Hello. Reading en translating War Diaries from OPS LOG MAIN HQ2 CDN INF DIV. In the column Action Taken There are some I can not place. Such as (DW), (KNK), (WTG),(HMR) GSO II (WBW), GSO I, AQ as shown here below. Is there a list of these abbreviations somewhere? Best regards and stay safe in this snowy weather, Noppie.
Ofcourse there is Klaas Rein, look here at the Canadian Archives, use it as a start. Not all of them are listed. 3th Inf Division doesnt use these HMR,WBW,HMR. Did a search on several diaries but nothing about these abbriviations. Just found this, WTG behind a name, i have still no Clue.
They are possibly the initials of the HQ officer who dealt with the requisite action/ or who authorised it.
GSO I is General Staff Officer 1, i.e. the senior staff officer. AQ is Adjutant and Quartermaster I would tend to agree that the other abbreviations are personal initials.
I'm up for giving it a try: Most of them are administrative appointments which can vary, some might be referring to Canadian Regiments, units or people. Using the list that came with my uncles Service Record from MoD in 2019 and a bit of recollection of Military jargon. (DW), Duration of War (KNK), Kings something (WTG), possibly Water Tank Group WTC = Water Tank Company (Royal Army Service Corps) or someone's initials. (HMR) possibly a mounted regiment alternatively a Highland Regt or initials GSO II General Staff Officer (can be several I II II etc) WBW), Water Bowser Wagon possibly but unlikely GSO I, General Staff Officer ( can be several I II II etc) AQ Q Relates to Quartermaster in most armies probably Assistant Quartermaster or Army Q Lots of places to look (I'm not a Canadian but several on the forum are). List of military equipment of the Canadian Army in World War II - Wikipedia https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/t.../dhh/official/book-1948-army-1939-1945-en.pdf Lots of people enquire about the most mundane things that the more experienced ignore. Fear of the unknown, worrying that they might miss something. A bit of study regarding the context of the documents might give you the answers that you seek. Often people in the same unit had to contact the clerks to find out what they meant. No chance of that now.
I have seen in British Army War Diaries for battalions in Britain that often the entry is made by a junior officer and the initials or name are in the final column 'Action taken' and then endorsed by the battalion commander before he countersigns the final month's report to send off to the War Office.
The suggestion of the initials is probably the most close by answers I guess. The other e.g. GSO I and QA are now known too me. The Army 1948 help a lot for the ranks in Action taken. Thank you for your help. Enjoy the weekend, Noppie.
Definitely officers’ initials Noppie. From your example WBW is Lt WB Walker, PWB is Lt Col PW Bennett, WTG is Lt WT Grant and HMR looks like Capt HM Rawlings. Another 2 Cdn Inf Div Ops Log with initials in the ‘Action Taken’ column. JMR is Capt JM Robertson and KNK is Maj KN Kingston. Regards, Richard
Have found this link very useful Military abbreviations used in service files 21st Army Group later British Army of the Rhine (under construction)
Hello Richard. This makes sense! Thank you for your replay. It is very helpfull indeed. I will attach this to my translation for my book. Greetz, Noppie.
