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General => Armed Forces => World War Two => Topic started by: denise67 on Wednesday 18 April 12 19:49 BST (UK)
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My grandfather John Henry Bridges Army No 410762. Was in Palenstine, North Africa, Possible Italy, Then possibly Holland Or Poland, Germany. I'm unsure as we can't read his book properly. He was awarded the Military star, Africa star either 8 or 9 clasp, 1939/45 star, defence medal, war medal 1939/45, Palenstine medal could anybody please help with what they were awarded for and what the 8 or 9 clasp stands for. But the special medal which he was awarded was the Distinguished Conduct Medal and was mentioned in Despatches. We also know he was blown up captured and repaired by the Germans he had a metal plate on the left hand side of his head but his body was left with bits of shrapnel within him, when the Germans repaired his face they modelled him on a photo which was in his pocket. This photo was of his brother not him we don't know if this was in north africa, italy or germany any ideas how to find out medical history. Were unsure where he was a Pow but we do know he escaped. I'm trying to find out where he was held. I do know at some point he was Montgomery's Batman were unsure what a batman is. If anyone could help it would be great many thanks Denise67.
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On your PoW question, the central place to look is the National Archives. Their advice is here:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/britishpowsecondworldwar.htm
His DCM should be reported in the London Gazette, searchable online
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Thanks very much for the link but I can't seem to find anything on there.
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Hmmm....
I've followed the search links there and cannot locate this gentleman on the PoW database on Ancestry nor in the Documents Online series.
Looks like the next bit of advice on the TNA website is the next step:
What records can I find at The National Archives at Kew?
Liberated prisoner of war interrogation questionnaires (1945-1946)
Browse the Catalogue for liberation questionnaires of prisoners of war in WO 344 for a person who was held captive by German or Japanese forces at the end of the Second World War. These records are arranged by nation (Germany or Japan) and then alphabetically.
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http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceFor/Veterans/Medals/WorldWarIiMedalSummary.htm
This should answer questions about medals...His Record will still be with MOD you can apply for a copy they cost £30
The DCM was for a really brave deed and should have a citation in the London Gazette.
A "Batman" was assigned to an officer and basically looked after all his administration and kit!
Ady
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The clasp with the Africa Star would be either 1 or 8. It was to denote whether the soldier was with the 1st or 8th Army when he was in that theatre.
A Batman is someone who does the less important tasks an officer would have to do so that he is free to do the more important aspects. Think of it as a company director's PA and you'd be somewhere near. It's not as pompous as it sounds though as they did have real military worth e.g. an officer in action would get his batman to dig his slit trench for him (absolutely vital!) whilst he is off processing important documents or receiving the next day's orders, that sort of thing.
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Also need to add that the service number you have given appears to be that for an officer, but the DCM was only issued to ORs (Other Ranks).
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Here are the initail number blocks for WW2 ( and previous)
Royal Army Service Corps 1 - 294000 and 10660001 - 11000000
The Life Guards 294001 - 304000
294001 to 299000 1st Life Guards
299001 to 304000 2nd Life Guards
Royal Horse Guards 304001 - 309000
Cavalry of the Line 309001 - 721000 (Inclusive 558471 to 558761 allocated to the Royal Armoured Corps extraordinary to the block of numbers later allocated)
309001 to 386000 Lancers
