Welcome Stumpy His service number, 6352042, indicates that he enlisted with the Royal West Kent Regiment. His official service records will trace his service and dates and this is important in order to discover what regiments he was with at what time. From there you will need war diaries, that may indicate his squadron, or other histories. Requests for personal data and service records: a detailed guide Not sure about the water course but he also went on a hygiene and sanitation course, perhaps that is a clue?
Hi Tony, That’s very helpful and makes perfect sense as he would have enlisted in the army in London somewhere. I’ll see if I can get his full service record. I always knew he’d been at Nijmegen as he talked about it a bit, and we also knew that he was a driver and competent mechanic but I’d misread the text in his discharge book as being 53rd REME Regt so just assumed he’d been with them. It was only yesterday when I specifically decided to look up “53rd REME” that I discovered there was no such thing in WW2. I went back to the text in his discharge book a little closer and noticed that it actually says that he served with “53rd Recce Regt” and that led me to here. It all fits with the few things I knew he said about the war, but sadly he died in 1991 when I was 9 so I don’t have a lot to work with. Many thanks for your help so far.
Quite a lot about 53 Recce in the journals: Reconnaissance Journal Also: 53rd Recce Regiment - 53rd Welsh (webs.com) Good resource if you can find a copy:
One of my father claims to fame As private and carrier drive, during an exercise in cold Icey conditions, he failed to take a corner as speed and slammed into the oncoming wall, as a result the "Buoys" rifle was bent at a right angle. In the following inquiry he was exonerated of any blame due to the weather conditions. But he did suffer a token deduction from his wages for the damage to the Anti-tank rifle. Some time later when he had climbed to the giddy heights of Corporal , he was featured in training in a full page photograph in the centre pages of the Sunday Pictorial. "With his Trigger finger ready for instant Sten gun action". (I'm sure it was a Tommy Gun.)
I would be beyond delighted if anyone could come up with details of my father's war service but I know it's a very long shot. He was very reticent about his service and only told tales of scrumping apples near Ashford! When asked about his wound (GSW to the eye) all he would say was 'I forgot to duck' and that he was flown back in a Dakota. There was another brief story which concerned him disobeying an order when his sergeant told him to make a burnt-out tank his observation post. A minute later, the tank received a direct hit! I am fortunate to have his copy of 'Welsh Spearhead' which I recently had nicely rebound and I have his service record. The individual photo I hope I've attached is the only one I have of him in uniform and I have no idea which squadron he was in. I know he had been on a signals course and he said he had driven a bren carrier (though I don't know if that was 'official'!). Good luck with this record - the Reconnaissance boys don't get as much recognition as they deserve. Ian
Welcome Ian. The best place to start is contacting the MOD for his service records. They are taking the best part of a year but they are well worth the wait. The records are not available anywhere else. Get a copy of military service records Do not date the cheque when you send the form off as it may expire before the records arrive. If it is not too personal, put his name up as someone could possibly help. Lesley
Good to have you on the forum Ian. Please follow Lesley's advice and get an application in for his official records, MOD is the only source. You will need a date of birth and a death certificate, plus the money as she says. If you post his name and service number if you have it he may appear in the casualty lists.
I did say in my post that I have his service record. He was L/Cpl Thomas Abernethy, a Liverpool man. After his wound, he was transferred to the RAOC on home service. I'm not hopeful of finding anything else (though worth a try) but I thought it fitting that he should be remembered on this thread and his photo uploaded. Many thanks.
Apologies Ian, I must have missed that about service records. I agree what you say about Recce lads-my dad was a carrier driver in 56 Recce. Lesley
Presumably 14321857 Tpr T ABERNETHY / 53 Recce / wounded 13.8.44 North West Europe You could try following this up, as the diaries will confirm what the unit was involved in at the time, they were in the Falaise area. If you are lucky they may give the squadron or troop, these are sometimes found in the appendices. 53rd Recce War Diary Quite a bit on 53 Recce here: Reconnaissance Journal
Thanks. Had a look at the war diary and it gives me a good idea of where they were and what they were doing but no breakdown of any units.
Did you have access to the appendices that may accompany the diaries? The diary itself ill tell you where the unit was and what it was involved but rarely mentions ORs, in but the attached documents should contain 'Regimental Orders' that often have details of individuals and transfers, postings, training courses that often mention their squadrons etc. Example here:
No, I haven't seen anything like that. I scrolled to the end of the war diaries assuming they would be there. Are they available on this forum? Thanks for posting.
Obviously some members have the diaries but I don't think they have been publicly posted on here, I assume they may be with the originals at TNA.