222 S L Trng Regiment RA

[upton25]

Good Evening I am looking in to my Grandfather David William Piper war records. I know he is buried in a Commonwealth War Grave in Crookes Cemetery Sheffield after losing his life in a troop train
 crash in 1942, aged 42 The grave records give the unit as in the title of my enquiry. I have read that this may be Search Light Training Regiment Royal Artillery. As he was listed as a Gunner I am interested as to why he would have been in Yorkshire. He was from Edgware and I think quite old to sign up for duty.. I have applied for his records online in the hope I can learn more. But if anyone has knowledge about this Unit I'd be very grateful

[KGarrad]

From Wikipedia:

This list of regiments of the Royal Artillery covers the period from 1938, when the RA adopted the term 'regiment' rather than 'brigade' for a lieutenant-colonel's command comprising two or more batteries, to 1947 when all RA regiments were renumbered in a single sequence.

Searchlight Regiments
The following anti-aircraft searchlight (S/L) regiments served with the Royal Artillery during the period. Many of these units were transferred in August 1940 from the Royal Engineers (RE), in which they had been designated 'Anti-Aircraft Battalions'; most of these were converted infantry battalions, while other converted infantry battalions transferred directly to the RA.

Training regiments changed designation frequently as new roles and requirements appeared.

222nd Searchlight Training Regiment, Royal Artillery – formed by November 1940; became Mixed April 1942; disbanded October 1944

[upton25]

Thank you so much for this information
 I am intrigued as to why Grandad was in Yorkshire But I'm guessing, like a lot of people at the time he was on manoeuvres for training. At least I now can be certain he was in the Search Light Training Unit.