Dianne, Hello and welcome. Being not quite the first here, I get to do the easy bits: 1892925 will be your dad's service number. It will uniquely identify him to th Army Records people. 161 RCC RE could be 161st Road or Railway Construction Company, Royal Engineers. That's an educated guess at the moment. I haven't found a reference to that particular unit yet. The RE bit is definite: 'Sapper' is the Royal Engineers' term for a private. CMF is Central Mediterranean Force - the 'theatre' he was in.
Here are some contenders at the NA; you can ignore any RPC Royal Pioneer Corps entries, they are something else. The details should tell you whether they are Italy or not.
Dianne - Before you start getting all frustrated at the National Archives - I think now that you have his service number and unit - date of birth et al - you might want to ask Glasgow to ferret out his personal records which will give you verse and nearly all chapters of his time in the Army- then when those arrive later in the summer and the frustration mounts - then a visit to the NA would be in order to see what his pals got up to during his time with them - and come back here for an interpretation of his records ...it can take awhile to get it all sorted out. Cheers Cheerss
Dianne - on re-reading your Father's details - he was in Milan in January 1945 ? - was he a prisoner of war - as the allies in the shape of the US 5th Army didn't get there until very late April / May 45......??? Cheers
Dianne - This extract from the US official history of the Italian campign would confirm that your Father was either a POW or had his dates wrong as they US 5th Army didn't enter Milan until the 30th April 1945 - and it was already liberated by partisans who had hung Mussolini and his girl friend Clara Petacci on a forecourt in Milan. ""astride Highway 53 to cross the Brenta on the 29th and the next day to race 25 miles eastward to Treviso, just north of Venice. The 6th South African Armoured Division stayed roughly abreast on the corps right flank. As April came to an end, both divisions had reached the limits of their assigned zones. While the 91st Division rounded up scattered enemy units, the South Africans assembled southwest of Treviso in preparation for a move far to the west to garrison the city of Milan "" Cheers
Dianne Look in the National Archives under wo169/00000 and WO170/0000 they should cover the period you want .
