Well, they ought to get to them since LAC have recently begun to digitize all WW2 war diaries - but I don't know the time frame under which they will be completed.
Would be amazing to find and get in touch with any relatives of the men that were part of 2nd Sq F Tp. Maybe they have photos etc. where the vehicles are present and visible. Are there any people part of this forum that might have any relations?
Alexander, I should have said - if the wait for the war diaries becomes intolerable get in touch with me and perhaps I can photograph some of the war diary material for you.
Thank you so much, but it will be wayward too much info for you to go through. I've lost count on the hours I've invested already reading through 6000+ pages. Have emailed LAC and asked when the rest of the war diaries will be made available.
Sorry, S8 is most likely the line jeep of F Tp. My jeep is marked S6. However, have found numerous of mentions of other vehicles in the war diaries. Even a half trk marked S13.
Joe, after studying the table you posted early in this thread, I interpret it as E & F Tp actually having 6 Car, 5-cwt in total. One for the Despatch Rider, Two for the Batman-drivers and three for the Linemen. Or am I totally mistaken? Can see the Troop Commander. Where did you find that table?
I took it to be the numbering of vehs. Take the MCs in the troop, #1 had an operator and #2, #3 and #4 each had a DR. The establishment for a Canadian Armoured Divisional Signals can be found here: Armoured Divisional Signals (CDN II/213) - RCSigs.ca
According to the Nigel F. Evans artillery website (Organisation of a SP Field Regiment 1944) the Signal Troop for an RA SP artillery regiment ('Armoured Division Signals' WE II/213/1 effective date 24 November 1943) was organized with 4 jeeps but none of them had the tactical identifier of S6. The vehicle which carried S6 was a 3-ton lorry 4x4. See page 7 of the attachment. The British version of the Signal Troop seems to have had one more jeep but one less 15-cwt truck than the Canadian version. I agree with Joe that Canadian WE's had small differences from the British ones, and this may have included the application of tactical identifiers. I've seen these small differences every time I've reviewed comparable WE's. The answer is in the records somewhere. It just has to be found. Cheers, Dan.
Congratulations Alexander, it looks like you're the owner of the "F" Troop OC's 5-cwt! The following extract is from a 4 Div Sigs unit listing dated March 1944. Obviously the 'F' prefix was changed to an 'S' but I highly doubt they changed the numbers. Funny they would still publish it with an F seeing as the Infantry Div Sigs equivalent list also dated from March 1944 has S for the artillery sections. The full unit listing can be found here: Tactical vehicle markings - 4th (Armoured) Divisional Signals - March 1944 - RCSigs.ca
Hi, none of these links work anymore. Very weird... Tried to search for them on the site, but can't locate any of them.
LAC seems to have changed their search engine. Try this search: Collection Search - Library and Archives Canada
Managed to locate them all + a file of photographs. Have ordered copies online now. That wasn't possible before, so very excited. Have been able to identify the OC of 2nd Sq. His name was Major E. H. Kerr. Hoping that I'll be able to find out more info re him.
Any help to find and locate relatives of Major E. H. Kerr, The Royal Canadian Corps of Signals, 1124 Summit Ave., Victoria, B.C. would be great.
Hi Pronto91, hope that you are doing well. After more than a years wait, I finally received the missing 4th Div Sigs and F Trp war diaries this week. I don't think that Major E.H. Kerr above is the correct person anymore. F Troop was not assembled until April 20th, 1943 and was than put under command of N.R. Ray. Would love to get help to find out more about him. Not able to myself, since you have to be a Canadian citizen. Pls see attached.