Pete Ashby

Not butting in at all Degsy I'm very pleased you enjoyed the thread I felt they merited a wider showing and HMVF seemed the most appropriate platform given the direct relevance of the subject matter.

The exercise books form one part of a much larger body of work I have been putting together, some as hard copy, some in digital format the final goal is to bring the whole body together in a digital format for my family, then I'll start on Grandfather's WW1 4.5 year service in the Ox & Bucks LI.

It has taken me 18 years since my Father's death to get round to doing this and like all research projects it has generated a life of it's own and has taken me down some unexpected avenues and learning experiences.

As an aside if anyone is thinking of doing a similar project on a relative I would urge you to start, there really is a wealth of information out there and a lot of it is now accessible through the web with records, photographs and forums that have contributors who are experts in their field of knowledge. A certain degree of lateral thought can be useful when trying to solve questions and looking for the answer in unexpected sources should be the norm, a seemingly unconnected 'one liner' in an obscure reference book or document can be the key you've been looking for.

Good Hunting

Pete

That's very interesting Steve, I assume your Father re-mustered when he joined the A/T regiment.

Presumably this was a result of the losses incurred during the summer and autumn campaigns ? and as a result there was a trawl through 2nd and 3rd echelon units. That last 6 months of the war in NW Europe saw some of the most intense fighting of the whole conflict.

If you have an interest in finding out more about his units actions I would recommend asking relevant questions on this site http://ww2talk.com/forums/ the guys on there helped me enormously in giving me leads and contacts.

Here's to the memory of Cfn Herbert John Gray another 'ordinary man who did his duty'

regards

Pete

And to finish the man who produced the drawings:

5777663 'Ted' Ashby

this photo was taken in December 1940 after he had been in the Royal Norfolks for 7 months.

For those interested in uniform detail notice he is still wearing the peaked soft service cap and not the standard issue forage cap.

Pete

These are the last set of diagrams, these cover auto electrical subjects :

Pete

Ever thought of publishing them? They'd make great posters for a boys room.

Interesting thought Tony :-),

As I said at the front of this thread I'm putting the whole story together adding detail and setting it in context for my children and their children.

For the past year I have been working my way through 900 pages of the unit diary's covering just the REME part of my Father's active service along with recorded memories and some photographs I am now moving the search back to cover his enlistment and the 2 years he spent with the Royal Norfolk's guarding Norfolk airfields, road junctions, railway lines and beaches.

I intend to present the completed project digitally for the family as a record of ''An ordinary man who just did his his duty'' ,

my Fathers words to describe his 6.5 years service.

Pete

Not a component drawing this time but a brake efficiency graph that may be of interest

Pete

In that case it looks like the vehicles may well have come from Donington Park this was in July 1942

Pete

That's interesting Richard, as there is a single line entry that says 'detachment returned from Leicestershire with new vehicles', I believe that Donnington is in the north of the county.

Present day Chilwell is in Nottinghamshire the thought occurs was it always, or was it a victim of county boundary moves in the 1970's? I can feel a Google coming on.

Pete

This next set is all about various brake shoe set ups :

Pete

Thanks for the reply Degsy the reason for asking is that in the unit diary I'm currently working with there is a passing comment about sending a detachment to collect 'new vehicles from a main RAOC Depot in the Midlands'. The unit at this time was forming up in Rushmore Arena so as it's quite a trek up to the Midlands I assumed it was not a sub depot.

Pete

This is one for the Carrier Guys :

Pete

Wow, these are great, both from a personal story point of view and a technical one. I've been collecting a range of training materials myself and I'm in awe if how well these chaps recorded the information.

All the more so Lauren when you consider that his trade training started on the 15 of January 1942 and he took his trade test on the 25 May 1942 the exercise book runs to 150 pages of drawings and hand written accompanying and explanatory text this is on top of practical and bench work, I think I am correct in saying that a two year peacetime course was condensed to just under 6 months.

