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General => Armed Forces => World War Two => Topic started by: cazb on Sunday 29 May 11 23:44 BST (UK)
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Hi I'm looking for further information about my grandad's regiment / wartime service and any info that people may have. He says that he served as an ambulance/lorry driver, formerly in the 131 Battalion. They became part of the Royal Army Service Corps. He has the Desert Rat emblem/badge at home.
Speaking with him today I finally got some further information from him - they stopped in Tripoli for 3 or 4 days which included a visit from Winston Churchill. He also mentioned billets at a Benghazi (?) airfield where a few of them were playing football, relaxing during a break, thinking nothing of the plane flying overhead. The plane circled a few times and slowly got lower. Eventually they realised something was about to happen, some dived for cover and shouted to my grandad who was sorting something out in his lorry to get away from the lorry. He ran for cover, landing on top of 2 of his fellow servicemen just as a bomb was released from the plane.
Apparently where they were to the bomb crater was "7 paces".
Not often we get him to talk about his war service so I'm putting this info down while its fresh in my mind.
My grandad is Roland (Roly) Powell.
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You might be interested in the Desert Rat Memorial Reunion Open Day - 19th June 2011, see the link below
http://www.desertrats.memorialassoc.btinternet.co.uk/
The memorial site is near Swaffham in Norfolk, in fact the Memorial marks the entrance of a Caravan Club Site so if you are a Caravanner you could stay there.
From the site is a marked path you can follow which Is the Desert Rat walk.
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/website/ourwoods.nsf/LUWebDocsByKey/EnglandEastAngliaNoForestThetfordForestParkHighAshDesertRatWalk
sorry but I know nothing else about the Desert Rats but I hope this is of interest to you
Pete
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Thanks for your reply Pete.
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RASC drivers drove the ambulances for the RAMC (see "Ice Cold In Alex")
I am presuming he means 131 Light Field Ambulance who were part of 7th Armoured Div who went through North Africa, up Italy and onto the beaches in Normandy, finally ending the war on a victory pde in Berlin
There was also a 131 brigade in 7th Amd Div
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Thanks for that information. I'm seeing Grandad again this weekend so will see if I can get any further information. He told me that they were driving ambulances and lorries.
I know he has the Desert Rat badge (red on black jerboa).
Will hopefully have more info after the weekend, and maybe even some names of others he served with.
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Please forgive me going slightly off the point.
But has the Badge of the RASC got a special name. please?
I notice that some or all Police Forces today, have a very similar badge. a sort of star with 12 compass points emanating from it and EIIR in the centre.
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The eight pointed star has a very long history, right back to the regency Shako of 1816!!
It started off as the star of the order of the Garter, Thistle or St Patrick. It evolved over the years into many variants,most notably the Home Service Helmet/Foreign Service Helmet plate of 1878
This most resembles the police helmet and can be mistaken by the uninitiated as thus, even the ubiquitous helmet plate looks almost the same. It was from these origins (based on a German design rather than the French like Shako) that we see in pictures up until 1913 as full dress.
It was used as ceremonial dress after WW1 and can still be seen worn by many Corps of Drums, and one or two of the few military bands that we are left with.
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Thank you scrimnet.
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My father Jack Lee, was also a RASC ambulance driver and also served in N africa, he was rescued from St Nazaire on the 17th June 1940 and was at D day too, was injured a couple of time finally loosing an eye toward the end of 1944 when a sgt, acting W/O attached to Highland Div. Records abound for those who died but the living is proving a problem, unit diaries a VERY expensive, I was quoted £1700 by the records office, and service records can take up to a year and contain very little information about units and movements.
What records do exist are confusing and in some cases totaly wrong.
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My father Jack Lee, was also a RASC ambulance driver and also served in N africa, he was rescued from St Nazaire on the 17th June 1940 and was at D day too, was injured a couple of time finally loosing an eye toward the end of 1944 when a sgt, acting W/O attached to Highland Div. Records abound for those who died but the living is proving a problem, unit diaries a VERY expensive, I was quoted £1700 by the records office, and service records can take up to a year and contain very little information about units and movements.
What records do exist are confusing and in some cases totaly wrong.
Do you know which port that your father returned to? I believe that my father was landed at Falmouth on return from St Nazaire. Do you know whether they were then sent home by train? at that date very few people would have home phones, so how did the troops and RAF guys get messages home? did they send post codes? My dad asked to use the phone in the Falmouth Post Office, he phoned up and said he was back in England and to arrange getting married as soon as possible, At that, a big cheer went up from all the other troops and customers in the Post Office.
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Just re-read Dads notes, he landed in Plymouth on 20th from St Nazaire. there were, "at least 300 on the small decks", they were ferried off on lighters to the docks, He wrote on a piece of "off white loo paper and stuffed it in a red cross envolop without a stamp, it was the finest letter my parents had ever recieved."
Movement wise he just says, "en-route for Borden Camp, Salisbury Plain, to rest, to sleep, perchance to dream, of nightmares!.
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Just re-read Dads notes, he landed in Plymouth on 20th from St Nazaire. there were, "at least 300 on the small decks", they were ferried off on lighters to the docks, He wrote on a piece of "off white loo paper and stuffed it in a red cross envolop without a stamp, it was the finest letter my parents had ever recieved."
Movement wise he just says, "en-route for Borden Camp, Salisbury Plain, to rest, to sleep, perchance to dream, of nightmares!.
