3rd Parachute Battalion

Discussion in 'Airborne' started by marauder125, Apr 29, 2011.

  1. marauder125

    marauder125 Junior Member

    Hi Guys, my old Dad bless him was in the 1st Airborne Division, A company 3rd Parachute Battalion, last year I sent for a copy of his service records which I recieved 6 mnths later, that's how we got to know the info above, plus great info from the guys on the WWII FORUM which helped to get the record search going in the 1st place, he never spoke about the war at all, just drop in a few rare words now and again when watching war films and documentaries, thats when he first said he was a paratrooper, and that he was supposed to be going on the Arnhem drop but had to do something else, and he disliked Italy, thats about all I remember him saying about the war.
    This is where I need your help please,In the records it states he was granted leave AR / SLR 19 /27. 9 .44 guess thats why he missed the operation, but what could the letters mean as it may shed light on why he got leave,
    many thanks
     
  2. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Market Garden started on the 17th Sep so his leave would have been granted after OMG.
     
  3. kingarthur

    kingarthur Well-Known Member

    Market Garden started on the 17th Sep so his leave would have been granted after OMG.

    Correct me if I am wrong, but no one was back from Arnhem until at least the 4th October, so if he got leave on the 27/9/44, he couldnt have gone to OMG in the first place
     
  4. Tom Canning

    Tom Canning WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Marauder
    It all depends on which column those letters are placed - looks like the far left hand column which is merely an instruction from above authorising the action - in this case leave and should be followed by either 7 - 10 or 14 days - or another date after the 27.9.44 - so it doesn't follow that he missed the operation as I would think that most of the survivors were granted leave - about that date - ten days after the start of MG
    Cheers
     
  5. kingarthur

    kingarthur Well-Known Member

    I can only assume that it is maybe some medical abbreviation and his leave was due to some injury, Im sure AM would be the best person to shed some light on that.
     
  6. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Have you considered getting the battalion war diaries?
     
  7. marauder125

    marauder125 Junior Member

    I believe the leave dates are from 19th to 27th sept 44 as the return date was 28th he lost days pay for AWOL, this 4 letter word is common over the records Im afraid to say, war diaries may be a good idea will think about that one,
    cheers
     
  8. wtid45

    wtid45 Very Senior Member

    Having had knowledge of Dave's, posts on this over at ww2f, this latest info adds an intresting piece of detective work for us on Talk....... I would lean towards something medical as I cant see leave being given on the date given:huh:
     
  9. marauder125

    marauder125 Junior Member

    Marauder
    It all depends on which column those letters are placed - looks like the far left hand column which is merely an instruction from above authorising the action - in this case leave and should be followed by either 7 - 10 or 14 days - or another date after the 27.9.44 - so it doesn't follow that he missed the operation as I would think that most of the survivors were granted leave - about that date - ten days after the start of MG
    Cheers

    Ok Tom will PM you.
     
  10. marauder125

    marauder125 Junior Member

    Having had knowledge of Dave's, posts on this over at ww2f, this latest info adds an intresting piece of detective work for us on Talk....... I would lean towards something medical as I cant see leave being given on the date given:huh:

    Hi Wtid45
    you are like the Sherlock Holmes of war forums, your enthusiasm on the subject is second to none, your help and input on my search was amazing
    as was the help of other members, emmense gratitude to all on both these forums who help others like myself to find the answers to our never ending questions,
    many thanks
     
  11. Tom Canning

    Tom Canning WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Dave -
    I can't blow up the page to see it properly so can you e-mail it to me .....
    but the designation for the leave is a strange one - to me - as most injury / sickness is covered by the X(!) designation so it's very odd .... the other odd thing is the adoption of the American AWOL - as the British term is AWL
    Cheers
     
  12. marauder125

    marauder125 Junior Member

    will do it now Tom
     
  13. wtid45

    wtid45 Very Senior Member

    Hi Wtid45
    you are like the Sherlock Holmes of war forums, your enthusiasm on the subject is second to none, your help and input on my search was amazing
    as was the help of other members, emmense gratitude to all on both these forums who help others like myself to find the answers to our never ending questions,
    many thanks
    Thanks for the kind words mate, I have searched through lots of abbreviations with no luck in regards to AR and SLR lets hope Tom can provide a solution!
     
  14. kingarthur

    kingarthur Well-Known Member

    The only SLR I found was 'South Lancs Regiment' with regards to AR, I have just blown the Service up and unless I am mistaken it actually says RA
     
  15. wtid45

    wtid45 Very Senior Member

    Dave, dont know if you have looked already but in this link are two lots of war diaries that cover your Dads time in N.Africa for me the one that might help is the Padre's......... given your Dad's habit of being a naughty boy, he may well have had counsel from the Padre and its not beyond possible that his name might be mentioned:unsure: I had a quick look through and there are mentions of A coy and a few Privates by name:). All the best Jason. ParaData | A living history of the Parachute Regiment and Airborne Forces
     
  16. Tom Canning

    Tom Canning WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    David -
    having had a good look at your Father's record and made my comments - I shall leave it to you to make any further comment...
    Cheers
     
  17. marauder125

    marauder125 Junior Member

    Dave, dont know if you have looked already but in this link are two lots of war diaries that cover your Dads time in N.Africa for me the one that might help is the Padre's......... given your Dad's habit of being a naughty boy, he may well have had counsel from the Padre and its not beyond possible that his name might be mentioned:unsure: I had a quick look through and there are mentions of A coy and a few Privates by name:). All the best Jason. ParaData | A living history of the Parachute Regiment and Airborne Forces

    Hi Jason
    i have read the Padre's diary and found it captivating,to think my old dad went through some of that,can see why he never spoke of it, I have posted my dad on Para datas Roll Call, and found the diary soon after,
    will take a look at the other one.
    many thanks
     
  18. Tab

    Tab Senior Member

    Have you tried dropping a line to Paradata and see if they can advise you on this. Also I can't see any one being given leave when a huge drop like this is about happen.

    MPSU Now could this stand for Military Police Secure Unit which would be a polite way of saying that he was in Nick..When you look at the pay stoppages and other things it makes you wonder.
     
  19. marauder125

    marauder125 Junior Member

    Sorry Guys,
    but due to the path that this search seems to be going, I do think I need to sit down and take a hard look at what was going on with these records, I'm sure you will appreciate that this would be a sensitive area should it be correct, and not something I would like to be posted on a public forum until I get a chance to sort things out.
    many thanks for your interest and your help with my request,
    regards
    Marauder
     
  20. cmp

    cmp Member

    I think MPSU stands for Mobile Parachute Servicing Unit (not the glasshouse!). I found 1 Mobile Parachute Servicing Unit (MPSU) based at Netheravon (service record indicates at Netheravon at 23.02.44). See the following site for Netheravon:

    Stations-N

    And this site has a bit of background on Netheravon:

    Route to Victory :: History

    In January 1943, No.235 Maintenance Unit (MU) was formed at Netheravon to provide technical support for airborne equipment and to recover and repair gliders, and No.3 Mobile Parachute Servicing Unit formed to repair parachute drop equipment. The latter unit moved to the Mediterranean a few months later, and was replaced by No.4 MPSU. On 1 May, 295 Squadron moved to Holmsley South and was replaced by the Heavy Glider MU, which transferred from Hurn. Training and exercises continued throughout 1943, and became more focused with the general feeling that a big operation was impending.
     

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