2 NZEF 33 Battalion + Help with abbreviations please.

[jab]

The service records of my father show that he was marched in to 33 Battalion in Egypt in May 1944 and was placed on X(iv) list "S" NZ Infantry Corps. In June he was marched out of 33 Bn to Advanced Base as a reinforcement before eventually being attached to 26th Battalion in August 1944.

I can find no reference to 33 Bn anywhere on the internet and am wondering if anyone knows what it was?

Also, what does the "S" mean in "S" NZIC?; is S/A subsistence allowance?; and could "on M/O" be on medical orders?

I do have a copy of the "Commonly Used Abbreviations" for service records but these are either not on it or don't make sense in the context they are used.

One more puzzle is "Transferred to N.Z. Roll" and what looks like "Oneti" in November 1945. Any ideas what that is?  I thought it might be a ship but I'm pretty sure he arrived back in NZ on the Orion in February 1946.  Was that M.C. 808?

Any help you could give would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Jab

[Dave Homewood]

Puzzling. My first thought was 33 Battalion was part of the 3rd Division in the Pacific, but apparently it wasn't

M/O may be Movement Orders. I guess it depends on the context.

[angelsonefive]

M/O could be 'March(ed) Out ' ?

33 Battalion is a bit of a mystery. I suspect it was not a fighting infantry battalion as such, but a holding and training unit at the NZ Division Base at Maadi Camp in Egypt.

26 Batt. had moved to Italy in Oct. '43, so the " Advanced Base " referred to would have been the NZ Div. camp at Bari.

[jab]

Thanks, Dave & angelsonefive.

The context "on M/O" was used in is when he had been discharged from General Hospital, attached to Reception Depot, then ceased to
be attached to Reception Depot on M/O and attached to Advanced Base Camp Hospital. To me 'Marched Out" didn't seem to be right.

I hadn't heard of "Movement Orders" before, Dave, but it sounds like it could refer to a whole unit not just one person?

I too thought 33 Bn might be some sort of holding unit but can't find any reference to it.

Thanks for the information about the camp at Bari, angelsonefive.

Every little bit of information helps build the bigger picture!

[tgapete]

M/I, M/O might generally refer to marching in or out,basically being transferred,in this case a few early entries in my fathers records are
M/o to 12/ Bde. Gp Kaikohe.
M/O to Area 1 pool by ? dept for dairy fact. WK. Grt. 4days LWOP
M/I from area 1 ex LWOP & 7RMT
M/o NMD base depot. posted 1/ RMT coy.
The XIV list would be a kind of paper holding pool for the reinforcements before being posted to their units.
The NZ Roll would be the list for those to be embarked home.They had different names. Easy to find the reinforcement lists going from NZ,but not so much the other way! Anyone know a good link for these rolls? A good link would help you identify the name of the roll your dad was on. This link www.nzdf.mil.nz/personnel-records/nzdf-archives/resources/x-lists-postings-ww2-army-service-records.htm#ptaamioo
should explain the X lists. Perhaps a copy of your dads record here may help others to decipher the writing? Hope this heled a bit.

[angelsonefive]

Oneti ( or Onesti ) is a town in Romania, but I doubt if any NZ Army personnel got as far as there.

Oneti could refer to a ship. The Field element of 2NZ Div. may have come home via the Base in Egypt. The Oneti could have been a vessel that was transport between Italy and Egypt. Just a suggestion.

I hope this helps.

a15

[Dave Homewood]

I posted the link to this thread onto my New Zealanders in the Italian Campaign Facebook page as there are several experts of Army history there. Ron Palenski has posted this link to the 33 Battalion records at National Archives

archway.archives.govt.nz/ViewFullItem.do?code=20111815

The Facebook thread is here

[jab]

Thanks for further suggestions of answers to my questions. Especially to Dave for posting the link to Facebook. While I will not be able to access (as I don't live in NZ) the archives re the 33 Bn, at least I know that it did exist!
Also, my guess that M (as in "on M/O") is likely to refer to Medical has some support! The "on" in the context, for me, discounts the M/O abbreviation on the NZDF list as Marching Out.

I think I should clarify, so I don't waste people's time, that I have copies of the "NZDF 2nd NZEF - Army - WW2 Commonly Used Abbreviations" and "X Lists and Postings in WW2 Army Service Records" and with their help and internet research have managed to decipher my father's service records apart from the things mentioned in my first post which are now down to:

1. what does the "S" mean in "S" NZIC? (context - "placed on X(iv) list "S" NZ Infantry Corps).

2. is S/A subsistence allowance? (context "on temporary duty working.....to live at home S/A payable).

3. "arrived back in NZ on the Orion in February 1946". Was that M.C. 808? - I know that troopships were given numbers but usually prefixed by NZHMT or similar. (context "Returning NZ" - Place " M.C. 808)

Thanks again for everyone's interest.
Jab

[richardc]

I suspect it was a training battalion, from which they would be posted to an infantry battalion (or other unit) in the Div.

Here's an extract from the diary/memoir of a 4th Reinforcement chap who fought with the 25th Btn: "Maadi Camp was the NZ Army Base Camp in the desert, not far from Maadi Village – a pleasant town about 20 kms from Cairo. A fast diesel-train connected Bab El Louk Station in Cairo with stops: Dead City, Tuta Caves, Maadi, and the terminus at Helwan, another 10 kilometres from Maadi. We were situated in the 35th Training Battalion, one of three training battalions: 34 – Northern; 35 – Central; and 36 – Southern...."

[jab]

Thanks, Richard. Your information is very helpful.
Jab

[Dave Homewood]

I just had this response from my 'Courage And Valour' Facebook page to this, from Hildaren Haenga t

"the 33rd Infantry Training Battalion was the southern Infantry Training Deport at Maadi Camp Renamed, 31st (Northern) 32nd (Central) Deports."

[jab]

Thanks again, Dave, for posting the link to this thread onto your New Zealanders in the Italian Campaign Facebook page late last year. I have just checked am happy to say that two replies posted this year have probably solved my problem of the 33rd Battalion. Please pass on my thanks.

Jab