Royal Army Service Corps - Normandy Landings

[toekneebee]

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.

[scrimnet]

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!

[toekneebee]

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.

[macintosh]

Hi,
SOS BNAF = Sent over seas -British North Africa Forces

James

[macintosh]

5 AB Coy  could possibly mean  Airborne

James

[macintosh]

Forgot to say on my first post, sos bnaf wef. the wef means with effect from.

Just another senior moment!
James

[toekneebee]

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?

[macintosh]

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

[toekneebee]

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?