John Lever Dunford

Signalman John Lever Dunford
09 Sep 1921 - 29 May 1966
Profile Picture
Profile picture
Caption & credit
John Lever Dunford (P Titchener)
Postings
Unit or location Role Posted from until
Omagh, Area 15 Area Signals Section 20 Oct 1942 07 Sep 1944
Bachelor's Hall Instation Royal Signals Support 23 Jun 1941 30 Jun 1942
Coleshill House Control Royal Signals Support 30 Jun 1942 20 Oct 1942
Regiment
The Royal Signals
Military number
2588379
Commissioned or Enlisted
31 Aug 1939
Occupation

Surgical instrument maker

Career

It appears that although he enlisted on 31 Aug 1939 in 2nd London Division Signals, he was not mustered until 7 Dec 1940.

18 May 1941 Posted to HQ Auxiliary Units, at Coleshill House.

23 Jun 1941 Attached to Signals Section.

9 Aug 1941 Passes trade test as Electrician/Signalman AIII, an exam to confirm he could repair wireless sets, presumably the special TRD sets used by Auxiliary Units Signals.

30 Jun 1942 Ceases to be attached to 3 Infantry Training Centre for all purposes. This was the Suffolk Regiment Depot in Bury St Edmunds and suggests he had been stationed in Suffolk until this point. This might have been at Bachelors Hall, Hundon, which is supported by his leave being signed off by Lieutenant Oakey for the 3 - 4 Jan 1942, as he is believed to have been in charge at the Hall during 1942. After this Signalman Dunford returned to Coleshill House for a period.

20 Oct 1942 Attached to 47th London Divisional Signals for pay, payment of billets and ration allowance. This indicates he had been sent to to the Hampshire area and billeted locally, as part of a Auxiliary Units Signals Section. This is confirmed by Alf Ellis' Diary for 1942 which confirms he picked up Signalmen Dunford and David on 19 Oct 1942 to take them to their new area.

31 Oct 1943 Awarded Long Service and Good Conduct badge with effect from 31 Aug 1941.

7 Aug 1944 Ceased to be on lodging list. This would have been when the wireless network was being shut down and all the men were brought back to Coleshill and accommodated there.

8 Sep 1944 Posted to 3rd Technical Training Battalion, Huddersfield following the close down of Auxilary Units Signals on 7 Sep 1944.

30 Sep 1944 Dis-rated for inefficiency in his trade (likely as he was only skilled with the specialist Auxiliary Units wireless sets rather than normal Army sets).

13 - 30 Oct 1944 Admitted to Military Hospital, Catterick.

28 Nov 1944 Passes driving test and re-mustered as Driver Internal Combustion.

21 Aug 1945 Embarked for Egypt. Driver attached Headquarters Signals.

21 Jul 1946 Returned to the UK and demobbed. 

 

Address
3 Chichester Place, Paddington, London.
Other information

After the war he was an engineer in the electronics industry and lived in Langley, Buckinghamshire, now Berkshire.

His daughter Patricia; "Sadly I knew nothing of of my father’s time with the Royal Signals Auxillary Units as he never spoke of it, although he did tell me about his time in the Middle East. At the time of his death (at age just 45) I was a bit young to have developed an interest. I now have his service medals which he had never claimed".

Other pictures
Profile picture
Caption & credit
John L Dunford (from P Titchener)
Profile picture
Caption & credit
John Lever Dunford in the Middle East, 1945/46 (from P Titchener)
Profile picture
Caption & credit
John Lever Dunford possibly at Tripoli (from P Titchener)
Profile picture
Caption & credit
John Lever Dunford (from P Titchener)
References

Royal Signals Stand Down Photo caption
Patricia Titchener - daughter
Alf Ellis Diary