AFTER my dad had returned home in June 1940, his father got a letter from the War Office saying "We regret to inform you that your son is missing" It went on to say that he may be a prisoner of war. It just illustrates the adminstrative chaos in May and June. There were so many men arriving at the ports, and being sent on overflowing overcrowded trains back to the towns and cities. It took time to get the paperwork up to date. Fortunately, my grandfather knew that his son was not missing.
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my dad was in North Africa and Italy as part of the eigth army he also drove trucks though not sure just exactly what part of the regiment he was in
His name was Archie Swarbrick he died in 1976 when i was 11 so never really got a chance to find out a lot i will post a couple of old photos i have one i believe was when they were at a training barracks the other is in North Africa i think my dad is the one at the back right hand side be interesting if anyone knows anyone else
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Please allow me to give this link to more RASC photos here on rootschat.
www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,434885.msg3753912.html
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Hi I'm looking for further information about my grandad's regiment / wartime service and any info that people may have. He says that he served as an ambulance/lorry driver, formerly in the 131 Battalion. They became part of the Royal Army Service Corps. He has the Desert Rat emblem/badge at home.
Speaking with him today I finally got some further information from him - they stopped in Tripoli for 3 or 4 days which included a visit from Winston Churchill. He also mentioned billets at a Benghazi (?) airfield where a few of them were playing football, relaxing during a break, thinking nothing of the plane flying overhead. The plane circled a few times and slowly got lower. Eventually they realised something was about to happen, some dived for cover and shouted to my grandad who was sorting something out in his lorry to get away from the lorry. He ran for cover, landing on top of 2 of his fellow servicemen just as a bomb was released from the plane.
Apparently where they were to the bomb crater was "7 paces".
Not often we get him to talk about his war service so I'm putting this info down while its fresh in my mind.
My grandad is Roland (Roly) Powell.
I know this is very unlikely, but I'm wondering whether your granddad worked with my husband's granddad who was called Albert Buckley? He too was a desert rat but we are finding it very difficult to find anything out about him. Have you/your granddad got any group photos or anything?
Thanks! :)
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My grandad was in the RASC in ww2 . He served in Egypt, sicily and Italy. Does this mean he was in the "desert rats"
Thanks
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I have a couple of ambulance drivers in WWI (not WwII)
Both of them were in the RAMC (Royal Army MEDICAL corps) not the RASC (Royal Army SERVICE Corps). They both had medical training gained when they were in the territorials 1911-1914.
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The Desert rats were these
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Desert-Rats-World-War-II
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7th_Armoured_Division_(United_Kingdom)
The 7th Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army that saw distinguished active service during the Second World War, where its exploits in the Western Desert Campaign gained it the Desert Rats nickname.
Not every unit that served in the Western Desert was known as the Desert Rats.
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There is a permanent display of vehicles including some examples of ww2 tanks, lorries and some with desert rat insignia at Duxford IWM, not to mention Monty's caravans.
https://www.iwm.org.uk/events/land-warfare
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The only thing I know about my Uncle Jack was that he served in Palestine and returned home to England 1944, when he presented his mother and two of his sisters with a string of glass beads that were fashionable in those days. He held out a handful of black stones dotted with bits of red & green and said he'd chosen them specially for my mother and would get them stringed. They were made into a necklace with gold links..
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I have a couple of ambulance drivers in WWI (not WwII)
Both of them were in the RAMC (Royal Army MEDICAL corps) not the RASC (Royal Army SERVICE Corps). They both had medical training gained when they were in the territorials 1911-1914.
The RASC drove the ambys, just liek the RLC , their successors do today. Medical Orderly's, or Combat Med Techs do thier med stuff.
I was with 4 GS Med Rgt for 2 years when the unit was operational in Iraq and Afghan.
Drivers drive, med staff do med stuff. Unless the RASC driver has been shot then they might drive...
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Unless the RASC driver has been shot then they might drive...
What, you mean instead of attending to his wounds? :)
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I have a couple of ambulance drivers in WWI (not WwII)
Both of them were in the RAMC (Royal Army MEDICAL corps) not the RASC (Royal Army SERVICE Corps). They both had medical training gained when they were in the territorials 1911-1914.
The RASC drove the ambys, just liek the RLC , their successors do today. Medical Orderly's, or Combat Med Techs do thier med stuff.
I was with 4 GS Med Rgt for 2 years when the unit was operational in Iraq and Afghan.
Drivers drive, med staff do med stuff. Unless the RASC driver has been shot then they might drive...
I hear what you say, but Iraq was 2003, very much later than 1939-1945.
Whatever the circumstances during the war, after the war he worked for an employer of over 1,000 personnel in the first aid station.
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I have a couple of ambulance drivers in WWI (not WwII)
Both of them were in the RAMC (Royal Army MEDICAL corps) not the RASC (Royal Army SERVICE Corps). They both had medical training gained when they were in the territorials 1911-1914.
The RASC drove the ambys, just liek the RLC , their successors do today. Medical Orderly's, or Combat Med Techs do thier med stuff.
I was with 4 GS Med Rgt for 2 years when the unit was operational in Iraq and Afghan.
Drivers drive, med staff do med stuff. Unless the RASC driver has been shot then they might drive...
I hear what you say, but Iraq was 2003, very much later than 1939-1945.
Whatever the circumstances during the war, after the war he worked for an employer of over 1,000 personnel in the first aid station.
I was pointing out that nothing had changed from the formation of the RAMC in 1898.
The ASC, RASC and RLC always provided the drivers for Ambys. Only in WW1 with things like the Friends Ambulance Service and individuals like Elsie and Mairi was it different.
I could get out all the WW2 regulations and photocopy them, but theres a reason why John Mills and Harry Andrews were badged RASC in Ice Cold In Alex.