Driving Test??

Discussion in 'General' started by daisy1942, Sep 19, 2017.

  1. daisy1942

    daisy1942 Junior Member

    This did not seem to fit in any other forum.....

    Dad talked of taking a "driving test" that involved taking a Matedor towing a field gun downhill without touching the brakes and keeping control of the vehicle.

    My question is does anyone else remember/recall or recognise doing something similar? What unit/service were you in? Anything that people know about such an experience is of interest.

    Thanks
     
  2. Tony56

    Tony56 Member Patron

    Details of Matador here, note image of it towing a gun:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AEC_Matador

    Not sure about a specific driving test but I do know that most soldiers went on driving courses for various vehicles, carriers, lorries, motor cycles etc.
    Hope that is of some help.
     
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  3. daisy1942

    daisy1942 Junior Member

    Thanks Tony useful but puzzling The British Army records do not show Dad enlisting!
     
  4. Tony56

    Tony56 Member Patron

    What records have you looked at without finding him? Are you referring to his service records?
    Get a copy of military service records - GOV.UK

    If you provide a name/dates/locations and what you do know, you may get some results here.
     
  5. daisy1942

    daisy1942 Junior Member

    L

    Hi Tony,
    Long, long story here but in a nutshell.
    Dad seems to have dropped from outer space just in time to escape Singapore on one of the smallest vessels to do so successfully - a water boat called Daisy. We do not know what he was doing, which service (if any) he was in. He grew up in Glasgow but seems to have been born In Eire. I can trace his escape across Sumatra but then he disappeared only to turn up in Trinidad in the autumn/winter 1942 - serving in the USED ( US Coastguard)!!!! January 1943 saw him married in Bridgetown, Barbados but by early 1944 he has vanished again. May 1944 found him in Montreal where he joined the British Merchant Navy. The remainder of the war saw him in the Med on various ships getting into trouble occasionally finally being shipped home from Suez at the end of hostilities.

    MOD say he was not in the army, as do the RN. RAF is unlikely given his background and his merchant navy record does not predate May 1944. I have tried every BMD site I can think of without finding his birth certificate. He died in London in 1986
     
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  6. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    Can you provide what details you have about him, all we know so far is that he died in London 1986, we dont even know his name.
    Do you have a copy of his death certificate ??

    TD
     
  7. daisy1942

    daisy1942 Junior Member

    Dominic Michael Stronger born 14.4.1919 or 1922 Eire. Grew p on Glasgow, Maryhill area. Attended St. Joseph's primary in Raglan Street and may have attended St Aloysuis College. Was brought up Roman Catholic but supported Rangers. Believe he needed to get out of Glasgow "in a hurry" due to problems with police, his brother Jack helped. He knew a number of professional boxers from Glasgow and at least one famous footballer was his friend May have been one of twins No other info about early life.

    He was on one of the last boats to escape Singapore successsfully, a waterboat called DAISY on the night of 13/14 February. I can trace him for around 10 days travelling to Emmerhaven/Padang and he was evacuated from there.

    Lost track of him until late autumn 1942 when he arrived in Trinidad. By this time he had survived being torpedoed three times. January 1943 he married Evelyn Genevieve Stringer in Bridgetown, Barbados. My husband was born December 1943. Dad disappeared again, staying briefly in New York (visited Jack Dempsey's Bar) before he showed up in Montreal where he joined the British Merchant Navy. He remained with them for the rest of the war frequently getting into trouble and was subject to at least 2 Naval Courts

    Post war he never left the UK and returned to Glasgow only once circa 1955/56 . Friends told him that both his father and brother had died.

    I have tried all the BMD websites without success but have not found a birth certificate for him. Nor any trace of his father John Patrick. His death cert gives a d.o.b. of 1919 but lists no details of his birth or parentage.

    Think I have covered everything!
     
  8. Tony56

    Tony56 Member Patron

    Do you mean Stringer, died Q4 1986 Tower Hamlets?
     
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  9. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007

    Name: Dominic Michael Stringer
    Death Age: 67
    Birth Date: 14 Apr 1919
    Registration Date: Nov 1986
    Registration district: Tower Hamlets
    Inferred County: Greater London
    Volume: 14
    Page: 1132

    Well found Tony56

    TD
     
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  10. Tony56

    Tony56 Member Patron

    Isn't the CRS10 a Naval record? Also his incoming passenger list 10 July 1945 from India gives his address as c/o MN Pool, Liverpool, could that be merchant navy, was he ships engineer?
     
