Did army enlistment take place in Bishopsgate St. B'ham in Dec 1941?

[NickAmeghino]

Hello,

Please can anyone tell me where men were enlisted (volunteers or conscripts) in Birmingham in December 1941?

My dad (Bernard Charles Ameghino) said he was conscripted in Bishopsgate Street. (I can't ask him for information now - sadly he died in 2001.) He joined the 60th Training Regiment, Royal Armoured Corps, and started his training on 12th February 1942 in Tidworth.

I've read that some men enlisted at their local employment exchange on Saturdays. I've checked and my dad enlisted on Friday 26th December 1941, not a Saturday. Does anyone know if there was an employment exchange in Bishopsgate Street?

Hope someone can help.

Nick The Duck

 

[horsencart]

A trawl through the 1940 and 1943 directory does not reveal anything in Bishopgate St they all appear to be busineses I cannot see anywhere he would have gone to what I suspect is that he went to Broad St as this is near bye and there were a few corparation offices there

Hello,

Please can anyone tell me where men were enlisted (volunteers or conscripts) in Birmingham in December 1941?

My dad (Bernard Charles Ameghino) said he was conscripted in Bishopsgate Street. (I can't ask him for information now - sadly he died in 2001.) He joined the 60th Training Regiment, Royal Armoured Corps, and started his training on 12th February 1942 in Tidworth.

I've read that some men enlisted at their local employment exchange on Saturdays. I've checked and my dad enlisted on Friday 26th December 1941, not a Saturday. Does anyone know if there was an employment exchange in Bishopsgate Street?

Hope someone can help.

Nick The Duck

 

[NickAmeghino]

Thanks for checking the directories, horsencart, I appreciate it. Perhaps there was an office used for enlistment near the junction of Bishopsgate St with Broad St?

Nick The Duck

 

[Old Boy]

Hello Nick,

I cannot really see why it is so important to know where your father enlisted. However I am fairly sure that employment exchanges were not used for such purposes. Moreover you say that your father enlisted on Friday 26th December. This was Boxing day and, even in those dark days, normal work would have stopped for the Christmas Holiday

Old Boy.

 

[NickAmeghino]

Dear Old Boy,

I feel uncomfortable with your comment about the importance of knowing the place of my father's enlistment. As my father spoke so little about these matters, all the details that my father shared are important to me, and I hope you can respect that.

These websites contain references to men and women enlisting at labour exchanges. I'm not saying this information is accurate.
A search for the text "exchange" on these sites will take you to the appropriate place.
https://newhamstory.com/forums/index.php?action=printpage;topic=22.0
https://www.wri-irg.org/node/11902

The date of enlistment comes from my father's E531 enlistment form, and is on his B200B Statement of Services form too. It may be that this was an administrative error, or it could have been right that enlistment did take place on 26 December 1941, in spite of it being Boxing Day. However, I have noted your comment about this being less likely.

Nick The Duck

 

[Old Boy]

Hello Nick,

I am very sorry if my comment upset you in any way. I know that you would like to find out as much as you can about your fathers' life It is simply that some things are more important than others.

Old Boy.

 

[NickAmeghino]

I think you are making the point that the importance of things varies, and I agree. However, it is my point of view that the value attached to something is a subjective matter, and that this particular point about the place of enlistment is of importance to me at the moment, even if it is of no importance to anyone else.

My father's stories were sometimes exaggerated and sometimes contained errors. It has been interesting to discover that some of what he said about his wartime experiences matches the contents of written military service documents, and some hasn't. As I have so little information, I am keen to follow up on anything he said.

I have finished writing an account of my father's military service in WW2 as a mark of appreciation, gratitude and respect for his wartime contributions, as well as those of all the other WW2 servicemen and women. It is mainly focused on the battles for Normandy in 1944. However, all the little details that I've added help to personalise the account.

Hope that clarifies things.

Nick The Duck

 

[Shortie]

Nick, I felt a little sadness when I read your latest posting. Sadness for your father who could not help himself and sadness because you have had to realise this. I think it is fantastic that you are not judgemental, which is the way we should all be. I do know of someone, but he is not on this list, who may know the answer to your question, but it may take me a little time to track him down as I have no idea where he is working at the moment. I shall make enquiries as soon as the Easter break is over.

Shortie

 

[NickAmeghino]

Thanks, Shortie. Any help will be very much appreciated.

Practicing being loving, forgiving, accepting and non-judgmental - towards myself and others - is part of my spiritual path. Practice makes perfect, and I have a long way to go, but the benefits are increased energy and happiness and wellbeing... and shinier plumage!

NTD

 

[KathyP]

I can understand the journey you are on Nick. Even the smallest scrap of information is important in putting together the jig saw puzzle that family researching is and it is how you get to understand the person you are looking at. I am struggling with finding how my Dad as a Birmingham man was at some point a policeman in Yorkshire. I am also not sure how he ended up in 51st Highland division during the war. Dad died in 1970 and my parents had divorced so I am working on half remembered bits of information from when I was very young. So any help any of us can give each other is a brilliant gift.

 

[NickAmeghino]

Hi KathyP. Thanks for your message, and for your supportive comments.

I would like to help you with your research. Coincidentally, my dad's regiment (148th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps) was attached to the 51st Highland Division during 1944. Do you know what regiment your Dad was in? As you may know, the organisation of military groupings sometimes changed on a daily basis in those times. Men were "posted to" and "attached to" different regiments quite frequently, and then when the purpose was complete, they returned to their usual posting. Do you have your dad's military service records? Do you have the war diary for the regiment that he served with? I can offer limited guidance if you need help with either of these areas. If you prefer, please send me a private message with details.

Nick The Duck

 

[KathyP]

H i again Nick,

Thanks for your offer of help. I have my Dad's Soldier's Service and Pay Book which shows he joined the regular army in Birmingham on 13.Jan 1932. Interestingly I noticed that he says he is a year older than he was and I am guessing he needed to be 18 but was actually 17. From Ancestry website I have found that he was a Lance Corporal in the Corps of Military police and was mentioned in despatches. He was taken prisoner at St Valery en Caux in France, marched across France and Belgium and ended up as a POW somewhere in the Black Forest. When they were in Belgium the prisoners were 'rested' and Red Cross nurses could take a prisoner home to give them a meal and a bath knowing what would happen if they were not returned. My Mum was a Belgian Red Cross nurse and when war ended he came back to find her. I have a magazine from 1952, probably the Hello magazine of the day, which ran an article about Rommel and there is Dad in the column of prisoners. I think you can apply for service records from the Veterans Association but I think to get complete records you have to be next of kin. Dad had remarried and I am not sure if his widow is still alive, if so that would be her I suppose. So any ideas on how to find out more would be gratefully received.

Kathy