ww2 merchant seaman

[terrapin]

can anyone give any advice my father thomas lee erring ton born 1922 jarrow joined ship arndale i have photo of him on it port said 1939 he went on to serve with raf ifar east and ground crew i can't find any records any help much appreciated

[KGarrad]

Any service records for personnel serving after 1920 are still with the MOD.

See here to apply:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/requests-for-personal-data-and-service-records

[ScouseBoy]

You may be able to get his Merchant Navy records.

[terrapin]

thankyou so much will try

[terrapin]

thankyou scouse boy will try

[seaweed]

Depends on when he joined the RAF. Can you give us a date?
There is a minimal MN record for him on the pay to view site FindMyPast. Looks to me he only did one trip aboard the ARNDALE official number 165578. He signed on as an Ordinary Seaman at South Shields on 28/April/1939.
His DOB is given as 15/10/1923 born in Jarrow and his Dis A Number was R186990
As far as I can tell he has no Merchant Navy records after ARNDALE. You may like to see the appropriate Logbook and Crew Agreement of ARNDALE available for viewing at the National Archive.
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C11026281

This will tell you a little more about the voyage and should tell you where he discharged from the vessel .Search via official number.

I may of course be wrong about him only doing one voyage but all the on line MN personal records for WW2 do not mention him.

[terrapin]

dear seaweed thank you so much for your information felt so emotional reading it i have been looking for ages with no luck his date of birth is 15 october 1922 jarrow s/shields not 1923.he was on arndale in photo i have 1939port said as far as i know he joined raf and i know he was in singapore i don't know where else have photo of him with others tropical location i think they may be ground crew he contracted malaria quite badly out there.i would guess he joined 1939/40 and served abroad most of war i looked at nat archives but could not download do you have to visit i find it quite confusing also i am only surviving daughter but stepmother still alive would i need her permission to find his records  thanks again my dad was a very kind gentleman and didn't talk about war

[seaweed]

It was not unusual for Merchant Seamen to give a false DOB. Usually they gave an earlier DOB so as to qualify for a higher rate of pay. In this case it would seem his DOB was miss transcribed.  (see attached)
To view the  appropriate Logbook and Crew agreement of ARNDALE you would need to visit the National Archive. You will not need your Stepmothers permission as these records are in the public domain

If you wish to pursue his RAF records, via the link given by K Garrad. If you are conversing with your Stepmother, she may apply for free.
If not it will cost you £30. Again no problem as you do not need her permission. Others may give you a better defintion of the protocol.

Be prepared for a long wait.

[terrapin]

dear seaweed thank you for your amazing advice i will follow it up and am so happy to know what to do now can i ask you one more thing how do i put a photograph onto your site i haven't tried to do it before have a lovely xmas