Hi,
I want to start by saying "Thank You" for this invaluable service you are providing by having this forum. I have been "lurking in the shadows" for quite some time now trying to get a better understanding of what my father did during his service in WW2 and have found many answers here. For that I am most grateful.
At first all I was trying to do was to replicate his Battledress blouse, but that task has snowballed into an all out research project and the more information I find the more proud and awestruck I am of my Dad and every other soldier who fought for our freedom.
I have my Dad's service records and have pored over the pages a thousand times and I have ended up having many questions that I am hoping you will be able to assist with.
I'm hoping to submit more inquiries later but for now I could use some help with some abbreviations that I haven't been able to find anywhere:
FTW, Spc Inc, WTO, Adm and Mac Increment
FTW - as in Leave P(1) no ftw.
Spc Inc - as in SOS (from 2 CARU) to 1st Med Regiment Spc Inc
Note -He ultimately ended up with the 3rd Medium Regiment
WTO - as in TOS WTO L/Bdr (This happened after he was injured)
SOS (from 2 CGRU) to 1 Adm Trp Coy
SOS (from 1 Adm Trp Coy) to 2 Mac Increment
Any assistance you can provide will be appreciated more than I could express.
Melodie,
Some of the acronyms I know, some I don't. So here goes.
FTW. Judging by the context I would say that it has something to do with a travel warrant, as in "no f--- travel warrant. Maybe "no free travel warrant." Travel warrants were issued to soldiers by their unit when said soldiers had to travel on civilian networks, usually rail or bus. Some leave was granted with travel warrants, some without. It looks like this particular grant of leave was for a local destination.
Spc Inc. Special Increment. Units, in this case a medium artillery regiment, could be given a special increment to hold personnel over and above their establishment. The reasons for having a spc inc are many, and many units fought with additional troops in a spc inc till the end of the war.
WTO. Not exactly sure, but I do know that L/Bombardier was a unit appointment, not a rank. That means a soldier holding such an appointment would lose it when he left, or was SOS, his unit. Said soldier may receive a new L/Bdr appointment upon arrival, or TOS, at his new unit. This is what I think happened here. He was appointed L/Bdr at the same time he was TOS. I think the 'W' may stand for 'with' as in "TOS with TO L/Bdr.
Adm. Administration or administrative. 1 Administration Troop Company.
Mac Increment. Are you sure Mac is in lower case? MAC (upper case) stands for Motorized Ambulance Company. If your dad was injured while in the artillery, and as a result had his medical profile reduced to where he was no longer fit to be in an active artillery unit, but was still of a profile sufficient to work in a 'B' echelon unit, like a MAC, he would have been transferred to one after recovering from his injuries. Increment, again, as over and above unit establishment.
This is my best estimation. Hope it helps. Oh, and thanks for putting the acronyms in context. It makes translating from Army to English that much easier.
Cheers,
Dan.