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Air Defence Corps- Birmingham. (James Smith)

C

carrumba

proper brummie kid
Hi all,

My g-grandfather on my mother's father's side was in the Air Defence Corp during WW2, manning anti-aircraft guns. He survived the war but unfortunately I was only 6 when he died. My Uncle and I are trying to piece together whatever info we can about his army career but, with such a common name, it's just a little daunting!

Does anyone know of a resource I should be looking in? Would he be listed under the Army or Air Force or neither?

He was born in 1908 and his father's name was Reuben Smith
All I know of him around the war years was that he was a Carter in 1931 when he married Ethel May Clark and lived in Erdington. Next have him in 1955 living in Sheldon working as a builder.

Any help much appreciated! :)
 
From what you say carrumba, I'm wondering whether you should be looking at the Home Guard. I can't recall ever hearing of an "Air Defence Corp". There's a link to a Home Guard dedicated site from here.
 
Maypolebaz makes a good suggestion. From 1942 a lot of Home Guard blokes were transferred to anti-aircraft batteries as the threat of invasion diminished. They joined forces with - and often replaced - the Regular Army blokes who had up to then manned them. The latter were usually members of the Royal Artillery. These men would be operating conventional AA guns or, often, rocket batteries called "Z" batteries. Both systems operated around Birmingham.

There were other forms of air defence such as barrage balloon batteries and searchlight crews. The former were normally manned by the RAF, I think.

The first thing to think about is possibly the likelihood of his having been called up into the Regular Army. This would depend on age, job and health. If he wasn't, the HG is a near certainty. Either way, unfortunately it's going to be difficult tracking him down without further clues coming out of family memories and records.

Chris
 
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Thanks for the replies....yes, I had thought the Home Guard a possibility. I know from one story he definitely manned an AA Gun but no idea as to location of designation. I'll check out the Home Guard site.

As to the Air Defence Corp I did wonder about that as well. Perhaps may be a mis-translation through age and time but the only specific stories I have at the moment are of him on AA guns.

Thanks for the attention! :friendly_wink:
 
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