Hi everyone, I was on here a couple of years ago when I was waiting for my granddad's service records and I'm now, finally, getting around to deciphering them. I've figured out a bit of a brief summary but there's still some blanks for me. Here's what I got: Home - 22 Oct 1940 to 25 July 1942 Middle East - 26 July 1942 to 26 July 1945 Home - 27 July 1945 to 22 March 1946 22 October 1940 946 Defence Battery RA 24 October 1940 953 Defence Battery RA (11 Def Regt) 12 December 1941 “B” Battery 176 (A) Field Regiment RA (176 Fd Regt - War Formed - Fm 11 Def Regt 1/42 - UK 1942-5 - 77 (Res) & 45 Inf Divs - Disb 3/46) 2 July 1942 RA Depot 23 November 1942 ME School of Artillery 5 March 1943 XL (IV) “X” Battery BDRA (Base Depot Royal Artillery at Almaza) But then it looks, to me, like everything after that is either School of Artillery or being shipped back home in ‘45 I do have his AB64 which shows him as having a Permanent Pass to be absent from his quarters at the M.E. School of Artillery from After Duty daily until 0045 hrs from 1st Dec 1944 to 31 May 1945. Any help on deciphering the record or info on 176 Fld Regt RA would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! Peter
I should add, the Defence Medal listed in photo "Gnr 1097095 (7)" was issued in error (he never collected his medals and it wasn't until about 10 years ago that my mum asked for them). But I also can't see anything in the record to back up him being issued France and Germany Star. Peter
Hi, Thanks for posting the service papers. I know Defence Medal entitlement is a tricky one but was he not properly entitled to the Defence Medal for his 21 months service in UK (in an area subject to enemy bombing)? I don’t see a 39/45 Star entitlement presumably as despite serving over 6 months in Egypt it was in a training rather than an operational unit. Certainly no entitlement to F&G Star. Steve Y
Hi Peter Re medals - qualifying as paid down by the MOD is - Medals: campaigns, descriptions and eligibility - GOV.UK TD
Looking into it more, he would've been entitled to the Defence Medal for his time in Egypt between May '43 and May '45 as it was classified as a "non-operational area subjected to enemy air attacks or closely threatened" during that time. I have a photo of him at the School of Artillery wearing the Africa Star ribbon suggesting he saw some operational service, which could explain why he received the 39/45 Star, but doesn't explain why there doesn't seem to be corroboration of operational service in his records. P
Hi Peter This area is frought, and the only way really to resolve your question is to make contact with the MOD as in the end they are the arbiters of this. We have seen other threads on here that cover the same problem and sometimes it has only been a matter of yards for someone to receive or not receive a medal. TD
Hi, Apologies - my mistake earlier re lack of 39/45 Star. On revisiting the service record I see it was one of the 4 medals issued by MOD Medal Office. Steve Y
It looks as though he was issued the Defence Medal - its one on the list, 2nd up from the bottom between Arica Star and War Medal 1939/45 TD
At this point I'm going to assume it was the F&G Star that was sent in error, not the Defence Medal (I'll pass that info along to my mum too) and ignore it for now. My bigger interest is where he went and if/where he saw action after arriving in Egypt. I can't really read much of his record clearly, and what I can read doesn't make much sense to me so far. On pic (6) do you know what RFHHF could mean in the postings column? Thanks!
RFHHF is a randomly produced code - it was attached/written onto everything that was to travel onboard a specific ship at a specific sailing - like a flight number today - this was to ensure at the chaotic docks that whatever had that code on it was placed aboard the correct ship
Hi, He probably saw “action” during the 1941 Plymouth Blitz. Looking at his B103 he set off for Egypt about the end of July 1942. I can’t make out his date of disembarkation but from other service files I’ve seen it was an 8 or 9 week journey to Egypt via The Cape of Good Hope usually with a 7 or 10 day stop at a port in South Africa. By that “guesstimate” he would have arrived in Egypt in early October 1942. It was usual that on arrival a period of acclimatisation took place. I can’t see any mention of a posting to a “fighting” RA unit before his posting to the School of Artillery 23rd November 1942. Steve Y
Thanks Steve! One of the other forms shows a transfer to ME dated 21 Sept 1942 so I'm thinking that's around when he initially arrived. That's 57 days from the departure date of 26 July. Here's a challenge for you, on the B103, how many of the Officer signatures can you decipher? I've been able to read a whopping 2, Shuttleworth in Oct '40 and Mar '41 (wondered if that was maybe Charles Ughtred John Kay-Shuttleworth - served in World War II 1939-42 as T/Maj, Royal Horse Artillery) and Nash - Apr '41. The rest are just a scrawl to me. P
Hi, I’ll leave the hieroglyphic interpretation to you! I should have let you have this link about “Winston Special” convoys - it suggests your grandfather sailed from the Clyde on convoy WS21 on 29th July 1942 and passed Aden 21st September which would support an arrival in Egypt a few days later. Steve Y WS (Winston Specials) Convoys in WW2 - 1942 Sailings
