I think we have to take at face value that your grandfather was initially and up to around the end of 1943, employed as a nurse orderly. I don't think this is some camouflage for a more esoteric employment.
This all changes following his short attachment to the Air Ministry in December 1943. I suspect this was to do with the fact that shortly afterwards his trade changed to codes and ciphers. It may also have something to do with him being commissioned 3 months later.
He then briefly returned to his unit in Northern Ireland before being sent to No 5 Radio School in January 1944 and his trade mustering being changed to Codes and Ciphers on 2 Feb. No 5 Radio School ran the Code and Cyphers (sic) Officers course, as well as the RAF Pre-Commissioning Course. Given that he was only there for just over a month, this seems too short a time for him to have completed both courses, but it is a possibility.
He was then posted to RAF Cosford, probably to No 1 Radio School which was one on the units based there. Exactly one month later he was commissioned.
His career as an officer was all concerned with codes and ciphers. That is to say he would have been responsible for the accounting and distribution of the various paper codes and cipher systems employed by the RAF. This was a very responsible job and involved a lot of clerical work. As an officer he would probably have supervised a number of junior non-commissioned officers (mostly LACs and Corporals) who did the day to day work. None of the units he subsequently served with have any special connection with Sigint so I think we can discount that connection despite the fact that he married your grandmother while she was working at Bletchley Park.
On the subject of Combined Operations, 105 Wing to which he was attached on 25 May 1944, was the Combined Operations Wing, and his subsequent employment with the HQ Ships PHU (Personnel Holding Unit) later on in 1944-45 appears to tie in with this. May 1944 was of course a critical time in the build up to D Day and so combined working between the services, especially the Royal Navy and RAF, was very important. As a Codes and Cipher officer he would have been responsible for ensuring that the three services could all speak to each other securely using their separate communications systems.
As a side note, you should check and confirm that your grandmother is recorded on the Bletchley Park Roll of Honour if you haven't already done so.
Thank you so much for your help. We knew he was something like a nurse/stretcher bearer/admin, didn't know anything about the Code and cypher part of his service career.
Just one more question, we believe he may have work for the MOD after his discharge in 1946, but not 100%. Do you know if this information would beheld anywhere else and why there are dates of the 1950's on the record?
