Apologies of this is in the wrong place, couldn't really decide where to put it. My mother's uncle 1945586 Samuel Robert 'Bert' Palmer from Kirkandrews in Kirkcudbrightshire was in MT in 25 Airfield Construction Group HQ (RE) in France and Holland. Turns out he was awarded a BEM in May 1945; the citation appears to give his rank as 'W/CH', which I haven't come across. The typing is pretty clear on the form. Can anyone enlighten me, please? Many thanks, Pat.
Well the London Gazette, 11th October 1945 states: https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/37302/supplement/4996/data.pdf https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/37302/supplement/4995/data.pdf CENTRAL CHANCERY OF THE ORDERS O* KNIGHTHOOD. Si. James's Palace, S.W.i. 11th October,1945. The KING has been graciously pleased to approve the award of -the British Empire Medal (Military Division), in recognition of gallant and distingushed servces in North-West Europe, to the under-mentioned : — No. 1945586 Corporal Samuel Robert PALMER, Corps of Royal Engineers (Gasstown, Dumfries). Perhaps if the form is clear, then it's a problem with the transcription from the original data. (The first thing that sprung to my mind was some sort of confusion with Cfn - Craftsman - but then he's RE not REME.) Moved thread to RE subforum, better than getting lost under General heading.
I wonder if it was a mis-type from a hand-written form ? Do you have his service records or any photos ? WOII (Warrant Officer, Class II ) would seem more likely. It's not usually written W/O though.
W/ is sometimes seen on record cards as an abbreviation for War substantive - Could it have been badly transcribed from W/Cpl ? Here's one that goes from U/A/CPL to P/A/CPL and then W/CPL Unpaid Acting Corporal - Paid Acting Corporal and War Substantive Corporal.
Recommendation for Award for Palmer, Samuel Robert Rank: W/CH Service No: ... | The National Archives Reference: WO 373/85/485 Description: Name Palmer, Samuel Robert Rank: W/CH Service No: 1945586 Regiment: Corps of Royal Engineers Theatre of Combat or Operation: North-West Europe 1944-1945 Award: British Empire Medal Date of announcement in London Gazette: 11 October 1945 Date: 1945 Held by: The National Archives, Kew Legal status: Public Record(s) UK, Recommendations for Honours and Awards Index, 1935-1990 Name: Samuel Robert Palmer Publication Date: 11 Oct 1945 Rank: W/CH Service Number: 1945586 Regiment or Unit: Corps of Royal Engineers Theatre of Combat or Operation: North West Europe 1944-1945 Award: British Empire Medal Date of Action or Award: 1945 URL: http://discovery.nationalarchi... Perhaps contact and ask - Corps of Royal Engineers - British Army Website TD
To me that's looking more and more like a transcript error by TNA when they were indexing WO 373 (there are lots of them including surname spelling errors), It's not that clear on the recommendation itself when you zoom in ... As far as I'm concerned it's CPL, having been perhaps incorrectly typed and then corrected...
Thank you all for the help - much appreciated. (Edit: and for relocating this thread to an appropriate forum). Dbf is right (and I was wrong) about the clarity on the citation, and - now it's been pointed out - I can see a possible W/Cpl. I spoke to my mother, who knew Bert well but hasn't much interest in things military, and she doesn't think he ever rose to the exalted rank of sergeant-major, although I admit my first thought was a possible mistranscription of WOII. Bert emigrated to Australia and alas we don't have any papers or a wartime photo to help. As you can probably tell, WWII RE isn't exactly an area of expertise for me! Bert was running the MT for 25 Airfield Construction Group HQ, but I don't really understand what that entailed: was it a job for a corporal? Possibly so; the BEM citation suggests he was taking on a lot of responsibility for a relatively low rank, which would tally. Cheers, Pat.
I think dbf is right and it's definitely W/CPL. If you look at the letters A and L in Palmer, you'll see that the L is jammed up close to the A (there is no spacing between them). In a similar way, the L is jammed close to the P in W/CPL, making it look like a capital H. I'd say it was simply a mechanical defect with the letter L on the original typewriter.
Transport Corporal sound right. Many units had a Transport Corporal who was responsible for the unit drivers and had only limited responsibility for the vehicles. Since the citation mentions 'gallant' service I would assume that he performed some specific act of gallantry. Mike
Thanks Mike, Transport Corporal looks like it fits; I'd assume any gallantry would have been non-combat (given the award and the role), and I don't suppose we'll find out. My mother remembers Bert saying when he got home that the award was for the unit, really, and he felt he was just picking it up on their behalf. Good spot tmac: those typed 'L's are very chummy. W/Cpl it is, I think. Well, you've cracked it folks - thanks again to you all. Cheers, Pat.