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Oh well, never mind!  Maybe she'll be back someday!

Thanks so much, maxD!    I'm sure there must have been something printed locally, so I think next step is local newspapers for Ince/Wigan - a bit difficult from Reading, but I'll have a go! 

I am trying to confirm the identity of a young soldier in the attached photo postcard.

The lad standing is my great-great-uncle, John Henry (Harry) Jones, from Ince in Wigan, who died at Gallipoli in August 1915, aged 20. We've long wondered who the other young man is, but after some digging I believe him to be John Mahoney, born 1898 in Ince, killed in action in France, 1916. The back of the photo identifies Harry, but not his friend.

Both signed up at the same recruiting office in Wigan on the same day, and their service numbers are only one digit different. John's service record is in Ancestry, and the physical description could fit.

His mother was Selina (nee Heath), mn. Walker, then McNalley, then Mahoney. She had children Arthur, Sarah, Selina, Isaiah, Clara, Richard and John, by her three husbands, primarily in Stoke-on-Trent, then Wigan. In a strange coincidence, Isaiah was killed at Gallipoli on the same day as Harry.

I know it's a massively long shot, but I was wondering if anyone from the Ince area might know of this family, be descended from John's siblings, or know of any local papers that may have mentioned him as he was posthumously awarded the DCM.

The postcard is in a special frame with our own pictures, and we like to think we've adopted 'John' and his memory alongside Harry's, in case there is no one else left to remember him, but we'd love to share the picture if we can.

Thank you!

I am trying to find information on my grandfather's WWII service but given his occupation we're hitting nothing but walls. I was hoping someone here might be able to point me in the direction of any kind of records, diaries, etc, that may shed light, although I fear the Official Secrets Act might be in play.

My grandfather was Robert Wren Cree, born 1920 in Glasgow, and he joined the Royal Signals before being seconded to mi6 Section VIII, working at/around Bletchley Park, Whaddon Hall, Hanslope Park and Tattenhoe camp. Section VIII later became the Diplomatic Wireless Service and he stayed there until he retired. Bob died in 1988.

We know he was involved with covert surveillance in Europe, working under Edgar Harrison, radio operator for Winston Churchill. At some point he took a ship to the Azores, and later made a mysterious comment that he travelled with a very heavy box that took two men to lift. He was told to throw it over the side if the ship was boarded.  We presume it was some sort of radio equipment...?

We have his medals, which include the France and Germany Star, and, curiously, the Africa Star. We don't have a clue how he got these, although a recent anecdote has been uncovered that he once had to 'sit on his radio to keep the Gestapo from finding it when they raided his room'.

We've got all the books we can find on Bletchley Park and the wartime communications services, but we're no further forward. We've also requested his service records from the MoD, but given the above, we suspect it will be either heavily redacted or show only his short time in the Signals.

Grateful for anything at all that anyone can suggest!