WW2 and the Orkneys

Discussion in 'Royal Engineers' started by Karen Price, Jan 5, 2025.

  1. Karen Price

    Karen Price New Member

    When talking about his war service, my grandfather only mentioned that he served in the Orkneys and that the most dangerous part was travelling by ship, going to and from the islands in all sorts of treacherous weather. He was quite the comedian so I don't know whether he was downplaying his service or if in fact he was safe as you can be in a war. After he died I went through his things and I have a letter from the Ministry of Defence detailing the basics of his war service but I have not been able to find any information online about which unit was where and what they did in the war.

    From this letter his details are: 2060718 W/Bdr Wilfred Houghton - Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
    Enlisted into the Royal Engineers TA 28/9/1938
    Posted to the 355th Company Royal Engineers 28/9/1938
    Embodied 2/9/1939
    Transferred to the Royal Artillery 1/8/1940
    Posted to the School of Electric Lighting 1/6/1943
    Relegated to Class W (T) Reserve 25/09/1945
    Administration change to Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers 1/10/1951
    Service with the Colours: 2/9/1939 to 24/9/1945

    I am in Australia so I can not visit the National Archives, so if there is anywhere that I can find this information online I would be grateful if someone could point me in the right direction.
     
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  2. Deacs

    Deacs Well i am from Cumbria.

    Hello Karen welcome to the forum I can't offer any details on your grandfather but for starters here his is RA medal index card.
    61820_003374_0015-02796.jpg
    You need to apply for his service records they are the only way to go to find out anything really can't find the link at the moment will get back to it in a moment.

    Link to service records Get a copy of military records of service

    Mike.
     
    Last edited: Jan 5, 2025
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  3. Temujin

    Temujin Member

    Here’s a link to information on the 39th S/L Regiment RE which became the 39th S/L Regiment RA and info on their service in the Orkneys (go down to almost the end under WW2). You’ll note that many of the dates for the Regiment match the dates on the RA Medal card posted above by Deacs.

    But ordering his service records to confirm this information, as Deacs recommended, is best.

    39th (The Lancashire Fusiliers) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery
     
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  4. davidbfpo

    davidbfpo Patron Patron

    Karen,

    Welcome aboard. Help will appear.

    You wrote:
    Yes, the Pentland Firth between the mainland and the islands is well known to be "rough". A starter:
    From: Sail North Scotland - Sailing the Pentland Firth and a very good Wiki: Pentland Firth - Wikipedia

    The "go to" RA site has a summary history:
    From: 39 (The Lancashire Fusiliers) Searchlight Regiment RA (TA) - The Royal Artillery 1939-45

    An online search with: "orkney" + "searchlight regiment" site:ww2talk.com found a handful of threads, they might help understand his time there. There are no threads here for his regiment on a quick search.

    There is a plethora of threads id'd using orkney in the simple search facility here.

    After the Munich Crisis, September 1938, the UK decided war was coming and expanded the Territorial Army (TA) with volunteers and usually in their local area.

    I have not looked for the other units
     
    Last edited: Jan 5, 2025
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  5. Karen Price

    Karen Price New Member

    Hello!
    Thanks for all of the information, much appreciated. Time to go down the rabbit hole :)
    Karen
     
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  6. Karen Price

    Karen Price New Member

    Hey All! Just a quick note to say that I have received a reply from the MOD personal records peoples, and first they advised that it will be 12 months but now they have come back to advise that due to the records containing a large amount of medical information, which is interesting since he was never injured and mentally was fine, my grandmother back home was committed so perhaps that, but I will not be able to look at his information until 115 years +1 after his birth so until 2036 so its going to be a long wait! They say its because if they release the information it will be to the public, not just the family and they need to respect privacy.
    Once again thanks for helping, looks like that's all the info I am going to get!
    Kx
     
  7. JohnG505

    JohnG505 Getting there......

    LS&GCM details. If he was TA, this Long Service medal would be the Efficiency Medal (Territorial Army).

    Screenshot_20250124_151157_Chrome.jpg
     
  8. Uncle Target

    Uncle Target Mist over Dartmoor

    Last edited: Jan 24, 2025

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