FARMER, Charles Leonard, 5877851, 4th Bn Northamptonshire / 50th Searchlight Regiment RE/RA

Hi All,

I have just received my Grandfather's WW2 Service Record. In doing so, I was very fortunate to also receive his duplicate WW1 Service Record, the original which must have been lost in the fire which burnt most WW1 records. Also I received his TA Service Records for the period 1920 - 1935.

I have just started to go through his WW2 Service Record and will post a copy of it subsequently.

I do know that he was initially called up into the 4th Bn Northamptonshire Regiment which was subsequently transferred to the Royal Engineers and then converted, shortly before the war, into the 50th (Northamptonshire Regiment) Anti-Aircraft Battalion, Royal Engineers. In August 1940, the battalion was transferred from the Royal Engineers to the Royal Artillery and became 50th (Northamptonshire Regiment) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery. It appears he was with 403 Battery.

I do have a photo of him in uniform. I am trying to determine if this was taken while he was in the RE (1939-40) or RA (1940-45). Unfortunately, his cap badge is not clear, but it does appear to be circular, which I understand is more likely to be the RE badge, rather than the RA. I do not know what the badge on his right breast is. He also has his WW1 ribbons.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Regards

Peter

 

Sorry, doesn't look like the image uploaded in the original post.

Peter

 

Peter
Do you have his WW1 service number or numbers??

TD

 

Hi Tricky,

Yes, I do. It's 3/9942. As I said above, I did not initially find his Service Record in the Burnt Records. So I pieced together much of his service from secondary records and the 2nd Bn Unit Diary. Then I was very pleasantly surprised to get a copy of his duplicate WW1 and TA records when I requested his WW2 records last year.

He joined the 3rd Bn Northamptonshire in Feb 1914 aged 17. He was called up, but did not go to France until Mar 1916, just after he turned 19. He was transferred to the 2nd Bn and was with them until 27th May 1918 when the entire 2nd Bn was overrun and 500 men taken POW at Berry au Bac on the Aisne and the entire 8th Division was all but destroyed. I have his ICRC records which shows he was in Gottingen (in Germany) and in Cszerk (in Poland). He reenlisted in the 4th Bn (TA) after his 6 years of Special Reserve service completed in Feb 1920.

I'm still looking for a list of all the 2nd Bn men taken POW and his repatriation record from Dec 1918.

So, I have now just started to look at his WW2 service with the 50th Searchlight Regt.

Any assistance is appreciated.

Cheers

Peter

 

I'll post a couple of pages from his Service Record. Total file size at 14 GB exceeds allowable limits