Captain J.S. Mallon SOS from 82nd Arty Coy RCASC to 2nd HAA Regt, but not in 2nd HAA War Dairy or Officer Roll

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malpal
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Captain J.S. Mallon SOS from 82nd Arty Coy RCASC to 2nd HAA Regt, but not in 2nd HAA War Dairy or Officer Roll

Post by malpal » Fri Oct 22, 2021 1:43 pm

I'm trying to trace my grandfather's (Captain Justin Sullivan Mallon) service with the First Canadian Army and I've successfully tracked him from July 1944-Oct 1944. While his service records indicate that he served in the 82nd Arty Coy, RCASC from June until May 1945, the War Diary for the 82 Arty Coy indicates that he was SOS and transferred to the 2nd HAA Regt on 26-Oct-1944. However, I can't find him listed as an officer in the War Diaries for the 2nd HAA Regt.

Might anyone have any suggestions about what's going on here? Why wouldn't his personnel files reflect this transfer and why wouldn't he be listed in the Nominal Roll of Officers for the 2nd HAA Regt? I'm extra suspicious because he was transferred two days after serving as prosecutor for a court martial that resulted in a guilty verdict for the two defendants. The War Diary didn't get into details, but it sounded like a controversial CR involving Belgian civilians. Any help or tips is much appreciated. I'm eager to pick up his trail.
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Re: Captain J.S. Mallon SOS from 82nd Arty Coy RCASC to 2nd HAA Regt, but not in 2nd HAA War Dairy or Officer Roll

Post by Temujin » Fri Oct 22, 2021 6:28 pm

Malpal…….welcome, and we’ll see what we can find.

First, if you don’t mind, could you share his service records here??? If I have a look at his records I might be able to decipher what was going on from them.

I’ll also check further into the war diaries, if I can find more.

EDIT. I read the above documents that you supplied, and I see that he was transferred to 2nd HAA Regt Pl (Platoon)……I believe this would be a RCASC unit, that supported the 2nd HAA Regt with transport for ammunition etc…….so most likely they had their own War Diaries, and therefore his name would NOT have shown up on the 2nd HAA Regt War Diaries. I’m checking further to see if indeed their was a RCASC Platoon assigned to support the 2nd HAA Regiment.

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Re: Captain J.S. Mallon SOS from 82nd Arty Coy RCASC to 2nd HAA Regt, but not in 2nd HAA War Dairy or Officer Roll

Post by Cyrus » Sat Oct 23, 2021 9:47 am

2HAA had an RCASC platoon attached for ammunition transport. Here are a few pages from the 2HAA history. The other 2 pages were included in an old newsletter of the 8th Battery veterans association. No mention of your grandfather as far as I can see.
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Re: Captain J.S. Mallon SOS from 82nd Arty Coy RCASC to 2nd HAA Regt, but not in 2nd HAA War Dairy or Officer Roll

Post by Temujin » Sat Oct 23, 2021 7:31 pm

Just a follow up on Cyrus’s post above………..I was going thru the 2 HAA Regiment War Diaries, and spotted this message from 2nd HAA HQ to all its units, and you can see their WAS a 2nd HAA Platoon, RCASC as well as a RCEME Workshop attached to the Regiment. So Captain Mallon was most likely posted to this unit, and I would “guess” he would have probably been the OC of this unit
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Re: Captain J.S. Mallon SOS from 82nd Arty Coy RCASC to 2nd HAA Regt, but not in 2nd HAA War Dairy or Officer Roll

Post by Temujin » Sat Oct 23, 2021 7:41 pm

I found a letter in the War Diaries of the 2nd HAA Regt………

It confirms that Capt J.S. Mallon was Officer Commanding, 2nd HAA Platoon, RCASC
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Re: Captain J.S. Mallon SOS from 82nd Arty Coy RCASC to 2nd HAA Regt, but not in 2nd HAA War Dairy or Officer Roll

Post by Temujin » Sat Oct 23, 2021 8:38 pm

I search thru LAC and indeed, their are War Diaries for the 2nd HAA Platoon, RCASC….unfortunately they haven’t been digitized yet, so to see them and get a copy, you would have to contact LAC…..here’s the page and link to the page
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https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/Collectio ... 1073062395

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Re: Captain J.S. Mallon SOS from 82nd Arty Coy RCASC to 2nd HAA Regt, but not in 2nd HAA War Dairy or Officer Roll

Post by Temujin » Sun Oct 24, 2021 6:37 pm

Globe and Mail, 1942/11/06
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Re: Captain J.S. Mallon SOS from 82nd Arty Coy RCASC to 2nd HAA Regt, but not in 2nd HAA War Dairy or Officer Roll

Post by malpal » Tue Jul 05, 2022 11:27 am

Thank you all! I'm so sorry for not responding sooner. I went down some other rabbit holes and forgot to check the replies to this post! Temujin, thank you so much for finding the War Diary! I can't describe how helpful that is. As a tight lipped veteran, he spoke very little about his time in mainland Europe, so this information is very meaningful to my whole family.

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Re: Captain J.S. Mallon SOS from 82nd Arty Coy RCASC to 2nd HAA Regt, but not in 2nd HAA War Dairy or Officer Roll

Post by Temujin » Tue Jul 05, 2022 1:40 pm

malpal wrote:
Tue Jul 05, 2022 11:27 am
Thank you all! I'm so sorry for not responding sooner. I went down some other rabbit holes and forgot to check the replies to this post! Temujin, thank you so much for finding the War Diary! I can't describe how helpful that is. As a tight lipped veteran, he spoke very little about his time in mainland Europe, so this information is very meaningful to my whole family.
Your welcome. If you need any other assistance, just let us know

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