Hello, first time posting so please bear with me! I am trying to decipher my father's service record and I have lots of questions on all of it but the part I'm concentrating on at the moment is the entry for his posting to Assault Coy wef 13 Nov 44 with the Devons, which has "Special Force" written just above. As background, he was called up on 18 Feb 1943, trained as an Infantry Signaller at Richmond and was then posted to the Devons, disembarking in India on 2 June 1944. From what I've read about Special Force he arrived too late to take part in Operation Thursday, but would have taken part in the liberation of Burma that started around November 1944, would that be correct? I haven't yet had the opportunity to read the War Diaries for the Devons - would they cover his time with Special Force or do I need to look elsewhere for that? Any help you can give on where to go with my research would be much appreciated. I have uploaded scans of the relevant pages in case I have misinterpreted the relevant entries, any and all comments welcome. Thank-you.
It is not awfully clear, but I think you may be reading too much into the records. By 11/44 Special Force’s war was far behind them. They were disbanded in early 1945. No unit of the Devonshire Regiment ever served with 3 Indian Division/Special Force. I can’t see anything in the record to indicate that he was ever actually posted to 1 Devon. Have I missed it? That unit did indeed take part in the re-conquest of Burma. Most annoyingly, the notification that he had ceased to administered by ALFSEA 2nd Echelon does not seem to have a date attached. On 03/05/45 he was discharged to 23 Brit Bde Def Coy, which was indeed part of 3 Ind Div (SF). 2 Queens to which he was posted 15/08/45 had previously been in 23 Brit Bde. I also see reference to 7 S Lan R in 1944. So, all a bit confusing really. The most obvious question is ‘Was he awarded a Burma Star?’
Hello Mossy, Welcome to the forum and thank you for posting your father's service record. I've transcribed parts of the Service Record and post it below in the hope that this makes things a little clearer. One unhelpful detail on the Service Record is what seems to be Devonshire Regiment being retained as his 'home' regiment, even though once in India he did not serve with the Devonshire Regiment there. As you will see, he was posted here and there and spent some periods on the 'reinforcement, awaiting posting to a unit' list (x(iv) List). He was eventually transferred to the Queen's Regiment. It appears that he never entered Burma. Rothy --------------------------------------------- 22nd February 1944 – Posted from 14th Infantry Training Centre to the 8th Battalion, Devonshire Regiment 5th May 1944 - Struck Off Strength 8th Devons with effect 5th May 1944 and posted to reinforcement Draft RXFPL 2nd June 1944 – Disembarked India and Posted to G.H.Q. British Base Reinforcement Camp (Deolali), No. 5 Company, ‘R’ Wing. Taken on strength x(iv) List – as a reinforcement awaiting posting to a unit 3rd July 1944 – Posted to the 7th Battalion, South Lancashire Regiment at Budni (although by then, the Battalion had moved to Nazarganj 27th July 1944 – Taken On Strength x(ii) list – posted away from the 7th South Lancs due to illness, injury or other medical reason 12th August 1944 – Moved from the x(ii) List to the x(iv) List – once gain becoming a reinforcement awaiting posting 13th November 1944 – Posted to Assault Company, Special Force (Special Force was disbanded in February (I think) 1945 and the units and men posted away. (I don't have any detail on the Assault Company, sorry) 1st January 1945 – Discharged from hospital and Taken On Strength x(iv) List – a reinforcement awaiting posting 24th April 1945 – Admitted to 69 Indian General Hospital 3rd May 1945 – Discharged from 69 Indian General Hospital and posted to the Defence Company, 23rd Infantry Brigade, recently returned from Burma and now stationed in India 15th August 1945 – Transferred to the Queen’s Royal Regiment and posted to the 2nd Battalion, part of the 29th Infantry Brigade, 36th Infantry Division and now stationed in India. The 2nd Battalion, Queen's Regiment was at Barambe Camp (near Ranchi, I think). It moved to Pashan Camp, near Poona (Pune) on 19th September 1945. It sent a draft of men to the Buffs and another large draft home to the U.K. In October, it went to Bombay to help quell riots but was not called upon before returning to Poona.
Many thanks for your reply, as a complete novice I'm even more confused. Anyway, in answer to your final question it looks like he was awarded the Burma Star, I've attached the scan from the relevant page of his record. I had thought the posting to Budni was for Jungle training, - I gleaned this from another thread which I can't now find annoyingly as I thought I had made a note but it is backed up by the recollections in this oral history Savage, William Francis Charles (Oral history) I've uploaded the scan of the postings page of the record which says 1st Devons, does that help? And I wondered if that page also answered your question about ALFSEA? What is ALFSEA 2nd Echelon please?
Thanks for your reply, it is begining to be a bit clearer and as a novice I hadn't appreciated the significance of the various x references. I've uploaded a couple more pages in reply to Jitter party above and wondered if the information in those clarified anything?
