237925 Gnr Fred Levett R.F.A.

[olosangus]

This is a last hope attempt to establish what artillery brigade my grandad served with. I know that he was badly wounded by counter battery fire whilst supporting the Portuguese unit who were in the trenches in 1918. After being wounded he ended up in Ireland in hospital . By the time he was discharged from hospital the war was over and he was posted to 326 Brigade HQ in Ireland. He was discharged in July 1919 as his wounds made him unfit to serve further. Unfortunately his Silver wound badge references 326 bde as this was the unit he was discharged from rather than the bde he was serving with when he was wounded. Unfortunately his service papers did not servive the luftwaffe's efforts.

The other information my grandad told me was that he served near Arras and that in addition to the Potuguese they were either part of or supporting a unit known as the Yorkshire Flyers / White Rose regiment. Unfortunately this confuses me as I know that the Portuguese were not near Arras ? Perhaps he served near Arras before moving to the Lys area.

Anyway, I know that a lot of Brigade Histories list casualties and if anyone can find any record of him I would really appreciate it.

Thanks . Simon

[Simon R]

Where was he from? Was he in the Territorial or Regular Army?

If Territorial, his hometown will give some clues as to what brigade/bty. he would have joined.

[Paul Reed]

Unfortunately his service papers did not servive the luftwaffe's efforts.

Quite surprised to read that as he was in the RA, and discharged due to wounds. Have you had a look yourself, or did you use a researcher? Did you or he/she check both WO363 and WO364? If not, might be worth a re-check.

RA records were not kept in London during WW2, and so were not subjected to the damage done by bombing.

[Yorts]

Paul,

Where were RA records kept during WW2? I have looked for records to more than one RA man and they were not in WO/363 or WO/364. In neither case did the MIC indicate service with another unit. The plot thickens..

Best Regards,

Alex.

[Paul Reed]

I believe they were somewhere in Kent - Dover? The fact that you didn't find them, may indicate - of course - service beyond 1924.

[Guest Ian Bowbrick]

Simon,

What your grandad a Londoner?

The reason I ask is that a distant relative of mine was 237781 Dvr Stephen Bowbrick RFA and I have done some research into the men around this number series. There are some similarities such as they were predominantly from the South London area and served in France with the 120th Bde RFA. I have some more detailed notes at home and will contact you off forum if you are interested.

Ian

[olosangus]

Thanks for the replies, grandad wasn't a territorial and he didn't serve again after 1919. I tried the pro myself and the used a researcher to see if they had better luck - all to no avail.

My grandad was from Shoeburyness near Southend, which is an obvious artillery connection. I believe that he chose to serve in the artillery .

Regards. Simon

[Blackblue]

Quite surprised to read that as he was in the RA, and discharged due to wounds. Have you had a look yourself, or did you use a researcher? Did you or he/she check both WO363 and WO364? If not, might be worth a re-check.

RA records were not kept in London during WW2, and so were not subjected to the damage done by bombing.

Paul,

This is news to me as well. My great uncle served in the RFA/RA and I have been advised his service papers were not located at the PRO and were destroyed. Perhaps Dick FLORY would be able to help out as he seems to be the resident RA expert?

Regards

Tim Dawe

[rflory]

I am not sure that I understand Paul Reed's remarks either. My main interest is RA officers but I have obtained the papers of numerous RA other ranks and they have come from both the burnt and the unburnt files, and I have never heard of Great War RA papers being kept outside of London during the Second World War. In fact Fowler, Spencer and Tamblin, "Army Service Records of the First World War" uses the papers of Gunner Philip Pearn, RGA as an example of the "Burnt Records (WO363)." Because a majority of the WW` other rank papers were destroyed it is quite likely that a particular gunner's papers would not be found in WO 363 and 364. I have worked with Simon offlist to try and figurer out his grandfather' unit but so far we have not been successful.

Regards. Dick Flory

[Paul Reed]

Many years ago I had a colleague who worked for MOD and was given access to the Service Records long before they were released to PRO. At the time he stated that the highest survival rate of records was to the RA, RE, ASC, RAMC and Labour Corps, and to soldiers who served in TF units. Largely because these records were not kept in London during WW2, and were not subjected to the same level of bombing (athough, apparently some were in other locations).

This appears to be partly proven by the records as we see them now, but not entirely so.

In my own search for RA papers I have a 90% success rate, compared to less than 20% to the Royal Sussex Regiment, for example, whose records were in Houslow in 1940 and were almost completely Blitzed.

[Guest Ian Bowbrick]

Paul,

I have to agree that I have had more of a success rate in locating the records of soldiers from these units. I always put it down to volume, but this is an interesting twist!

Couldyou tell me where the Labour Corps records were held - Nottingham?

Many thanks - Ian