Help tracing Squadron histories

[adicol]

Hi Andy,

Grandad said he was in the UK when he was training in Morse Code and he literally called his parents to tell them he had been given an award - I am not sure how plausible this is or whether this happened pre or post war either so I guess we will never know for sure.

We are in London in November for Armistice weekend so we are going to book a trip to the NA to check the archives.

[Andy J2022]

Grandad said he was in the UK when he was training in Morse Code and he literally called his parents to tell them he had been given an award - I am not sure how plausible this is or whether this happened pre or post war either so I guess we will never know for sure.

Ah, thanks. That makes much more sense. I haven't seen anything in his documents to indicate when he did this training. As a matter of interest do you know if he returned to his job as a wool comber after the war? It would have seemed awfully mundane after his wartime experience.

[adicol]

He did return to wool combing and he was also hated driving. He refused to drive unless absolutely necessary.

[adicol]

Hi Andy,

Sorry to bother you again, but I am just wondering if you could clarify something else for me please. On Service History vi's image, it shows the entry for his wounding and it says AFW3014/624 after 15.9.44

I know that W3014 is the form that is used for the casualties list but I am unsure why it says 'after 15.9.44' on there. Do you have any idea?

Thanks,

Colleen

[Andy J2022]

Hi Andy,

Sorry to bother you again, but I am just wondering if you could clarify something else for me please. On Service History vi's image, it shows the entry for his wounding and it says AFW3014/624 after 15.9.44

I know that W3014 is the form that is used for the casualties list but I am unsure why it says 'after 15.9.44' on there. Do you have any idea?

Thanks,

Colleen

I don't think it says 'after'. I think it's dtd meaning dated. In other words the AFW3014 which included his details was complied retrospectively. The date in the right hand column is presumably the date he was wounded.
However, why it took 3 weeks for the W3014 is more of a mystery. The title of the form was Army Form W 3014 (Daily) Casualty Return of ORs and enrolled civilians so I would have expected it to be dated the day after he was admitted to the medical facility which sent the form. Maybe he spent the intervening days being moved back through the casualty chain. It would be interesting to know the date of the casualty list which you got from your contact on WW2Talk, shown a few entries above.

[adicol]

Thanks Andy,

I will ask them if they have the information. This may also be when he was classes as 'missing' perhaps?

[Andy J2022]

Hi Colleen,

Don't worry I found the front page of the relevant Casualty Report. It's No. 1563 dated 28 September 1944.

[adicol]

Andy this is fantastic! Thank you so much!