RAF records 1946 - 1954

[Paulmag33]

Hi my father passed away a year ago and I would like to find his RAF records. I believe he joined up 1946 and left 1954 but 4 of those years may have been in the Reserve.
Some details
David Magee (Davy) born 1926 from Co.Down, Northern Ireland. 
He became a Sergeant and possibly worked as a store man.
Served in RAF Habbaniya and was involved in the camp cinema.
I have many photos of his days in Habbaniya with other servicemen.
I would be grateful if you would point me in the right direction to find his records.

[dowdstree]

Good morning.

Please accept my condolences on the passing of your father.

There is a form that you can obtain/download to apply for his service records at

       www.gov.uk/get-copy-military-service-records

Can I ask if your mother is still alive ? If so she can apply as next of kin at no charge.

You can apply yourself but it will cost £30.

They need information such as date of birth, service number and a copy of the death certificate.

The form is quite self explanatory so you should have no problem.

Sometimes it can take a while for the records to come but my husband was lucky recently when he applied for his RAF records as it only took about 3 weeks.

Good luck

Dorrie

[Paulmag33]

Thanks for your help Dorrie   
My mother is still alive but she and my father divorced although remaining friends. He never remarried leaving my older sister the next of kin who's keen to get this information also.  We still will be charged the 30 pounds and the only other issue is finding his Official Service Number who I've asked my mother if she could track it down.

Thanks again

Paul

[rosie99]

It is possible to get these details without the service number 

[Paulmag33]

Thanks Rosie if we can't find Service Number we'll try proceeding without it.
Cheers
Paul

[carol8353]

I didn't know my dad's service number ,but still got his record.

My mum was still alive,but unable to apply,so I did it on her behalf and they sent me my £30 cheque back.

The record did take quite a few months to arrive though.

[Paulmag33]

Thanks Carol it's encouraging to know but after speaking to my mum this evening I'm in Australia she's in Northern Ireland I think she was looking forward going through all the old documents and photos.  I'll just let her have a look around before proceeding.

Cheers

Paul

[Ellenmai]

I have recently received both my parents service records from WW2 and I'm very disappointed. My Mum's records do actually state where she was stationed, but some of the reasons she was moved are just numbers. With my Father's records where he is stationed is mostly numbers. They did send a list of common abbreviations with the records but they are no help as there are no numbers only letters. Sorry to put a damper on things but just don't expect too much, or to be able to understand most of the records. I had to wait 10 weeks before I received the records and paid £30 for each application.

[rafcommands]

Please see my post here which explains some of the numbers on an RAF Service Record

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=766743.msg6188102#new

Rather than just a lot of numbers the Postings To and From detail all repeat all the units they were posted to.

To understand what they did, where the units were/when and what the individual could have experienced needs background research and reading on your part.

The musterings give trades which lead to an understanding of the role of the individual and unit diaries (Operations Record Books ORB) which all formations from Flight up to Command completed in various detail are open to inspection at The National Archives show activity.

Very much like someone looking at your CV showing only Schools/companies worked at, along with qualifications and expecting to get a life history. More enquiry is needed but the basic information is there to allow a good interview result.

Ross