Vehicle sign
 

Is there any way of identifying the unit from the unit marking on the lorry? If it is a Divisional sign it could well be the 5th (Indian) Division.

However, it may not have Divisional significance and may indicate something else entirely.

Unusual format and colouring but the serial 48 is that of a Field Park Coy RE in an Infantry Division. I agree that 5 Indian Div is the most likely Division. Are they waring RE badges on their bush hats?

Many thanks, and yes, they are definitely wearing R.E. cap badges.

The same seller has now listed a photograph of the 29th Corps Field Park Coy, R.E. taken in Egypt in 1941. I am wondering if there may be a connection. I can find no information regarding the 29th Corps anywhere. I am wondering if it in fact might be 25th Corps.

The 29th would just be a succession number in a series of numbered Corps Field Park Companies (Fd Pk Coys) and unlikely to match the corps number itself.

Keith

Correct - the numeral designates the Fd Park Coy not the Corps part of its title. For example in First Army there were 231, 297 and 585 Corps Fd Park Coys RE.

Thank you gentlemen. So, if, I understand correctly, the 29 represents the 29th Field Park within a given Corps but there is no indication of which Corps?

However, if the two photographs came from the same source and if, the first photograph is of a 5th (Indian) Division Vehicle then it should have been a component part of the 33rd (Indian) Corps and therefore the 29th Field Park Coy in that Division?

Hello,

No. The number 29 had nothing to do with the Corps number or the number of fd pk coys in that Corps. The Royal Engineers (RE) consisted of many types of units, including fd pk coys. As each company of RE was raised it was given a number and a role designator. The 29th Corps Fd Pk Coy RE would be the twenty-ninth corps fd park coy raised in the Royal Engineers (assuming that numbering of fd pk coys started at 1). The Corps it was allocated to at any one time was immaterial, and it could have served with multiple corps during its life-time, or even any formation.

Keith

Blimey, no wonder I am confused. So is it more correct to state that the Field Park Coy is the 29th in the Corps of Royal Engineers or, am I still missing something?

The photograph has arrived today and the caption reads: 219 Corps Field Park Coy. Royal Engineers. Egypt. 13th July 1941.

These details would seem to tie it in with the 219th (London) Army Field Park Coy, R.E. who were both at Torbruk and later, in Burma.

This from Wiki:

1st London CTRE
1st London CTRE's companies were dispersed after mobilisation and assigned to other HQs. 216th, 217th and 218th (1st London) Companies joined the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France, 216th with General Headquarters (GHQ), 217th with III Corps and 218th with Lines of Communications (LoC). After the Dunkirk evacuation, 216th and 217th Companies went to the Middle East with III CTRE, which was disbanded in April 1942. 218th Company served with British Troops Northern Ireland in 1940–41, then in Gibraltar1942–44. On 21 April 1945 the company arrived in India and moved to the Ranchi area where it served as part of 101 LoC Area. It was back in Gibraltar in 1946.
Tobruk
219th (London) Field Park Company did not go to France, but remained in the London area, assigned to IV Corps after Dunkirk. Later it was sent to Egypt where it joined 6th Division on 29 July 1941. The division was progressively shipped into the besieged Libyan port of Tobruk during September and October 1941 to relieve the mainly Australian garrison, and it was re-designated 70th Division on 10 October to deceive Axis intelligence. The division's role was to prepare for a breakout to meet the planned offensive by the British Eighth Army, but the engineers were also involved in strengthening the defences, building an underground hangar for the Desert Air Force, and clearing enemy minefields (making a study of the new Teller mine).
Chindits
Once Tobruk was relieved, 70th Division moved back to Egypt, and after a short spell in Syria, it went by sea to India, arriving in March 1942. In September 1943 the division was broken up and its units handed over to 'Special Force' (the 'Chindits'). 219th Company was re-designated 219th Special Field Park Company on 1 January 1944. The company as a whole appears to have remained with Special Force HQ, but detachments may have flown into Burma with the Long Range Penetration columns during the Second Chindit Operation.
The company dropped "Special" from its title on 15 March 1945 and arrived in the Ranchi area under the command of Army Troops. It was assigned 36th Indian Division at Poona on 22 June 1945, and was disbanded in 1946.

That's a Leyland Retriever 6x4 3-Tonner in the background. I wish I had one. :)