Staying with the power flow theme here are some more drawings for diesel engines and also a basic petrol carburetor set up :

Pete

Pleased you like them Steve I've had the exercise books stored away in my collection for over twenty years and I thought they deserved a wider audience.

The drawings were made in his billet in the evenings after lectures from notes and sketches in his rough books which I also have and also some of the crown marked pencils that he used to make them.

He always said he knew his life probably depended on making the grade as he would have been RTU if he failed the course having had 3 lucky escapes while with the Norfolk's he didn't think his luck would hold out.

He missed the last posting to the BEF by two weeks in May 1940 then shortly after they were issued with full cold weather kit and were being taught to ski on the Parade ground then just as suddenly all kit was withdrawn again.....he never did know why or where they were meant to go. Then in late 1941 he was issued with tropical kit and had a full set of jabs for a draft bound for Singapore but before his draft left the garrison had fallen so you can see the RAOC with a rifle and tool box looked a better bet than just a rifle.

What unit was your Dad in ?

here's three more to be going on with :

These two cover engine lubrication:

Pete

Here's a couple more continuing on the theme of power drive line:

Pete

Thank you Tony, yes I think he would,

he was very proud of his army service but was at pains to always point out he was not a fighting soldier after 1942 he said they were the real heroes.

Pete

I'm currently working on a project that involves recording in detail the war time history of my late Fathers army service from 1940 to 1946.

5777663 L/Cpl Ashby E J Fitter MV Class 1 would have been 100 years old this year so I thought it a fitting tribute to collate and record his service history for my children and grandchildren.

To this end I have collected unit diary's, service records, personal papers and photographs and am now setting his story into the wider context of the various theaters he severed in.

I am very lucky to have all of my Father's trade training work books and I thought it may be of interest to show some of the pencil drawings he produced as part of his course work for those of you who have a copy of 'Manual of Driving and Maintenance for Mechanical Vehicles (wheeled) 1937' some of the diagrams will be familiar.

To set the drawings in context my Father was called up on the 6 May 1940 to the Royal Norfolk's as an infantry man, after 18 months he was selected for trade training and was transferred to the RAOC in May 1942 at Aldershot. Here he underwent full trade training joining REME when it was created in October 1942 landing in North Africa in December 1942 then onto Sicily, Italy and finally Austria at the end of the war in Europe.

I'll post a couple of drawings now and if people are interested I'll post some more.

Pete

In my wanderings around the web today looking for more detail on this subject I came across this link I post it here for general information http://www.philwilliamswriter.co.uk/2015_09_01_archive.html for those interested in early British trucks it could be an interesting read when published

Pete

This is project is really coming together keep posting progress I'm enjoying following this thread, always had a bit of a soft spot for quads. :thumbsup:

Pete I think you mean RAOC. Stores would be split according to the nature of the stores.

 

COD Chilwell - MT Organization

COD Donnington - Warlike Stores Organization

COD Didcot - General Stores Organization

 

Each organisation having its own network of subsidiary stores. This was the system in 1952 so I doubt it had changed much from wartime.

Thank you Clive, yes I did indeed mean RAOC :blush: numpty that I am, fingers faster than the brain I'm afraid.

Interesting reply as ever, I think you may have answered another question that I had regarding General Stores.

Regards

Pete

I'm currently doing some research on the issue of new vehicles to UK forces during WW2 and have come across several references to a main RAOC depot 'somewhere in the Midlands' the depot operated as a central hub for subsidiary RAOC depots all around the UK

Does anyone know where this main depot was located please ?

Thanks

Pete

Good to see my old GMC reg No KSU 498 is still out an about do you have any more photos of her Vulture ?

Pete

Nice job Howard

Pete

Good progress :thumbsup:, make sure you do a video of the engine start up and post it here

Pete

Does anyone know when and where the M15##### rebuild programme started. We now have a lot of M15 hood numbers and I know it was wartime But when exactly did it start.

Any help appreciated.

 

Gerry

Purely a guess Gerry, but I would suggest pre second front so early spring 1944 ?

Pete