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  11. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    UK, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960
    Name: Dominic Stringer
    Birth Date: abt 1919
    Age: 26
    Port of Departure: Bombay, India
    Arrival Date: 10 Jul 1945
    Port of Arrival: Liverpool, England
    Ports of Voyage: Bombay
    Ship Name: Monarch of Bermuda
    Search Ship Database: Search for the Monarch of Bermuda in the 'Passenger Ships and Images' database
    Shipping line: Furness, Withy and Company Ltd
    Official Number: 162650

    TD

    edited to add:
    30807_A001211-00446.jpg
     
  12. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007
    Name: Evelyn Genevieve Stringer
    Death Age: 86
    Birth Date: 10 Mar 1908
    Registration Date: Jun 1994
    Registration district: Fulham
    Inferred County: Greater London
    Register Number: 71A
    District and Subdistrict: 2281
    Entry Number: 298

    TD
     
  13. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    Daisy - can you scan and post the sections of his CRS10 that you have - we have members who understand the MN records

    TD

    edited to add

    It may also be worthwhile contacting the Registrars Office in Barbados to obtain a copy marriage certificate as it may contain certain vital information
     
    Last edited: Sep 20, 2017
  14. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    If you look at the database - London, England, Electoral Registers, 1832-1965 they both are living in Avenue Road Acton in 1947, and other address's in and around Fulham/SW 6 up until 1965.

    Not sure what happens to the records after that - someone may know

    TD
     
  15. Ron Goldstein

    Ron Goldstein WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    In answer to the original question........
    In Whitby in Jan 1942, part of our Driving Test (to pass out as a Driver/Operator) was as follows:
    The instructor would find the steepest hill in the area and would tell you to stop half way up the hill. He would then nip out of the cab and place an empty match-box under one of the rear wheels.
    He would then tell you to drive off without any slipping back that would crush the match-box.

    Simple but effective :)

    Ron
     
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  16. Ron Goldstein

    Ron Goldstein WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Daisy1942

    Another memory of learning to drive (army style) comes to mind:

    Almost at the end of the course I was due to take the driving test that would enable me to call myself a qualified army driver. As luck would have it on the same morning as I took the test I had a dental appointment and so by the time this had finished it was about eleven a.m. before I could get to the car park where I was due to meet my examiner.
    To my horror when I arrived the only vehicle left in the car park was a huge tank transporter.
    When the examiner saw the petrified look on my face and I had explained the reason for my lateness he laughed aloud, took pity on me and gave me a two minute course on how to handle this monster with its complicated gear changes and its huge turning circle. He also gave me a pass at the end of what must have been for both of us a very alarming ride!

    Ron

    ps
    More about driving here: I've just stopped driving after 73 years !
     
    Last edited: Sep 21, 2017
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  17. Tony56

    Tony56 Member Patron

    Some background on driving courses:
    Driving tests.jpg Driving licence.jpg
     
  18. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    Hi Daisy

    Have been searching around this am and found a Dominic Stringer (aged 20) travelling from Trinidad to Uk with his mother Evelyn in 1946, so I have assumed this to be Dominic Michaels wife and child

    Name: Dominic Stringer
    Birth Date: abt 1944
    Age: 2
    Port of Departure: Trinidad
    Arrival Date: 2 Sep 1946
    Port of Arrival: Southampton, England
    Ship Name: Marine Marlin
    Search Ship Database: Search for the Marine Marlin in the 'Passenger Ships and Images' database
    Shipping line: Matson Navigation Company
    Official Number: 248912

    Name: Evelyn Stringer
    Birth Date: abt 1908
    Age: 38
    Port of Departure: Trinidad
    Arrival Date: 2 Sep 1946
    Port of Arrival: Southampton, England
    Ship Name: Marine Marlin
    Search Ship Database: Search for the Marine Marlin in the 'Passenger Ships and Images' database
    Shipping line: Matson Navigation Company
    Official Number: 248912
    30807_A001221-00622.jpg

    So we also need to search for a Dominic born 1944 in Trinidad or possibly another island - again obtaining a copy of his birth certificate should provide details on Dominic Michael and Evelyn

    TD
     
  19. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    Perhaps other members doing searches on this thread need to read this as well as it might add some info

    Not so much a brick wall as a brick mountain [Archive] - British Genealogy & Family History Forums

    TD

    edited to add:

    Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine | Forum • The Family that doesn't exist! : General research queries

    The Here Again Gone Again Man! - TalkingScot.com

    http://ww2f.com/threads/army-records.53757/

    Help S
    Dominic Michael Stringer

    Hazel emailed to say:

    "Seeking any information of Dominic Michael Stringer who successfully escaped Singapore on board a water boat called Daisy. There were seven civilians, one petty officer and five other ranks on board and Dominic was one of the other ranks. I do not know what he was doing in Singapore, which service he was in, how he got there nor any info about his unit or ship. The Daisy was "captained" by William Henry Walmsley of the Master Attendants Office. The civilians were William Campbell of Gatty & Bateman or possibly of United Engineers Singapore; John Dyce (b. 1899 in Edinburgh) Director Medical Hall Collyer Quay; W. McArthur (possibly spelt MacArthur); Gerald Manning McMahon of Derrick & Co (Agent for Hammers); Peter Black Purvis (b. 1901 in Stirling) Manager of Wm Hammer & Co and James George Stewart, (b. 1901 Drainie ?) Asst Manager Wm Hammer & Co."

    If you can help, please email Hazel
     
    Last edited: Sep 21, 2017
  20. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

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