Hello, I am struggling to understand the significance of the '(N.Russia)' following 'Prosperine'. I understand Prosperine was Scapa Flow in 1945, so possibly the sailor was additional crew for arctic convoys? Also, this gent has three separate football injuries annotated on his service record, for which he received hurt certificates. I assume he was playing at a decent standard for it to be recorded on the service record? or would any injury?
You might find this article of interest re HMS Proserpine: HMS Proserpine And this re Pembroke: HMS Pembroke - Wikipedia Both seem to be shore establishments but I'm no expert! RRTB
HMS PROSERPINE was the HQ and Comms base at Scapa. (N. Russia) bracketed means that was his seagoing appointment. So he was probably 'lent' to a ship on one of the convoys. Being a P.O. Tel it could have just been for that convoy as a lot of comms ratings were mobile and deployed at short notice with convoy commodores. Regards Hugh
Many thanks for the responses, much appreciated. Another question for this sailor please, what do you think his WW2 medal entitlement is? below is what is before the original picture I posted. I have Malabar as Bermuda and Virago as Norway and Arctic Convoys, would he have an Atlantic Star from sailing back from Bermuda for example.
The Atlantic Star required 6 months service afloat. I think he may well have qualified for the Defence Medal. Tim
We can say generally where he was serving but that doesn't make it easy to confirm his medal entitlement. To qualify for the Atlantic Star he would need to complete 6 months service afloat in a qualifying area but also must have already qualified for the 1939-45 Star which also required 6 months afloat. It looks like he joins HMS VIRAGO just after her Russian Convoy work so missed out there. It seems he was ashore late 44 due to HMS VIRAGO refit. My guess is the Atlantic Star would have been issued for service to N. Russia as per your first attachment. It would also mean he would qualify for the new[ish] medal, the Arctic Star which may be worth checking out. Regards Hugh
From the above records I'm having trouble getting 6 months afloat for the Atlantic Star. Virago (4 Oct - 15 Dec 44) = 2 1/2 months. N Russia (11 Mar - 8 May 45, when the qualifying period ended) = 2 months. There is no indication where he was from Pembroke (16 Dec 44) until Prosperine (11 Mar 45) unless the extracts are continuous and he stayed at Pembroke. HMS Virago, destroyer Tim
On the face of it it looks like Tim is correct with regard to the time qualification for the Atlantic Star. However, you would have to obtain his P & V Ledger to know more as RN records are IMHO the worst of all the services to judge where someone actually served which makes their medal entitlements difficult to determine from looking at a service record. Regardless of the Atlantic Star, his next of kin should be entitled to obtain the Arctic Star as it looks like he qualified for that. Regards Hugh
If all else fails, you could always send the man's information to the Medal Office. They would likely have (or be able to obtain) the necessary information to be able to determine eligibility for whatever medal(s) he was entitled to. I did this for my father who had served in Malaya and Java post August 1945. He had been transferred to 178 Fd Regt RA and posted to Java, where he landed 3 December 1945. He was there for 6 months; I discovered by chance that he was entitled to (but had never applied for) the GSM 18 with SE Asia 1945-46 clasp. I sent all the information I had about him - soldier number, regiment, etc etc - to the Medal Office who checked his credentials and agreed that he was indeed entitled to said medal, which arrived in the post a few days after their letter of confirmation. It took about 2-3 months if I recall correctly, but it was well worth the effort. It meant that after 69 years he now had his full entitlement to military awards, but unfortunately he had passed away 13 years previously so never got to see this medal. A guide to Ministry of Defence Medal Office RRTB
Many thanks for the responses, much appreciated. I agree the medals are difficult to work out for the sailors. Thanks again
