RootsChat.Com
General => Armed Forces => World War Two => Topic started by: paradie07 on Monday 05 October 09 16:12 BST (UK)
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Hello,
My father served in 303 AMES in East Africa,North Africa,Dodecanese,Turkey(clandestine) in WW2.
Any info on this unit much appreciated.Very little on general google etc,
Thanks
Peter
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Hello,
My father served in 303 AMES in East Africa,North Africa,Dodecanese,Turkey(clandestine) in WW2.
Any info on this unit much appreciated.Very little on general google etc,
Thanks
Peter
-Hi Peter,
you haven't said what Branch of the Services you Father was in.
AMES is an abreviation for Air Ministry Experimental Station.
He could have worked on Radar;unless that is there is another definition of AMES.
-Brian
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Hello,
Yes he was a radar operator with that unit throughout the war
Peter
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The Operations Record Books (ORBs) for individual AMES units are kept at the National Archives under the Air29 records series.
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Thanks for info
Peter
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The ORB for No.303 AMES in East Africa 1942 Feb to 1943 May is at Kew in AIR 54/157.
Brian
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Hello Brian,
Thanks for the info
Peter
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I have been searching for any mention concerning RAF WW2 AMES over the years & until recently, when suddenly, accidentally found myself in the RootsChat site, referring to Middle East operations. My own involvement was in the Far East, attached to Radar Units as a wireless operator. Firstly in India, Jessore, 100 miles or so from Calcutta, a fixed site, later moving out of Imphal, \state of Manipur, after the siege with a mobile radar unit into Burma, Mawlaik, on the banks of the Chindwin River, as the army moved further into Burma, we moved to Miektila where there was an airstrip, eventually to reach Rangoon.This unit-AMES 6178 181 Signals Wing.The years have passd, but there could be other elderly ex wops & other personnel who would have been involved ???.benwop.
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benwop,
A pleasure to read your post.
Have you put an entry on to the burmastar website? There are many personal testimonies there, I have found it invaluable.
Regards
Pete
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Pete, excuse delay, from your promp, THANKS, have checked Burmastar, phew, but nothing there, however, will post something similar in Burmastar.benwop.
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Hi all,
My late father was in the RAF from near the end of the war and was in an AMES unit which went round the middle east setting the units up. He was a radar operator but I think they all had to drive the trucks and build the aerials and huts.
He was a trainee architect when he was called up and he did a series of pen and ink sketches and photos of the AMES set up and the unit people. Can anyone tell me which version of AMES these units would have been? They had a very tall thin aerial (very similar to the Festival of Britain Skylon in design) rather than a wide grid or rotating aerial. see pic below.
any info or pointers to books etc would be great.
thanks
Greensteam
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You might like to add that to rafcommands.com forum too as they will be fascinated by that sort of thing too.
Dee :)
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Thanks, Dee. I will get round to that!
Had a long chat with a local radar enthusiast here and we cannot really think what these units were. My father was setting these up in 1946, i.e. after the war was over, so why would there have been the same urgent need for the anti-aircraft types of AMES?
Since one of the few things my dad told me was that a whole load of these were being put in place then, I cant help wondering if these aerials might have been for radar beacons rather than early warning systems. Does anyone know if this is technically more likely for these lightweight framework aerials? From the pics I estimate the tower was about 60ft high and held up by guy wires, but it doesnt look capable of supporting much more than a wire, let alone an actual rotating type aerial.
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Hopefully someone with more knowledge will come back with that info... ;)
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I have been searching for any mention concerning RAF WW2 AMES over the years & until recently, when suddenly, accidentally found myself in the RootsChat site, referring to Middle East operations. My own involvement was in the Far East, attached to Radar Units as a wireless operator. Firstly in India, Jessore, 100 miles or so from Calcutta, a fixed site, later moving out of Imphal, \state of Manipur, after the siege with a mobile radar unit into Burma, Mawlaik, on the banks of the Chindwin River, as the army moved further into Burma, we moved to Miektila where there was an airstrip, eventually to reach Rangoon.This unit-AMES 6178 181 Signals Wing.The years have passd, but there could be other elderly ex wops & other personnel who would have been involved ???.benwop.
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Google "Hoggy Foster" for my Burma Star entry. My new email is brifos99@googlemail.com
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hi, bill from glasgow here. was very interested in the info on the ames unit,s as my Late Father was a radar operator in Malta from 1940/43 and they had brick building's to house the transmitter and receiver. the antenna was a 90ft wooden pole which had reflector receivers for to pick up the radio waves and then through a wire system to a cathode ray tube and produced a signal on an oscilloscope. iam wondering if anyone knows where i would find a military map of Malta around the 1940's period and would anyone know where i would find Ames 504 ORB's. any help would be useful.
thanks.
bill.
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Bill
You might try the RAF Museum at Hendon, the Air Historical Branch and the Imperial War Museum for the maps. Most of the F540s are kept at the National Archives in Air 27.
