Hi,
I'm trying to do some research on my grandfathers service in the Second World War. I know that he was a Pioneer Sapper with 30th Field Company in II Corps, 1st Canadian Army. He was sent to 30th Field Coy from the UK in early July 1944 and would have taken part in the end of the Falaise Gap, the clearing of the French and Belgian ports and the Netherlands campaigns.
Can anyone tell me how the structure of the RCE worked in WWII? Would he have been working with 30th Field Coy on a Corps level or were the Corps Field Companies further divided up to support the Infantry Divisions? I have found lots of wiki info on the II Corps and see that there were Engineer Field Companies assigned to the Infantry Divisions as well. Would like to know if I should concentrate on the Corps level company or if I should be looking for a Divisional Company that he would have been sent to.
I'd really like to track down a war diary for whatever unit he ended up in but have no idea where to find anything for 30th Field Company since the Forces were restructured and the Engineers were combined with the Air Force and Naval Engineering companies.
I am not familiar with the RCE specifically, but I can at least point you to Library and Archives Canada, through which it's possible to order your grandfathers service record. I believe it requires some documents however.
You also might want to see if your local library or University library has a copy of the RCE official history, volume II, which covers the war. It's called The History of the Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers by Col. A.J. Kerry, OBE and Maj. W. A. McDill