Help with missing information on dads army career. Completed.

[tup1]

Hi, please can someone help with my dads' army info which I have come across it is as follows . SPR Topham b.1910 d.1977. Army No 4801473 23 Mach spare parts (base) Sec RE,
R.A 18/4/1940-8/9/1944
GSC 9/9/1944-27/12/1944
RE 28/12/1944-212/1947
My dad only ever mentioned India and I have a handbag (my late mothers) which has the Taj Mahal on it My puzzle is there is among the paperwork a train ticket with NSB Voss MJ0LFJELL on it. I have checked it out, and it is from Norway, was my dad stationed there at all as he never mentioned it?

Sorry for long info as it is a long time since I have been doing my family tree due to my late husband's illness and death last year.
Regards Kathy

[Jebber]

It looks to me as if he was a Sapper (SPR) so he was in the Royal Engineers. They would be attached to various other units, so it looks as if he spent time attached to the RA (Royal  Artillery) and the GSC (General Service Corps) then back to the Royal Engineers.

[ShaunJ]

I see from his Royal Artillery tracer card that he started out in 207th AA Training regiment on enlistment in March 1940, then was relegated to Class W(T) Reserve in October that year, so presumably went back to his civilian occupation for a while before being called up again in 1944.

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/discoveryui-content/view/219276:61820

Have you applied for his service records?

https://www.gov.uk/get-copy-military-records-of-service/apply-for-the-records-of-a-deceased-serviceperson

FindMyPast has a Royal Engineers index card for him but it's just info that you already have

https://search.findmypast.co.uk/record/browse?id=gbm%2froyalengi-cards%2ftierney-tovey%2f02661

[tup1]

Many thanks Jebber for your reply explaining the RE/RA/GSC meanings.very much appreciated.

Kathy

Hi ShaunJ Thanks for your information about my dad.He was an engineer in a Grantham factory before the war, so that is probably the reason he went back into the factory called Newman's which incidentally was next to British Marco's who were making ammunition etc plus Ruston and Hornsby's until dad returned to the army in 1944.
The only thing that puzzles me is the Norway train ticket I have.

Regards

Kathy

[arthurk]

Is there a date on the train ticket? Norway was under Nazi occupation from the spring of 1940 until May 1945, so a journey in that period would have been unlikely.

[tup1]

Hi Arthurk, there is no date on ticket.

Kathy

[arthurk]

There's a number embossed at the top - could that be a date, or is it the number of the guard's clipper?

Whatever it is, the design and style of railway tickets change from time to time, so there might be some experts who could date that ticket even though it might not have a printed date.

[tonepad]

This similar ticket seems to be dated 1978:

https://digitaltmuseum.no/021026294300/billett

and is embossed with the date at the top

Tony

[tup1]

Hi tonepad, After your message my son looked at the ticket through a magnifying glass and looked for the embossed number at the top, and I am sure that the info reads 421976 which having given some thought one of my brothers was in the army in the 70s and went to Norway whilst serving, so I believe it looks like my dad put the ticket with his paperwork.

So I am sure you have solved the ticket problem.

Many thanks for your help, much appreciated

Kathy