Harry Wood - WW2

[MaxD]

Some duplication of other sheets.

In France with 3 Stevedore Battalion 3 Jan 40

Next entries are calculations of previous service for pension and confirmation in the rank of acting Corporal having held the unpaid rank for 21 days.
Followed by confirmation in March 40 in the rank of Corporal having held acting rank for 3 months.

Dates a bit out of sequence.  March 40 returns (to France) from compassionate leave (was there a death in the family?)

Returns home to UK on 31 May 40 (evacuation of the BEF – more research needed, (not necessarily Dunkirk)

1 Jun 40 to the Stevedore Centre (UK somewhere – more work here)

Sep 40 to No 4 Bomb Disposal Section – (more work)

May 41 now in 12 Bomb Disposal Company (may be part of above – more work) Disobeys an order and is Severely Reprimanded (a punishment for an NCO)

Jun 41 discharged

(Need to chase down some UK locations)

MaxD

[originQuest]

Thank you again Max. Harry's wife died in on May 17th 1940 ... so perhaps that is why he was in the UK in March? I know he was 'away' in the army for both his wife's death and funeral.

I also knew he was a corporal but great to see it confirmed.

The bomb disposal work is interesting ...

[originQuest]

The back of the photo says:

Harry Wood
Stockton Street
MBRO

Whether this is the location of the picture or an address, I don't know.  He lived with his daughter in Severs Street, Middlesbrough after leaving the army, before taking rooms in Marton Road (perhaps he had a stint in Stockton Street in the middle?!)

[MaxD]

Clearly him standing on the right, corporal's stripes and WW1 medal ribbons.  I'd plump for this being in Stockton Street, just the sort of thing one would write on a photo "me doing my bit in Stockton St).

Sadly that he wasn't able to get home when she died.  17 May the attacks against the BEF were really ramping up and he would not have been released for leave sadly.

The war diary situation is a bit different for WW2.  They are not digitised and have to be copied at a cost. There is a diary for 3 Stevedore Battalion in France covering the period of interest which would hopefully tell the tale of the evacuation and there are some Bomb Disposal Section and Company Company diaries for the UK period. It is a nuisance, but by no means unusual that his record isn't clear about his exact dates of movements after arrival back in UK from 4 BD Sec to 12 BD Coy (they are separate outfits)

You might like to discuss those separately?

MaxD

[originQuest]

Hi Max,

Re thr picture. I had noticed the Corporal stripes but not the WW1 ribbons so thank you for pointing that out.  A very old relative confirmed the chap standing is Harry.  As a girl she used to holiday with him and Jane in the 1930s.

I wondered if the photo might be after Harry left the army in 1941, in a Home Guard role perhaps?  No idea if he was in the Home Guard though. Or if he would be allowed to wear a uniform after being demobbed.

I'd be interested to see who or what he disobeyed and if this led to his medical/dismissal.

Interesting to see that the BEF evacuation might not be part of the Dunkirk evacuation.

Some new terminology for me such as NCO.

I was also told that Harry served in the artillery with the big guns but that doesn't seem to be the case (for either war)?

Curiously would a soldier be responsible for payment of his travel when on leave? And what would a soldier's wage be? Interesting to get a context when you see days' pay being deducted for punishment etc.

Would be good to find the stevedore centre and I'd love to look into the different outfits.

Thank you again Max.

[originQuest]

Re the incomplete dates /movements after June 1940 ... I suppose the administration became secondary at such a fraught time?

[MaxD]

Easy ones first:

No evidence on his record of Home Guard and the men are removing an unexploded bomb so almost definitely when he was with Bomb Disposal.
The record says only that he disobeyed orders (plural) from his OC (Officer Commanding) and senior NCO (Non Commissioned Officer).  Nothing to do with his discharge which was on medical grounds (not fit) and a month later.
On the day he left France in 1940, 45 plus thousand men were evacuated from the harbours and 22 plus thousand from the beaches.  As a dock worker I would be surprised if he was on the beach.  The war diary should tell us.
No evidence that he served with the Royal Artillery in either war, his records for both (give or take a missing date) are clear as to what he did in each.  On his attestation form for WW1 he himself says previous service in RE and the WW2 record is clear.
Pay - later
The Stevedore Centre was at Folkestone, exact location to be found.
Probably need diaries for the other units.
What we see as his record is using paperwork coming in from other sources and being recorded centrally.  That often explains the dates out of sequence and the missing dates.  His record is similar to many and at the time things did go astray.

MaxD

[originQuest]

Thank you for clarifying the artillery link. Most the info I had orally has been confirmed so the artillery got mixed up somewhere.

Actually I should say that Harry's real date of birth was 28th March 1889 so he was actually 50, nearly 51 when he enlisted in November 1939.

I also didn't realise the Home Guard was documented at all.  That's interesting.

As the diaries are in the National Archives it might mean a trip there.

[MaxD]

Soldiers received two free travel warrants a year.  Pay rates varied with rank, length of service, trade classification and level of trade skill.  Harry's would have varied between about 5 shillings a day at the lowest to 7 shillings at the highest.  Home Guard records are with the Ministry of Defence and, as you have done with the records you have, have to be applied and paid for.  https://www.gov.uk/guidance/request-home-guard-service-records

I'll be in touch about war diaries separately.

MaxD