Liverpool & South West Lancashire FHS - Forum

Hi There,
I would like to find the service record / medal list for my wifes great uncle.
I have the form required to send to the MOD but her mum now has it ( as next of kin ) and has either lost it or doesn't want to bother with it.

Are there any other means to find out?
He was born 1907 and died aged 98
he served in the RAF - service number was either 1189436 or 1139436

Thanks
Paul

I don't believe there is, not for WWII.

Perhaps you could request another form, complete it yourself and just ask mum in law for her signature, unless you think there is a specific reason she doesn't want to find out.

I did notice when I was wandering round the Picton Room in the Liverpool Record Office that there were some books produced for RAF service members, browsing I came across a set of three for airplanes and their crews that had been shot down and never recovered, my own uncle was listed.

If you try your local Record Office I wonder if there might be some books where great uncle may be listed. People do have such an interest in military matters and write books on the subjects that interest them with statistics and names.

Hi, MaryA beat me to it!

WW2 records of a deceased airman have to be requested from the MOD, there is no other way to view them. If your mother-in-law doesn't want to send for the records you can have her sign a form giving you permission, everything you need is on this site: https://www.gov.uk/requests-for-persona ... -personnel

This (govermnent) website says that they will give out some information without NOK permission, if the serviceman has been dead for over 25 years. I'm not sure how current that is as I know people who have been told they can't have anything without permission. Also any enquiry costs you £30 so you may as well go for the full record and get more for your money!

Kew holds combat reports and operational records but they don't contain information on individual airmens' service records.

The wait for service records can be over 12 months depending on how busy they are as requests from dependents and living veterans are prioritised.

Amanda

My experience may be of help. I wrote to the Air Historical Branch, Ministry of Defence which was in 2003 in Stanmore, Middlesex although I think it has moved since then, googling should find it. My mum thought that there was a slight discrepancy over the date of death on the CWGC site, she was 86 at the time so could have been forgiven for misremembering a little.

The reply I got, within a fortnight, was wonderful; they advised me the details of his Squadron and where it was based, the details of his last raid and the other crew members.

They consulted the Casualty File normally held in the archives at Hayes, normally closed but referred to in order to supplement information when dealing with an enquiry from a relative. From this they were able to tell me where they had originally been buried and then "reverently re-interred" in a in a British Military Cemetery.

Included were copies of the letters sent to my grandparents and also a copy of the Bomber Command Report on the Night Operation giving details of the raid.

They also advised that I should be able to discover more about the mission and also any previous missions he took part in by consulting the Operations Record Book (ORB) for the Squadron, this is a daily diary of events and lists the dates, crew, aircraft and missions undertaken as well as giving a flavour of life of the Squadron. The ORB is held with the RAF records at the Public Record Office (The National Archives) under the reference AIR 27 Series/889. I don't know if these records are now online but at the time it would necessitate either a personal visit or the PRO would be able to provide names of researchers who would carry out the search, this would however, need to be paid for.

They said I could write to RAF Personnel Management Agency at RAF Innsworth, Gloucestershire, again I don't know if this address has changed since then, and with the written permission of the next of kin I could obtain his service history, a fee would be charged.

We did send off for the service history and to be honest it was nowhere near as informative as the copy letters, of which there were seven, and the Report of his last mission.

Thanks all,
the form mentioned is the one I used.
Her mother just isn't too bothered about it - not enough to get it signed anyway.

I met him when he was around 80 years old and always got on with him, but just like most others that served, they only seem to talk to each other about it.
he was ground crew and as far as i know may have been an officers batman.

I'll have another go as I want to get some replica medal sets done for my wife and her sister.

Paul

As a follow up to the above, I realised that I never had followed up on the documents from the National Archives, but having checked for Reference AIR 27 (889 was just for the particular squadron I was interested in), there appear to be two documents for that Squadron for each month of the year. I have just downloaded a 15 and a 14 page document for December 1942 at a cost of £3.36 each.

They give details of who was in which aircraft, which targets they bombed, which didn't return etc.