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General => Armed Forces => Topic started by: fm on Thursday 04 May 06 23:43 BST (UK)
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Hi There
My dad was a napper in the Royal Engineers during his National Service conscription during the late 1950's. I am sending for his army records but am also interested in knowing what his job description involved. I know he was in Osnabruck and Malta but that is it at the moment.
Where in the ranks was a Napper? What did he do? etc
Any ideas or info would be great.
Thanks
Fiona
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Hi Fiona - I think you mean that your Dad was a Sapper.
The Royal Engineers are commonly known as sappers, they provide engineering and technical support to the Army.
I think the name was coined during WW1 - 'sapping' means digging trenches and undermining defences.
I'm sure somene else will come up with a definitive description.
Suey
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sueys right,it should read as sapper,its a mistranslation on his documents,sapper originated in the crimean war other sources say the napolionic war??
mack
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:D
Thanks for that Suey and Manmack.
Was told Napper by my mother as my dad has passed away now. I have an application for his army records and had put Napper down as his rank. Will change it to Sapper now.
They may have not found his records as a Napper. Apparently the MOD have over thirty miles of Army records to trawl through each time they conduct a search.
This will narrow it down for them.
Thank you very much.
Regards
Fiona
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Hi Fiona, glad to be of help.
I recall that the MOD were indexing all records by surname, the project was due to be completed by now, hope you don't have to wait too long. Let us know if you find anything interesting :)
Suey
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hi fiona
iv just put up a thread asking the same question.............sorry didnt see your thread first
my dad was also a sapper in the royal engerneers i have my dads release papers but not his army records
how do you obtain these
angie x
Moderator Comment:
Topic: what did a sapper do in the war
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,153846.0.html
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angie
For service records see here http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,63691.0.html and follow the link :) You will find all the info you need
Suey
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many thanx sue
will take a look
angie x
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they take a while to come through but it's worth it
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:D Lovinlass
My father did his national service in the Royal Engineers in the late 1950,s.
If your relative was an Officer or soldier whose service ended between 1921 and 1997 you can obtain records from :
Army Personnel Centre
HQ Secretariat
Historical Disclosure
Mail Point 400
Kentigern House
65, Brown sTREET
Glasgow
G2 8EX
If you ring 0141 224 2743, they will send an application pack.
You will need to know approximate year of discharge, name , rank and regiment. These are mandatory requirements otherwise they cannot complete the search.
There is a £30 search fee if you are not the next of kin, the service person or their widow/widower.
For Officers and Soldiers whose service ended before 1921:
enquiry[AT]nationalarchives.gov.uk
Microfilm copies of WW1 Service records are also held by the Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter Day Saints. Films can be requested for viewing at their local Family History Centres.
Hope this helps
Regards
Fiona
Moderator Comment: e-mail edited, to avoid spamming and other abuses.
Please replace [AT] with @
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many thanks fiona
thats a great help
i have all the info they need,so should be able to find them quiet quickly
angie x
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For any other reseacher who may be reading this, the 'YOU MUST HAVE OR ELSE' in big red letters on the form is daunting but do not be deterred from trying !
I only had a name, which proved to be not quite correct, dob and Regiment; spoke to a very nice chap in Glasgow and they still managed to find my man :D and as I said they are indexing by name now.
Suey
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I think the name was coined during WW1 - 'sapping' means digging trenches and undermining defences
Interesting stuff on the origins of the term 'sapper' -
http://www.remuseum.org.uk/corpshistory/rem_corps_sapper.htm
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Fiona,
There is some useful information about Royal Engineers Service Records on the Royal Engineers Museum site (Research Section) at
http://www.remuseum.org.uk/rem_res_service.htm
With regards to a job description it would depend on what branch of the Royal Engineers your father belong to. The Royal Engineers were responsible for a wide variety of activities from field engineering, building, bomb disposal, railways and ports, mail etc. see the Museum website history pages at:
http://www.remuseum.org.uk/rem_history.htm
Hope that helps
Simon
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thats interesting simon
cus on my dads release papers,which i cant read very well but it does mention the railway
angie x
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Angie
The Royal Engineers Transportation Service was responsible for operating railways and ports, as well as, constructing both railway tracks and ports during and after the Second World War (until 1965)
Simon
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cus on my dads release papers,which i cant read very well but it does mention the railway
why not scan them and post them?
fresh eyes can often see things you didn't ;)
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:D Hi Angie
Could you let me know how you got hold of your dads release papers from the Royal Engineers. I think my dad may have had something to do with the railway section as well (he always loved trains) but as yet I dont know which branch he was in (According to Simon there were many different ones)
Would I get them sent through when I get details of his service record or do I apply somewhere seperately.
Thanks
Fiona
Top Photo: Dad is on the right. Does anyone know who is on the left? or can anyone tell me some more about the photo. I know it was taken in Osnabruck in 1957 and thats it.
Bottom Photo: Dad is is the middle
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hi fiona
i found my dads release papers,when my parents died so he already had them
will scan if and put them on here,got work later so might be couple of days before i can do it
angie x