Service Record WWII - Finding out more about West African service

[rebeccaclaire86]

Morning all,

Hoping someone can point me in the right direction.  I've recently received my great-granddad's WWII service record, and have found that he was in the RAOC (Royal Army Ordnance Corps); I believe he did quite a lot of mechanical work and this was at the time this was transferred to the Royal Electrical and Mechnical Engineers (REME), so his service record states he initially joined RAOC but as part of the No 4 Training Batallion, but was transferred to REME W.E.1 (not sure about this, I will screenshot) on 3rd October 1942.

The two things we knew about his service were that he was posted to Africa and that he was torpedoed at some point.  So I'd really like to find out more about his service in Africa in 1943 (which looks like it only lasted a matter of months) as I presume the torpedoing event most likely took place on the journey.

Could anyone suggest what the part I have read as WE1 says or stands for, and where I might look to find more information about his service?

Thank you

[ShaunJ]

I would suggest that "W E 1" is actually "W E F " = With Effect From.

[Andy J2022]

I am a little confused by the later entries in the card.

It's clear he embarked for Africa on 12 April 1943. I don't think his ship was torpedoed on the way out because the date of his evacuation back to UK (24/7[or9]/43) is too long after first embarkation. The journey to North Africa, even to Alexandria, wouldn't take 3 months.  That is, unless he spent some time in hospital in North Africa after being rescued, but I would expect that to be recorded.  Also the evacuation entry says he was Y listed. That means that he was in hospital for more than 28 days and would thus have been taken off the strength of his unit at the time.

The next entry showing that he proceeded to the port of embarkation on 6 Aug 1943 suggests that the date of the evacuation entry was 24/7/43 and not 24/9/43. But where was he travelling to, I wonder? Are there more entries on his card after what appears in the image here?

The Axis forces in North Africa surrendered in May 1943 so it seems unlikely that he was going back the Africa. I would have expected him to have gone on to serve in Italy along with the rest of the 8th Army. However it is also possible that he embarked for the the Far East.

[Andy J2022]

Just to follow up on my previous ponderings, Since the entry in error for the Acting Staff Sergeant was promulgated on the same reference, it's reasonable to assume both men were travelling to the same place. The erroneous entry says they were en route UK - ? somewhere beginning with L? which I don't recognise. And what does GCA stand for?

[ShaunJ]

In West Africa in 1943 the British army was recruiting and training African soldiers to fight the Japanese in Burma. My father was involved in this (a bit later on) as an instructor at the gunnery school in Accra.

[mmm45]

Just to follow up on my previous ponderings, Since the entry in error for the Acting Staff Sergeant was promulgated on the same reference, it's reasonable to assume both men were travelling to the same place. The erroneous entry says they were en route UK - ? somewhere beginning with L? which I don't recognise. And what does GCA stand for?

Could the word beginning with L Be Leave ?

GCA - Gold Coast Accra ??

[rebeccaclaire86]

Thanks so much for the comments so far, I really appreciate it even if it seems there's no clear answers!

I've included the military history part that gives clearer dates about West Africa (12th April 1943-24th September 1943) and shows he definitely was stationed at home before and after this.  I'm also including the full version of the service history and also the postings section in case that helps to make sense of it all - it doesn't mean an awful lot to me.  There is one page of the document that states that in 1944 he was returned from Africa due to medical grounds which seems to have been recurrent sciatica, nothing to do with the torpedo incident.

I do know that the torpedoing took place as it was referenced in a newspaper article about his divorce in the 1940's.  We were told that he swept mines in Africa but I'm not sure I'm convinced by that bit of family lore as he was a mechanic.

Thank you for the help!

[Andy J2022]

Yes those other entries make things clearer. For your information LAD stands for Light Aid Detachment, a roughly platoon sized subunit attached to another unit such as an armoured regiemt or in this case in support of a Brigade. A REME workshop (abbreviated w/s or wksp) is a larger unit in its own right and would be in support of the Brigade or more typically a Division. A workshop would contain the full ramge of REME trades whereas an LAD would be made up of mainly fitters and some recovery mechanics plus an electrician or two.