Genealogy Chat

At last received dads WW2 RAF record but a note with it saying 'due to length of time' just 2 A5 pages of notes - none of his postings shown in India or any references re his activities with the commando team out in Burma. Bit choked about that. The only interesting bit being that though given VG character all way through I see he went AWOL on three occasions after the end of the war but before he was demobbed. Well, he had only been married a few months when he was sent to India, so understandable I guess.

Oh well Heather You can't win them all,and with the rest of the week having been so good it must be a bit of an anticlimax. Glen

Aw Heather, I can only imagine how gutted you must be. But it's still nice to have that little bit of him for your records. Maybe you can find information of what happened in Burma through other sources? Have any books been written about it? Or perhaps regimental diaries? - just a thought. Snowdrops

Hi Heather did the records take long to arrive ? I'm just about to send for my Dad's, I'm hoping for the interesting stuff as I know he went AWOL after volunteering for the Army at the outbreak of WW2 because my mother was very sick and had nobody to care for her, he then joined the fire service during the blitz, this was in London, he was injured during the bombing and discharged, and when his call up came he joined the RAF, the army eventually caught up with him, home at the time on a SOP, the MP's allowed him to return to his RAF base as usual and he was later put on a charge but was only punished by being confined to barracks for 2 weeks, they decided he'd not tried to evade his duty. My brother and I were evacuated at the time and I'm sure the family caring for us wondered what was going on.

Hi Heather - where did you order these records from please? Victoria.

Hi, well you get the records for £30 from RAF, Personnel Management Agency, RAF Innsworth,GLOUCESTER GL3 1EZ. They took about a month to come - but that was after Id sent off the forms to apply plus £30. The forms themselves took a month to arrive.

What information do you need to give them?

Well I had dads discharge book so I had just about everything. But you need obviously to give full name, date of birth,hopefully his number and rank, years service. If you havent got his number they say it will take longer. You also need to complete a form of declaration that you are entitled to his records being next of kin.

That's great - thanks Heather.