Unit Abbreviations

[Steve Brew]

I need help with some abbreviations for units based at Eindhoven in March 1945, please.

83 Group’s Main HQ included an Air POW Int Section and an AM Tech Int Section.

Meals were provided at the NAAFI manned by 206 BIS (What was BIS?)

Several dental units were available, thereunder 108 MDS (Mobile Dental Surgery?)


Also, in April 1945, the units at Twente included A Section, 426 R&R Unit (Surely not 'Rest & Relaxation'?!)

Any help with these abbreviations would be most appreciated

Thanks
Steve

[Mikkel Plannthin]

Having Sturtivant at hand for another thread, leads to the following suggestions :

91 FSP (= Forward Staging Post)

361 ALS (= Air Landing School) and 2 ADLS (= Air Delivery Letter Service)

401 ASP (Air Stores Park)

70 MTLRU (= Mechanical Transport Light Repair Unit)

13 PTC (= Personnel Transit Camp/Parachute Training Centre)

123 AMES (=AM Experimental Station = ground radar station)

Hope to help

Mikkel Plannthin

[malcolm_raf]

Hi Steve

PSP = Pierced Steel Planking - similar to th rsand channels used on vehicles in the desert.

Malcolm

[Steve Brew]

Thanks for these Mikkel and Malcolm
Do you know what the Air Landing School's purpose was?
Regards
Steve

[Mikkel Plannthin]

I do not know, but my guess would be to train people to parachute, and that it is placed at a front line unit, cf. ypu additional question on TOCH, because this was were the people were, not in England. Then again Eindhoven was not actually front line in March 1945.

But this is not knowledge, only guessing.

Mikkel

[jonny]

Air Prisoner Of War Intellignce Section and Air Ministry Technical Intelligence Section. One actively sought out and interviewed Luftwaffe POWs and the other examined foreign aircraft that came into allied hands. I believe!

Rgds

Jonny

[CZ_RAF]

Hi Steve, back to your abbreviations:

MDS - yes, Mobile Dental Surgery, see http://cas.awm.gov.au/photograph/UK3019

Pavel

[Steve Brew]

Thanks Mikkel, Jonny and Pavel, most appreciated and a great help.

I'm not yet 100% sure, though, that ALS is Air Landing School in this instance, and have the impression it had rather something to do with aircraft servicing from the way it's laid out on the document I'm looking at. Moreover, each Wing within 83 Group was allocated an ALS, which moved from base to base as each Wing moved forward on the front between March and May 1945. Would an Air Landing School do that? Wouldn't it rather be a stationary unit behind the front, rather than this situation? Sorry, Mikkel, I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just a bit confused by the circumstances.

Otherwise, does anyone have any idea on the remaining one, "426 R&R Unit", please?

Also a new one, "3 AFAS", which I believe had something to do with airfield construction. Any ideas?

Thanks
Steve

[Mikkel Plannthin]

Steve,
Do not worry! I do not mind being wrong - in this case at least :-) In the end I do not want to lead you down the wrong path in your research.

My guess was only based on the fact that Sturtivant mentioned an ALS based on a Parachute Training Centre.

Mikkel

[jossleclercq]

hello Steve,

Can your ALS be an ALG badly hand-written, or a typo ? That could account for Advanced Landing Ground (I've never heard of anything like Advanced Landing Site/Strip ?) Another possibility would be ELS for Emergency Landing Strip.

R&R for Rearm and Refuel, the kind of commando units which were servicing the planes in ELS and ALG during the Battle of Normandy. You should try this way, probably through a Google search.

Good luck

Joss