Genealogy Chat

Thanks everyone. I have my Father's Birth and Death Certificate though not his Service Number. Hopefully this will be enough. I don't know quite what I expect to find - he wasn't John Wayne or Audie Murphy - just an ordinary bloke 'doing his bit'. He did, though, go AWOL on two occasions, once to get married and the second time when my elder sister was born. Would this be on his Service record? He also transferred Regiments but I don't know why. M. Steer

If you write to the Royal Engineers giving all the info you have. Its possible that they may be able to supply the service number you need. I did this with the Worcestershire Regiment and they where very helpfull.

http://www.veterans-uk.info/pdfs/service_records/army_pack.pdf If you look here it says you need either the date of birth or service Helen

IF YOU GO TO THE WEBSITE IT LETS YOU DOWNLOAD A PDF OF THE FORM TO FILL IN IT SAYS YOU ALSO NEED A COPY OF THE DEATH CERT WWW. VETERANSAGANCY.MOD.UK/SERVICE_RECORDS/ARMY.HTM

I don't have his service number, it's not on his Marriage Certificate, even though he was in uniform in his wedding photo. Nor is it on the Birth Certificates of my elder siblings. I'll give it a go anyway. M. Steer

I have here one of the official forms for obtaining a soldiers records. The Mandatory fields are surname, forenames and regiment on discharge There are spaces for date of birth, rank on discharge, year of discharge and service number, but these are not marked 'Mandatory'

Margaret, you NEED his service number, do you have a childs birth cert with it on, or his marriage cert with it on? I think without his service number you are snookered.

Keith, unfortunately I don't know his service number. Don't even know exactly when he was 'called up', or 'de-mobbed'. I'll give it a go though. M. Steer

Margaret, they should be able to send you all his history if you have his service number, I believe at the moment there is approx 12 month wait due to backlog, and again I believe it is about £30 for them.

Thanks, Snowdrop. I've had a quick look on the web site. Do you know if they can give me ALL his service history, bearing in mind that he was in two diferent Regiments? M. Steer

Margaret Accessing solidiers records from WWII is relatively easy as long as you are the next of kin (or the next of kin is available to sign the forms) Check out the MOD's website for all the information you need: http://www.veteransagency.mod.uk/service_records/army.html

How easy/difficult is it to find the records of an individual. My Father was conscripted into the Army during WW11. He started off in the Buffs but ended up in The Royal Engineers. Would there be any records of his service history and would I be able to obtain them? Thanks, M. Steer