Hi all, Can't think how I got onto this exactly but I am looking at 7 Canadian Anti-Tank Regiment in the fall of 1944. There is an officer mentioned (in conjunction with Archers, why else do I look at anything?), a Lt J A Parr. I think the first thing I noticed is that he seemed to be an extra troop commander, and I wondered if he could have been specially assigned to the regiment for this purpose. An expert of some sort? But then... I found he joined the regiment on 15 September 1944, right around the time when they got Archers, but I assume this is "Training increment"? Meaning he was a new officer with no experience? As a postscript, he exits the regiment in January 1945 to Non-Effective Transfer Depot, i.e. no longer fit for duty, though I don't know why. (I expect that to learn more, I would have to get his personal file, which would require being able to prove to LAC that he passed away 20 years ago or more.) Oddly(?) he is mentioned as one of a group of officers doing some recce for gun positions on 12 Jan, then no mention, then NETD. Maybe he just wasn't up to snuff!?
Your hunches may all be correct, but the Training/Special Increment process is very confusing. With the caveat that most of the examples I have seen precede commitment to operations (so pre-D-Day for my research), he could be the green Lt rotating in, or he could be the experienced Lt coming back as the green Lt. rotates out. The process has the appearance of an expanded WE with a lot of swapping in and out between normal regimental appointments. In my case, almost all the early reinforcement officers had passed through the Bn (or another in the Bde) in this fashion. So possible they are trying to get some subalterns who will be at the top of the reinforcement list some experience on a new system? You may have done this, but would need to look at the full range of Officer Returns for his first appearance. Record keeping is also a factor, I've seen the occasional sign of no differentiation between WE and Training Incr. So something like a Lt on the Training Incr and not officially on strength but who appears to be commanding a platoon. Similar with your man doing doing recce work? Finally NETD. I had the same understanding as you, but guys did come back from posting there. Temporarily unfit? A place to park guys if places weren't available in a Reinf Unit? And you can get his file, though it will be censored. I usually think in terms of that hiding genealogical info, but it would be interesting to see what they do with a negative evaluation.
