Gnr. John Allen Williams RCA (G7439)

[Markus]

I'm trying to find some additional information about my grandfather, John Allen Williams (G7439). He was a Gunner in the Royal Canadian Artillery during WWII.

My main questions are:
-Does anyone have any tips where I could find additional information about his sub-units, such as where in the HQ 1st Cdn Army war diaries his information might turn up?
-He apparently was married to a Belgian woman while overseas, is there a location to try to find more information about his wife. (He is said to be engaged and already applied for permission in July 1945, has permission to marry on or after 28 December 1945, and is listed as married in August 1946 with his wife already in Canada with him)
-Any ideas where to get a better idea what his duties might have been like.
-A form in his service record states, " employed as a gun number in a field battery." Can anyone tell me what a gun number is?
-Any info people think might be interesting or beneficial would be appreciated!

I have attached some parts of his service records, but his main units as far as I understand them are as follows.
-5th Canadian Field Regiment (Spl Inc) - January 1942 to September 1942
-14th Field Regiment - November 1942 to January 1943 (14th Field Regiment war diaries list him in 66th Battery in March and June 1943, at least)
-1st Canadian Army Burial Affairs/Civil Affairs - April 1944 to May 1944
-Headquarters 1st Canadian Army - May 1944 to October 1945 (1st Canadian Army Camp Staff war diary muster roll list him as Batman 13 Mess in October 1944) (Field General Cour-Martial documents I found stated he was Batman for S/Sgt Aldous WH, Mess Steward, 20 Mess in January 1945 and maybe Batman to a Capt Hennell in June 1945)
-Headquarters Canadian Forces in the Netherlands - October 1945 to May 1946

I appreciate any insight or assistance that anyone can give! I know it is a long shot to find much of anything more.

Markus

[Markus]

My main questions are:

-A form in his service record states, " employed as a gun number in a field battery." Can anyone tell me what a gun number is?


Markus

Hello Markus, thank you for posting up your questions. First, I’ll answer your question above. A “gun number” was that assignment (duties) of each man on an artillery gun. So, each man was numbered in relation to the job he did while firing a gun etc.

Below is the “gun numbers” for each man on a 25 pounder field artillery gun…….you can see the Commander of the gun was “No 1” and so forth.

IMG_9730.jpeg (80.23 KiB) Viewed 1968 times

[Markus]

From the information you posted, most likely the convoy he was in from Canada to England was T.C. 14. Below is a list of all the ships that were part of T.C. 14, and he could have been on any of the one’s Carrying Troops. You can see the dates “almost” are what was in his records. These dates are usually different that the “actual” convoy dates, as sometimes the ships board the troops and sailed a day or so later…..AND, in this case I would say the ships arrived in Liverpool and then disembarked the troops the next day.

I will try and see if I can find the boarding records for these ships (which I do have links to) and see if I can spot his name and then tell you which ship he was on

I

IMG_9731.jpeg (546.06 KiB) Viewed 1967 times

[Markus]

I just checked his Regimental Number (Service number) against my lists, G7439 means

He enlisted in Military District No 7 which was New Brunswick
His original unit on enlistment was the 8th Field Battery RCA

[Markus]

Thank you Temujin for all of that information! I really appreciate it!

Markus