WWII Navy Service Record Assistance

Hi,

I've attached an extract from a WWII Royal Navy service record I've recently received.

I'm hoping to get some assistance on what the following means:
"Duty Changi Mess"
"Lent Captain G.5.1"
"Duty G.G.1"

HMS Sultan, CPOTel. 01 Apr 1941 -- 20 Jan 1942
Duty: Changi Mess [sic], CPO Tel. 21 Jan 1942 -- 31 Jan 1942
HMS Sultan, 01 Feb 1942 -- 10 Feb 1942
HMS Eaglet (C in C Western Approaches), CPO Tel. 11 Feb 1942 -- 29 Nov 1943
Lent Captain G.5.1, CPO Tel, 23 Dec 1942 -- 31 Mar 1944
HMS Odyssey, CPO Tell., 01 Apr 1944 -- 06 May 1944
HMS Attack (Nith), 07 May 1944 -- 27 Jun 1944
HMS Squid, 28 Jun 1944 -- 30 Jun 1944
Duty G .G.1 [sic] 01 Jul 1944 -- 30 Jul 1944
** a few more bases/passage **
HMS Caroline (Ships Building, Glory), CPO Tel. 30 Aug 1944 -- 15 Sep 1944
HMS Drake for 1 month, HMS Eaglet from 05 Oct '44 to 18 Jan '46

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

Hi,

Welcome to the forum.

Experience on the forum tells me that it’s often easier for members to help re service record queries if they have sight of the original records as it’s not been unknown for a member posting a transcript to have made an error.

Forum member Hugh MacLean will be best placed to help in naval record interpretation.

Steve

 

Welcome William,
We would always prefer to see the orig document, it really helps.

HMS Nith – Battle of Normandy - D-Day Overlord

Regards
Hugh

 

Thanks for the comments. I do not have the original record unfortunately. The parts in question are transcribed exactly as I received them.
Kind regards

 

For starters:
His rating was CPO Tel = Chief Petty Officer Telegraphist.
HMS Sultan - Naval Base, Singapore
Changi Mess may be Changi Message Centre.
HMS Eaglet - Naval shore establishment, Liverpool
Captain G.5.1 looks like a Task Force number.
HMS Odyssey - Shore establishment, Ilfracombe for records of personnel on Combined Operations. Highly unlikely he was actually serving there. It's where his records were being kept.
HMS Attack (Nith) - Shore establishment for coastal forces at Portland, again where his records were held. The (Nith) means he was actually serving in HMS Nith, a River Class frigate and at this time involved in D-Day.
HMS Squid - Landing craft
Duty G.G.1 - ?
HMS Caroline - C Class Light cruiser and various shore establishments in Belfast. Used as administration HQ. Actually serving HMS Glory - an aircraft carrier being built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast.
HMS Drake - Naval barracks, Devonport.

A lucky man. He escaped from Singapore just before it fell to the Japanese 15 Feb 42 and then survived an attack on HMS Nith (23/24 Jun 44) which killed ten and wounded 26. Nith was disabled and towed to the Isle of Wight for repairs.

Tim

 

The conflict in transcriptions is a frequent problem on forums - leads to lots of wasted effort.

Captain John Wentworth Farquhar HMS NITH had onboard the staff of Assualt Group G.1 (Task Force G)
There were other Assualt Groups too.
So I am not sure if I am reading G.5 or G.1 or both??

Task Force G – D-Day – Operation Neptune - D-Day Overlord

Regards.
Hugh

 

Thanks for the description, but I have already worked out what each line means minus below. One correction though, I believe HMS Squid is a landing craft repair base.

The three lines that I do not understand the meaning of are exactly as below:
"Duty: Changi Mess [sic], CPO Tel, 21 Jan 1942 -- 31 Jan 1942"
"Lent: Captain G.5.1 [sic], CPO Tel, 23 Dec 1943 - 31 Mar 1944"
"Duty: G.G.1 [sic], CPO Tel, 01 Jul 1944 -- 30 Jul 1944"

 

Here I was able to get a photograph, hopefully it helps:
imgur.com

Thanks for the explanation on Changi Mess. Is there any way to find out more about G51 task force number? Or G.G.1.?
I'm only getting reference to US WWII material when googling task force 51.

