I have recently purchased a photo of senior officers - Lt-Cols, Cols, Brigs etc - who attended a "Conference of C.E.S. and C.R.E.s held by C.E. Home Forces" at Aldershot on the 7th November 1941. It's a basic question from me. Can someone please give me the expansion of those acronyms? The supplementary question is, does anyone have more detail on what the conference was all about, please?
Reading various material on Britain's home defences it is clear that from spring 1941 onwards ideas on defence changed several times and there was a move away from a linear defence system (stop lines) towards different systems (eg anti tank islands) which altered the nature of the installations built and where they were located. A number of conferences and meetings were held to discuss this during the year and your photo could be one of these.
Interesting, thanks Robert. I'll post the photo here once I can scan a better copy of it than I currently have.
Thanks for the reminder, gaspirator. Uploading photos here seems to be a bit of a palaver and so instead I have written a short blog post on my British Army Ancestors website, here: CE Home Forces - Aldershot 1941. I hope this is sufficient, but if it isn't please let me know.
Thanks - very interesting! Apologies for the delay in responding - forgot to 'watch' the thread. I found the minutes of the Aldershot conference in the files of the CRE Home Forces (TNA WO 166/12); it's 23 pages, so I've posted just the contents as it sums up nicely what was discussed. There's also a list of attendees; counting the heads in your photo, it looks like there's 86 (I may be wrong). The minutes list 87 names, so somebody seemingly had to rush off before the photo was taken. The list also identifies the appointment of each person as to which Command/Corps/Division, which may be of interest. Hope this helps! - Pete
Pete, thank you for your very helpful response. Coincidentally I was looking at these men yesterday and just doing the first steps basic research of filling in first names. As you might expect, a number of them had illustrious careers and more than one appear in the collection at The National Portrait Gallery. Much more work to be done, but I what you have sent us very helpful. I am a fairly regular visitor to TNA, I was there last night for instance, and soI may call up this file in future. Paul
Incidentally, I make it 86 names as well. Here's my list, very early stages of a work in progress: Fifth row [14]: Lt-Col W H Blagden Lt-Col W McM Keane Maj B J Ashwell MC Lt-Col E H T Gayer OBE Lt-Col G H Whyte MC, VD, RCE Lt-Col L F Barnes RCE Lt-Col A T McLean MC, VD, RCE Lt-Col A B Connelly RCE Lt-Col J L Melville MC, RCE Lt-Col W H G Costello Lt-Col C E T Jones MC Maj R I Musson MC Lt-Col R L Willott DSO Lt-Col F K Stranack MC Fourth row [15]: Lt-Col F W T Hards Lt-Col A G McNeill MC Lt-Col W W Boggs Maj L H Stowell Lt-Col AL Green Lt-Col S C P Drury DCM, TD Lt-Col R A V G E S Monteith Lt-Col T F Hood Lt-Col C J Gardiner DSO Lt-Col R E Keelan MC, TD Lt-Col D F Brown Lt-Col W H MacKenzie MBE, TD Lt-Col E A E Bolton Lt-Col R W F Poole OBE, MC Maj R E Lloyd Third row [18]: Brigadier W H H Aitken Lt-Col E A L Gueterbock Lt-Col E W B Harte Lt-Col F W L McC Parker Lt-Col B C Davey Lt-Col E G Bailey Lt-Col J C Walkey Lt-Col F H Foster Lt-Col W E Dewdney Lt-Col C T Edwards Lt-Col F C Nottingham Lt-Col H T S King OBE Lt-Col H W Giblin Lt-Col E M Blake MBE Lt-Col M R Caldwell Lt-Col E A Gough Lt-Col W J Dynes MBE Brigadier R M H Lewis MC Second Row [22]: Col E E Nott-Bower OBE, MC Brigadier N C D Brownjohn OBE, MC Col J K Tickell Col N S Henshaw OBE, MC, TD Brigadier W H Stratton Lt-Col A W G Dobbie Lt-Col R P G Anderson Lt-Col C E A Browning MC Lt-Col W A Turner MC Brigadier C S L Hertzberg MC, VD, RCE Brigadier H E Moore DSO, MC Col B C T Freeland Lt-Col E V Binney DSO Lt-Col V F Craig MC Lt-Col R E Wood Col A E White Lt-Col P F Foley Lt-Col G S Castle MC, TD Lt-Col R StC Davidson Brigadier J E Chippindall CBE, MC Lt-Col R W Urquhart Lt-Col F L Stroud Front row [17]: Brigadier Norman Annesley Coxwell Rogers DSO, OBE (1896-1985) Brigadier Bryan Trevor Godfrey-Faussett OBE, MC (1896-1970) Brigadier Maurice Luby DSO, MC Brigadier R Briggs DSO, MC Brigadier Harry Genet MC Brigadier Richard Leigh Withington MC[1] Brigadier Edgar James Bernard Buchanan DSO (1892-1979) Brigadier John Howard Stafford OBE, MC Maj-Gen C J S King CBE Maj-Gen B K Young MC Brigadier Geoffrey Cathcart Gowlland Brigadier P W Clark CBE, DSO, MC Brigadier W A FitzG Kerrick DSO, MC Brigadier John Drummond Inglis OBE, MC (1895-1985) Brigadier A Mason MC Brigadier G M Edwards DSO Brigadier C C Phipps CBE MC [1] Medals sold by DNW in 2007: Lot 854, 21 September 2007 | Dix Noonan Webb