) says he could have been in any Coy. Its safe to say he was not involved in the massacre as there was only 20 known survivors and he is not listed amongst them. I'll post some more Batt. info after Ashes to Ashes

 

thanks Andy..
My curry has just arrived so i'm gonna go and scoff and watch the tv too. I'll be back tomorrow..
Speak soon.. and thanks for searching for me ;o)

 

Hello Rachel,

Welcome to the forum and good luck with your research.

Regards
Peter

 

Welcome and enjoy.!!!

 

Rachel,

Hello and welcome to the forum, I am sure that you will enjoy the company.

As for abbreviations, you should have received several A4 sheets of papers with the Army Record, these being the common abbreviations.

If you struggle there is a link for abbreviations on the portal page that you can click on.
Failing that just post any that you want clarification on and we will do our best to tell you what they stand for.

Regards
Tom