obtaining Grandfather's WW2 records?

[Cell]

Hi,

Does anyone know if I as a grandchild  could obtain my grandfathers world war 2, before during and after the war,  army record?

Looking at the Ministry of defence website it says they  normally will only release to  the person in question or next of kin.
Quote from their web site -  "The Ministry of Defence does not normally release information from a service record to persons other than the individual concerned or their next of kin.  There is a search fee for genealogical enquiries which currently stands at £25.00"

My grandfather is dead , so is my grandmother. My mother and her sisters are alive, but my mum is not interested in obtaining the records.

My grandfather served most of his working life in the army, before , during and after the war with the Royal Ulster Rifles.
when he died ( which was in the 1980's) My aunt had all of his medals,, which are long gone now,  my mum gave his ( which were left to her)  flags to my uncle who's dead now, and I think papers got chucked out lost etc.

My Grandfather has one long record, served in France, Germany, was in Korea, Palestine, Singapore and Poona to name just a few. It was his career.  I would be most interested seeing his records .All I  have is a few photo's.
My mum can give me his army number.

Just wondered if anyone here has obtained army records off the ministry of defence when they are the grandchildren of the person etc ( and that person is now dead, so is the spouse) . Or is it strictly next of kin can only do this  - i.e. my mum or her sisters.

I'm in Australia, so phoning them is not really the best option for me , and they don't have an email contact, just an address to write to, which I heard can take quite a while for them to get back to you with their "back log" of inquiries.

Has  anyone here done this being not the immediate next of kin and got results, or have tried obtaining them and have been told  strictly No?

[suey]

Hi Cell -
I don't think Historic Disclosures check to see who is next of kin, I'll probably get a smack for saying this but who is to know?  It's you who is filling out the form and telling the 'porkie pie'.  You will need a copy of Grandpa's death certificate though.

A word of caution, I don't know what other people have found from Records but I know the one I received  recently had very little information about the man himself.  Height, weight, colour of hair and eyes, previous occupation etc. 
The rest was a list of dates of postings, initial letters and lots of numbers   I had'nt a clue where he had actually been during WW2. I was fortunate enough to find someone who could decipher it all for me so did manage to learn a bit more about my fellow, maybe I was unlucky.
Having said all that I am glad I got the Records because previously I knew nothing at all about my man!

Can anyone add any more to Cells enquiry ?
Suey

[ChrisPage]

Hi Cell

On the form i am filling out for my fathers records it says,

If he/she is deceased, the consent of his/her next of kin is
needed plus a copy of the death certificate.

On the Certificate of Kinship you fill in it says tick the  box of the first living relative and write their full name.

It also says if you are not the official next of kin you must send us the written authority of the person named above for the information to be sent to you.

So yes you can send for them.

Christine

[suey]

PS to my previous post - I had to wait 5 months for the Records, I don't know what they are quoting at the moment as a waiting time.

It may be a bit quicker now as they were Indexing by name and had hoped to be completed by early 2005.  This will be helpful to anyone not having a Service Number or Regt. on Discharge which previously you had to know in order for a search to even begin.

[Cell]

Thank you all for your replies.

Yes I think my mum has  his death cert, she should have it, my gran came to live with her and she has her possessions and documents, she also went with my gran to register his death at the time. She has his army number too, as my gran had it - my gran could roll out the number without even looking at it -   for army pension and things

One more question , where do you get the forms? Do  I need to write to them or email  them ( just noticed the email contact,  don't know how I didn't see that  the other day)  for them to send an application form to me? I can't see any downloadable  application forms on their website for this.

Thanks for all your help

This is him in Korea in 56 .  Thought I'd post this picture just in case anyone recognises any of  the other men as their grandfather. You never know I may be holding a picture of someone else's rellies too - the one which hasn't got a beret type of hat on, third from right, and smoking looks like he may be from Australian force to me (?) , no worries  , you'd think he'd put his  cigarette out for the picture wouldn't you lol - The one second from left, my hubby thinks the cap badge looks a bit like an a sas badge  shape . There are  no names on the photo,  so don't know who any of the other men are except for my grandfather, no mistaking him ( I knew him) who is third from left ( Royal Ulster rifles) . He's  the oldest one., he'd be  about 50, or very late 40's  in this  ( haven't got his birth cert, am only just starting with my Irish side, but know he was at least ten years older than my gran who was born in 1916)

He must have left Korea by 1958 as I have him in Singapore for that year in another picture , at a  new years party. I know he was in France during the war and saw his  own cousin blown up. I  also know he was in Poona India in 1930  and posted to palestine too at some time . Germany for a time after the war too. Would love to see his record, there would be no worries in getting my mum to sign the forms and giving  me a copy of his death cert , it''s just she is not interested in getting, sending off for them herself,  has no interest what so ever with his army life.

[ChrisPage]

I rang them and they sent the forms within a week. If you cant ring them you could try emailing first, but i think writing to them might be the best option.

I think it helps if you have all the information they require but it may still be 4-5 months before you hear anything.

I use the following  forum-

http://wwiiforum.com/index.php?act=portal

You could try asking questions about your grandfathers regiment there.

Good Luck

Christine

[suey]

Hi Christine -  there seems to be an error with your link..I've tried but it won't work for me.
Suey

[ChrisPage]

I have just tried the link and logged in. I know they have had problems with a hacker  but i think it has been sorted out now.

Just try typing in the address - www.wwiiforum.com

Christine

[Cell]

Thanks again  for all  your help. I'll email them and see if they can either send it  here to  me in Aus, or to my mum's address in the uk. Phoned my mum and she said she'll look for his   army number for me .