First I'd like to offer my enormous thanks to AskHistorian's own /u/Bigglesworth_ for the awesome knowledge he shared when I posted about my grandfather's experience at Dunkirk a few months back. His incredible detective work, especially on the insignia on the bush hat in this photo, led to some educated guesses and inspired me to request my grandfather's official service records - and it turns out those guesses were right! These excerpts from the records 1 2 show that he was indeed with the 139th at Dunkirk, and was then part of the cadre of experienced men posted to the 130th from the shattered 139th, and was with the 130th when it later deployed to Burma. He also managed a couple of weeks with the 67th Medium Regiment in the confusion after Dunkirk, too, which was an unexpected detail. It's been amazing to read through the records and share them with my grandmother, now 92, and it's led to lots of memories from her about her own experiences in London during the war, so thank you again for your kind help, Bigglesworth!
On to my question. Some of the records are self-explanatory, but some of the entries are extremely hard to interpret, particularly since a lot of the writing is not particularly clear. Can anyone experienced in researching British service records from WW2 recommend some good resources, and perhaps forums where people might be able to help decipher them if I posted images of the tricky parts? What are the recommended next steps to take once you have a relative's WW2 records?
In particular, I'm wondering about the following:
He served in 364 Battery, 139th Field Regiment RA until Dunkirk, and then 494 Battery, 130th Field Regiment RA from mid-1940 until the end of the war. Are there any resources available on these specific units? Any books, diaries or research works covering their experiences?
Industry Group is R.S. and Occupational Classification is 172-20, as seen here. What are these?
On this image his Qualifications are DVR I/C, which I think is Driver In Charge, which makes sense as he mentioned a few stories about driving trucks and jeeps while in India. But can anyone work out what the entry under (f)(4) says?
And particularly the text seen in this image, as I'm struggling to read or make sense of any of it. Any ideas on this? What was the 1939-43 Star exactly, and what does the LEAVE WITH... stamp refer to? What about the lines referring to HMA and TAQ(?), and the entries below which seem to mention Nepal? I just can't make out the handwriting.
Fantastic! Great to see that connection. I'm afraid I can't be of much help with further information (I can't decipher that handwriting either...) Your best bet might well be the [WW2 Talk forums] (http://ww2talk.com/index.php), they have a section on [Service Records] (http://ww2talk.com/index.php?forums/service-records.116/) and another for the [Royal Artillery] (http://ww2talk.com/index.php?forums/royal-artillery.76/). Unfortunately the Royal Artillery museum closed last year, but their archives have [moved to Wiltshire] (http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/a?_ref=400), they might possess (or be aware of) unit diaries etc.
Hello there! As your question is related to looking for identification/information regarding military personnel, our Guide on Military Identification may be of use to you. It provides a number of different resources, including how to request service records from a number of national agencies around the world, as well as graphical aids to assist in deciphering rank, unit, and other forms of badges or insignia. While the users here may still be able to lend you more assistance, hopefully this will provide a good place to start!