Hello I'm new to the site, so apologies for diving straight in asking for help. I'm trying to trace my Grandfather's records for WW2. I think he was in the East Riding Yeomanry ( although I was told East Riding Prince of Wale's Own ). He was a radio operator(loader) in Tanks, fought in Africa, Italy, DDay & crossed the Rhine. His name was Frank R Clark, and his brother Ken (Kenneth) was also in the same Regiment. Ken crossed the Rhine first and my Grandfather at the back of the advance. He told me once that his unit had been attacked by friendly as they had advanced behind enemy lines, even though they had the markings on the Tanks. He must have been stationed in Germany after the war, as my Grandmother is German and my Father was born in Hamm,(possibly a military hospital) in 1947. Any help would be greatfully appreciated. Many thanks Dean
Hi Dean Welcome to the forum The very first thing you need to do in researching someone's military history is to obtain their service record, as this is the official 'bible' as to who they were with, where and when. Link here - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/requests-for-personal-data-and-service-records#how-to-apply-for-service-personnel-records - and all for only £30. TD
Hi Dean Once you have them, then it will be a lot easier to fill in details. There are members on the site who can obtain copies of War Diaries etc from The national Archives for you, but the service records will provide the skeleton that you can then flesh out - so to speak. It might also be worth in the meantime searching the forum for background information as there may be threads already on his Regiment, and also on the possible places he saw service. When his service record is in your hands scan it and post it on here, as other members will be able to help unravel the abbreviations, albeit there is a thread under the heading of Databases for abbreviations - link http://ww2talk.com/forums/page/Databases/abbreviations.html TD
He might have been with one of the two East Riding Yeomanry regiments but if he was in Africa and Italy it was probably with another regiment as these two regiments were only Home Forces and NW Europe during WW2. A copy of his service records will reveal all. Andy