23rd Field Regiment, RCA, 83rd Artillery Division
My father, Eric England, was a Sgt. in the 23rd Field Regiment, 83rd Battalion RCA. I just got his war records from Ottawa and in going through them, and in reading the memoir by Laurence Smith called The History of the 23rd Field Regiment (SP) some
questions have arisen, that I hope someone will be able to assist me with. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated, as I'm compiling a history of his time during the war for my family. Here goes........
1) abbreviations - I've tried several websites but can't find the definitions for these:
BSM, RCCS, ACPO, BC, CRA, OR, CMO, CIB, GPOPA, NDHQ, MT, NAAFI, WAAF, IG, AGRA - - can anyone help?
2) Eric was in the Reserves in Toronto in 1940 - 41 and he enlisted in 1942, with the 31st Field Battery RCA, in Toronto, but
then he ended up in the 83rd Battery, (23 Field Regiment SP)which was mainly from the Hamilton, Brantford & St. Catherines area - does anyone know whether a person would be moved from the 31st to the 83rd...don't know why he didn't stay with the 31st??
3) In Eric's military record it said he was a "signaller" (he took a signals course in Barriefield, Ont.). Does anyone know what a "signaller" is or does???
4) Also in Eric's record it said he drove a motorcycle for 16 months - again does anyone know whether this would be part of a "signallers" role???
5) Does anyone know what model/make of motorcycles would have been driven during WW2 by the Canadians. I heard it
was a Triumph, but not sure.
5) Is a "battery" the same thing as a "battalion"
6) In Eric's war documents it says "83 Tr Art Div". I'm assuming
that "Art" means Artillery and "Div" means Division, but what does
"Tr" stand for..does anyone know?
7) If anyone has any info on the 83rd battery or 23rd Field Regiment, and this is a stretch, but if there's any Vets. that
knew my dad - I would love to hear from you.
Many thanks for any assistance.
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