My canadian grandad

[Sarah Reed]

Hi Paul ,


I have found out that Eric was born in Toronto. I have also rang the registry people there and because of red tape and with me not being next of kin they won't give out the information that i require.
The lady that i spoke to did give me an address for the vital statistic place for me to ask them for help. But when i looked at the website it says don't write to them as they don't do researchs and also they only go up to 1910 where as i want 1918.
Because i was so young when Eric died i Dont know if he did have any siblings.
When i spoke to someone in the family they said that a relative Of Eric's had killed his wife and children then himself , this i think happened quite recently.
I still need to find out what regiment he was in and that is where i have got stuck as the web sites dont give out alot of information unless you know what you are looking for.
going back to the registry office apparently in ten years time the information that i require will become available with out all the red tape because he would have been born over 100 yrs ago and it then becomes public knowledge.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by Sarah Reed

Hi Paul ,

When i spoke to someone in the family they said that a relative Of Eric's had killed his wife and children then himself , this i think happened quite recently.
I still need to find out what regiment he was in and that is where i have got stuck as the web sites dont give out alot of information unless you know what you are looking for.

Sarah,

Do you have any idea where this might have happened?

Was it here in the UK or somewhere else?

Paul.

[Sarah Reed]

Originally Posted by PPS

Sarah,

Do you have any idea where this might have happened?

Was it here in the UK or somewhere else?

Paul.

Paul, i am led to believe it happened in Canada not quite sure whereabouts though.
When my brother told me about it he said it was a relative of eric's.
The problem is im not sure if the bloke was a relation or the woman.
Here's to searching

[servicepub (RIP)]

Remember that Sarah said that the grandfather served in a tank corps in africa. As no Canadian tank or armoured regiments served there it is possible that;
1. he didn't serve in a tank/armoured unit
2. he did but it wasn't Canadian.
remember that, pre-CANLOAN, the Canadian Army provided a number of officers and Sr. NCO's to the British for battle training and much of this occured in Africa (Strome Galloway of The RCR served with the London Irish before returning to The RCR in time for Italy). I am not sure if the DHH CMHQ reports have something on this.

[Mark W. Tonner]

Originally Posted by servicepub

... remember that, pre-CANLOAN, the Canadian Army provided a number of officers and Sr. NCO's to the British for battle training and much of this occured in Africa (Strome Galloway of The RCR served with the London Irish before returning to The RCR in time for Italy). I am not sure if the DHH CMHQ reports have something on this.

... something on this can be found in Appendix 'A' to CMHQ Report No. 92 (General Activities, Canadian Army Overseas June 1942 - April 1943) and in CMHQ Report No. 95 (Attachment of Canadian Officers and Soldiers to First British Army in TUNISIA, 1942 - 1943) ...

Cheers

[Roddy de Normann]

Hi to Sarah and everyone else on this hunt !

Sarah - ref Grandad Parker as a POW...I suspect the book/list of POWs you were looking at was 'POWs of the British Army - 1939 to 1945' pub by Hayward. In it an EL Parker is listed as a Gunner (meb of Royal Artillery) - Army # 900773 - POW camp was Stalag 8B & POW # as 55136 (given to him by Germans).

If the family story is that he served with an Armoured Unit in N Africa, he was probably a member of an Artillery unit attached to an Armoured (tank) Brigade or Division. The two main contenders are probably 7th Armoured Division or 6th Armoured Division. The former fought all the way fm Egypt to Tunisia, while the latter only fought in Tunisia.

As for Upavon - this is a small village on the N edge of Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England. Upavon was formally RAF Upavon, one of the first military airfields in the UK. There might have been an army camp there during the war, but I have no details. The place is still a military base to this day, now housing various bits of the Adjutant General's Directorate.

Hope these bit help

Roddy de Normann

[Sarah Reed]

Originally Posted by Roddy1011

Hi to Sarah and everyone else on this hunt !

Sarah - ref Grandad Parker as a POW...I suspect the book/list of POWs you were looking at was 'POWs of the British Army - 1939 to 1945' pub by Hayward. In it an EL Parker is listed as a Gunner (meb of Royal Artillery) - Army # 900773 - POW camp was Stalag 8B & POW # as 55136 (given to him by Germans).

If the family story is that he served with an Armoured Unit in N Africa, he was probably a member of an Artillery unit attached to an Armoured (tank) Brigade or Division. The two main contenders are probably 7th Armoured Division or 6th Armoured Division. The former fought all the way fm Egypt to Tunisia, while the latter only fought in Tunisia.

As for Upavon - this is a small village on the N edge of Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England. Upavon was formally RAF Upavon, one of the first military airfields in the UK. There might have been an army camp there during the war, but I have no details. The place is still a military base to this day, now housing various bits of the Adjutant General's Directorate.

Hope these bit help

Roddy de Normann

Thank you Roddy for the info you found it has been really helpful.
The book you mentioned was the same one i found at the local library.
I am almost sure this could be my grandad but again i'm not 100% sure ,so will have to do some investigating.
Going back to upavon my Grandmother was a WRAF and we think possibly she was based around the Upavon area,again i need to some investigating.
It's a shame my grandad is not alive today as he would have one great story to tell.
Thanks sarah.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by Roddy1011

Hi to Sarah and everyone else on this hunt !

Sarah - ref Grandad Parker as a POW...I suspect the book/list of POWs you were looking at was 'POWs of the British Army - 1939 to 1945' pub by Hayward. In it an EL Parker is listed as a Gunner (meb of Royal Artillery) - Army # 900773 - POW camp was Stalag 8B & POW # as 55136 (given to him by Germans).

If the family story is that he served with an Armoured Unit in N Africa, he was probably a member of an Artillery unit attached to an Armoured (tank) Brigade or Division. The two main contenders are probably 7th Armoured Division or 6th Armoured Division. The former fought all the way fm Egypt to Tunisia, while the latter only fought in Tunisia.

Roddy de Normann

Sarah,

This man is proving to be extremely elusive isn't he

Roddy's answer raises a few thoughts in my little tiny.

If this POW, E.L. Parker, is listed as a Gunner then it does mean that he was in the Artillery and not the Tank Corps. I would have thought that if he enlisted in Canada he would have been listed as R.C.A as against R.A, if a Corps or Regiment is mentioned.

If he was Artillery attached to an Armoured Unit, maybe an Order of Battle somewhere will narrow things down a little further.

Paul.