504 coy RASC

Discussion in 'RASC' started by laulem, Feb 22, 2018.

  1. laulem

    laulem Member

    Hello, does anyone have any information about the 504th coy RASC belong to the 43rd DI Wessex?
    Because this company had camped certainly around 15-22 August 1944 nearby the familly house in Normandy. My grandfather had found a lot of equipment and roadsigns after this passing through.
    It was after the opération Blackwater (near Condé/Noireau) at 6 kms SE of Berjou. Maybe there was a REME and a part of the 43rd DI Wessex. My father was 8 years old in 1944, he remembers the english soldiers and the trucks.
    Are there some war diaries and archives to this coy RASC. I have not much information about 43rd DI Wessex betwin Blackwater and river Seine crossing.
    Sorry for my english langage, I hope answers, thank you so much.
     
  2. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

  3. laulem

    laulem Member

    Thanks TrickyDicky, because I'm lost in the National Archives website!
    Laulem in Ndy.
     
  4. Rhys B

    Rhys B New Member

    Hello Laulem!

    My grandfather was a driver in the 504 attached to the 43rd! I am currently researching his military career. About 20 years ago I recorded him detailing his military career in ww2. Unfortunately the files were corrupted! So now I am repeating the process sadly without him. He was attached to the 7th Armoured in Africa, where he was wounded then attached to the 43rd throughout their campaign in France and then back to the 7th Armoured again in Germany. He was very proud of his time with the Desert Rats but I think he considered himself one of the Wyverns at the end of the war. He said the Desert Rats were too stuck up in the end. Did you have much luck with your research?
     
  5. laulem

    laulem Member

    Hello Rhys, thanks for your message! Maybe your grandfather had seen mine!
    so i have 504 coy rasc wd , 130 fa ramc, 43recce and too 5 Dorset rgt because there was names to soldiers on bags.
    But i don't know exactly which unity were nearby the famille house.
    If you have more détail to your grdfathr diary during August 1944 it could be interesting for me.
    Good luck for your research.
     
  6. davidbfpo

    davidbfpo Patron Patron

    Rhys B,

    Welcome aboard. Others may come along and help. Always apply for his Service Record, even if the turnaround is reported as a year plus now. See: Get a copy of military service records Upload the records here once you've obtained them and then the forum can get to work on them.

    Please do not pay for any site on the internet who promise you his service records they will not have them, and you would have wasted your money.

    Adding what you have already found can help, saves others from duplication. A Date of Birth and a Service Number help, though the experts here can surmount that gap.

    I have noted the 'Other Ranks' rarely feature in Google searches unless they have been awarded gallantry medals or written their memoirs.

    Searching Google will sometimes bring you back here. The site’s search engine is rather simple; two examples 53rd will bring back all mentions of 53rd; an Army unit can have after 53rd an additional official name, in one case 53rd (Bolton). You must be agile and keep going.

    War diaries can contain almost anything. At the very least, they give the daily movements and most important actions of every unit. They may also contain information on casualties, message logs, rolls of officers (but not O.R.'s), maps, orders, and much else. They are available at the PRO to everyone. Drew5233 and some others are willing to scan them for the benefit of those who cannot get to the National Archives at Kew.

    It depends of course how much you want to know, just one battle or campaign for an example.

    Please come back and tell us what you found. Scanning threads it is clear some discover the site years after your posts and add their information or request help. Good luck.
     
    Last edited: Oct 31, 2020
  7. Geoff Bryant

    Geoff Bryant Member

    I am looking for information where my father was from the invasion of Normandy to the colapse of Berlin, He enlisted with the 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division December 1939 as driver/mechanic. His army records show;
    SEN/10012/44 504 IB Coy EMBARKED Fr Fieta 17/6/44
    W/2095/45 67 ARMD BOE. TOS on pstg from 504 IB Coy 26/1/45
    2E21/3994/45 133 Pstd from Armd. Bde & TO's this unit wef 2/3/45
    2E21/3995/45 ADTC
    X104/46 X89 Embarked and SOS BAOR Release 2/1/46
    I have a photo of him in a small boat in the River Spree, Berlin August 1945.
    As a driver I would like to know his route and where he would have been through June 1944 to the end of the war. Another curiosity is that he had a Desert Rat badge. My father did not speak about the war.
    Any information would be helpful.
     
