Major J.L. FORD, T.D.
Royal Engineers
by
Lieutenant Colonel Edward De Santis
© 2002. All Rights Reserved.
J.L. Ford was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers (Territorial Army) on the 24th of June 1936. In April of 1938 he was serving with the Essex Fortress Engineers in No. 1 Anti-Aircraft Company, T.A. with headquarters on Market Road in Chelmsford. He appears to have served with this unit for some time, rising to the rank of Captain on the 16th of December 1948.
Captain Ford was awarded the 1st clasp to his Territorial Efficiency Decoration in 1952 and was promoted to the rank of Major of the 1st of December 1953. From this date up to 1963 he appears to have served with the Movement Control Section, Army Emergency Reserve. In 1962 he was awarded a Royal Engineers Shooting Medal for rifle marksmanship. This latter medal is in the author's collection.
Footnote:
Philip Nuttall has contacted the author to say that as part of his National Service between December 1950 and January 1952 he served under a Major Ford who at that time was the Officer Commanding 34 Squadron in 37 Army Engineer Regiment in Osnabruck, Germany. Nuttall remembers Major Ford as wearing medal ribbons from the Second World War on his uniform and that Ford may have gone to Cyprus with the regiment after Nuttall completed his service, thus giving Ford entitlement to the General Service Medal with clasp [CYPRUS]. Whether or not Philip Nuttall's old O.C. is Major J.L. Ford has not been determined. The post-WW2 Army Lists referenced below do not show Major J.L. Ford as having any war service; hence, Nuttall's O.C. with the ribbon bars may be a different Major Ford. If anyone has any information on either Major Ford, please contact the author.
REFERENCES:
1. Army List, 1938.
2. Army List, January 1953.
3. Army List, 1956.
4. Army List, 1963.
5. NUTTALL, P. Personal communication, October 2002.