Genealogy Chat

As a child I remember seeing my dads war medals. Nothing out of the ordinary, The Burma Star type medal. When he died we could not find them. I then saw an article in the Mail that gave you an address you could write to to find out what medals had been awarded. No replacement medals could be given, but just to know what he been awarded was my main objective. I wrote to the address, they confirmed my request in writing, saying it would take a while for this info to be found and gave me a telephone number i could use to progress my request. I gave it 3 month, then called..........no record of my initial enquiry, they said. So I gave it to them again over the phone. Another 3 months went by. This time I wrote.......Still waiting for a reply to that one.........Another 6 months went by, I called again......'Oh we are almost onto the initial M, so it should not be too long now'. Another 6 months went, and then out of the blue I received a request for a copy of dads death certificate. This was posted PDQ......A week or so went by and they returned the death cert. with a covering thank you letter. That was 6 months ago and i am still waiting. Next month will be the 2nd aniversary of my request. Has anyone else been down this long and winding road???? Kathlyn

Not been down that road but found my nan's uncles WW1 medal card online - National Archive's Documents Online - I payed £3.50 to down load a copy. Unfortunately they only have the WW1 cards, I wish they had the WW2 things would be much easier wouldenet it. Shame the MoD have just about everything war related post 1922. I hope you get the documents you seek very soon.

Hi Lunar, I feel another phone call comeing on tomorrow. Kathlyn

Is this a place that will tell you just about his medals? You could apply to get his army records (which make for fascinating reading) from this address: Army Personnel Centre, Historical Disclosures, Mail Point 400, Kentigern House, 65 Brown Street, Glasgow, G2 8EX It does cost, about £30, and I think the next-of-kin has to apply. My Dad sent off for his own and so was sent them for free. Monica

Hi Monica, My dad was Royal Navy. I have downloaded from an internet site a form that I can send off, but, I need a court order to obtain that info. My dad never spoke about the war so i know nothing, other than his ship was in Tokio when Japan surrendered. Kathlyn

Documents online have some Royal Naval records online (500,000+ records) url is: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/default.asp