  8. davidbfpo

    davidbfpo Patron Patron

    Geoff,

    Welcome aboard. Does '504 IB Coy' mean 504 Company RASC? Well this Order of Battle explains RASC used the term Infantry Brigade Company. See: https://www.britishmilitaryhistory..../124/2019/11/43-Infantry-Division-1944-45.pdf

    There is a thread, may be even more than one, on military abbreviations. Forty three threads exist here for the 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division and 67 Armoured BOE - Brigade? See: Second World War Abbreviations and Acronyms - Researching WW2

    Wiki: 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division - Wikipedia Shows the RASC 504 Company was with them throughout WW2, there is no mention of any unit numbered 67 or 67th Armoured.

    There is a thread on the RASC 67 Company though, which refers to at least another thread. Have a peek: Seeking information on RASC 67co

    I cannot readily identify when British troops were agreed to be in Berlin (inside the Russian Zone of Occupation), but there was a Victory Parade in August 1945. See: The Army and the occupation of Germany | National Army Museum
     
    Last edited: Mar 1, 2022
  9. Geoff Bryant

    Geoff Bryant Member

    Thank you for replying so quick. I just looked on my fathers Service and Casualty Form and it does say under unit 67 ARMD BOE. I will follow up on your info. My dad's name is Eric Victor Bryant T133443. Eric, RASC Aldershot.jpg
    Thought this photo might help someone or you may have it already.
    Back Row.C.S.M Chamberlain, S/Sgt. Grease, C.S.M. Kilburn, C.S.M. Chaffey, S/Sgt Cox, C.S.M. Bonsor
    Centre Row. C.S.M. Ayriss, Sgt. Austin, Sgt. Brooks, C.S.M. Faulkner, Sgt. Grist, C.S.M. Cheesmur, Sgt. Dupont, C.S.M. Gardham
    Front Row, C.Q.M.S. Francis, Sgt. Gelsthotpe, Sgt. Carroll (Instructor), Lieut. Alexander (Course Officer), C.S.M. Pearman (Instuctor), Sgt. Bryant, C.S.M. Beeston.
     
  10. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

  11. Geoff Bryant

    Geoff Bryant Member

    Thank you,
    Lot of info to read.
     
  12. davidbfpo

    davidbfpo Patron Patron

    The RASC 67 Company had long been with the 7th Armoured Division. See: Organisation and Order of Battles of the British 7th Armoured Division Another website shows them as 'No. 67 Armoured Brigade Company, RASC'. See:https://www.britishmilitaryhistory....ites/124/2020/06/7-Armoured-Division-1943.pdf

    The 7th Armoured Division Wiki 7th Armoured Division (United Kingdom) - Wikipedia does show they:
     
  13. davidbfpo

    davidbfpo Patron Patron

    Owen referred to the work by Historic Steve. As if by magic another thread appeared today with a link to the doings of the 7th Armoured Division. RASC 67 Company feature, albeit only this:
    From: 7th Armoured Division

    Itzehoe is a small town to the 53 kms north-west of Hamburg: Itzehoe - Wikipedia
    Looft and Puls are close by in the same district.

    Steve also has a thread on British troops in Berlin, from this you can work out when they moved to Berlin and for RASC 67 Company it states:
    From: British Troops Berlin
     
    Last edited: Feb 28, 2022
  14. Geoff Bryant

    Geoff Bryant Member

    Thank you for all this great info and references. Going to ask one last question before sifting through all this info. As noted my dad was driver on enlist and his Army # was T/133443 so reviewing previous info T stands for Transport. Is there any info or books that reference what Transport Drivers did i.e. were they with their units most of the time, were they going back picking up supplies/troops and returning. I have read some books including the Fighting Wessex Wyverns but there is nothing on drivers. Thanks again.
     
  15. davidbfpo

    davidbfpo Patron Patron

    Wiki has a simple explanation:
    From: Royal Army Service Corps - Wikipedia

    I expect there are threads here on the RASC, which might explain more.
     
  16. davidbfpo

    davidbfpo Patron Patron

    Last edited: Mar 1, 2022
  17. AussieSharon

    AussieSharon Sharon

    Hello Geoff,
    My grandfather was also in the RASC in WW2 and I have just come across a book called A Waggoner's War by Fergus Fulton A Waggoner's War | by Fergus Fulton
    I bought it from Amazon UK, but as they don't deliver to Australia I had it sent to my niece and she's sending it over. I'm hoping it will give me an insight into my grandfather's experiene in Tunisia and Italy as an RASC driver.

    Regards,
    Sharon
     
  18. Geoff Bryant

    Geoff Bryant Member

    Thanks Sharon,
    I will look for this book. I live in Canada but should be able to get it through Amazon, if not i am in the UK in June.
    Regards
    Geoff
     

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