Genealogy Chat

Peter and Sue Army and Navy Records for those people who were in these Services are, up to to 1922, in TNA . Any Army Records after 1922 has to be referred to the Glasgow Address or if Navy to Gosport and for this you will need next of kin proof, which Sue appears to have. It will cost £25 as has been already suggested and expect a wait of up to a year. I found that I had to give as much info as possible on a form I had to complete. If you have a relative joining as I had in 1919, then you can access those years, from 1919 up to 1922 at TNA. The index is easy to use for these earlier years to obtain number that is usually required. My own research was difficult because the person I was looking for had a wrong number allocated. The number is sometimes recorded on birth certs, so it is worth looking at your own Birth Cert and those of siblings to see if the number has been recorded on any of them, in case you have not got the required number. The Airforce is different and you may have to google for that. I am not sure what the release date is for MOD records, but it is more than 25 years. The First W War records were only released around the beginning of the 1990's, and that was about 70/75 years after the end of the First W War. We are approaching 60 years of the end of the Second World War, but with a suggested change in the law recently about earlier document release, there may be a chance of Second World War Docs being released earlier than 70/75 years. W War 2 Medal entitlements are on line now so that's a start. We can only hope! Janet

How old was your father when he passed away. And do you know if he transferd from RAF to Army or did he leve one then join the other later. If it was transfer this could make your search a little easyer as not meny men did this and NA should have his transfer papers if it is far enough back. I think the MOD hold records for 25 years then send them on (some one correct me if I'm wrong)

If his name is sufficiently distinctive, you might be able to find his joining up - plus his service number - in the London Gazette online: http://www.gazettes-online.*co.uk/index.asp?webType=0 (omit *) It has an Archive search section I found mentin of my father & brother (RAF), my grandfather & great uncle (army) there. Christine

This is the address to write to re the Army. If you write asking for a form they send it to you and ask for it to be completed as far as possible ie name, regiment if known, you say whether you are widow / son / daughter / grandchild, and send £25, and a copy of death certificate / obituary notice, then you wait. I received the form for my father's army service records, and it states there is a 6 - 8 months backlog. Joy Ministry of Defence Army Personnel Centre HQ Secretariat Historical Disclosures Mail Point 400 Kentigern House 65 Brown Street Glasgow G2 8EX

My father was in the RAF and the Army many years ago, sadly he has passed away, I never asked a lot about them when he was alive, I was wondering as I don't know the years can I get any information about him when he joined etc I am now the next of kin to him. Sue Where would I want to be?