Hello Mossy, Thanks for the additional images of the Service Record. As I think you may have seen now, it doesn't look like your father was posted to the 1st Devons. He did spend some time with the 8th Devons in the UK before being sent to India. The additional page that you have just shared appears to confirm the details from the previous pages. The award of the Burma Star was made not just for those who actually entered the country. It was also possible to receive the Burma Star for service in eastern India. See this from Wikipedia: The medal was also awarded for service during certain specified periods in China, Hong Kong, India, Malaya and Sumatra, all dates inclusive:[16] Bengal and Assam in India from 1 May 1942 to 31 December 1943.[2] Bengal and Assam, east of the Brahmaputra and Dihang Rivers, from 1 January 1941 to 2 September 1945.[ ALFSEA was the top level Headquarters in India, Burma and S.E. Asia - it stands for Allied Land Forces South East Asia. The 2nd Echelon was the part of the organisation that dealt with administration and record keeping. Your father certainly had quite a time of it. Years away from home. He had to put up with a long sea journey to India. He spent time kicking around in various locations while waiting to be posted to a unit - quite boring at times and stressful. Much travel to and fro around India. Several spells in hospital either injured or sick. Having to join new units and "fit in". He did a lot and saw a lot. Rothy
Thanks Rothy. So basically if I'm going to look at any War Diaries it would be for the 2Bn Queens from when he was posted to them and the 69 Indian General Hospital ones. One further question if you wouldn't mind, do you know what the "army P&RT school Poona" that he attended in 1945 would have been?
Mossy, depending on what you are hoping to find, it might also be worth looking at the H.Q. 23rd Infantry Brigade diary. War diaries don't often mention Other Ranks by name, unless the men were casualties or performed a deed worthy of a gallantry recommendation. Sometimes, they contain lists of men posted away or in to the unit, for a battalion, say. The diaries for the hospitals don't contain lists of patients, unfortunately.
Thanks for the extra scans. I think Rothy has answered your specific queries. I still can't see any reference to 1 Devon. He seems to have been with 23 Brit Bde in India while 1 Devon were in Burma, so I think we can discount that idea. I also can't see any evidence that he was in Burma, or that area of India that qualified for the award of the Burma Star. Both 23 Brit Bde and 69 IGH were in Bihar at this stage, I believe. I note that the medals were issued in 1983, presumably on the basis of the same records that we are now examining. Perhaps they could see something then that we can not now. I have never come across 'Assault Company' Special Force. Have any of the Chindit experts on here heard of it? All infantry reinforcements would have needed jungle warfare training before being assigned to fighting units such as 23 Brit Bde or 2 Queens. At the time nobody knew that they were never going to see action again. I know that the Australian Army had a P&RT Team, but I've never heard of the P&RT School Poona. I had assumed that it was ‘Physical and Recreational Training’, but I have not confirmed that.
It’s worth bearing in mind that MOD currently only release a portion of the papers that are held in a man’s service file. Scot’s Guards service papers on FMP often contain 100+ different army documents. Steve
I have only come across the term 'assault company' in relation to the 15th (King's) Parachute Battalion which was formed out of the 1st King's battalion post Operation Thursday. As you say, these units were training for another potential campaign, but none ever materialised.
There was a WE titled British Infantry Brigade Assault Company (Special) published in March 1944. It notes on the front that it (ref XI/252/1) superseded the earlier ref XI/250/1, which was the British Infantry Brigade Defence Platoon (Special). Gary
I know it's Royal Navy, but from King’s Regulations, HM Naval Service, Vol. I, Articles, 1943 PRTI = Physical and Recreational Training Instructor
Thanks, that is very interesting. Our man clearly served in the same type of unit throughout. I had noticed that 23 Brit Bde had a Bde Def Pl (in 1943) which later became a Bde Def Coy (in 1945-46), so presumably the Bde Assault Coy fills in the gap in the middle (in 1944). Excellent. Is the change from Defence to Assault an example of having a 'positive mental attitude', just like the Australians re-naming all of their Anti-Tank Regiments as Tank-Attack Regiments?
It is possible (I always wondered though whether changing the name of the PIAT to the PITA in Australian usage was because PITA could mean pain in the...). The Assault Company WE was a bit unusual, in that it only allowed for two Platoons of 1 officer and 44 ORs each, which were the same strength as the single Defence Platoon it superseded, with no Company HQ element. In the last draft of Special WEs from October 1944 there was a An Infantry Brigade Headquarters Defence Company (Special), XI/253/1. This was a 'proper' Company with a HQ and three Platoons, each now 1 officer and 34 ORs. Annoyingly it doesn't say whether it superseded XI/252/1 on the first page, as would normally be the case. Gary
Sometimes, A.C.Is. show the superseded WE even when there is no such footnote on the superseding WE. But definitely not in this case. The two WEs were effective simultaneously for a longer period: XI/252/1: 21.03.1944 - 01.11.1947 XI/253/1: 14.10.1944 - 19.01.1946.