386001 to 528000 Dragoons [font=Verdana]Looks like he satrted off as a Donkey Walloper...ie cavalry...mechanised[/font]
528001 to 721000 Hussars
Royal Artillery (Field, Coastal & Anti-Aircraft) 721001 - 1842000 and 11000001 - 11500000
Royal Engineers 1842001 - 2303000
Royal Corps of Signals 2303001 - 2604000
Grenadier Guards 2604001 - 2646000
Coldstream Guards 2646001 - 2688000
Scots Guards 2688001 - 2714000
Irish Guards 2714001 - 2730000
Welsh Guards 2730001 - 2744000
Black Watch (The Royal Highland Regiment) 2744001 - 2809000
Seaforth Highlanders 2809001 - 2865000
Gordon Highlanders 2865001 - 2921000
Cameron Highlanders 2921001 - 2966000
Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders 2966001 - 3044000
Royal Scots 3044001 - 3122000
Royal Scots Fusiliers 3122001 - 3178000
The King's Own Scottish Borderers 3178001 - 3233000
Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) 3233001 - 3299000
Highland Light Infantry 3299001 - 3377000
East Lancashire Regiment 3377001 - 3433000
Lancashire Fusiliers 3433001 - 3511000
Manchester Regiment 3511001 - 3589000
Border Regiment 3589001 - 3644000
The Prince of Wales' Volunteers 3644001 - 3701000
The King's Own Royal Regiment 3701001 - 3757000
The King's Regiment 3757001 - 3846000
The Loyal Regiment 3846001 - 3902000
South Wales Borderers 3902001 - 3947000
Welch Regiment 3947001 - 4025000
The King's Shropshire Light Infantry 4025001 - 4070000
Monmouthshire Regiment 4070001 - 4103000
Herefordshire Regiment 4103001 - 4114000
Cheshire Regiment 4114001 - 4178000
Royal Welch Fusiliers 4178001 - 4256000
Royal Northumberland Fusiliers 4256001 - 4334000
East Yorkshire Regiment 4334001 - 4379000
The Green Howards 4379001 - 4435000
Durham Light Infantry 4435001 - 4523000
West Yorkshire Regiment 4523001 - 4601000
The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (The West Riding) 4601001 - 4680000
The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry 4680001 - 4736000
York & Lancaster Regiment 4736001 - 4792000
Lincolnshire Regiment 4792001 - 4848000
Leicestershire Regiment 4848001 - 4904000
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South Staffordshire Regiment 4904001 - 4960000
Sherwood Foresters 4960001 - 5038000
North Staffordshire Regiment 5038001 - 5094000
Royal Warwickshire Regiment 5094001 - 5172000
Gloucestershire Regiment 5172001 - 5239000
Worcestershire Regiment 5239001 - 5328000
Royal Berkshire Regiment 5328001 - 5373000
Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry 5373001 - 5429000
The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry 5429001 - 5485000
Hampshire Regiment 5485001 - 5562000
Wiltshire Regiment 5562001 - 5608000
Devonshire Regiment 5608001 - 5662000
Somerset Light Infantry 5662001 - 5718000
Dorsetshire Regiment 5718001 - 5763000
Royal Norfolk Regiment 5763001 - 5819000
Suffolk Regiment 5819001 - 5875000
Northhamptonshire Regiment 5875001 - 5931000
Cambridgeshire Regiment 5931001 - 5942000
Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire Regiment 5942001 - 5998000
Essex Regiment 5998001 - 6076000
The Queen's Royal Regiment 6076001 - 6132000
East Surrey Regiment 6132001 - 6188000
Middlesex Regiment 6188001 - 6278000
The Buffs (East Kent Regiment) 6278001 - 6334000
Royal West Kent Regiment 6334001 - 6390000
Royal Sussex Regiment 6390001 - 6446000
Royal Fusiliers 6446001 - 6515000
The Inns of Court Regiment 6802501 - 6814000
Honourable Artillery Company (Infantry) 6825001 - 6837000
The King's Royal Rifle Corps 6837001 - 6905000
The Rifle Brigade 6905001 - 6972000
Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers 6972001 - 7006000
Royal Ulster Rifles 7006001 - 7040000
Royal Irish Fusiliers 7040001 - 7075000
Royal Dublin Fusiliers 7075001 - 7109000 (Disbanded 1922)
Royal Irish Regiment 7109001 - 7143000
Connaught Rangers 7143001 - 7177000 (Disbanded 1922)
Leinster Regiment 7177001 - 7211000 (Disbanded 1922)
Royal Munster Fusiliers 7211001 - 7245000 (Disbanded 1922)
Royal Army Medical Corps 7245001 - 7536000
(Royal) Army Dental Corps 7536001 - 7539000 and 10510001 - 10530000
Royal Guernsey Militia and Royal Alderney Artillery Militia 7539001 - 7560000 (Discontinued in 1929)
Royal Militia of the Island of Jersey 7560001 - 7574000 (Discontinued in 1929)
Royal Army Ordnance Corps 7574001 - 7657000 and 10530001 - 10600000.
(Royal) Army Pay Corps 7657001 - 7681000 and 10400001 - 10500000.
