I wonder if anyone has researched or knows of an information source in addition to the National Archives, that identifies the ships that transported 8 Btn Parachute Regiment and other units to and from Palestine in 1945 and 1946? From my father's Army records I know he set sail from the UK on about 16th September 1945 and arrived at Haifa on the 3rd October. With the help of other forum members with Paratroop Regiment backgrounds we've established that MV Dunnottar Castle was almost certainly the outbound ship. His tour ended with embarkation on 17th December 1946 (not known from where - Port Said?) with his release into the reserve, arriving back in the UK on 23rd December (also not known - Southampton?). For the return ship, circumstantial evidence points to SS Ranchi fitting the bill. Unfortunately, although passenger lists are available at the National Archives, military personnel do not seem to be listed. Any help greatly appreciated - Eric
Use the convoyweb website as mentioned on your other thread, assuming you know the port of departure or arrival plus dates TD They may not have left on a troopship June 1948: The last of the British troops leave Haifa, Palestine.
Hi TD, Yes I've checked it now it's working, but without success. However the Dunnottar Castle info comes up OK, But Ranchi only goes up to 1945, so I'll have to do some more searching on port dates later. Point noted about it not necessarily a troopship! Eric
Southampton: SS Ranchi (Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company Ltd) travelling... | The National Archives Southampton: SS Ranchi (Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company Ltd) travelling... | The National Archives It seems that its main route was Japan, Suez canal, London (or Southampton) - Search results: ss ranchi | The National Archives But then as we know under military control it could have gone anywhere, but 1945 it seems to have spent a lot of its time repatriating ex POW's from the Far East and later it was bought by the Dutch to do the same run P&O Lines – SS Ranchi TD
TD you've worked well on my behalf, so Thank You. My father is proving elusive. By now I've gone through the the National Archives checking every arrival in December 1946 for Southampton, London, Liverpool, Plymouth, Swansea and Manchester. I've also checked embarkations from Port Said, Haifa, Alexandria, Suez and Abadan. All the potential vessels' passenger lists are searchable on Ancestry, and contrary to my previous findings, military personnel do crop up frequently, but not my old man! There are four ships; Dunster Grange, Volendan, Ranchi and Fort McDonnell that arrive on the correct day, or a day or two either side of the the dates of embarkation and disembarkation in his Army records, so I think I'm going to have to call this "as good as it gets" and describe this as such in the manuscript I'm compiling. Many Thanks for your help and thanks to everyone else who contributed. Eric
Hi Eric Its what this site is about, personally I quite enjoy (most of the time) the searching/finding/investigating/learning part There does come a time when you feel you have exhausted all avenues, but just to say sometimes, something turns up that opens up new leads, maybe not tomorrow or this month but sometime, so keep your eyes open TD
