Question about Coldstream Guards during WWII

[Ella J]

Hi. I am helping a friend to find information about her grandfather, who wasn't married to her English grandmother when she gave birth to a daughter a few months after the London Blitz.  Family stories hold that he was a member of the Coldstream Guards.

Here's what she has been told by family members:  He was Hungarian, talked with an accent, was much older than her grandmother (who was born in 1922), trained horses, was in London during the bombings, and was a member of the Coldstream Guards.  When her grandmother became pregnant, the family refused to allow them to marry.  They sent her and her child (my friend's mother) to live with relatives in America, although it isn't clear if this happened shortly after the birth or if it waited until the war was over.

We have located birth records that indicate the child was indeed born when and where indicated by family stories. Other than this, my friend isn't sure how much of the information she has been given is true.  Was it even possible to be a Coldstream Guard if one was Hungarian? Does membership in the Coldstream Guards mean he would have had a British father?  Been a naturalized citizen?  I'm wondering if anyone with expertise in this area can see aspects of the story that might lend credibility to--or disprove--particular elements of it or that might suggest how we could proceed.

[MaxD]

There are a number of references in Hansard to the service of foreign nationals in the forces in WW2 and note the well known examples of Polish and Czech pilots in the RAF so while there may have been some paperwork involved, I would suggest that he may well have served.

You say the friend has his birth certificate.  If they have his death cert also and the next of kin consents (or would if asked!) then they could apply for his records (the service number is not needed if you have a date of birth):
https://www.gov.uk/get-copy-military-service-records/apply-for-someone-elses-records

MaxD

[Ella J]

Thank you for your reply.  This helps tremendously.  As far as the birth record goes, I'm afraid that I was unclear.  The record we've found is for the child, and it is the Civil Registration Birth Index. Fathers' names are not included in the index, but mother's maiden names are.  This child, unlike the others on the page, shares her mother's last name. So, we can assume that she was indeed born illegitimate in the time and place she was told.

As far as the father's name is concerned, the people who knew it are no longer living. Relatives today, all of whom heard the story second- or third-hand, remember that his last name sounded like "Bella."

My friend's mother has her DNA on Ancestry.com. A few show promise of connecting to the father's side of the family.