Hi I am looking for confirmation as to what the following file prefixes stood for - 166 - Home Forces 169 - North Africa Forces 170 - Italy (Mediterranean) Forces Is this correct? Thanks Wiffer
As per TNA website: British Army operations in the Second World War - The National Archives War Office directorates WO 165 Home forces WO 166 British expeditionary force WO 167 North-West expeditionary force WO 168 Middle East forces WO 169 Central Mediterranean forces WO 170 North-West Europe WO 171 South-East Asia command WO 172 West Africa forces WO 173 Madagascar WO 174 British North Africa forces WO 175 Various smaller theatres WO 176 Medical services WO 177 Military missions WO 178 Dominion forces WO 179 GHQ Liaison Regiment* WO 215 Special services WO 218 Ships Signals sections* WO 257 Royal Marine Commandos DEFE 2
click the 176 link it says... War Office: British Forces, Various Smaller Theatres: War Diaries, Second World War | The National Archives Arrangement is by countries alphabetically as follows: Azores, pieces 1-7; Barbados, 8; Bermuda, 9-11; British Honduras, 12; Caribbean, 13-59; Falkland Islands, 60-72; Faroe Islands, 73-102; Fiji, 103-154; Gibraltar, 155-285; St Helena, 286; Iceland, 287-375; Leeward Islands, 376-377; Malta, 395-396; Manila, 378; Mauritius, 379-390; Russia, 391-394.
Someone with a greater knowledge than me could answer the reason for this, but (for at least the 1st Army Forces) the split is : WO 175 - Nov 1942 to Jun 1943...when the units were in Algeria/Tunisia WO 169 - Jul 1943 to Dec 1943....when the units were in Sicily/mainland Italy. WO 170 - Jan 1944 onwards... when the units were in mainland Italy/Austria. The individual's summary posting details (between BNAF/CMF/MEF) cuts another loop altogether..
The prefix denotes what theatre the unit spent a significant amount of time in during the date period for that specific diary. A good example is the WO 171 diaries covering 1944. This is the North West Europe prefix and most diaries cover January to December 1944 but units didn't start arriving in NW Europe until June 1944.
Just to help other researchers, on at least two occasions I have found that when a unit moved mid month from overseas to the UK that for that month there is a carry over of pages from abroad into WO 166. Sometimes this is more than just the CO's diary entries but also other documents such as orders and memos to higher officers. Likewise movement from UK to abroad can cause a carry over of UK material into overseas files. The moral of the story is, pull a consecutive overseas/home front file, you might be surprised like I was.
My Dad and his mates might be "amused" to recall that - during the 5 1/2 months (out of the 6 months) that their battalions's war diaries are listed in the WO 169 series (ie as part the Middle East Forces' section) - they were climbing up to Centuripe, wading across the Simeto/Salso rivers, walking along the Etna lava beds up to Maletto, lying on the beach at Patti, sailing from Messina to Taranto, landing at Termoli, crossing the Trigno and Sangro rivers before paddling in the Moro river... and then spending their New Year in the snowdrifts in the mountains near Castel di Sangro.