Genealogy Chat

Thanks very much for everyone's help on this one.

Slartibartfast Thanks I do have this document on cloth but it only lists ship & shore placements, I would have been nice to find the places my father visited as after 12 years in the RN he must have seen a few places. it also tells me he got Korea & United Nations medals (1952) this is quite a sad thing for my father as he tells me (a long time ago) he had so many photos, memories & his medals BUT he has lost them all somewhere in a previous marriage, his ex wife has now passes on & no one knows where they are :-( .

Royal Navy records are very different from that of the other services.
People serving in the Royal Navy carry around their service record themselves. It is printed on cloth as opposed to paper (in case it gets wet) and travels from ship to ship with the owner.
I have my father's one. I don't think the Royal Navy will issue duplicates but I am willing to be corrected on this.
I wrote to the address at the bottom of this posting to find out what medals my father was entitled to. It had to be accompanied by a letter from his next of kin (in this case my Mother). I found out that he was entitled to the Burma Star but it was never issued. So they sent it to me. (This was in 1999)
Naval Pay & Pensions
AFPAA (Centurion)
Centurion Building
Grange Road
Gosport
Hants
PO13 9XA

I agree with SRS - if he is frail and is unable to manage his affairs, someone must have POA and could sign on his behalf. They may have to send a copy of the POA with the application.

If he is mentally competent and is physically able to sign, you could complete the forms and ask him to sign them.

Hi Andrew, you probably won't be to get to apply for it if he is still living.

Could you not complete the forms for him? Do you or another family member have power of attorney & could do so on his behalf?

Many thank for that info +++DetEcTive+++ Looks like I may have to pay as he is too frail to apply himself & wife passed away.

http://www.veterans-uk.info/service_records/service_records.html

And follow the links. As he is still living, and if he is willing to sign the form, it will be free. Technically, only he can request his service record, unless his wife or someone else has power of attorney.

If the service man is deceased, it would cost £30 unless the form is submitted by his widow when it will be free.

I've only 1946 RAF national service records for a next of kin. He has had to interpret a lot of the abbreviations as they made no sense otherwise.
There are details of his nok, trade, abbreviations of where posted and when, including a hospital (we didn't ask for medical records, but we could if we had wanted to), courses he had been on, and general character references.

Hi, Does anyone know if I can apply for my Dad's Navy records ? He was in from 1948 to 1960.

What info is given ? and where & how do I apply ?

Many thanks

ps, He is still living :-)