What do these documents tell you about My Father?

My first post on the forum so I hope I'm in the right place with this question. My father was in the Signals from1944 to 47 and I have requested his service record but that has not arrived yet. I do have a couple of documents from that time but I don't understand some entries on the paperwork.

I have added both of the documents I have which has various items I cannot find online including what the "2 L of C Signal Regiment" was and "Far East I" etc etc.

If anyone can clarify what this information tells us about my fathers time in the signals I would be really grateful.

 

I was blocked from adding images as they were too large. I tried to upload reduced size images but the timer ran out on editing so I have posted the link to the google drive folder containing the document images.

Dads War Book.jpeg
Dad's discharge papers.jpg

Thanks in advance

 

There are a number of hits if you search for ‘2 Line’ in the National Archives that might help but not all dates are relevant. L of C being Line of Communications. Best wait for the actual service record to pin down exactly what to search for and when... and he could join co axial cables !

Good luck

 

21st Army Group Signals
21 Aug 45 – redesignated Headquarters British Army of the Rhine Signals merging with 2nd Line of Communication Signals
10 Sep 45 – redesignated 1st Headquarters Signals
15 Oct 46 – merged with 12th Line of Communication Signal Regiment
1 Dec 46 – redesignated 2nd Line of Communication Signal Regiment
15 Jun 48 – redesignated Headquarters British Army of the Rhine Signal Regiment

Scroll down here for more details
britisharmyingermany.com/21st-army-group-2nd-army-hq-baor/

 

I am really grateful for these posts - they make interesting reading. The Service Record is delayed due to Covid-19 but I would much rather workers were safe than anything else. I hope you are all taking great care and I wish you well - thanks
Dave

 

My father went through the NW Europe campaign with 11 Air Formation Signals and ended the war in Schleswig Holstein. In November 1945, he was transferred to 9 Tele Op Section who were responsible for the teleprinter reports from the trials in Nuremburg. From 3/46, he was with 1 HQ Signals BAOR and from 12/46, 2 L of C Signals. which reflect several of the changes that Steve has detailed.

"Far East 1" was the classification given to those who were to be transferred to the Far East - It was of course the great fear of troops in N W Europe and accounts for why VE Day was not celebrated with 100% enthusiasm. Fortunately the war against Japan was ended before the movement of troops from Europe began.

The officer responsible for the paybook entry in Dad's unit was W.A. Greaves and his initials afterwards made the entry read as "Fat East 1 way" which apparently wasn't too well received at the time.



Your father had been a cable jointer prior to enlistment and probably been in a reserved occupation. The trade qualification "LMN" is Lineman.

 

Thanks for this - makes clear a number of the items on the document. it will be good to get the actual records once they get to them in a few months time!

 

I was fortunate, Dave in that Dad is still with us and he was able to apply for his records under 'Freedom of information' rules so it should be complete. Even then, without his explanation, a lot of it would be quite unclear...I looked at 11 Air Fmn. Sigs war diaries in the hope of finding more, but with such a scattered unit, there is little of use...HQ reports and teleprinter location diagrams mostly.

I'm fairly sure that Dad finished his service at Bad Oeyenhausen.

 

I found a Photograph in my fathers collection. On the reverse is simply has 'General McNanny at the podium' but I have no idea when it was taken or where. It may have something to do with the initial training done at Fort George in 1944 or early 45 but that is a guess.

Does anyone recognise the location from the background or from the event itself. I have tried to research the name but other than finding that the spelling was more usually McNaney that's all I could find. the name is not listed in any service lists I can find online either

 

I think this is the General you are looking for:
Joseph T. McNarney - Wikipedia

Tim

 

I have been waiting since February for the Army Records to send me my Dad's service record - due to Coronavirus delays. I was going to wait for those before asking for help on anything I didn't understand but I came across some poorly defined documents in my fathers records which I have posted below. They are so hard to read due to the quality but I thought there may be members that might recognise acronyms or entries which might helpmeet pin down more details about where he was during the period from 1944 - 47. Before that date he was in a reserved profession and having read the work that was required during the Birmingham Blitz I can see why - I do recall him being frustrated about not being able to sign up earlier.

The documents are too large to upload so here is a link to my shared drive containing scans of the originals.
Service Records - Google Drive

I also thought some might be interested in the document about the work of the GPO during WW2 which was published in 1946.
http://cloudobservers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2015/05/The-Post-Office-Went-to-War.pdf

Any help would be most welcome. Thanks
Dave

 

He enlisted 7 December 1944 in the General Service Corps, so a late entrant, and was posted to 95 PTC - Primary Training Corps. Forms say that he was injured 11.11.46 so after the war and not in the casualty lists.

Some of the forms on your drive are from his official records but hopefully the originals will be more readable. His embarkation/disembarkation dates are shown. X list details here:
X lists (Service Records)

Some abbreviations here:
Abbreviations in Service Records (UK/ Army/ WWII) : For ref.

 

The link to the Post Office ww2 history..... very interesting. Thanks for (posting)

 

The photo is not of Fort George, near Inverness. There are two gates into the fort and they do not look like the featured background. One gate is the main entrance, with a wooden bridge over the ditch into a single gateway; the side (vehicle) gate is a later addition and has no ditch.

There are numerous photos via Google.

 

OPENING NEW ROAD BRIDGE OVER RHINE AT COLOGNE

 

The full set of records arrived a couple of days ago and while there are a lot of useful documents I am having problems working out where postings were made to. The summary states that my father spent time in Holland (1 month), Germany ( 2 years 3 months0 and Belgium (1 month) but the entries of postings does not indicate actual locations. What do I need to search for in order to pin that down. There are references such as 'Posted to 2 Tele Com Spec Sec" and "2 or 12 L of C" along with dates but is there a way of finding out actual locations?

 

I need some help understanding the records that I have received as there are so many changes - is there anyone members could reccomend that I could ask to unpick the information? I don't mind too much if there is a charge involved but I am bound to make mistakes if I try to do this myself. Any suggestion welcomed.
D

 

Dave, Service records are unlikely to provide details of precise locations, what they do tell is the unit a soldier served with and when, from that information the next step would be to seek out war diaries and regimental histories etc to be able to follow their service. Best suggestion is to scan the records and post them in order that others around here can help you.

 

Thanks Tony56 I have scanned the three sheets and posted a link to them below. I do have other documents but those are easily understood (to me). One makes clear that my father was located in Holland and Belgium each for a month and then in Germany for 2 years 3 months.
I would love to know locations for the various postings and what they mean and why some of the postings seem to be to switch between different groups. Any help would be really welcomed. As the files are large images I have placed them on my google drive and shortened the url to make is easier to access.

https://tinyurl.com/y3h59kku

 

Hello Dave,

They are large files!
To make things easier I have shrunk them with MS Paint.

Richard