97th Field Regiment Royal Artillery

Hello, I' m looking into my family tree and all i have on my great-grandfather is a couple of pictures. One being an envelope from a Christmas card sent home to his wife in 1944. I have attached the photographs which i have. I was wondering if anyone can help with any information on my great grandfather. His name was Frederick Tomlinson. i'm 99% sure he was born 02/11/1904. From what i can tell by the senders address it says

'BRR TOMLINSON ****** *** ****** 97th FIELD RGT CMF?'

That is everything i have. I'm hoping that someone may be able to find some information on him as well as his service number etc.

 

welcome to the forum

apply for his service records
all you require is date of birth and death certificate
you will not find any info on him online with the paid for sites so dont get ripped off.

Get a copy of military service records

once you have the records it will show you his time in the RA enabling you to get the correct war diaries.A few members on here do a copy service at the National Archives at Kew for a reasonable rate.

Links here might be of interest to you
97th Field Regiment RA Kent Yeomanry

97th (Kent Yeomanry) Field Regiment - 81st anti tank .....

Search results: 97 Field Regiment RA | The National Archives

regards
Clive

 

Thee are others on here more expert on the Royal Artillery so will just start with the basics.

BRR rank of Bombadier, equivilant of Corporal in the Royal Artillery, wearing two stripes.

97th Field Regiment - a regiment of the Royal Artillery - Territorial Army and based in Kent
97th KENT YEOMANRY R.A.pdf
Photo 1 looks like pre war territorials at summer camp, esp as they are not wearing battle dress uniform, and this makes it possible that he served with the Regiment in France 1940.
97th (Kent Yeomanry) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery at St Valery » Dunkirk 1940 - The Before, The Reality, The Aftermath

The next number on the xmas card may be his service number usually 7 digits, but some are 6 digits.

CMF: Central Mediterranean Force - probably when serving in Italy.

 

Is this him?

1939 REGISTER
24 South Terrace, Stoke-On-Trent C.B., Staffordshire,

Name - DOB - Occupation - Marital status
Annie Tomlinson - 17 Feb 1905 - House Duties - Married
Frederick C Tomlinson - 30 Sep 1926 - School
William G Tomlinson - 16 Aug 1928 - -
Sylvia Tomlinson (O'connor) - 06 Mar 1931 - -
Frederick Tomlinson - 02 Nov 1904 - Army Toy [sic] 244116 F.B. 753926 - Married

If so then:





(Royal Artillery attestations)

 

Yes that is him! Although i don't understand what 'Army Toy [sic] 244116 F.B. 753926' Means?

 

Here's the original record:



753920 is his service no (matches his attestation)

 

Thank you. Now i have something to go on!

 

I'm guessing that FB may be Field Battery

 

From the Christmas card i think it says 387 battery.?

 

Now I've got the right specs on, I read the service number on both the xmas card & RA attestation as 753920, confused on the 1939 register by the tail of the Y above making it look like a 6.

I believe the line on the xmas card now reads:

BDR Tomlinson 753920 ... 387 Bty 97th Field Rgt CMF

The service record will tell all, but this places him in December 1944 in 387th Battery, which along with 385th comprised 97th Field Regiment at mobilisation in Sept 1939. Being a Kent based unit in 1939 & he a Staffs man, this raises the possibility of a wartime transfer to this RA regiment.

 

Wow that's great thank you. Will there be any war time records of his battery or regiment? (sorry i don't know much about army life)

 

My information about battery numbers & locations came from the websites quoted in post 3.

Army units maintained a diary in war time with the original copy now kept at the National Archives, although this may differ for the artillery. They do not always mention individual soldiers & his service record is the best place to find details. Often these diaries have been copied by other members of this forum or could be at a cheaper cost than Nat Archives charge.
There are many other documents apart from this which would mention wartime soldiers and units.
Search results: 97th field regiment | The National Archives

or try the regimental website

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