WW2 Black troops in Britain

Hello, I am a bit desperate looking for information about WW2 Black troops in Britain.

It can be lists of personnel, photos, articles, any type of record that gives us a bit to go on, because we are very depressed after several months looking for info.

Whenever it seems that we have found something, there is just a code and no text.

If we research the code, we get the 'not found' message, like in https://www.archives.gov/files/publications/ref-info-papers/rip105.pdf.

Please, if anyone can share something or have an indication, reply to this post.

Thank you very much.

Sandra

  • If you can identify specific records on the linked Reference Information Page that interests you, I'm sure that National Archives staff can tell you how to access them.  Keep in mind though that most World War II era records are still only available in their original paper formats.

  •  ,

    Thank you for posting on History Hub!

    The link you have provided is for a PDF (Portable Document Format). You should be downloading a file that can be readable in a browser extension supporting the file format, or by using a program such as the free Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you can download with this link.

    The file you are trying to read "Records of Military Agencies Relating to African Americans from the Post-World War I Period to the Korean War," does provide some guidance for locating records concerning Black troops and in some cases, individual Black soldiers. If you can verify that you are opening the file as a PDF in a program that can read it, you should be able to access this publication. Perhaps trying a different device that you know has a program to read PDFs would help? There are a number of possible resources which include records of soldiers in Great Britain in this publication. If you can identify specific resources that are of interest to you, NARA staff will be happy to assist in helping you get access to those records.

    We hope this is helpful.

  • Hello,

    Thank you very much amazing help, we are very, very grateful.

    I have contacted NARA and a bunch of people and organisations under the Sun, because we have a list of areas and battalions, but there isn't further information anywhere, as NARA did not reply to this list.

    If, by any chance, any of you could provide further help, it would be glorious.

    By now we have exhausted our very tiny pot of money for research and we are trying not to sink our boat, as we are using our own money, spending hours and hours looking for records, with no results.

    Please, if any of the below triggers a recorded, please, contact us, as we are committed to honour the people that fought, but we are really struggling.

    Here is the list:

    Hull            

    17 Special Service Company, 3 Platoon *             Yorkshire, East Riding WA6250

    498 Port Battalion (Transportation Corps), HQ & HQ Det * Yorkshire, East Riding      WA6250

    498 Port Battalion (Transportation Corps), 254 Port Co *           Yorkshire, East Riding      WA6250

    498 Port Battalion (Transport Corps), 257 Port Company *        Yorkshire, East Riding      WA6250

    498 Port Battalion (Transportation Corps), HQ & HQ Det *        Yorkshire, East Riding      WA6250

    498 Port Battalion (TC), HQ & HQ Detachment *             Yorkshire, East Riding WA6250

    498 Port Battalion TC, 255 Port Company *        Yorkshire, East Riding WA6250

    498 Port Battalion TC, 256 Port Company *        Yorkshire, East Riding WA6250

    498 Port Battalion TC, 257 Port Company *        Yorkshire, East Riding WA6250

    498 Port Battalion TC, HQ & HQ Detachment *  Yorkshire, East Riding WA6250

    856 Quartermaster Fumigation & Bath Company (M) (-) * Yorkshire, East Riding      WA6250

    1517 Quartermaster Truck Battalion (-), HQ & HQ Det *            Yorkshire, East Riding      WA6250

    1517 Quartermaster Truck Battalion, 2024 QM Trk Co *            Yorkshire, East Riding      WA6250

    1517 Quartermaster Truck Battalion, Medical Det *      Yorkshire, East Riding WA6250

    856 Quartermaster Fumigation & Bath Company (M), (-) *       Yorkshire, East Riding

    17 Special Service Company, 3 Platoon *             Yorkshire, East Riding WA6250

           856 Quartermaster Fumigation & Bath Company (M), (-) *        Yorkshire, East Riding

     

    Scorton

    595             93 - 86 Station Complement Squadron           Yorkshire, North Riding      QZ7125

    595             93 - 422 Night Fighter Squadron          Yorkshire, North Riding            QZ7125

    149             94 - 1053 Signal Company (Service Group), Detachment A  Yorkshire, North Riding         QZ7125

    149             94 - 1444 Ordnance Supply & Maintenance Company           Yorkshire, North Riding         QZ7125

    149             94 -  2197 Quartermaster Truck Company (Aviation)             Yorkshire, North Riding         QZ7125

    86 Station Complement Squadron Yorkshire, North Riding        QZ7125

    74 Service Group, 1 Service Squadron P  Yorkshire, North Riding            QZ7125

    75 Station Complement Squadron            Yorkshire, North Riding            QZ7125

    1224 Quartermaster Company (Service Group), Det A   Yorkshire, North Riding      QZ7125

    1 Service Squadron P(Provisional?)           Yorkshire, North Riding            QZ7125

    30 Mobile Reclamation and Repair Squadron      Yorkshire, North Riding            QZ7125

    86 Station Complement Squadron            Yorkshire, North Riding            QZ7125

    425 Night Fighter Squadron          Yorkshire, North Riding            QZ7320

     

    Potters Hill       

    191 Medical Dispensary (Aviation) (Yorkshire, West Riding?)    (VE7807?) BLANK

    13 Replacement Control Depot, Squadron C       (Yorkshire, West Riding?) (VE7807?) BLANK

    331 Station Complement Squadron (-)    (Yorkshire, West Riding?) (VE7807?) BLANK

    591 Army Postal Unit        (Yorkshire, West Riding?)         (VE7807?) BLANK

    1515 Quartermaster Truck Bn, 1938 QM Truck Co (-) * Yorkshire, West Riding      VE7807 WG7807

    1516 Quartermaster Truck Bn, 1950 QM Truck Co, Det A * Yorkshire, West Riding      VE7807 WG7807         

    17 Replacement Control Depot, Squadron O      Yorkshire, West Riding             VE7807 WG7807

    635             77 - 17 Replacement Control Depot, Squadron R      Yorkshire, West Riding      VE7807 WG7807