(Locally enlisted staff Middle East 10500001 - 10508000)
(Royal) Military Police 7681001 - 7717000
Military Provost Staff Corps 7717001 - 7718800
Small Arms School Corps 7718801 - 7720400
(Royal) Army Education Corps 7720401 - 7732400
Band of the Royal Military College 7732401 - 7733000
Corps of Military Accountants 7733001 - 7757000 (Disbanded 1925)
Royal Army Veterinary Corps 7757001 - 7807000
Machine Gun Corps 7807001 - 7868000 (Disbanded 1922)
Royal Tank Regiment 7868001 - 7891868
Royal Armoured Corps 7891869 - 8230000 also 558471 - 558761
Militia 10000000 - 10350000 (Army Numbers were allocated in accordance with Regulations for the Militia [Other than the Supplementary Reserve], 1939, paras. 11-13)
Intelligence Corps 10350001 - 10400000
Reconnaissance Corps 10600001 - 10630000
Army Catering Corps (Royal Corps of Food Poisoners) 10630001 - 10655000
Army Physical Training (Staff) Corps 10655001 - 10660000
(Royal) Pioneer Corps 13000001 - 14000000
The Lowland Regiment 14000001 - 14002500
The Highland Regiment 14002501 - 14005000
General Service Corps 14200001 - 15000000
Indian local enlistments 15000001 - 15005000
Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers 16000001 - 16100000
Non-Combatant Corps 97000001 - 97100000
Auxiliary Territorial Service W/1 - W/500,000
Voluntary Aid Detachments W/500001 - W/1000000
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Denise,
defore you start looking anywhere else you should take Ady's advice. Service Record and medals allocated are an essential starting point.
No point going to Kew if he was never registered as a POW; which he doesn't seem to have been.The WO 344 Series is very incomplete, especially with reports from Military POW.
He is not listed as ever being a prisoner of the Italians nor is he on my POW lists compiled in 1944. Ancestry lists are those compiled in 1945.
There are many possibilities from the information you are giving. He could have been repatriated due to the severity of his injuries or he could have been left in Hospital when the Germans retreated.
All pure speculation, but I really would follw Ady's advice.
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Does it say GSM "Palestine" clasp? If its a post war award then he would have served there between 1945-48
Ady
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Thanks everyone for taking the time to post help, I have up loaded some photo's of my grandad on photo's resoration post of my grandad and nan on their wedding day, his wearing a dress uniform, if anyone can spare 5 minutes to take a look at photo's although there not that great maybe you can tell what regiment you think it's for.
Thanks Denise 67
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Hi Andy all I can read is Palenstine Medal then there's stamp saying defence records. But we think he may have been in Palenstine before Egypt.
Thanks for the posts before with info and help .
Denise 67
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Also need to add that the service number you have given appears to be that for an officer, but the DCM was only issued to ORs (Other Ranks).
Hi thanks for post his number in his service book is 410762 in his pay book it says 25 may private to A/H/LCPL then in 1945 A/P/LCPL to A/P/COL.
Then in his service book when he was transferred into the R O A C reserves in 1946 after he was injured his rank was Sargeant then in 1949 it says Warrant Officer .
But it does says he recieved the DCM and mentioned in despatches.
Thanks Denise67
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Any idea where you have to look to see if my grandad was repatriated due to his injuries and where he would have been sent .
Denise67
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It will all be in his Service record with MOD
What year was his wedding he is wearing a DCM ribbon in them
Ady
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It will all be in his Service record with MOD
What year was his wedding he is wearing a DCM ribbon in them
Ady
I think they got married 1945 it was after he was injured any idea about what the regiment uniform his wearing.
Thanks Andy
Denise67
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Should the title be RASC and not ROAC?
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ScouseBoy
Ive been looking for links to the number what ive found online seem to show it looks like an early 1939/40 number from RASC but he MAY have gone to the RAOC ....They were all pretty much doing same Logistical job.
Cant find his DCM listing or MiD in London Gazette either but he has a DCM ribbon on his wedding phot in 45.
Ady
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Hi both his pay book & service book both say ROAC but it does say colours are they the same thing until we recieve his service history from MOD we won't know for sure. Do the buttons on his photo match the ROAC uniform. My mum does have some different photo's not dress uniform i'll have a look to see if they match. When he enlisted he was in Cavalry of the line if that makes a difference.
Thanks for reply's.
Denise 67
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RAOC is more likely than ROAC, as it is Royal Army Ordnance Corps. I do not know of any ROAC.
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ROAC as in book
Denise67