BRITISH ARMY UNITS IN BRIDGWATER, SOMERSET WW2

[ORISKANY]

'evening all,

Can any forum reader point me in the right direction please? I am trying to find a list of British army units located in Bridgwater, Somerset together with camp names or areas, during WW2 and just after. Any help would be appreciated. Answers as and when you can please. Thank you.

ORISKANY. (aka Martin)

ps not listed on Airfield Information Exchange website.

[badjez]

Martin,

In the Public Record Office are two sources that will provide all the information you want, but it won't be easy.

a) The official 'Location Lists' can be found in series WO33. They list every unit of the army and where it is stationed periodically, but as the lists are in regt/corps order you need to read every page to determine those in Bridgewater.

b) The WO199 series are War Diaries, and those for units posted in Somerset MAY contain Defence Schemes for their locality. These schemes list everything to do with a town's defences, including military, civil, fuel, etc. Whilst every tow had a Defence Scheme compiled for it finding them is like looking for hen's teeth. The problem is that you need to know which units were stationed locally i.e. do you look in the Cameron Highlanders War Diary for when they were stationed in town. To find this means trawling through higher echelon ORBATS to establish which Brigade of which Division was in Western Command, and for what period...

Alternatively, hope someone has already done the hard yards for you. Have fun! I've spent 30+ years trying to locate units in East Anglia and I still haven't got a complete list.
Stephen.

[ORISKANY]

Thank you Stephen. I may not have enough time left on this earth I look forward to any future replies from Forum members which may help.