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General => Armed Forces => World War Two => Topic started by: toekneebee on Friday 23 July 10 14:33 BST (UK)
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Can anyone help me please?
Is there any way I can discover which beach my father landed on on D-Day? I have his Army Service Record and there are no clues on there unfortunately. I have emailed the RASC, now Royal Logistics Corps, Museum but they have not responded.
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The Deepcut museum now encapsulates all manner of previous corps...And of course the curator, Andy Robertshaw is often on other media (just the other day I heard him on Questions Questions on R4!!). Ergo they may be somewhat pushed...
What int have you got on him? Any unit name or attachment or anything?
I'm sure we can have a bit of a stab on here!
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Hi Scrimnent, thanks for your offer of assistance. My Dad's Army Service Record is very comprehensive but it all appears to be in Army Shorthand!! We know D Day was the 6 June 1944 and if I search his record for notations in 1944 I find:-
Emb UK SOS BNAF wef 27 Jan 1944
Disembarked UK Worthing 9 Feb 1944
Embarked UK, I think the date is 9 Jun 1944,,,,maybe he wasn't in the first wave? ( An order no 2E21/9430/44)
Adm 84 (BR) Gen Hosp on 31 Dec 1944
His Unit is shown as 5AB Coy.
Dad saw action in France, he was evacuated from Dunkirk, Africa Germany and Italy. Again all the records are in hieroglyphics and is the reason I thought the staff at the Museum may have been able to help.
Any help would be gratefully appreciated.
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Hi,
SOS BNAF = Sent over seas -British North Africa Forces
James
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5 AB Coy could possibly mean Airborne
James
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Forgot to say on my first post, sos bnaf wef. the wef means with effect from.
Just another senior moment!
James
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Thanks James......Still do not know what happened on 6 Jun, Dad's Service Record records a date of 9 Jun, this seems to fit with D-Day, I have recollections of Dad saying he was on the beaches on D-Day but his record seems to indicate he wasn't there until 9 Jun ??? I don't know how accurate these records were with regards to dates etc?
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Oh I think the records will be pretty accurate, from my experience even the tiniest infringement against "good order and military discipline" was recorded and every course and training event also, Orderly room or Battalion clerks were sometimes the equivalent of the moderm "jobsworth". Bless 'em.
Maybe your dads' recollections were a bit hazy, but even on D Day plus three that area of Normandy was a vipers nest and that doesn't alter the fact of the debt we owe to your dad and his comrades during those dark days.
We will remember them
James
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Funny you should mention infringements.......Dad was fined 10 shillings (50p) on 4 Sep 1944 for damaging his truck
(no.5560129) in convoy......it could only happen in the Army, he served a total of 6 years and 121 days came through without a scratch, having served in France (evacuated from Dunkirk), Africa, Italy and Germany and they stop ten bob from his pay! he always said it wasn't his fault either! LOL
There is a certain irony here as Dad was born in Connecticut in the USA and could have joined their armed forces but chose British!
I would like to find which beach he landed on though as part of my family history research.
Does anyone know if the RASC Museum retain any of the War Diaries or are they likely to be in the NA?
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In my day SOS meant struck off strength?
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In my day SOS meant struck off strength?
Indeed...
I was going to say that... ;D
It did then, and still does now...
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He was in North Africa, he left there (embarked probably 27th Jan, although this was the day he was signed off from the BNAF) and returned to UK.
He returned on 9th Feb - arriving Worthing.
It should say TOS and then a name or initials - this shows which command he was posted to on arrival.
For his embarkation on 9th June - in theory it would be possible to find ships departing that day....but...there will be hundreds!
His unit - 5AB - he was in the RASC so he was transporting something - this is probably an abbreviation for No.5 Company, Ammunition ....(cant think what the B is for )
He was admitted to No.84 British general Hospital.....now, i recall someone posting a list of these a couple of months back? That would give you a location.
Cheers
Pete
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Pete
Thanks for this. When I look further into his Army Service record there is a sheet 'Military History Sheet' which gives more info,
Looking specifically for 1944 around D-Day I see:-
N Africa 28.8.43 to 8.2.44 165 days
Home 9.2.44 to 3.6.44 115 days
N.W.E. 4.6.44 to 5.1.45 216 days.
This then appears to indicate that he was indeed in Normandy on D-Day as it conflicts with the info on earlier postings giving his embarkation date as 9 Jun i.e. D-Day plus 3
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I know it's a year since you posted, but have you seen the website:
www.ddaycasualties.com.
They have a lot of information and I found my father (who was in the 172nd Divisional Company RASC) attached to the 3rd Division who landed on Sword beach. There were 4 companies of RASC who were in the 3rd Division - the 23rd, 47th, 48th and 172nd.
Had a quick look at all the over Divisions, but couldn't find anything about the '3 AB'.
Good luck with your search.
Val
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Val
Thanks for this, I will check this website out. I am still struggling with this part of my research.
Tony
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I know it's a year since you posted, but have you seen the website:
www.ddaycasualties.com.
They have a lot of information and I found my father (who was in the 172nd Divisional Company RASC) attached to the 3rd Division who landed on Sword beach. There were 4 companies of RASC who were in the 3rd Division - the 23rd, 47th, 48th and 172nd.
Had a quick look at all the over Divisions, but couldn't find anything about the '3 AB'.
Good luck with your search.
Val
Val,
My grandfather was in 172 Company RASC, here his account from D-Day he gave to a local newspaper... http://www.bucksherald.co.uk/news/local-news/convoy-leaves-unaware-of-final-destination-1-604111
Best regards,
Paul
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Hi Paul
Thanks for the link. Really interesting. I suppose my Dad and your grandfather must have been in the same unit - they probably even knew one another. My Dad was hit by shrapnel (which killed the guy next to him, so he was very lucky) on the 17 June and was sent back to England.
When I went to Kew I looked at the War Diaries for the 172nd. I have got the field returns for May, June, July Aug & Sept 1944 and the war diaries from Jan to Sept 1944. If you would like to see them then contact me off-line.
Regards
Val
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Hi Val,
Thanks for the offer to see the field returns and war diares for the 172nd. I would love to see them, I'm not sure how to contact you off-line... could you PM me and we can take it from there?
Thanks,
Paul
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I was in the same position with my Dad's army records. He too was in the RASC and his records said that he landed in Normandy on the 7th July, well after the main invasion. He was with 94 Bulk Petrol Transport Company RASC and I don't think that you would want to be landing their bowsers in the middle of a fire-fight.
To find out more, I got hold of the war diaries for his unit and they revealed an awful lot of detail, some of it rather mundane and repetitive but otherwise there was some really interesting stuff. Not being able to get to the National Archives I hired a researcher (recommended by someone else on this forum) who photographed the sections of the diaries I wanted and sent them as jpegs. I was dreading the cost but was pleasantly surprised and am really glad I did it. If you like I can pass his details on to you via a PM.
Jack