Help with Maintenance Units and abbreviations on a service record please

[sarahkitchen]

Anything you can decipher from these I would be forever grateful. Thanks, Sarah

[DavidJP]

Hi Sarah,

Page 1.

T Depot  Sq (Squadron?)
3 F T S (Flying Training School)
Admitted Hosp Cranwell (Date July 1935?)
3 F T S to No3 S of TT (M) (a) (School of Technical Training) (Date May? 1936)
No3 S of TT (M) (a) to 3 F T S
Admitted Hospital Cranwell (Date July? 1936)
Discharged Hospital Cranwell
Admitted RAF Hospital Cranwell (Date ? 1936)
Discharged RAF Hospital Cranwell
3 F T S to Station Grantham (Date July? 1937)
Stn (Station) Grantham to 77 Sq (Squadron) at Driffield (Date Nov? 1938)
77 Sqn to 5 Mobile Base Unit RDF (Date Nov 1939)
14 Grp (Group)
45 M U (Maintenance Unit)
Stn (Station) Rollestone (A) (Date May 1940)
45 M U (Maintenance Unit)
51 Gp (Group) Pool for 28 EFFS (Possibly EFTS) (Elementary Flying Training School)

Here's the first page to start you off! The dates are unfortunately a little unclear, but have done the best that I can.

Just to help geographically speaking both Cranwell & Grantham are in Lincolnshire & Driffield is in East Yorkshire.

Hope this helps

Kind regards

David

[sarahkitchen]

Brilliant David thanks again for all your help! My grandfather was originally from Doncaster so makes sense that he was at local-ish airbases. My dad remembers him saying he was posted to France but not sure I can find any reference to that on here.

Thanks, Sarah

[DavidJP]

Hi Sarah,

Page 2.

99 M U (Maintenance Unit)
8 R C (Recruits Centre?) (Date 1942)
99 M U (Maintenance Unit)
28 M U (Maintenance Unit) (Date 1944)
99 M U (Maintenance Unit)
28 M U (Maintenance Unit) (Date 1944)
100 PDC (Personnel Despatch/Dispersal Centre) (Date June 1945)
B R U or V (B Reserve?) Basically put on a reserves list  (B list) for a time if I’m right!
S D U West Drayton (Date Feb 1947)
101 PDC (Personnel Despatch/Dispersal Centre) (Date Oct 1947) (Kirkham, Lancs)

Your page 5 shows a postponement of release of 6 months dated 1st Oct 1945 & confirmed in Dec 1945 which would tend to confirm my guess re the reserves list idea & final release from the RAF in October 1947. The Dispatch/Dispersal centre was basically the place that your grandfather would have been demobbed from.

Also forgot to add in my previous post that Rollestone is in Wiltshire.

Hope this all helps.

Kind regards

David

[sarahkitchen]

Thank you again David. With regards to the good service awards, do you know what A,D and R stand for and also what 1st 2nd and 3rd mean?

Thanks again, Sarah

[DavidJP]

Hi Sarah,

With regards to the good service awards, do you know what A,D and R stand for and also what 1st 2nd and 3rd mean?

Unfortunately, I don't I'm afraid, possibly where the A, D & R are concerned perhaps grades of conduct. The 1st, 2nd & 3rd could perhaps be a way of classing them as in 1st class, 2nd class etc, but this is just a guess to be honest. There are one or two others on RootsChat who would perhaps have more knowledge of that side of things than me. Hopefully they may be able to add more.

If I am able to decode anymore & I shall continue try to do so, I will let you know.

Kind regards

David

[sarahkitchen]

Brilliant thank you again! Sarah

[tonepad]

No. 3 School of Technical Training was at RAF Manston in Kent at this period of time (from 1st July 1935).

http://www.manstonhistory.org.uk/timeline/

[tonepad]

 5 Mobile Base Unit RDF

RDF could mean Radio Direction Finder