REME 7 Base Workshop Alexandria WW2

Discussion in 'Searching for Someone & Military Genealogy' started by Lizbos, Jan 28, 2017.

  1. Lizbos

    Lizbos Member

    My Dad, George McGowan was a Staff Sergeant at 7 Base Workshop Alexandria during WW2 until the workshop was wound up and he was demobbed.I'd love to have any info of anyone who was there and/or the events that took place. Wish I'd paid more attention to his telling of Arab/Brit relationships, and the bomb in a civilian cafe that he and his mates survived but which made them keep to camp.
     
  2. hutt

    hutt Member

    Hi and welcome

    One of my uncles was in 4 Base Workshop, also in Egypt. These units have diaries at Kew and the following my be worth investigating

    WO 169/12398 Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers: 7 Base Workshop (REME) 1943 Jan.- Dec.
    WO 169/17185 7 Base Wksp. 1944 Jan.- Dec.
    WO 169/23725 7 Base Wksp. 1946 Jan.- July
    WO 169/20795 7 Wksp 1945 Jan.- Dec.
     
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  3. Lizbos

    Lizbos Member

    Thank you for that Hutt. Might that have been digitised or would I have to visit Kew to see the records? I'm a wheelchair user and unable to visit.
     
  4. hutt

    hutt Member

    Hi
    Unfortunately these won't have been digitized so it would need either a visit in person or, through this site, commissioning someone who regularly visits and will copy diaries for a modest fee, certainly substantially less than the 'official' National Archive rate. Drew5233 springs to mind.

    Unfortunately I did not copy the full 4 Base Workshop diaries I found due to lack of time and can't remember how much detail was being recorded so it could be pot luck what you find in them. I did however, find several lists of men including my uncle complete with army number so you may be lucky.

    Whether it would refer to significant local events 'off base' impacting the men such as the bomb you refer to, who knows, the detail and content of diaries varies enormously as has been discussed recently elsewhere on the forum.
     
  5. hutt

    hutt Member

    Attached is a similar page of diary entry that I do have. There is of course, no guarantee that 7 Base Workshops would be in any way the same in content and detail. You also need to make sure you are looking at REME diaries and not Royal Engineers or Royal Army Ordnance Corps diaries as they can have the same workshop numbers and this example page is actually for 4th Base RE workshop rather than 4 Base REME and was partially copied as a record to remind me that I had taken it out and it was not relevant!
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: Jan 29, 2017
  6. Lizbos

    Lizbos Member


    Thank you Hutt for all your help. I now have Dad's Army papers which, to my surprise includes his release book, pay book and references written by his Colonel. There's lots of info in his pay book tho reading some of the handwriting is a challenge! I've found a picture listed on Kew website of the 7 base workshop Christmas party 1945 which I'd love to see. He did write and request his medals but was told they'd already been issued at the relevant time. When he returned home he found that his father had sold his precious racing bike and other possessions and he assumed his medals had arrived at some point and suffered the same fate! While listening to Mum's reminising yesterday she told me a story I hadn't heard before. Apparently during a visit from ENSA he had sung with them and was asked if he'd like to join them. His father and mother were music hall artistes and he had inherited a good tenor voice from his Dad!
     
  7. Corley Miller

    Corley Miller New Member

    Hi Lizbos,

    I recently came across your post from earlier this year regarding your father’s wartime service with 7 Base Workshops.

    My late grandfather, Major Sidney J. Hinks served with a number of RAOC/REME workshop units including 7 Base Workshops in Alexandria and 4 Base Workshops in Cairo. A review of his service record reveals that it was the former with which he spent the most time and therefore I would imagine that it’s quite likely that he would have known your father, although I’ve really no idea how many men would have been attached to these type of units or their command structure. I’m still in the very early stages of researching his service.

    I was really interested in your finding of a reference to a picture in the National Archives of the 7 Base Workshops 1945 Christmas Party. I’m hoping make a quick visit the NA at Kew very shortly and would be happy to find and copy it. I did a search on their website but couldn’t find anything, would it be possible for you to provide the NA reference number?
     
  8. Lizbos

    Lizbos Member

    Hi Corley

    Thanks for your message. The following link takes you to the reference for the picture which may picture my Dad and your Grandad.
    Christmas dinner 1945 : No 1 Workshop Company, 7 B. W/Shops R.E.M.E., Alexandria (LBY K. 06 / 913)
    Christmas dinner 1945 : No 1 Workshop Company, 7 B. W/Shops R.E.M.E., Alexandria

    • [​IMG]
    I have looked at several officers' signatures (squiggles) in Dad's army book but can't say any of them are identifiable. Dad told me that one officer used to lend him part of his uniform to enable Dad to go to the officers mess with him! Both of them would have been on a charge if reported of course. He definitely mentioned the officer's name but I don't remember it. Sadly Dad died in 2011 and there's so many stories he told me that I wish I could hear again! I would love to see the picture and will gladly pay any charge involved as well as something for your time. This link to base 7 workshops may be of interest to you too if you haven't already found it.
    British Army units from 1945 on - Central and Base Workshops

    Liz
     
  9. Corley Miller

    Corley Miller New Member

    Hi Liz,

    Thanks for the link(s), unfortunately it seems that the picture we’re interested in is held by the Imperial War Museum in Lambeth rather than the National Archives in Kew. I’m afraid I shall only be in London for one day and that will be mainly in West London quite close to the NA at Kew, I don’t think I’d be able to get over to the IWM in the spare time I have available on this visit. However, all is not lost – I noticed that within the IWM’s website they do have a facility to order either a digital or hard copy of their images and they provide details and an order form here:
    Media Sales and Licensing
    Order or Licence an Image or Sound File

    This would obviously mean paying up front and taking a bit of a chance on your Dad and/or my Grandad being in it. It looks like prices start at £7.50 for a digital image and increase according to size and quality. Have a look and see what you think.
     
  10. Lizbos

    Lizbos Member

    Hi Corley

    I'm afraid my knowledge of London isn't great and it hadn't dawned on me that the I WM aren't are Kew.

    Despite the fact that my Dad and your Grandad may well not appear in the photo I shall always wonder if I don't take the opportunity of seeing it. I shall buy the digital version and pass on a copy to you if it's possible.

    Btw, it's a tradition in the forces for the officers to serve the other ranks their Xmas dinner.

    I hope your visit to Kew proves fruitful.

    Liz
     
  11. 8RB

    8RB Well-Known Member

    If I may advise you, for a copy of the war diaries I should contact Drew5233. He's fast, it is (at least to my opinion) affordable and, even more important, he knows where to look! On the other hand you will mis the excitement of finding what you are looking for yourself... Good luck with your search anyway!
     
  12. Corley Miller

    Corley Miller New Member

    8RB,
    Thanks for the advice. As I'm going to be in the Kew area anyway I thought I'd get the experience of searching the National Archives for the first time and as you say there is an excitement in discovery. My grandfather served with numerous individual units within RAOC/REME so it's very unlikely that I'll be able to find everything in the time available and will almost certainly need help in acquiring the relevant war diaries, so it'll be useful to have a source for that, thanks.

    Liz,
    My thoughts exactly re the photo.
    I'm a bit of a novice on these forum things, but I'll have a go at sending you a PM if I can figure out how it works.

    Regards
     

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