Army service numbers prefix

Discussion in 'Searching for Someone & Military Genealogy' started by clivefarmer, Apr 30, 2017.

  1. clivefarmer

    clivefarmer Member

    Greetings . I am researching George A Triggs dob 8/9/1918 , He appears on the 1939 Register , under the occupation column it states ARMY T/10270926 remainder illegible ,There is also an entry for a George Triggs on a list of 1940 Royal Artillery Attestations .

    Could anyone suggest whether the number T/10270926... Is in fact an Army service number and whether the initial T indicates a particular branch or unit ?
    Thanks Clive Farmer
     
  2. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    Hi Clive

    I could be wrong here (others will correct) which has been known before but I believe the 'T' in front of a service number refers to his trade as a Driver (so probably in the RASC)

    TD
     
  3. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    As far as I understand it RASC numbers had T for Transport or S for Supply.
    I maybe wrong.
     
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  4. Tony56

    Tony56 Member Patron

    The last column in the 1939 Register has ???y Unit R.A. I would suggest Royal Artillery. If his number was 1027092 it would fall within The Royal Artillery (Field, Coastal & Anti Aircraft) which is between 721001 and 1842000.

    The George Triggs attestation 1701110 also falls in this range, looks like 85th Light Anti aircraft Regt, the date might suggest from 20.10.41 and a possible discharge 11.11.42 KR’s Para (XVIIIa).

    More info on numbers here: Block numbers

    The number 10270921 suggests Militia ?

    Note the line above in the 1939 Register, I would guess also a Triggs, ? Royal Navy Seaman Torpedo – did George have a brother?

    I would suggest contacting FMP for a better image.
     
  5. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    If this is your man (from a family tree) then:
    George Alexander Triggs
    1918–2000
    BIRTH 6 SEP 1918 • West Derby, Lancashire, England
    DEATH MAY 2000 • Chester and Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, England

    Slight difference in the date of birth

    Death cert details:
    Name George Alexander Triggs
    Birth Date 6 Sep 1918
    Date of Registration May 2000
    Age at Death 81
    Registration district Chester and ellesmere Port
    Inferred County Cheshire
    Register Number A45
    District and Subdistrict 3401A
    Entry Number 256

    Apply for his service records -

    TD
     
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  6. Tony56

    Tony56 Member Patron

    Looking at the death register was his name George Alexander Triggs? If this is the case search the newspapers on FMP

    Cheshire Observer 4 December 1943
    Posthumous BEM Award
    Mrs Harriet Jones of 2 Beechwood Road has received at Buckingham Palace, the British Empire Medal awarded to her eldest son, the late Chief Petty Officer William Joseph Triggs, for meritorious services during the occupation of North Africa. Mrs Jones has another son George Alexander Triggs who is serving with the REME abroad.

    In the 1939 Register George is living with a Harriet Jones.

    QED?
     
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  7. clivefarmer

    clivefarmer Member

    Thanks for all the replies , much of which is new information . My main interest is in George Triggs' brother William Joseph Triggs . He served on HMS Hecla , a destroyer depot ship which hit a mine off west Africa in May 1942 .There was extensive damage , considerable loss of life and great danger because the ship was carrying ammunition and torpedoes . Triggs was awarded the BEM (London Gazette 35859 8th January 1943 ) for his work in helping to save the ship. Hecla was repaired , sailed north as part of the naval element of Operation Torch , spotted by U-515 and hit by five torpedoes . Triggs lost his life along with 300 of his shipmates , I have Triggs BEM and his campaign medals and have arranged to donate them to the RN Museum Portsmouth . The Museum has very limited research resources so would only accept the medals if the came with background information , hence my research .For anyone interested try Googling , Hecla , Venomous , U-515 , or Kapitan Henke and there is much information .
    Re George Triggs I guess the only way to resolve his unit is to get his service record , because it could be RA , RASC or if the Cheshire Observer is to be believed REME .The Cheshire OBserver journalist says Triggs got his award for the occupation of North Africa which is plain wrong so I doubt the journalist had the time or ability to do much research , so maybe REME is a red herring .
    Re 1939 Register , it is clear that in the case of Triggs and maybe more generally the register was updated well after 1939 because the note on William Triggs refers to the torpedo incident which took place in 1942 .

    Both Triggs brothers had a difficult time as children , their father Reginald Triggs died in 1918 when William was 2 and George a few months old . The death seems not to be war related and I can find no trace of any war service for Reginald Triggs . Mrs Triggs remarried in 1933 hence the name Jones . Finally the reference to George , Kings Regulations XVIIIa I cant find what this is - maybe invalided out because of wounds or sickness ?

    thanks for all the info so far

    Clive
     
  8. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

  9. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    Reginald Triggs - his death cert would tell you what he died of:
    Reginald R A Triggs in the England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007
    Name: Reginald R A Triggs
    Birth Date: abt 1894
    Date of Registration: Dec 1918
    Age at Death: 24
    Registration district: West Derby
    Inferred County: Lancashire
    Volume: 8b
    Page: 916

    There are a few family trees on Ancestry that hold his details
    Reginald Herbert Alexander TRIGGS
    1892–1918
    BIRTH 02 JUN 1892 • Liverpool ,LANCASHIRE
    DEATH DEC 1918 • West Derby, LANCASHIRE

    TD
     
  10. Bill Forster

    Bill Forster New Member

    I have been recording the lives of the men who were aboard HMS HECLA on the 11 - 12 November when she was torpedoed for many years and link to them from my website about HMS VENOMOUS and HECLA: Home Page for HMS Hecla, the destroyer depot ship torpedoed off north Africa, Armistice Day 1942

    And from their names on the crew list here: HMS_HECLA-Crew List

    Can you provide an entry for William Joseph Triggs? Please contact me via the site or this Forum.

    Bill Forster
     
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  11. ozzy16

    ozzy16 Well-Known Member

    Hi Clive,

    re your first post.My father was a driver throughout ww2 with the RASC and his number was T/251275. T= Transport.
    I was watching a book review about the RASC on yutube the other night, (run away someone's coming).He said the RASC was the biggest unit in the british army,with around 300,000 personnel,and the MOD had to employ extra contractor's to make the 20 odd variations of cap badges.(iv'e seen 3 different variations)

    best.....Graham.
     
    Last edited: Dec 4, 2018
  12. DTriggs

    DTriggs New Member

    Dear Clive,
    Apologies but I have only just stumbled across this post, purely by chance. I am George Triggs' grandson. I have his war medals and also a photograph of his late brother William. I'd love to speak to you. If you can reply to this post, then maybe we could exchange email addresses?
    Regards,
    David
     

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