Dee
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thanks dee, the air historical have given me all the info they have and they unfortunatly do not have any maps. the iwm map section is closed as it is being refurbished and it will be next year before it is re-opened. as for the ORB's i thought i would have to re-hire a person to search the national archives for me.
thanks again dee for the info.
bill
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hi, bill from glasgow again, just wondering if anyone knows as to where in the national archives that the RAF No 504 ames ORB's would be. ie what file No.
thanks.
bill
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Were all the Radar Stations in the UK referred to as AMES units? What about Chain Home Stations?
Were any Radar stations adjacent to or co-located with W/T interception stations "Y" stations, or were they deliberately kept separate for security and secrecy reasons?
Does anyone know about Dunnett Head on the North coast of Scotland?
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Hi Guys, sorry for long interval since last post. real life intervenes.
I have made a bit of progress. The image I posted before of the sketch by my dad: I now know that it was near a place called El Karak. That sectional mast (I have some photos too now) was 200 ft high and the unit was almost certainly an MRU.
My father was in Palestine and Libya on various AMES units. I have only recently clarified that the photos I have of various bits of equipment are AMES types 13 & 14.
The confusion arises because AMES can mean the type of equipment, as in AMES 13 and 14 which he also worked with and I have images for them as well; or AMES can refer to the actual place where one was set up, hence he was at AMES 141 and AMES171.
I have now found my dad's old letters to my mum which have helped me to tie his sketches and photos up to the right places and dates and cross match to the (Otherwise enigmatic) acronyms on his service record.
I have noticed that AMES 13 & 14 equipment types are not much written up and I have not found many images on the web or in books. But I m hoping to go to the IWM and Woolwich Aresenal to see what they have.
Bill - I am in Glasgow too!
Next question for the panel: this is clearly (well fuzzily) a picture of ops desks of some radar, but does anyone know what sort?
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I would guess the date to be about 1960. Can you scan it again to improve the clarity, please?
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greensteam. can you give more details about that last photo, please? Was it being scrapped or being maintained when photo was taken. do you know?
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One of the clues about date of manufacture which I am using to date your last photo is the telephone handset cord. Trying to remember what date the coiled spring type of handset cords came into service, perhaps middle of the 1960s or even early 1960s, what do you think?
If you are ever near a big city reference library, ask them if they have Janes Military equipment catalogue circa 1965.
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Scouseboy,
Sadly this is the best image and was taken direct from the negative. I have tried several times to get a better image with no success.
It is most unlikely to be from the 1960s as this is part of the small collection of pictures taken by my father during his time in the RAF 1942-46. Just conceivably he might have had to return for retraining at some point up to 1952, when he was released from his post-warservice Reserve obligations and could therefore possibly have taken it then. But it was in amongst all the other images he took 1945-6, so I have no real reason to suppose it is anything later.
Greensteam
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My father in law Elijah Bithell (Arnold) was in the Middle East during WW2 and we have a photograph of him in a football team and on the ball is 401 AMES 1941 they have a football shirt of 4 squares on.
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Hi,
My father was in the radar section of several AMES units near Alexandria.I have many photos of him and his unit in their camp and I believe the Caves at somewhere beginning with T? He was involved in plotting possibly, but I do not know much else. He was called Graham Walsh. I would love to find out more about his time in Egypt and am happy to share photos.
Sally
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Hi,
Do you know the number of the AMES unit your father was in?
My grandfather was in AMES 251 and I think he was based at a place called Wadi Natrun in the Alexandria /El Alamein area.
I’d like to find out more about my grandfather’s war years but I am making slow progress.
Thanks
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Mojo - Have you tried applying to the RAF for your grandfathers service records?
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Tubby 17
My father was at Wadi Natrun with 251 AMES. The photo is of him and crew in his tent.
I'd be curious to see your pictures
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Some images of Dad in Alexandria in WW2 - I have more and will add them later. He was based in and around Alexandria and the Caves at Tura.
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Another image
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....and another
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Hi Cabanabouy,
Do you have any more photos or info on Ames 251? I was wondering if my grandfather appears in any of your crew photos.
I’ll have to dig out what little info I have on my grandfather and try to see if it matches anything you have?
Thanks
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Hi,
Just to add a little more info.My grandfather was William(Bill or Billy) Francis Moore. He seems to have been with AMES 251 from formation up to maybe 1943 or 44. He was later stationed at Heliopolis and then Yorkshire when he returned to the UK.
Thanks
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Another photo
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Another image
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...and another
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Hello,
I've just found this thread. I've been researching RAF AMES for a couple of years in particular 252 AMES which was on Crete at the time of the German invasion in May 1941.
I have some photos at home (I'm away for a couple of weeks) of another unit and in Egypt showing the equipment setup (type 9) portable radar which was used at this time consisting of two collapsible towers .
If anyone had family members involved with AMES then it would be great to hear from you.
Best wishes Chris
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Dad in Egypt.
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Great images Tubby, Thanks for sharing. I think "Eros in The Desert" could do with a bit of TLC. Why not put it on the Photo Restoration board, It is worth saving.
Carol
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Just found some more - looks like some kind of workshop?