Alan Brierley 868102 (29/04/1922-04/11/1993) I am in the early stages of reconstructing my father’s career in the British Army and I need all the help I can get. I have limited information so far and even more limited experience in knowing just where to start so any help and suggestions will be gratefully received. My father wrote the following list in the front of a photograph album which contains photographs mainly dated from 1942 – 1944, although not all the photographs are dated. The handcrafted leather album itself was made in Palestine and has a front ornamental copper plate depicting a scene identified as ‘Rachel’s Tomb’. Please note some of the writing in the album is quite small so I hope I have deciphered the letters and numbers accurately. The below list is titled 'Previous Units’, so I’m assuming it was written around 1942 and as far as I know, my father served until 1967, so I have a lot of gaps to fill in. Previous Units 1st Boys Battery R.A. L/Nery Battery R.H.A. 4th Field Training Regiment R.A. 124th O.C.T.U. H.A.A. R.A. 270/77 L.A.A. Regt R.A. 103/26 L.A.A. Regt R.A. H.Q. R.A. 8 Ind Div R.H.Q. 26 L.A.A. Regt 13th L.A.A. Regt R.A. 130 L.A.A. Regt R.A. (Queens Edinburgh Royal Scots) I don’t have the facility to scan any of the photographs and there are too many to describe fully at this time but there are a few I will mention in case they are of relevance to anyone else. The first photograph in the album is a group photograph of 43 men, titled “BHQ at El Tahag, Egypt 1942” There is a second photograph of 28 men, titled “BHQ Christmas 1942 Nicosia” There are a couple of photographs of my father with someone called ‘Badge’, whom I vaguely recall hearing stories about as a child, and one of ‘Badge’ on his own, in uniform on horseback, titled “Badge – Quetta – 1935”. There are individual photographs of ‘B.S.M. Drury F.W.’, ‘Major D. Mc.K.Webster R.A. (I believe taken in Nicosia, Cyprus) and ‘Oor Wullie’ – astride a motorbike and I think wearing Corporal chevrons. A group photograph of ‘1st Boys’ Battery R.A. – Dickson’s Section’ A group photograph of ‘103 L.A.A. Battery R.A. – Officers – W.O. - B.Q.M.S’ (12 men) Another group photograph, one of my favourites, titled ‘Recreational Training outside Naafi in Damascus’. There are five service men sitting at a table looking fairly relaxed, with no fewer than 13 long necked bottles sitting on the table and window sill and it looks like one of the men is having his shoes shined by a local boy. There is a missing photograph with a remaining description of ‘Myself with Cliff Tindale with ‘697’ at Beirut’, with a supplementary entry of ‘Killed in action in Italy 6-10-44 at Maradi’. I remember my father telling me of one time in particular when one of his mates was killed and he sent a note with some personal items and a medallion that had been blessed by the Pope to the mother of the man who was killed. I don’t know if Cliff was the man in question but it may answer the mystery of the missing photo. As soon as can acquire a scanner I will upload as many photographs as I can but in the meantime I hope the above descriptions may be of some small help to anyone else trying to fill in gaps themselves. As a sidenote, if anyone can suggest a good scanner and programme for slides and black and white photographs I will be forever grateful. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Kay
Hello Kay have you his service records link below Ministry of Defence | About Defence | What we do | Personnel | Service Records | Making a Request for Information held on the Personnel Records of Deceased Service Personnel I am sure you will receive more info from forum members once you post the photos. In the meantime if you have a digital camera take a shot of the photos and then you can upload onto the site this might at least give forum members more to go on. regards Clive
Not a gunner but the term 'Badge' springs to mind, late 60s early 70s a pub in Winchester was taken over by Wally Jackson recently retired from 33(7) Para as RSM. My memory of him telling of when he joined up as a junior soldier he said we learned to play calls on a trumpet, gunners would know this - I am sure he described himself as a 'Badgie'.
Just bumping this up as Kay asked me to add 'Royal Artillery' to the title, I hope that will attract the Gunners on the forum. cheers
Hi Kay My Dad was in the 13th LAA I have posted information here- http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/searching-someone-military-genealogy/21898-war-records-help-abbreviations-interpretation-service-records.html also - RA 1939-45 13 LAA Do you have any photos of them, I would be interested in seeing. As for a scanner, I have a Cannon multifunction scanner/copier/printer and it works very well. regards Robert
I have quite a few more photos of later dates but these will do to start with. I have included all that I mentioned in my original post plus a few others. I have also included a photo taken in 1916 of my Grandfather Whiteley Brierley who was in the Royal Horse Artillery and whom I have no information about at all. These images are digital photos of the originals so I must apologise for the poor quality. If anyone wants closer views of any, please let me know and I will do my best. Regards, Kay View attachment 53162 View attachment 53165
The motorcycle is a Matchless G3/WO from contract C7183, despatched to the RASC depots at Feltham and Ashchurch, 'Destined for Middle East' Delivery commenced March 1941 which would be about the date that this one was produced.
Hi Kay Do you have an Ancestry subscription? His Medal Index Card and 2 lots of Service Records are on there. Was he in the RFA? and is this him- Name: Whiteley BrierleyBirth: abt 1882Military: 1918Residence: 8 Osborne Street, Oldham regards Robert
Hi Kay Do you have an Ancestry subscription? His Medal Index Card and 2 lots of Service Records are on there. Was he in the RFA? and is this him- Name: Whiteley BrierleyBirth: abt 1882Military: 1918Residence: 8 Osborne Street, Oldham regards Robert Hi Robert, I don't have an Ancestry subscription but I think I'll have to look into it if I can work out exchange rates. I think there may be an Australian version of Ancestry so I'll find out if I can access UK records through that. I have no real details about my Grandfather at all other than stories my dad used to tell me. Dad was born and raised in Oldham and he used to refer to Osborne Street in some of his stories so I think you have found the right Whiteley although I'm not sure about the RFA - I'm not sure I've heard that abbreviation before. Thank you so much for the information you have found and heading me in the right direction. This is really exciting! Regards, Kay
Hi Kay Yes, just google Ancestry and pick the Aus one, it will cost you $25 for a months subscription which will give you all the Aus and UK records to look at. Then you can start your tree if you wish and update that a no cost later (but it will cost to look at any links that come up). Cancel your subscription before the month ends and you can still look and work on the tree. RFA = Royal Field Artillery, which is noted at the bottom of the Attestation Document, but it does say Royal Horse and Royal Field Artillery at the top. If you have any problems, let me know. regards Robert
Some great photos there, thanks for posting. Good examples there of the 8th Indian Div insignia being worn. If you want to read some background info on 8th Indian Division I can suggest this to read. Whole book is online , have a look through for the bits on 8th Ind Div. (dunno if you already seen it) The Tiger Triumphs. The Story of Three Great Divisions in Italy. 1946. Foreword. Table of Contents.
Hi Kay, Have you got your fathers service file , colour patch, ribbon bar,ribon bar. You could try and contact the units you have photos of to see if he was on their rolls. I came from your neck of the woods ,( Sale) I know how hard it is to get information from England and expencive from the National Archives UK. Think out side the box . Good luck with your search. Regards Kerri
