arm badge ID and help with father's service

Discussion in 'WW2 Militaria' started by Heb52, Aug 20, 2015.

  1. Heb52

    Heb52 53rd

    i have a photo of my father in ww2 i need to know a arm badge
     
  2. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

    Moved this post to a thread of its own.

    Please attach copy of the photo, or at least describe the badge as best you can.
     
  3. Lotus7

    Lotus7 Well-Known Member

    Hi and welcome to the forum birchall52,

    David
     
  4. Smudger Jnr

    Smudger Jnr Our Man in Berlin

    Hello and welcome to the forum. Good luck with your research and post a photo as a Photo is much better for members to help you.
    Regards
    Tom
     
  5. Heb52

    Heb52 53rd

    i have a group photograph of my father when he did is basic training i think it was in haverfordwest pembrokeshire .the group signed there names on the back and there was d. elliott . i checked the attestation in find my past and found my fathers army number 936020 also donald james elliott 936159.i am trying to find my service records.after boot training they must have gone to different regiments. any help would be greatly apprieciated. thankyou
     
  6. Heb52

    Heb52 53rd

    i have a photo of my father and his unit? .i think in haverfordwest . on the back they all signed it . there,s the signature of D.elliott . i looked at the attesttions is number was 936159 . my father,s number was 936020. albert mcgrath, number was 934410. could they have trained together? i am trying to find my father,s regiment he ended up in lubeck on duty in DP ,camps. any information appreiciated thankyou .
     

    Attached Files:

  7. Heb52

    Heb52 53rd

    is this arm badge 53rd welsh or royal signals or other. thanks. could this be training in ireland? writing on the back cannot work it out . thanks CNV00044.JPG CNV00045.JPG CNV00046.JPG
     
  8. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    Yes it is the insignia of 53rd Div with an arm of service stripe below it.


    have moved your posts to own thread

    edit: apologies for not noticing that the thread you were posting in mentioned Elliot & McGrath.
    Feel tad daft now.
     
    Heb52 likes this.
  9. Guy Hudson

    Guy Hudson Looker-upper

    BIrchall 52,
    Your Father, McGarth and Elliott all have Royal Artillery attestations dating from 1939. Sadly, McGarth and Elliott were killed in a flying accident at Castel Benito, Tripoli on the 12th November 1945 enroute for England.

    934410 McGARTH Albert was serving with the 134 Medium Regiment RA

    936159 ELLIOTT Donald James was serving with 208 Field Regiment RA

    I have attached the attestations and casualty cards.

    Guy
     

    Attached Files:

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  10. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    ah I wondered why Birchalll52 was posting in that old thread from where I split these posts into it's own.
    Apologies I didnt notice the men mentioned.
    http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/35059-air-crash-134-field-regiment-12111945/
     
  11. Heb52

    Heb52 53rd

    my father in a group photo on the back they signed it.G. BOTTOMLEY, EDWIN ANTHONY BAILY,936014.J. COLQUHOUN. albert STRETCH 936003.norman ASHLEY 936004, norman BENSON 936018,stanley ASHWORTH 936005,george albert BATE 936016 james HILDITCH 936250, fredrick charles ARNOLD, 936002. william BAMFORD MONK, 936015, robert APPLEBY,936000,arthur william ATKINS 936001,donald BENNET 936017,francis ASHCROFT, 936003 ernest BILHAM 936019 j CLARKE.donald james ELLIOTT 936159 ,thomas BLUNDELL 936022, ian harry SIMPSON 936555 , gerard henry BIRD 936021. the only one i know about is donald james elliott died in flying accident italy . somebody might recognize some other names. if this is boot training camp they probably left for different units .is that spaniel dog a mascot ?thankyou anyone who can help out
     

    Attached Files:

  12. Rich Payne

    Rich Payne Rivet Counter Patron 1940 Obsessive

    It looks rather like the 'W' of 53rd Welsh Division but possibly with something incorporated underneath it.

    His service number and the badges on the Field Service and Service Dress caps indicate Royal Artillery.
     
  13. Smudger Jnr

    Smudger Jnr Our Man in Berlin

    Rich,

    I agree the arm badge does indeed look like the 53rd Welsh Division.

    Regards
    Tom
     
  14. Rich Payne

    Rich Payne Rivet Counter Patron 1940 Obsessive

    Tom, do you think that it might have the RA red / blue 'Arm of Service' stripe underneath on the same cloth patch ? I'm puzzled by the lack of a shoulder title too.
     
  15. Staffsyeoman

    Staffsyeoman Member

    If the red is to the rear - as it seems here - then it is Royal Engineers, Red to front for RA ; "represents the gun flash" is the old wives' tale.
     
  16. Smudger Jnr

    Smudger Jnr Our Man in Berlin

    If the badge is the red 53rd then the stripe underneath appears to have the same cloud forward facing and as mentioned previously RA.
    There doesn't appear to be any other badge or shoulder title.
    Regards
    Tom
     
  17. REME245

    REME245 Active Member

    This combination could be printed looking at it.

    This early in the war slip on titles were probably still being worn but not visible here.
     
  18. Staffsyeoman

    Staffsyeoman Member

    I regret I remain to be convinced that the picture is RA - the red faces front in the RA Arm of Service strip - here it is blue.

    53rd Welsh were uncommon (if not unique) in having printed divisional insignia with brigade seniority strips pre-printed below the Divisional sign. Brigade seniority strips, numbering from one to three, were always supposed to be red. Other arms could/would wear their appropriate AOS with these . But 53rd Welsh also produced other AOS strips beneath the sign.This one, on Pinterest, is I think erroneously ascribed to the Army Catering Corps (it is actually RASC for the right arm). .


    [​IMG]
     
  19. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    Maybe if birchall52 applied to the MoD for his dad's service records it'd help.
    Same old advice but it is where the answers lie.

    PS merged theads to save duplication of effort
     
  20. Rich Payne

    Rich Payne Rivet Counter Patron 1940 Obsessive

    Phil, we had a similar B/W - red / blue discussion on the BEF motorcycle thread. It has been demonstrated to my satisfaction that some film types can make reds appear dark and blues light, whereas the most commonly used films tend to make reds look similar to green or khaki...

    http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/34843-bef-motorcycles-formation-signs-arm-of-service-markings-and-census-numbers/page-2

    In all honesty, I think that it's difficult to be sure of anything other than that there are two colours so not a brigade stripe, as you mention.

    I also suspect that REME 245 is correct and that there is an indistinct slip-on shoulder title.

    ...and Owen is right, two threads and no service records is not really the way to go about it.
     
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