Family Historian User Group

We do not hold the Unit War Diaries at the Institution but Volume VIII of the Corps history covers the Campaigns from 1938 to 1948 in France and Belgium 39-40, Norway, the Middle East, East Africa, the Western Desert, North West Africa and Activities in the UK.  The book is well referenced and all mentions of both 4 Fd Sqn and 17 Fd Coy are indexed although it does not mention that 17 Fd Coy was in Africa.  Volume IX covers Sicily and Italy, along with the war against Japan and the Normandy Invasion et sec.

The books are available in both printed form and as part of the CD you mentioned, which contains Volumes I to XI.  Volume XII is only available in printed form at the moment and covers 1980 to 2000.

Unit War Diaries are available through the public records office but are quite difficult to use as you need to know the specific dates you want to look at.  The Campaign Summaries may also be available publicly but are keep secret for longer than the diaries as they are not compiled until many years later.  It is worth enquiring.  The Summaries tell you in detail which units were in which operations and so act as a route map to the diaries.

ganstey said:
Just received a copy of this CD. It contains the entire Corps history up to 1980 split into 11 volumes. Each volume comes as a PDF containing scanned pages from the printed version. Some of the scans are a bit wonky, and the typeface looks like it was produced on a mechanical typewriter, but all the text is perfectly readable.

One advantage of having it in PDF form means that you can readily search it.

The descriptions are fairly detailed, especially as the Corps does not have a Regimental or Unit Diary as such. Even just having a quick scan I have learnt new details of exactly what my father might have been doing during certain engagements.

Well worth the £10 + £1 P&P
Graham

Owing to weak strength and mechanical failures the Division  could
do little to stop the enemy.  Further a threat by German armour  to
the supply dump at Msus caused the garrison at that place to destroy
the petrol on which the Division so largely depended for movement.
In consequence Divisional Headquarters with  several units,  includ-
ing  the majority  of  the R.E., was  surrounded  at Mechili,  on  8th
April, and had  to  surrender.  A  few detachments, including No.  P
Troop and “B” echelon of 4th Field Squadron, a detachment of the
Field Park Troop and individuals escaped and eventually with forty
German prisoners  joined other British units,

ganstey said:
Hi Gerry,

I'm not sure what you mean by Civil Affairs. Each volume is over 500 pages long, and there are two volumes covering WW2. As an example of the type of coverage given, here is an extract that refers to my father's unit:

...

I'm afraid you're going to have to give me something I can search on before I can answer your question.
Graham

MALAYA  AND  SINGAPORE
We have seen (Chapter X, pages 293,294)  that the surrender of the
Japanese  forces found formations of Fourteenth Army in occupation
of Singapore and  the area of Malaya about  Port Swettenham, XV
Corps  in  the  first  named  island  and  city,  and  XXXIV  Corps  in
Malaya. Each was accompanied by  a  staff, based on  the planning
teams described above (pages 563,  564), to supervise the rehabilita-
tion of the civilian life of the dependencies. This staff at first formed
part of the military administration, and  later, as the civil government
began  to  take over  responsibility for  civil  affairs from  the army,
gradually reverted  to  the civilian status  from which  most  of  the
officers were drawn.

Owing to the necessity of sending a strong force  to  the Dutch East
Indies, XV Corps, with 5th Indian Division and other  troops, was
dispatched  to those islands, and a Singapore Command was  set up
with Colonel Pearse, now a brigadier, as Chief Engineer (succeeded
later  by  Brigadier  H.  S. Anderson').  The  staff  of  the  C.E.  was
divided into  two sections, one under a D.C.E.  to  take charge of  all
work  required  by  the  occupational troops,  and  the other  under a
Deputy Director of Civil Affairs  (Works), Colonel 0. W. Gilmoura
who  had throughout  been  in  charge  of  the  engineer  side  of  the
Planning team, and who had been formerly Deputy Chief Municipal
Engineer in Singapore and escaped  just before the city fell in 1942.