RAF Takoradi and the West Africa Reinforcement Route 1942 to 1943

[Candleflame]

Afternoon all
My Father was stationed at RAF Takoradi and it’s staging post at Maiduguri between September 1942 and October 1943. He was ground crew wireless mech and kept a notebook where he has listed a few aircraft by number , some of which are easier to understand than others. In an entry headed write offs he has eg BA 888, Tx2RX ITR 9 no Xtals (or something). There’s also FS 418, HW 795 , Spit 808, K2115, HV 345, EE808. On another page he lists the identifiers of ‘ Glad, Beau, Beauf, Balts, then lists their aircraft individual numbers. I know they are the aircraft types but my question is really are his notes of any interest to anyone and if so who? I don’t like to throw things out and there’s quite a number of aircraft numbers listed in there. Many thanks.

[JDCAVE]

Hi and welcome! The main page has a link to research aircraft serial numbers. BA888 is a Blenheim V.

http://www.rafcommands.com/database/...php?uniq=BA888

No other details. A search of the other serial numbers might be revealing.

Jim

[robstitt]

Hello,

Would it be possible to scan or photograph your Father's notes for transmission to forum members interested in deciphering them?

As Jim notes, you can use the RAF Serials button at the top of the page for look-ups.

At first glance, 'K2115' is more likely, off the top of my head, Hurricane KZ115.

To answer your question, your Father's notes are definitely of interest. Hats off to you for seeking a home for their content.

Robert

[JDCAVE]

Hello,

Would it be possible to scan or photograph your Father's notes for transmission to forum members interested in deciphering them?

As Jim notes, you can use the RAF Serials button at the top of the page for look-ups.

At first glance, 'K2115' is more likely, off the top of my head, Hurricane KZ115.

To answer your question, your Father's notes are definitely of interest. Hats off to you for seeking a home for their content.

Robert

Absolutely. And I echo Rob on their importance. There are far too few records on the identities and records of groundcrew.

Jim

[bvs]

Afternoon all
My Father was stationed at RAF Takoradi and it’s staging post at Maiduguri between September 1942 and October 1943. He was ground crew wireless mech and kept a notebook where he has listed a few aircraft by number , some of which are easier to understand than others. In an entry headed write offs he has eg BA 888, Tx2RX ITR 9 no Xtals (or something). There’s also FS 418, HW 795 , Spit 808, K2115, HV 345, EE808. On another page he lists the identifiers of ‘ Glad, Beau, Beauf, Balts, then lists their aircraft individual numbers. I know they are the aircraft types but my question is really are his notes of any interest to anyone and if so who? I don’t like to throw things out and there’s quite a number of aircraft numbers listed in there. Many thanks.

Tx2RX ITR 9 no Xtals = No Xtals is possibly no Crystals - crystals were used in aircraft radios at that time and would have different 'crystals' for different frequences.
TR9 was a type of radio used early in the war by the RAF.RX was the shorthand for receiver - TX shorthand for transmitter.

Edit re the TR9 radio - TR = Transmitter/Receiver
AFAIK all british aircraft radio types were prefixed with 'TR' - although they were sometimes separate components - one being the 'T' and one being the 'R'.

[bvs]

Glad, Beau, Beauf, Balts

Probably ...
Gloster Gladiator
Bristol Beaufighter/Beaufort
Martin Baltimore

Although I am assuming you had already worked that out.

regards baz

[bvs]

Some RAF Radio Crystals - the TR9 crystals were smaller/slimmer than these but 'plugged in' in a similar way
The '10X' number is the RAF stores section/reference number to identify the crystal type,one has the frequency visible on the obverse.



These are the smaller/slimmer TR9 type crystals 'plugged in' to the radio set

[Candleflame]

Hi all. Thank you for your advice and comments. Very helpful and the abbreviations make perfect sense. We knew he worked on Hurricanes while in WA. He later went to work on Lancs for the rest of the war when back home.
If I scan it ( it’s a very small notebook with small writing !), am I allowed to put the scan on the thread or not and if so how ( I notice my instructions at the bottom of the page say I can’t post attachments ) . If not do I have to put them in the gallery? Thanks .

[bvs]

Hi Candleflame
I use Imgur to post pics on here - I can copy/paste the BB code direct to the posts - any photo hosting site should work for that (eg flickr etc).
I cannot post attachments either but BB code is 'on' for me (you may or may not need a minimum number of posts to be able to post BB code pics - not sure on here).
If any problems I am happy to post any image(s) on your behalf.

regards baz