RootsChat.Com
General => Armed Forces => World War Two => Topic started by: samlouise01 on Tuesday 26 January 16 22:32 GMT (UK)
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Hi
I am trying to trace my grt grandfather a William Frederick Allum born 1909 in Brighton. I have been told that he served under Monty in North Africa but really finding it hard to get any records
Would appreciate a steer in the right direction
Thankyou
Sam
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For anyone serving after 1920, their service records will still be with the MOD.
See here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/requests-for-personal-data-and-service-records
Records will cost £30, and may take a month or 2.
These service records are NOT available anywhere else! ::)
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Did he leave any photographs to anybody, do you know?
Can anyone recall him talking about places that he had visited such as Port Said or The Pyramids?
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I unfortunately met him only once at my grandmothers funeral (his Daughter) I was only 8 and he passed away the year later, so I have only a vague recollection of him. A cousin said she will dig out a photo of him in his uniform...
Would I need an army number to request the info... again no clue!
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Date of Birth, full name, preferably place of birth.
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I have been told he was a desert rat. So would that point to armoured?
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There was a big supply and transport organisation in Egypt and North Africa.
There was Artillery as well as tanks.
You need to ask other relatives whether he left behind any photographs of his time in North Africa.
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I unfortunately met him only once at my grandmothers funeral (his Daughter) I was only 8 and he passed away the year later, so I have only a vague recollection of him. A cousin said she will dig out a photo of him in his uniform...
Would I need an army number to request the info... again no clue!
When you get the photo from your cousin, try to post it on this thread, and we can see what information it discloses.
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Would I need an army number to request the info... again no clue!
Name, Date of Birth and or Service Number, proof of death and NOK approval if he passed away less than 25 years ago.
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I have been told he was a desert rat. So would that point to armoured?
No - I was a Desert Rat and I was in the Royal Signals.
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It was the 7th Armoured who designed a badge representing an animal called a "desert rat" which gave rise to the nickname "Desert Rats" during WW2.
Try searching for military badges of WW2.
If you look at some threads here on rootschat, you may find some vehicles marked with the "desert rat" identifier.
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"Desert Rats" referred to both the 7th Armoured Division and the 8th Army.
See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eighth_Army_%28United_Kingdom%29
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7th_Armoured_Division_%28United_Kingdom%29
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Maybe informally and in the press of the day it was "incorrectly" applied to the 8th Army.
One argument could be that "desert rats" should only correctly be applied to those personell who wore the "Desert Rats" divisional badge.
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"Desert Rats" referred to both the 7th Armoured Division and the 8th Army.
See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eighth_Army_%28United_Kingdom%29
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7th_Armoured_Division_%28United_Kingdom%29
One more example that shows "Wikipedia" is not 100 % correct all the time.
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Ok thanks for the info. I am still waiting for my cousin to get me the picture. Then I will post to hopefully get help with the regiment.