2TAF Mobile Air Traffic Control Unit

[Allan125]

"2TAF Mobile Air Traffic Control Unit"

I have been asked to post this by Ray Hobbs - He can be reached via this forum or his e-mail address is ray.hobbs(at)sympatico.ca - replacing the (at) of course!! Can anybody help him please?

I have an uncle who served in the RAF during the Second World war. He was a driver and part of Maintenance Unit #3, attached to the 2nd Tactical Air Force. His early duties, a few weeks after D-Day was to drive in a Mobile Air Traffic Control Unit, which followed the Canadian Army in Northern Europe. The role of this unit was to set up on captured airfields to assist damaged allied planes to land without going over the Channel.

The unit appears to have been relatively self-contained, with one Officer, one NCO (my uncle) and six or seven other rankers.

Do you have any information on such units associated with the 2nd TAF? If so, could you please provide me with a that information, or suggest a direction in which I could go to find out more? With many thanks

Ray Hobbs

Hamilton, Ontario

Canada PS: Although I am a Canadian, and my uncle's unit worked with the Canadian Army, he was RAF, as was his unit.

[Jaap Woortman]

Dear Allan,

Nice to meet you here.
Could it not have been a Mobile Signals Unit or a part from a MSU?
These were rather small units attached to a Wing.
I know that at Eindhoven after the war in 1945 5251 "Q"MSU was responsable for radio communication at the field. The unit has one Cpl. and two airmen.

Jaap

[Allan125]

Hello Jaap

Nice to meet you here as well - thanks for your information. I will pass this link over to Ray as well as a reply from Joss Leclercq on RAF Commands.

As it supported the Canadian Army my guess it that it operated within 84 Group rather than 83 Group, and I am not as familiar with that Groups Units as with those from 83 (although I would expect them to duplicate each other).

I can find no trace in 2TAF (original or 2006 version) or "RAF Flying Training and Support Units" but, naturally, I could have missed it!!

As you would expect my 125 Wing project is still continuing, some weeks provide more information than others.

I now know the truck that Dad travelled in from Ford to Kastrup (I am named after the driver!!), and where he loaded onto his LST at Gosport Hards. But finding the actual LST pennant number and flotilla is a little bit harder!!

kind regards


Allan