Form 543 - No. 2 R.C. Cardington

[SpikeCov]

Hi Larry

Thank you for your response and the information provided. It has given me some idea what his training would have been like and his duties on the commencement of his military service.

It is great to finally know what GDGS stands for. I had a look on the net and it looks like 1 GDGS was initially based at North Coates in Lincolnshire before moving to Ronaldsway in the Isle of Man. According to one website it was up and running in the IOM on 7 July 1940, so that would put my Grandad at North Coates. Furthermore according to the IOM Government website (gov.im) it said '...accommodate the only school of its kind' so it looks like 1 GDGS might be the only one.

It does look like both my grandad and your father in law followed similar paths, as my grandad first went into the AM Unit on 04/06/1940 and was in London during the Blitz and, then on 16/08/41 he was then transferred to 2701 Defence Squadron, which later became part of the RAF Regiment as 2701 Squadron LAA. At the end of the war when 2701 Sqdn was disbanded he transferred to 2729 Sqdn and when they disbanded he moved to 2814 Sqdn.

Interestingly I found a site that explained that in Autumn 1940, a new trade of Ground Gunner was created for airfield defence, pre RAF Regiment. This was good as I could date some photos, however I am not sure when they dropped the GG badge as I have a photo of grandad wearing the GG badge dated 24 February 1942 (however the 42 is very faint that it could be 43) on the back.

Much appreciated. I hope when I get around to posting a thread on the A M Unit in a few weeks' time, you might be able to help further.

Thanks

Spike