This blog is almost done as far as I can at the moment in Spring 2024.

I am just waiting for some research by a specialist to be completed based on Rowland Bott's Service Record and relevant War Diaries. It will be exciting to be able to understand more about his time in World War II and afterwards serving in Palestine.

Christmas in Egypt during World War II

Dad (middle) with Bill Jenkins (left) and Maurice Thurbon (right) on Christmas Day at TME [Telecommunications Centre Middle East] in Heliopolis, Egypt 1942 during his service in World War II.

See also:

Christmas 1942 page - click HERE

Egypt page - click HERE

An update on blog progress... slow though it may be

Roland Bott (1891-1947) is the father of my father, and the subject of this blog, Rowland Bott (1918-1993).

Amongst the family papers I have there are a few drawings by Roland Bott done whilst he was serving in World War I. I have added them to his page and you can view them here>

There is far more to do on this blog then I anticipated as I find I want to know more of a subject which is not my field of expertise...

So, I continue to edit the pages whilst you can still view them and add more information and images from the family papers I have.

As mentioned in my last post, 7 June 2020, there will soon come a time when a lot more specialist research will need to be done to understand more about my father, Rowland Bott's time in Royals Signals in World War II and afterwards in Palestine.

I have also created a new page for the marriage of Rowland Bott and Joan Lydeard in June 1947 which you can find here>

Going off at tangents

When I started this blog it was intended to be just my Dad's photographs of his time serving with Royal Signals in Egypt in World War II and afterwards in Palestine. I thought that those doing family research might be pleased to find photos of their ancestors who had served in with him.

L-R: Frank Morgan, Rowland Bott, Bill Jenkins

However I found myself going off at tangents in to family history. So I have created some more pages about Dad which you can find by clicking Rowland Bott (1918-1993.)

I have also created pages for his father Roland (without a W) and Roland's brother, Dad's Uncle Norman. Both served in World War I. I am still working on Roland's war service; Norman I have discovered was a POW in Germany.

There are also more details on Dad's working life on PO/GPO/BT.

Now I am going back to try to complete more about his time serving with Royal Signals. And am hoping to be able to work out what he was doing when and where in Egypt and Palestine...

Family Album

When I started this blog about Dad I thought it would be simply a case of posting the photos and then labelling them. It turned out not to be quite so simple...

I found I could not resist some research, which is taking time as this is not my field of expertise - neither family history nor army service...

From my Egypt page

But I love learning and have enjoyed putting some flesh on the bones of these photos. There is still a lot to do particularly finding out about a Royal Signals soldier in Egypt during World War II (1939-1945) and afterwards in Palestine.

From my Palestine page

But I am continuing to develop this blog and there is now a Family Album page. Click HERE> for more of the wider Bott family including details of these photos below.

A lot more pages have 'arrived' too since I started with my first blogpost in December 2019. A lot has happened since then as we are currently in the depths of a pandemic Covid-19. Our world has changed.

I found Dad's Royal Signals Cap Badge!

Bott's Royal Signals Cap Badge 1939-1946

Well this was a surprise. I found Rowland Bott's (my Dad's) Royals Signals cap badge.

I didn't know I had it.

Rowland Bott, aged 27, with cap & badge, July 1945

In the 1970s Dad, ever the craftsman, took up a new hobby - silversmithing. He was really rather good at it.

He liked to make 'things' - spoons, boxes, lids, etc. But, at the demand of his children, he also made jewellery. I used to enjoy designing simple pieces which he then made. It was a good combination as he liked making but always said he couldn't design; I liked designing but am no silversmith.

So what is the connection? Well, I inherited his silversmithing box and amongst the scrap bits and pieces of silver (he saved all the scraps), new 'raw' silver wire and sheets, broken old jewellery and little new projects half-finished, I found a rather grubby looking object. His cap badge. Chuffed!

1970s Jewellery made by Bott for his daughter, Pam, author of this blog

Above is a range of items made by Bott - all except the large chain (top left) for the Art Nouveau style pendant. Look at the tiny leaves and curls he made to my design.

He insisted on making every part of the items buying no ready-made findings. So, for example, he made all the individual links to the bracelet and it originally had a little padlock he made as the fasten (now replaced with a bought one).

Update on the progress of this new blog

At the end of December 2019 I started this blog to share and record my Dad's photographs. Rowland Bott served in the Royal Signals during World War II. He was stationed in Egypt. Just after the war he was posted to Palestine.

I am slowly uploading images and documents to tell this story of Dad - A Royal Signals Sergeant.

Rowland Bott 1945

So, I have made the blog immediately live.

There will, for now, be some errors amongst the pages whilst I sort, compose, organise, find out what the images are, try to understand the many acronyms as well as doing a little bit of research into what is a new subject for me.

A caption full of acronyms to learn! Click here for photo

As I progress there will or may be changes to the order of pages, new pages, additions, and more information especially on the A-Z Who's Who page.

I have also now added a Search facility and page of Links.

Rowland Bott, Egypt 1942