Genealogy Chat

Hello and thank you for reading my post.

We (my MIL and I) are quite new to this family research lark, and need a bit of advice.

My MIL was born in 1943, and adopted by her own mother 13 yrs later (complicated story but it was done in an effort to protect her as her Mother was unmarried) We have requested her adoption papers, but believe that we know the name of her father - but that is all we know - a name and the fact that family gossip has it that he was stationed in the south of England with the RAF. She has only 1 aunt left alive who has given us this information.

Doing a name search on here we believe that there is only 1 man who matches the criteria. How can we find out if he was in the RAF in 1943 without actually approaching his family?

The only other lead that may be pertinent is (if he is not this british man) that her father could have been Canadian. Is there anywhere we can research the possibility of a Canadian man working for the Air Force here in 1943???

Obviously we would like to have some firm evidence before we approach his decendants and say Hi I think we are related - your Dad had an affair in the 1940s!!!

Any Help would be fantastic.

Thank YOU

I am not quite sure what you are looking for But i cannot see how a mother could adopt her own child 13 years after birth? or was it that her mothers new partner adopted the child after their later marriage?

you say, We have requested her adoption papers?

I am led to believe that only the adopted person can apply for their adoption file

Have you made an attempt to purchase the original birth cert?

Roy

Also, you say, Doing a name search on here we believe that there is only 1 man who matches the criteria

Have you looked for such records anywhere else?

Roy

We have somthing similar . A baby born to an unmarried mum. she later marries and her husband adopts the child but the way the law worked she also had to adopt her own child under her new married name. The birth father had to give his consent to the adoption because he was named as the father on the original birth cert.

My OH was in the RN and our son was born in Ghana, where there were arrangements for Forces' children to get British birth certificates. Any civilian who wanted their child to have British nationality (most of them) had to fly back to the UK for the birth.

We travelled home by sea, where we met a couple who had been in Nigeria, where their toddler had been born. They were taking an extended trip to the UK for the sole purpose of adopting their own daughter, so that she would have British nationality.

Andysmum,

I think you will find that your statment,
Any civilian who wanted their child to have British nationality (most of them) had to fly back to the UK for the birth

Is not correct

If your child is born outside the UK and is British you can register the birth with the nearest consulate

see

http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/births-deaths-marriages-civil/registering-a-birth

and

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/familyhistory/next_steps/int_06_british_overseas_01.shtml

Roy

Going back to the query..

Yes, it is possible that a Canadian could have been in the British RAF. as could, Poles, French, South Africans, Americans - you name it, individules of most Allied countries would be represented.

Canada was also at war with Germany from 1939, but it would appear that the RCAF was not able to help in Europe until after a Plan was formulated and agreed in 1941.

http://www.canadaatwar.ca/content-41/wwii-rcaf/

Next of kin, if the service man is deceased, can request WW2 records from the MOD. You'd need to find a death index reference, and possibly purchase the certificate to verify it. There is a cost for having the record searched for and copied, possibly in the region of £30.

http://goo.gl/r8bNO

You could also explore the other links on the NA site and see if the name(s) crop up.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/airmanraf.htm

No idea if a Canadian serving in an English squadron would have their records with the MOD.

Roy

The law about nationality etc. changes frequently and I am talking about the 1960's.

The first article quoted says that the consulate issues a document which is not a UK birth certificate and does not confer British nationality. It also says that Brirish nationality is acquired automatically if the parents are British. That, I think, is a change in the law since the 1960's, when nationality was determined by where you were born. This is why illegal immigrants who had children born in the UK couldn't be deported, because the children were British.

Also, consulates are not in every country - in many Commonwealth countries there is a High Commissioner, and it was that office that issued our son with a full British birth certificate, because there was a special arrangement for the Armed Forces. Civilian babies had Ghanaian nationality, which is why most of the expectant mothers went home to give birth. They weren't only British - there were a lot of Italians there working on the Volta Dam, and people from several other European countries.

Sorry, unknown, I was only trying to give an example of children being adopted by their own mothers.

Canadian Forces after 1918 (including Second World War)
Military Records Held by Library and Archives Canada
There are no restrictions on access to information relating to an individual who has been deceased for more than 20 years. Proof of death is required.
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/022-909.007-e.html
There's a copying cost ($0.40 per page + postage)

If a Canadian served with the RAF, rather than the RCAF, I don't know who would hold their records.
You could ask LAC - if you do, either post their reply (or send me a private message), please - it would be nice to know.


DetEcTive is right that many Canadians did serve in the RAF, but not right re-1941. RCAF #1 Sqd operated out of Northolt during the Battle of Britain 1940. (Northolt is 8km N of Heathrow - in the 1950s, one could cycle along the A40 past the airfield and see one of the last Hurricanes and Spitfires operational in the RAF. They were only used for ceremonial flypasts for the queen's b'day, etc.)

Roy's not quite right re:
"If your child is born outside the UK and is British you can register the birth with the nearest consulate"
The consulate won't accept registrations from some countries, namely:
Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Republic of Ireland, South Africa, Overseas Territories
These were countries that could award British citizenship and issue British passports in pre-commonwealth times.

Have you also considered the possibility that he may not have survived the war...unless Aunty knows differently?

Commonwealth War dead are listed here

http://www.cwgc.org/

If you know the airfield, somewhere there may be a history/list of the squadrons based there which could possible help you decided if Canadian airmen would have been around in the right time frame.