Help!!! Needed Searching The Archives

[PsyWar.Org]

OK I thought I'd put together a little guide on how to find a particular British Army war diary at the National Archives.

1. The vital piece of information you need to know is what theatre the unit was in at a particular time or under whose command. The war diaries are arranged by command, following the Order of Battle.

For example if you were searching for the war diary of the 225 Field Company RE in May 1940, you need to search the index for the British Expeditionary Force as they were at Dunkirk at the time.

Here is the list of commands with their associated TNA reference series number:

War Office Directorates - WO 165

Home Forces - WO 166

British Expeditionary Force - WO 167

North-West Expeditionary Force - WO 168

Middle East Forces - WO 169

Central Mediterranean Forces - WO 170

North-West Europe - WO 171

South-East Asia Command - WO 172

West Africa Forces - WO 173

Madagascar - WO 174

British North Africa Forces - WO 175

Various smaller theatres - WO 176

Medical services - WO 177

Military Missions - WO 178

Dominion Forces WO 179

GHQ Liaison Regiment* - WO 215

Special Services - WO 218

Ships Signals Sections* - WO 257

Royal Marine Commandos - DEFE 2

* These series include associated papers

For the 225 Field Company RE war diary for May 1940, you need to search in WO 167 – British Expeditionary Force.

2. So visit TNA online catalogue here:
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3. In the box for “Department or Series Code” enter the reference series number you found above, e.g. WO 167

4. In the box for “Word or Phrase” you can try a number of things. If you tried “225 Field Company” you’re not going to find anything because abbreviations are used in the index.

In this particular case I’d try the search phrase “225”.

If the unit/company number is low then try something like “Royal Engineers” to find the subdivision in the listing and then use the “Browse from here” button to scan through the entries from the start of that subdivision, as all the Royal Engineer units will be grouped together. The same for Royal Artillery, etc.

5. Hit the search button!

In this example the reference returned for the 225 Fd. Coy. is WO 167/979. That is the file reference number to use to order the document at Kew. Detecting your browser settings

Hope this helps?

Lee

[Owen]

(6th Battalion RWF)was doing that day and where was he in relation to Edwin..???

6 RWF in 160 Bde , 53rd Division.
From the 53rd Divisional History page 77.

160th Brigade
On the 18th september when the Brigade passed through the Bridgehead they moved to the area Wilreit-Luykgeste.
At Wilreit the 4th Welch made a very sucessful attack to clear a wood, in the course of which several officers and men were killed.
On the 23rd Postel was occupied and on the 24th, moving North, the outskirts of Reusel were reached. This was heavily defended and an advance by one company of the 6th RWF only suceeded in occupying the Southern fringe of the village.....

The Bridgehead mentioned refers to the Junction Canal north of LOMMEL.

PS Just found April 1945 war diary for 6 RWF on a CD Paul sent me. Was Raymond still with them then ?

[gaztwrO]

Psywar/Owen

Thanks for your reply, Yes Owen Raymond was enlisted to the end of the war.

Apologies for the delay in replying my daughter spilt a cup of tea over the keyboard!!!!!!

[gaztwrO]

Right here we go........

I've borrowed the papers from my father, as my brother 'Finbar Saunders' has highlighted in another thread, according to the cwg and Edwins service record he was a member of the 20th AT reg, on studying his service papers he was admitted to the 14TH feild dressing station on the 19TH sept 44' he died on the 20TH sept 44' on his papers it states that he was '21ST AT regt'....??? was it normal for them to move regiments during the war? Finbar has found out that the 14TH fds was part of the 21st AT

Also i'll be cheeky and ask does anyone know the reference for the 21ST AT. Also how do i attach images i have pictures of Edwins records, our trip to belgium and pictures of the man himself to stick on.

[Owen]

For adding images to a post see this thread.

http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/network...our-posts.html

[gaztwrO]

Hello again,

As i said in a previous post on another thread, we now think that although Edwin was recorded as part of the 20TH AT reg't on his service record his death was recorded as being part of the 21ST AT, we are hopefully going to the National Archives in the next few months to read the war diaries and we are going to read both the 20TH and the 21st to try and establish were exactly Edwin was. Can anyone advise ... can we expect to find specific details recorded regarding Edwins death within the diary for that day...??

Thanks

GAZ

[Paul Reed]

If you can post some scans of the service record it will help us to figure it out.

As AT units were fairly small there is every chance his death will be mentioned, even if it is indirectly.

[PsyWar.Org]

Originally Posted by gaztwrO

Hello again,

As i said in a previous post on another thread, we now think that although Edwin was recorded as part of the 20TH AT reg't on his service record his death was recorded as being part of the 21ST AT, we are hopefully going to the National Archives in the next few months to read the war diaries and we are going to read both the 20TH and the 21st to try and establish were exactly Edwin was. Can anyone advise ... can we expect to find specific details recorded regarding Edwins death within the diary for that day...??

Thanks

GAZ

Unless he was an officer, it is unlikely that he'll be mentioned by name in the War Diary. For example a relative of mine killed in WWI, on that day the diary records that 10 O/Rs (other ranks) killed by shelling. Coupled with the fact he doesn't have a known grave, it is fairly obvious how he went. At least it would have been quick. So don't expect too much detail.

Something else worth trying is searching the Imperial War Museum online collection for personal diaries and other documents from members of his regiment. Imperial War Museum Collections Online Database

Lee

[PsyWar.Org]

OK not much in the IWM Collection but did find this photo:



Caption: "Gunners of 20th Anti-Tank Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, haul a 2-pdr anti-tank gun up a steep slope during training at Verwood in Dorset, 22 March 1941. "

[PsyWar.Org]

And this:

[IWM interview]
Catalogue Number: 27178

Production Date: 13/Aug/2004
Maker: Harris, Michael Guy
Production Company: IWM

British officer served with 20th Anti-Tank Regt, Royal Artillery in GB and North West Europe, 1940-1945 REEL 1 Military Operations, 1939-1945: North West Europe, 1944-1945

Object Type: IWM interview
Access Conditions: IWM copyright
Number of Parts: 6

Uncat Record