[Help] War / Military Records

[pasty]

Anyone have any experience of finding old war and or military records? I know there are a few different sites that claim to be able to help, but most seem to have charges associated with them. As I have very little information, I'd like to try a few free ones first to possibly find out a bit more before paying one.

I've recently become very keen to find out what my late father did during the war. He never, ever spoke about the war to me, and all I know is he was born in 1925, so would have turned 16 in 1941, and I know he served in the RAF, post-war for sure, but not sure about during.

Any tips or tricks would be much appreciated. TIA.

 

[Billy Seagull]

This might be a good place to start

Commando Veterans Archive | ͏

www.commandoveterans.org

 

[essbee1]

I did this recently. I went to the Imperial War Museum's military research unit in Southwark/Lambeth. You can just
walk in and they are ultra-helpful. They gave me a load of leaflets with info on sources etc.
They also have free access to all the military records sites. You can apply for a day pass online and
that will give you free access for the whole day. Just one word of warning though.
A huge number of first world war records were destroyed in WW2 during the air
raids, so prepare to be disappointed if your research leads to a blank, which is what mine did.

 

[AmexRuislip]

Anyone have any experience of finding old war and or military records? I know there are a few different sites that claim to be able to help, but most seem to have charges associated with them. As I have very little information, I'd like to try a few free ones first to possibly find out a bit more before paying one.

I've recently become very keen to find out what my late father did during the war. He never, ever spoke about the war to me, and all I know is he was born in 1925, so would have turned 16 in 1941, and I know he served in the RAF, post-war for sure, but not sure about during.

Any tips or tricks would be much appreciated. TIA.

The National Archives

We are a non-ministerial department, and the official archive and publisher for the UK Government, and for England and Wales.

www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Worth taking a gander at the National Archives at Kew.
I went with my dad a few years ago to search for WW1 records for his dad.
The staff were ever so helpful and theres also a decent restaurant.

 

[essbee1]

I did this recently. I went to the Imperial War Museum's military research unit in Southwark/Lambeth. You can just
walk in and they are ultra-helpful. They gave me a load of leaflets with info on sources etc.
They also have free access to all the military records sites. You can apply for a day pass online and
that will give you free access for the whole day. Just one word of warning though.
A huge number of first world war records were destroyed in WW2 during the air
raids, so prepare to be disappointed if your research leads to a blank, which is what mine did.

Interestingly enough (sorry I didn't notice you mention WW2 - so maybe you'll be a lot
luckier than I was - my Grandad was at Passchendaele in the Royals Welsh (Welch) Fusiliers. When he came
back he was transferred to Royal Engineers who I believe did a lot of the admin stuff (he was
hospitalised in 1917). Anyway - he got tickets to see the FA Cup final in 1925 which I think
was because he was in the Royal Engineers and Cardiff played that year in the final (being Welsh himself).
The Royal engineers won the cup in 1874 and were runners up in a few years.

 

[Wardy's twin]

I tried to trace my dad's military record (RAF and Fleet Air Arm) but no luck and that's despite being able to give quite a lot of information to start from. I was lucky my dad had documented some of his service so have some info.

 

[dippy2449]

Anyone have any experience of finding old war and or military records? I know there are a few different sites that claim to be able to help, but most seem to have charges associated with them. As I have very little information, I'd like to try a few free ones first to possibly find out a bit more before paying one.

I've recently become very keen to find out what my late father did during the war. He never, ever spoke about the war to me, and all I know is he was born in 1925, so would have turned 16 in 1941, and I know he served in the RAF, post-war for sure, but not sure about during.

Any tips or tricks would be much appreciated. TIA.

You could try SAAFA https://www.ssafa.org.uk/
Or British legion https://www.britishlegion.org.uk/

They may not be able to help directly but may be able to get you through to those in the know.

You may also be able to get help from https://rafa.org.uk/

 

[Elbow750]

There is a free D-day offer, (until 11 June ), on Forces War Records (by Ancestory) Here.

My wife discovered my Grandfather was in the Sussex regiment and fought in the Somme until injured and was discharged home for recovery. We also fond out he changed his name from John to Tom. I had no Idea of any of this!

Enjoy

 

[dejavuatbtn]

i was lucky with my great grandads ww1 records as they were on line. Additionally his battalion war diaries were also on line and one of his captains wrote a book after the war covering the whole of WW1 for the regiment. I was given some of his letters home and various bits of paperwork (including the dreaded telegram) so I was able to document his story from beginning to his end, being blown up by a couple of bombs dropped from a plane whilst they were writing home before their next session in a trench.
It was interesting to following the Normandy remembrance on tv and the reference to the inscriptions on the headstones by the families. For WW1, the families were charged 3 1/2 d per letter - I have the bill and receipt for granddads. They miss him most who loved him best - 30 letters, that’ll be 8s 9d