I thought the following Location Statement of 2nd Army REME units for 30 September might be of interest (Source: WO171/248 - DDME 2nd Army War DIary) REME Location Statement Second Army as at 0001 hrs 30 Sep 44 SA/110/ME of 30 Sep 44 Not u/c DME 21 Army Gp DDME 2 Cdn Army DDME 2 Cdn Corps DDME 1 Corps DDME L of C CEME HQ Adv Base Wksp 21 Adv Base Wksp 22 Adv Base Wksp 23 Adv Base Wksp 1 Cdn Adv Base Wksp R.V.P. 16 [T812749] R.V.P. 17 [T780823] R.V.P. 14 [U0565] L of C B.P. [K4598] 20 Adv Base Wksp Army Tps DDME 2 Army REME 2 Army CREME 2 Army Tps 2 Army Tps Wksp (D) [to LOUVAIN 4 Oct] 3 Army Tps Wksp (E) [Move 7 Oct] 4 Eng Eqpt Wksp (A) [to BOURG LEOPOLD 30th] 5 Eng Eqpt Wksp HQ 3 L of C Rec Coy (A Sec) (B Sec) No.9 A.B.P. ( B) [To L of C approx 6 Oct] 34 Tk Tps Wksp (C) [To u/c 79 Armd Div 3 Oct] 176 Inf Bde Wksp 59 Lt Rec Sec 4 Hy Rec Sec BEME 106 AA Bde 8 Corps DDME 8 Corps CREME 8 Corps Tps 8 Corps Tps Wksp CREME 11 Armd Div 29 Armd Bde Wksp 159 Inf Bde Wksp CREME 3 Br Div 8 Inf Bde Wksp 9 Inf Bde Wksp 185 Inf Bde Wksp CREME 50 Div 69 Inf Bde Wksp 151 Inf Bde Wksp 231 Inf Bde Wksp BEME 4 Armd Bde 4 Armd Bde Wksp BEME 6 Gds Tk Bde 6 Gds Tk Bde Wksp 6 Gds Tk Tps Wksp 15 Inf Tps Wksp 3 Recovery Coy 6 Gds Hy Rec Sec 15 Lt Rec Sec 11 Lt Rec Sec 7 Hy Rec Sec 12 Corps DDME 12 Corps CREME 12 Corps Tps 12 Corps Tps Wksp CREME 7 Armd Div 22 Armd Bde Wksp 131 Inf Bde Wksp CREME 53 (W) Div 71 Inf Bde Wksp 158 Inf Bde Wksp 160 Inf Bde Wksp CREME 15 Div 44 Inf Bde Wksp 46 Inf Bde Wksp 227 Inf Bde Wksp 7 Armd Tps Wksp 53 Inf Tps Wksp 31 Tk Tps Wksp 3 Inf Tps Wksp 2 Recovery Coy 3 Lt Rec Sec 53 Lt Rec Sec 34 Hy Rec Sec 12H C.B.P. 30 Corps DDME 30 Corps CREME 30 Corps Tps 30 Corps Tps Wksp CREME Gds Armd Div 5 Gds Armd Bde Wksp 32 Inf Bde Wksp CREME 43 Div 129 Inf Bde Wksp 130 Inf Bde Wksp 214 Inf Bde Wksp REME 100 AA Bde REME 8 Armd Bde 8 Armd Bde Wksp 11 Armd Tps Wksp [Moving 9th from AMIENS & u/c 8 Corps] Gds Armd Tps Wksp 50 Inf Tps Wksp 43 Inf Tps Wksp 8 Tk Tps Wksp 6 Recovery Coy Gds Hy Rec Sec 50 Lt Rec Sec 43 Lt Rec Sec 8 Hy Rec Sec 100 Radar Bty Regards Tom
Hi Tom I'm new to ww2talk. Researching my father Arthur Hall's wartime service. He was 2 i/c 53 Inf Tps Wksp in '44 and according to his Service Record & his own notes embarked for NWE with the 2nd Army 6/9/44. I see you have his unit listed in the Location Statement for 30/9/44 and would be grateful if you could interpret for me. Does this Statement indicate the actual place where the units were on that date - or am I being a bit dim? I have lots of photo's, but many others, together with Dad's diary & other mementoes were lost some time in '46 (by which time he was OC 176 Inf Bde Wksp) when the Mess which his chaps had built burnt down! I'm hoping to get a clearer understanding of the route he took through France and the Low Countries into Germany until my mother & older sister joined him in Bielefeld, where I was born in '47. Best wishes Jane
Jane, Hi, I'm glad you found the listing useful, it should help a lot with narrowing down the area for your next research steps. When I looked at this file, I only copied one of the Location Statements - the one for 30 Sep but it does contain a map reference for every REME unit in 2nd Army. So, going back to my original photo it says that for 30 Sep, 53 Inf Tps Wksp was located at J711740 and was under command of 12 Corps at the time. I've also got a copy of the 2nd Army REME Sitrep for 25 Sep which says that 53 Inf Tps Wksp was at MALINES (J7174) (which ties up with the more detailed MR above) and was operating a CBP (Corps Backloading Point - I think) for 12 Corps. You will find that there is probably a specific war diary for the workshop (I had a quick look on the National Archives website and for 1944 it is reference number WO171/2869 - 53 Inf Tps Wksp Jan - Dec 1944). The workshop is also likely to be referred to in the war diary of 12 Corps REME (WO171/326 and 327 for 1944). There are several people on this site who regularly go to the National Archives and would be able to copy the files for you at a reasonable cost if you cannot travel to Kew yourself. One word of caution is that all the corps and army level workshops (3rd line I think is the technical term) were re-numbered around this time, and I don't know whether they stayed attached to the same Corps for the whole campaign. You will find that if you post up any photos or documents you have on this site, there are experts here for any question you might have to help you work out what they mean. I hope that helps, if I can find any more in my notes I will post here. Regards Tom