Class W(T) Reserve - Help needed

Discussion in 'Service Records' started by pward, Jul 29, 2011.

  1. pward

    pward Junior Member

    Dear all,

    My grandpa served in a Territorial Division (59th Staffs) which was the only Territorial Division to fight overseas. They suffered 90% losses at Thury-Harcourt in Aug 1944 and the remainder were disbanded and used to top up other divisions. My grandpa's record shows that he was "released to Class W(T)" in January 1945, while still serving in NWE. My questions are:

    (1) Why would he have been released to Class W whilst a serving soldier and in particular why overseas (he didn't return to UK until Nov 1945)?
    (2) I know he was previously posted to the Y-List. Might it have something to do with injury / stress (in which case why wasn't he just medically discharged)?

    Thanks in advance,

    Paul
     
  2. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

    Moved to service records forum.
    Welcome to the forum Paul, hope someone has an answer for you.
     
  3. Tom Canning

    Tom Canning WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Pward-
    The very fact that he was discharged to W(T) reserve means that there was nothing wrong with him as the (T) stands for "liable for recall "...

    why he was discharged in January and didn't get home until November means that he volunteered for that time overseas - his choice - most came home to be demobbed others stayed overseas for their own reasons....nothing mysterious about it ..
    Cheers
    PS - the "Y" list was basically ' Unemployed"
     
  4. pward

    pward Junior Member

    Hi Tom (and Diane),

    Thanks for your quick reply Tom. I suppose I found it mysterious as the war wasn't over yet, so I thought why would they be releasing soldiers?

    Also, there was an earlier query over his health when he joined up in 1940. On joining, he was classified B3 and later spent a couple of periods in hospital at Stranmillis, Belfast before being classified A1 and moving to his new unit in 1943. He hadn't seen action by then, so unsure why he was in hospital. He used to say that as a Catholic serving in Belfast (even in the British Army) he was subject to a lot of discrimination, which affected him. Family suspect it may have been a mental problem and we're thinking about requesting his medical notes. He never discussed the War and it would tell us more about him.

    All the best.
     

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