 

Quite correct. My error - looking at the wrong Squid.

Tim

 

No worries, I initially made the same mistake!

I presume there is no way of knowing what ships (if any) the man served on during 1941-1942 in Singapore before the fall? This service record was given to me by the MOD. It seems to me that the P&V ledger does not give any more information than the Naval/accounting bases... (Besides Nith).

 

The P & V ledgers are your only fall back I am afraid. If you are not happy that the records have been properly checked then there is always the option of making a specific Freedom of Information request.
P & V ledgers exist for the period 1939 - 1951.

Regards
Hugh

 

Sadly, I thought that would be the case. I don't think there will be any more info so it seems this is all I'm left with.

No idea's re. G.G.1 or G.5.1?

 

My guess would be that he was serving ashore probably in the Main Signal Office, HMS Sultan. As a CPO Tel he would not normally serve in a small ship and service in a larger ship would be noted in the records. A CPO Tel would hold a responsible position, which may explain why he was able to leave Singapore before the surrender.

Tim

 

I think Hugh at #6 has solved G.G.1 as Assault Group G1. He was probably with this Group since April 1944, the reference to Nith being when they were on board with Nith being responsible for victualling them. The references to Squid and Duty G.G.1 would tie in with when Nith was damaged and taken to the Isle of Wight. Group G1 would have been disembarked and been transferred elsewhere. There are experts on this site who know a lot about the Normandy landings and would know the role of Assault Group G1.
See: HMS Nith – Battle of Normandy - D-Day Overlord
and from World War II unit histories & officers
Captain John Wentworth Farquhar
(03?).1944 - 11.06.1944 Senior Officer Assault Group (SOAG) G1 [Force "G"] [HMS Odyssey (addtional)] [aboard HMS Nith] (Normandy);
soon after the initial landings appointed as:
Captain Southbound Sailings
[seriously injured while proceeding inshore in MGB 17 11.06.1944]

Tim

 

Apologies, I somehow misread Hugh's comment which connected G.G.1 with Assault Group G1. Now I understand and agree that it does makes sense with the timeline. G.51 is still a mystery though.

MGB 17 incident: Captain Farquhar was injured, along with a signal officer who was on the staff of Captain Farquhar (a Lieutenant also assigned to HMS Nith). They were carrying a full load of whiskey and gin from HMS Nith to land at Arromanches, rammed over a mine and the MGB sunk with it's cargo. They were evacuated to the UK as casualties. I discovered this thanks to a letter passed down to the relatives of the signal officer.

 

Looking at this again I think I would go back to Navy Records and ask them to check the transcription. If 'Lent Captain G.5.1' read 'Lent Captain G.G.1' it would make more sense. I am also confused by the dates. As transcribed they make no sense. I suspect that 23 Dec 42 should read 23 Dec 43 and that there is an entry missing for 30 Nov - 22 Dec 43.

Tim

 

That's a really good point that would make sense and clear things up if Lent Captain G.5.1 read Lent Captain G.G.1. I.e. he was lent to Captain Farquhar 23 Dec 43 - 31 Mar 44. I think there is an email address on the letter that contained the record so I will reach out.

With regards to the dates, I'm not sure what you mean as they seem consistent to me. There is no missing entry as HMS Drake is 30 Nov 43 - 22 Dec 43.

 

I was working off your #1 which does not have this entry. I have looked at your photo in #8 and understand it now. Also the confusion over Dec 42 being Dec 43 is also resolved as you made a typo in #1. All looking good now.

Tim

 

Gotcha. Well I suppose you guys were right in stating the importance of uploading a photograph.
G.G.1/G.5.1 is the only mystery now. I will email the organization that helped me with the service record to hopefully get an answer.

Cheers guys.