A very interesting tunic and research, well done boys, keep up the good work!! Leon.
A very interesting tunic and research, well done boys, keep up the good work!! Leon.
Not as exciting or insightful as your example Tom, but here it is.
Regards,
Jerry
Whateverits just an opinion.
I like the recommendation, gives more of an insight into what type of commander he was and what roll he played in a not very well known part of our history. Recommendations for MBE, OBE, CBE etc are never going to be as 'exciting' as those for MM's, MC's etc as the recipient's are not in the 'thick of it'.
I see some of his letters are referenced in books on the Mau Mau uprising (google J R H Orr or J.R.H.Orr). Also, of interest, he seems to have considered emigrating to Tasmania in 1947!
Tasmanian Archives Online
Cheers,
Tom
I assume he was thinking of this in advance of the partition of India, but instead joined the RWF.by thorne83
One thing I noticed on his CBE doc was that he was still listed as being a member of the RWF, on secondment I assume.
His MID doc might be more interesting, if it can be found.
Thanks again Tom for all your help.
Regards,
Jerry
Whatever
My pleasure!
Yes, I was thinking along those lines too, with regards to the timing of him looking at emigrating. I wonder what swayed his decision in the end?
With regards to his MID, it's extremely unlikely you'll find out what it was for. You wont find a recommendation (like the ones above), per se, unless the MID was a downgraded from something like an MC, DSO, MBE etc. You may find a brief entry in the 'war diary', for the unit he was serving in at the time he was MID, saying "mentioned in dispatches for...", or his obituary might mention why, but it would be a hell of a lot of research for a slim chance of finding anything! I know because I've tried and tried to find out why my grandpa received his! You never know though, you might just get lucky!
Cheers, Tom
I also tried to find my father's Mid but never found it online, so I wont try to find Brigadier Orr's. I have already tried searching the LG and more general google searches with no luck.
I have another two named RWF officer tunics and one of them yielded no results at all, even my friend the General asked at the RWF archives and they could not find him. Somewhat of an enigma, though it has hand written inside the tunic that he was an acting Major (Captain J.R.O.Williams) attached to HQ 30 Corps in Mil S. which I assume was military security, so perhaps that is why he cannot be found.
Regards,
Jerry
Whatever
Afraid that's got me stumped too, Jerry! Only thing I can find is a John R O Williams, born in 1906, married in Glamorgan in 1934, and died March 1966 in Cardiff. Can't find any links to the military, so that's all I can offer at the moment.
Your best bet is to consult "The Army List" (a quarterly record of serving officers) for the correct time frame. You can search them here...
https://archive.org/details/nlsarmylists
Cheers, Tom
My only lead was to a company of the same name in Bridgend which is where it came from, though I never followed it up.
I have tried trolling through the army lists for other names and have found it not very user friendly, though I might give it another go, so thanks for the link.
Regards,
Jerry
Whatever
Yes, I saw that company. Might be worth an email to them, you never know it could be the son/grandson of the officer?
I must be honest, I've only ever used paper copies of the Army List, which was a lot easier to use! Hopefully you'll get a lead for it though!
A very interesting and enjoyable thread. So, Brig. Orr went from the Indian cavalry, to a line infantry regiment. I would have assumed that he might have tried to transfer to a British cavalry regiment, but, who can say what were his reasons?
He looks to have been a large fellow!
BobS
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