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General => Armed Forces => World War Two => Topic started by: Robert999 on Wednesday 03 October 18 16:33 BST (UK)
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My Partner's Grandfather was a Lancaster Bomber Pilot in WW2. His war records weredestroyedin a house fire and I would like to try and retrieve them.
His name was Alexander Archibald and the only other thing we know is that the was in Wales at some point.
Could anyone help?
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Welcome to RootsChat! ;D
You don't need his RAF Pilot Service Number in order to request his records.
Have a look at:
https://www.gov.uk/get-copy-military-service-records
If you have his date of birth, his death certificate, and £30, that should be all you need. ;D
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Called them today but they said without his service number it would be almost impossible to find anything. I only have his death certificate.
Thanks.
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I am almost positive that the application form says something like
"please supply EITHER Date of Birth OR Service Number".
Have you sent off the forms?
They are downloadable from the website I gave a link to.
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Bit of a long shot but you could try looking here for a service number:
https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/97343434
Imber
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Greetings, and a slightly belated welcome to Rootschat.
It would really help to have a little more information.
Where and when did he die, and what was his age or date of birth?
Do you know his date of birth? If not, do you know his parents' names?
Philip
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I was looking for an RAF service number recently.
The National Archives have an index in AIR 78 http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/browse/r/r/C2132
It looks like AIR 78/2 would contain the index cards for the surname you are looking for.
You can download the .pdf for free (in my experience it takes a while to start to download) and then would have to page through and 'hope' that there aren't too many cards with the same name.
NB These just give a name and a number, there is NO other info on the cards
APOLOGIES
I had transposed his first name and surname, so the file for surname ARCHIBALD would be AIR 78/4
Boo
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I was looking for an RAF service number recently.
The National Archives have an index in AIR 78 http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/browse/r/r/C2132
It looks like AIR 78/2 would contain the index cards for the surname you are looking for.
You can download the .pdf for free (in my experience it takes a while to start to download) and then would have to page through and 'hope' that there aren't too many cards with the same name.
NB These just give a name and a number, there is NO other info on the cards
Boo
My understanding was that AIR78 covers only Airmen and Women, not officers, and I don't think they have an equivalent list for Officers.
Imber
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oh, sorry that doesn't look like its going to help then
Boo
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Must find his personal dates. He would have been born around 1915/20 or so. Officers didn't have service numbers. Familysearch would be ideal, free only have to register.
It should be noted there were sergeant pilots in RAF during WWII and commissioned officers as navigators. I had a relative by marriage who was a Lancaster navigator and a Flight Lieutenant, his pilot may have been a sergeant.
Added: I've tried to do it for you. Too many of them. You must have some idea where he came from.
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"It should be noted there were sergeant pilots in RAF during WWII and commissioned officers as navigators. I had a relative by marriage who was a Lancaster navigator and a Flight Lieutenant, his pilot may have been a sergeant."
Excellent point Regorian!
Alexander Archibald. Both of those names are typically Scottish. If he was a Scot then that might help narrow things down a little? There must be more known about this chap?
Imber
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I think you'll find that all RAF personnel including officers had service numbers.
The army and navy who formed the RAF in 1918 had to sort out their numbers. The army kept theirs and the navy had to have slight alterations.
Service numbers are needed to identify you and in those days pay you. It didn't matter who you were you had a number.
Did he marry when in the RAF or have a child, his number could be on the certs.
Confirming pilots in WW2 could be officers or NCOs.
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Thank you for correction Medpat. I would add post war all pilots would be commissioned officers, may have extended further.
In this matter birth and death is crucial. Archibald was a common Christian name from late 19th Century to 1940's?, a second cousins father born 1899 was an Archibald.
It's up to the OP to give us a clue to where he came from.
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Just to save circling round the buoy again with NCO pilots, AIR 78 cited by Ticketyboo has 6 Alexander Archibald but, as rightly said, no further info other than numbers.
There appears to be no London Gazette entry around the Second World War time for an RAF or RAFVR officer of that name (or variations).
MaxD
PS For info, you don't have to bother to download the AIR 78 file, go to Preview and trawl through the index cards there, easily readable.
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According to Reply 6, his name was Archibald Alexander.
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Not so, Tickettyboo got his name that way round to land on AIR 78/2 but corrected it later. The OP has Alexander Archibald.
MaxD
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OK, but no further forward.
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A free search on Forces War Records produces seven RAF matches of Alexander Archibald with Service Numbers. Not a lot of help in itself but three of those have second forenames provided. Does Robert know if this chap had a second forename?
Imber
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(reply from Robert999)
Thanks for replying Philip.
Alexander Archibald. DOB 08/05/1923. Died 19/03/2010 in East Kilbride Scotland.
He was in Wales at some point as his late wife lived there. That is as much information as I can gather. His wife's name was Olwyn Jones.
He lived-in Hamilton before moving to East Kilbride.
Thanks.