Help Required. 104 Army Troops, Royal Engineers.

thank you for this information .
some more help please what did the hq lines of communication b e f do.
sorry to be so uninformed.

Also death certificate has just arrived
date of death 8/5/1945 v e day cause drowned accident
to have gone through the war and drowned on the last day ive got to find out how where and why.
to honour his memory.
xx mel

 

just seen the war dairies thank you so much how amazing if you could find out about the accident .
i am so grateful for your help
x
mel

 

Here is what I have on the 104th. It was a member of the Supplementary Reserve, RE.

104th (East Lancashire) Army Troops Company: Manchester
France 1940 as LOC Troops
9/40 under Northern Command
12/41 under WO Reserve – Temp u/c GHQ Reserve allotted to
Northern Command 20/12/41
Served under 21st AG in NWE 1944-45

 

Hi Mel,

I see you've left a message for Smudger Jnr. He is the contact I have sent a private message to. Hopefully his friend (a vet of that unit who lives in Berlin) may have some information. The fact that it happened on VE Day may be something that might have stayed in his memory.

As they were working on bridges and over water, this ties in with how he may have died.

Regards - Rob

 

Robert,

I am forwarding the details to Bill and will speak to him in due course.

Regards
Tom

 

hello
once again thank you for taking the trouble to help me .
i am having trouble understanding the
abbreviations in the post from dryan 67 what does 12/41 under WO Reserve – Temp u/c GHQ Reserve mean
thank you
mel

 

WO = War Office
GHQ = General Headquarters
Temp = Temporarily
u/c = under command

 

thank you for the explanation
would this have meant he was in england in 1941 -1944 ?

 

Mel,

I am sorry to say that William is unable to help as he was only transfered into the company later in 1945 and therefore has no knowledge of the incident.

Here is part of his reply to me.

"Regarding your friend's enquiry, I very much regret that I am unable to help. I did not join the 104 Army Troops Royal Engineers until when they had moved up into Germany later in 1945. I am, therefore unaware of the incident in question."


Regards
Tom

 

hi tom
thank you so much for contacting your friend hopefully with more investigation i can find out more.
thanks to this forum ive already found out alot just need to find out what the 104 was doing under w/o reserve in 1941 .anymore war diaries would be great.
i am going to the r e museum to look at the casualty cards etc ill will post any information
many thanks
mel

 

More than likely, the company remained in England until 1944.

 

William seems to believe that the unit was used in deception work and was utilized on the south coast.

It could well have been "D" Day deceptions such as mock tanks, vehicles and planes etc as a cover for the invasion, ie Pattons fictitious Army.

regards
Tom

 

hi tom
thanks so much for the information this might explain why there is not much information on 104.
i have found a site about deception work including making hidden building for resistance work if there was an invasion .
if rob had anymore war diaries from this time 1941-1944 even just a snippet to cure my curiosity before i get the service record i would be grateful.
once again thanks for your help
xx mel

 

Hi Mel,

I only copied the war diary for the time that William joined the unit in Berlin in 1945. I'm sorry to say I don't have 1941 to 1944. A couple of guys on the Forum do offer a service to copy diaries though. Drew5233 or Psywar.

Rob

 

I can't seem to locate their war diary for the period September 1943 to March 1944.
However, I think these are others:

WO 167/928, 104 Army Troops Company Royal Engineers (1939 Sept.-1940 June)
WO 166/3604, ROYAL ENGINEERS: COMPANIES: 104 Army Troops Company. (1940 July - 1941 Dec.)

WO 166/8067, 104 Coy. (1942 Jan.- Dec.)
WO 166/12044, 104 Coy (1943 Jan.-Aug.)

WO 171/1543, 104 Coy. (1944 Apr.- Dec.)
WO 171/5457, 104 Coy. (1945 Jan.- Dec.)
WO 171/9362, 104 Coy. (1946 Jan.- June)

Lee

 

hello lee
i am waiting for the service records of william and i will contact you re war diaries .
i would like to know what work william did in england whilst in 104 as it seems it was deception unit. and why they were in holland
williams family were told that he jumped in the water to rescue somebody they survived and he didnt i am hoping that the casualty cards might have more information
xx mel

 

The work 104 AT RE undertook in Holland was mainly the building of bridges. A huge number of bridges over rivers and canals were blown by the Germans to stop the advance of the Allies. They also worked on some Anti-Aircraft sites.

 

At last the service records have arrived but I can't decipher them any help would be appreciated
Will try to attach images

 

William

 

Image