Genealogy Chat

Hi all, have been using the site for a while and browsing the boards, and am now trying to go a bit further than the standard bmd and census records. I have a in my family papers what appear to be copies of two WWII 'telegrams' home from one of my relatives to his parents. One is a christmas postcard dated November 1944 and the other a letter dated July 1943. The christmas postcard has on it 'Military Airgraph Service Authorised by Egyptian Postal Administration' and nearby a six digit code - 669998. Unfortunately on the other the country in the same phrase is obscured by what also looks like a series of numbers, rendering both pieces on info illegible. On both cards is the same name and number information Stockton 5056656, B Squadron SOM R.T.R. On the christmas card there follows letters C.PI.F and on the July letter B.N.A.F

So I have two main questions - firstly, does anyone here know what any of the letters following B Squadron mean - I'm assuming it will clue me in to his regiment etc. He was born and lived in Staffordshire if that helps.

Secondly, how do I go about exploring military service and records more generally? If I have a service number are there other sources I can start sifting through, and if I don't have useful clues like this, but have men in the family who presumably weren't exempt at the time of either war, where and how do I start with just their names?

Very grateful for any help,
Kate x

British North Africa Forces (BNAF)
http://www.forcesreunited.org.uk/namearchive/units/ArmyNames/British-North-Africa-Forces-(BNAF).html



There is a thread with tips about military research; I shall bring it forward for you. Happy hunting.

Many thanks Joy, I see it now, so will go and take notes!

Kathryn

World war two service records are not online and not in the public domain, these records are still held by the MOD and are only available to the person themselves or NOK. upon application.If you are NOK you have to prove this



Here is the link to the veterans agency which explains who and how to apply.They can cost £30-00 and take upto 3months to obtain

http://www.veterans-uk.info/service_records/army.html
George

A bit more searching and deciphering, and I've found that it's not SOM R.T.R but 50th R.T.R - so he was in B Squadron, 50th battalion, Royal Tank Regiment. Already something more to go on - I now know the July 1943 letter is just after the invasion of Sicily (my grand-uncle talks about 'looking over the plain to the slopes of Mt Etna'), and that the battalion was one of those at El Alamein. Still struggling with some of the other letters though - definitely don't think it's C.PI.F, but probably C.M.F.

Will keep searching x

D-Day for Sicilly was 10/7/1943. It took 39 days to complete the occupation of Sicilly.

The primary landing on the Italian mainland was at the Gulf of Salerno 9/9/1943 just S of Naples with secondary landings at the toe and heel of Italy. Italy surrendered on the eve of the invasion, but the Germans just disarmed the Italians troops and carried on anyways. The Canadians captured Ortona on the E coast Xmas 1943 after some very bloody fighting (every Dec, there's a documentary on the TV here). On the W coast, we were still S of Monte Cassino, abt 100km N of Naples. To get round the roadblock at Monte Cassino, landings at Anzio were done 22/1/1944. Anzio was 100km behind Monte Cassino, and just 50km S of Rome. The landing itself was successful, but the Germans managed to seal the beachhead off and site artilery on all the surrounding hills. Stalemate resulted, and only after several attempts was Monte Cassino captured by the Poles 18/5/1944, and a week later a Polish-Canadian arrack in the Liri valley broke the German defensive line. Simulaneously, troops in the Anzio bridgehead broke out, but instead of trapping the retreating German army, US Gen Clark drove into Rome, figuring there was more glory in being the first to enter an Axis capital than in trapping 7 German divisions. He entered Rome 4/6/1944, and the German 10th army escaped. Since the Normandy landings commenced 36 hrs later, he didn't really get the glory either - it was a sort of "Rome also fell today" moment.

The Germans retreated slowly northward, and by Xmas 1944, the front had stabilized. I'm not too sure where: my guess is just N of the Arno near Pisa, N of Florence, S of Bologna, and N of Ravenna in the W, The front stayed pretty stable until the final breakout a couple of wks before the end of WW2, when we overran the rest of N Italy.


Just a guess - Central Mediterranean Forces.

George - thanks, I'll definitely check out the link but I probably won't qualify as NOK if there are descendants of his own. I'll need to follow that up too.

mgnv - that's brilliant thanks! I know next to nothing about my family beyond my parents, both of whom died when I was young, and there are no grandparents left and only one aunt and one uncle. So mostly I have to make do with what I can find online, and with researching around the key events to get a sense of what went on - I can't always know my ancestors exact stories but I can at least do them the honour of trying to find out what they and their contemporaries went through.

Still trying to decipher some of the handwriting on the Sicily letter - there's some wonderful part phrases 'have sampled the fruits of the island lemons, oranges, almonds, grapes' and I'd love to be able to read the whole thing. From what I can tell it very much feels as if he's trying to reassure his parents, to tell them some interesting things (I mean, when did grapes and oranges become common in England - he was a food pioneer!) but also to maintain the feelings of homely-ness. But I could easily be over interpreting, as is often the way.

Many thanks all :)
Kate x