    Wortley 

    1912 Ordnance Ammunition Company *                       Yorkshire, West Riding   VE7819

    2104 Quartermaster Truck Company (Aviation) *           Yorkshire, West Riding      VE7819

    1961 Ordnance Depot Company, Detachment A *Yorkshire, West Riding         VE7819

    635             77 - 1962 Ordnance Depot Company (*?)      Yorkshire, West Riding      VE7819

    635             77 - 2104 Quartermaster Truck Company (Aviation) *           Yorkshire, West Riding         VE7819

    Newcastle-upon-Tyne

    HQ Eastern Base Section, Detachment C, Provost Marshal         Northumberland

    22 Anti-Aircraft Artillery Group, HQ & HQ Battery           Northumberland           QZ7383

    10 - 22 Anti-Aircraft Artillery Group, Headquarters         Northumberland           QZ7383

    638             95 - 321 Fighter Control Squadron      Northumberland           QZ7383

    638             95 - 573 Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion, HQ & HQ Co       Northumberland      QZ7383

    22 Anti-Aircraft Artillery Group, Headquarters    Northumberland           QZ7383

    321 Fighter Control Squadron      Northumberland           QZ7383

    573 Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion, HQ & HQ Co        Northumberland           QZ7383

    Sheffield 

    HQ Eastern Base Section, Military Police Detachment A             Yorkshire, West Riding      VE8208

    605 Quartermaster Graves Registration Co, 2 Platoon   Yorkshire, West Riding      VE8208

    HQ West Base Section, Military Police Detachment A    Yorkshire, West Riding      VE8208

    Haltwhistle       

    250 Field Artillery Battalion, Battery C    Northumberland           QZ1080

    European Theatre of Ops Prisoner of War Encl No 6      Northumberland           QZ1080

    513             33 - 440 Prisoner of War Processing Company           Northumberland      (QZ1080?) QZ198

    Harrogate         

    7 General Hospital             Yorkshire, West Riding             VE7874

    65 General Hospital Medical IET Detachment A Yorkshire, West Riding             (VE7874?) BLANK

    115 General Hospital        Yorkshire, West Riding             VE7874

    Detachment of Patients 4198 HP              Yorkshire, West Riding             VE7874

    North Shields

    32  10 Hospital Train Northumberland     QZ8388 QZ0388

    Leeds     

    HQ Eastern Base Section, Military Police Detachment D             Yorkshire, West Riding      VE7654

    Penistone

    364 Engineer General Service Regt, 2 Bn, Company D * Yorkshire, West Riding      VE7123

    Holmes  

    41 Signal Construction Battalion, Company A *  Yorkshire, East Riding WA2958 BLANK

    Riccall    

    990 Engineer Treadway Bridge Company             Yorkshire, East Riding              WA0958

    South Dalton

    655             18         7 Signal Center Team  Yorkshire, East Riding WA4465

    Middlesbrough

    564 Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion, HQ Plot Company            Yorkshire, North Riding      QZ9935

    Middleton        

    7 Ordnance Medium Maintenance Company      Yorkshire, East Riding WA4269

    North Burton    

    ETO Prisoner of War Encl No 8, Enclosure 8B      Yorkshire, East Riding WA5691

    European Theatre of Ops Prisoner of War Encl No 8 (-) Yorkshire, East Riding WA5691

    Thank you very much.

    Sandra

  •  

    Thank you for posting your follow-up request on History Hub!

    As another community member mentioned, the vast majority of World War II-era Army and Army Air Forces records in NARA’s custody have not been digitized. 

    It is possible that operational records for some of the units you are interested in could be located in series like World War II Operations Reports, 1940-1948 (entry NM-3 427) in the Records of the Adjutant General's Office (Record Group 407) or  Unit Histories, 1943-1967 (entry UD 37042) in the Records of U.S. Army Operational, Tactical, and Support Organizations (World War II and Thereafter) (Record Group 338), which are in the custody of The National Archives at College Park, Maryland

    These series contain thousands of boxes of records and millions of individual documents. As a matter of policy, the National Archives (NARA) is staffed to assist researchers with their work, but not to perform substantive research on their behalf. Due to the extensive list of units that you are interested in, the best course of action is for you to schedule a research visit.

    We will be happy to make these records available in our research rooms should you have an opportunity to visit the National Archives. We recommend scheduling an advanced consultation before scheduling a research visit; working with a reference consultant will help you better prepare for your visit. Please contact archives2reference@nara.gov to schedule an advanced consultation. 

    You might also be interested in series like Muster Rolls and Rosters, 11/1/1912 - 12/31/1943 and Morning Reports, ca. 1912 - 1946. For more information about these records, please contact the National Archives at St. Louis (RRPO) at stl.archives@nara.gov. Please note that rosters for units serving in World War II from 1944-1946 were destroyed in accordance with Army disposition authorities. For more information, please see Access to Morning Reports and Unit Rosters | National Archives.

    You could also hire a researcher to conduct research on your behalf. A list of private researchers who are familiar with National Archives facilities is available on our website at https://www.archives.gov/research/hire-help/index.html.

    We invite you to continue the conversation with community members on History Hub, but should you have follow up questions for the staff at Archives II, please email us at archives2reference@nara.gov so that we can assist you further. 

    We hope this is helpful for your research! 

    Sincerely,

    Textual Reference Archives II Branch (RR2RR)

    [RR2RR 24-19961-RS]