Hello, I am our family historian, and I expect that thee are lots of inquiries from people like me. I live in New Zealand so must rely on remote sources of information to help me fill in the gaps in our family story. I have my father’s World War II service record, and hope someone can help me fill in a few details.Unfortunately like so many old soldiers he has passed away. His name was George Arthur Harvey, army number 10555836, his date of enlistment was 19 June 1941. His record says ROAC, No 1 training battalion, Woolwich. He embarked for India 16 March 1942, (serial no 32596), arriving 11 May 1942 and was transferred to REME 1 Oct 1942. As far as I can understand from his military record he was with the 66th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment Workshop Division. After several bouts of what I believe was malaria and amoebic dysentery he was returned to England by 16 November 1944 and was ‘Permanently attached to 100(5) Officer Cadet Training Unit, Royal Armored Corps. Unfortunately his record contains several more admissions to hospital and after being posted to HQ Static Workshops REME No 5 group (17 July 1945) it looks like he was posted to 20 AA w/s company 14 November 1945, then to 15 AA w/s company 26 February 1946, then the next day posted back to 15 AA w/s company. (1) I have a couple of questions about his overseas service that I hope you may be able to help me answer. (2) Where in India would he have served, and what might his day to day life been like? (3) Where would he have been stationed back in England where he remained for the duration of the war? (4) Is there a History of REME’s involvement in India during the time that my father would have been there? (5) He married my mother after he enlisted, would he have needed special permission to do that? (5) What does serial no 32596 mean in reference to his embarkation to India? I have a few photographs of him and some of his fellow soldiers, including what looks like his regiment. That I am more than willing to share.. Any suggestion would be gratefully received.
Hello and welcome. I can't answer any of your specific questions but I am sure others can help there. However, his unit does appear to have diaries at the National Archives in Kew and these would be worth getting. Seeing you are in New Zealand, I would recommend using one of the members on this site for the service. Search for Drew5233. http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/28717-anyone-require-war-diaries-or-other-files-from-the-national-archives/ Here are some catalog references to get you started WO172/2341 66 HAA Regt Jan - Dec 43 WO172/3432 66 HAA Regt Workshop 1943 WO172/5927 66 HAA Regt Workshop 1944 Good luck
