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Hello. Has anyone here had trouble receiving access to service records held by the National Archives? Over the past few years, I have requested and been sent copies of both my paternal (Army) and maternal (RAF) grandfathers' Second World War service records, the former coming from the Army Personnel Centre in Glasgow.

Just before Christmas, I again contacted the Army Personnel Centre to request the service record of my great-uncle, and supplied the necessary cheque, next-of-kin consent etc. They emailed to tell me that his record had been transferred to the National Archives as part of the Defence Records Management Project and that I should contact the National Archives if I still wished to apply for a copy. I did so, and yesterday received an email from them saying that "We are unable to open this record because all of the information is exempt under Section 41 of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000 until 2037. This means that we cannot make the record open to you or to the public in general."

Their email went on: "The FOI Act gives you the right to know whether we hold the information you want and to have it communicated to you, subject to any exemptions which may apply.
Section 41 (1) of the Act exempts information if (a) it was obtained by the public authority from any other person (including another public authority), and (b) the disclosure of the information to the public (otherwise than under the Act) by the public authority holding it would constitute a breach of confidence actionable by that or any other person. 
The information contained in the record relates to information that was given in confidence, the release of which could be actionable in court. Although, for the purposes of the FOI Act, Section 41 is an absolute exemption, I can confirm that we have taken into account the public interest defence test inherent within the common law duty of confidence in reaching this decision.
In this case, Section 41(1) applies to medical information documented in the record.
Please be aware that requests made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 have to be treated as applicant blind. Therefore, being next-of-kin can have no bearing on the outcome of this request for information. Information released under FOI is released to the public at large, not just to a requester. This is why we have to review these records for sensitivities."

Can anyone out there with more experience than I help me to understand why the National Archives is refusing me access when the guys at the MoD Archives have already granted me access to two very similar documents (both my grandfathers')?

When the Army Records Centre sent through my grandfather's service record, they redacted a section about his medical history. That was fine - whilst it would have made for interesting reading and answered a few family questions, I had no issue with that. If the presence of medical information in my great-uncle's record is TNA's reason for refusing my request, then could they not just redact or omit that section, as the Army Records Centre had done? Their email did, after all, say "In this case, Section 41(1) applies to medical information documented in the record". But then, earlier in their email, they said "all of the information is exempt under Section 41 of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act".

So, I'm disappointed, annoyed and confused. I sense a gargantuan, frustrating, spirit-crushing battle of wills coming with the faceless administrators of TNS that I stand no chance of winning.

Can anyone help me to understand, and to work out whether there is any way I'll be able to obtain from the National Archives such similar material as has already been supplied to me by the Army Personnel Centre?

Thanks so much in advance,
Steve

Hi everyone. I'm trying to write an account of my grandfather's life, but with almost no primary material available from him (he passed away many years ago) I am trying to reconstruct what it would probably have been like. As part of that, I'm trying - without much success - to find an account of what his school years would have been like. He attended school in the Rhondda valley, in Wales, between about 1922 and 1931. To be honest, though, any account of school life from that period - however generic - would enable me to at least give some impression of what he might have experienced, what he would have studied, and so on.

Does anyone happen to know of any good sources of information about 1920s/30s school life (preferably online)?

Many thanks in advance,
Steve

Hello! Would anyone happen to know whether historic electoral registers for Pontypridd and Ynysybwl are available anywhere online - and, if so, where?
Many thanks in advance for your help,
Steve

Hello everyone. I've started thinking about whether or not to start building my own family history website. I've never been a fan of the idea, for privacy reasons really, but my project to write a book is going to take so many years that I've started to come around to the website idea as a way to publish material regularly, that my family can see, without making them wait years to see it! I'd want to produce something good, but I'm starting from scratch. Would anyone have any suggestions as to particularly good/impressive personal sites that others have created, to give me some inspiration and some insight as to what is possible?
Many thanks indeed,
Steve

Hi everyone. It's a long time since I last posted, but is there any chance someone might be able to help me to date these photographs (the second one is in my next post)? I'd really like to be as accurate as possible with them, but I really struggle with early photographs. Thanks so much in advance for any help you can give.