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Armed Forces / 1950s, postings in Singapore
« on: Wednesday 15 January 20 12:05 GMT (UK) »
Hello all,
I have a peculiar case for my great grandfather Ted Rodden who served in the British Armed Forces starting in I believe 1951 (I assume during National Service) and then leaving in the 70s. The issue is that while the facts such as being posted in Singapore in the 1950s are absolute (His son was born there) and the fact he joined and served too, the things that do get muddled are "He was in the RAF before the Army" (I have his long service medal showing he was Royal Engineers) and that he was at war and stuff.
I am trying to piece parts of his life together as I do not have the money right now for two military service records (I will soon) and I would also need his death certificate, plus his children all live far away by now so to get their signature, I would need to mail it. Here is what I was able to conclude from places he has lived.
Singapore, he married his wife prematurely because he was told he was getting posted there, anecdotal evidence tells (account of my nan) "We lived in Singapore for a bit and then he went away for a long time to war." Cambridgeshire, son was born there, and Preston. I have absolute confirmation that he was in the Royal Engineers but this tells me the RAF assumption was correct as I can only find RAF Changi and Seletar.
Now here's where I'm gonna start quizzing the real military historians cause I'm clueless on UK military history when it comes to squadrons and the like. Did any of these deploy to any nearby warzones? I know Malaysia was all the hype back then, alongside Korea. Also were there any possibility of a Royal Engineer regiment being posted there? Thank you.
(tried my best to provide as much info as possible, maybe too much... apologies)
I have a peculiar case for my great grandfather Ted Rodden who served in the British Armed Forces starting in I believe 1951 (I assume during National Service) and then leaving in the 70s. The issue is that while the facts such as being posted in Singapore in the 1950s are absolute (His son was born there) and the fact he joined and served too, the things that do get muddled are "He was in the RAF before the Army" (I have his long service medal showing he was Royal Engineers) and that he was at war and stuff.
I am trying to piece parts of his life together as I do not have the money right now for two military service records (I will soon) and I would also need his death certificate, plus his children all live far away by now so to get their signature, I would need to mail it. Here is what I was able to conclude from places he has lived.
Singapore, he married his wife prematurely because he was told he was getting posted there, anecdotal evidence tells (account of my nan) "We lived in Singapore for a bit and then he went away for a long time to war." Cambridgeshire, son was born there, and Preston. I have absolute confirmation that he was in the Royal Engineers but this tells me the RAF assumption was correct as I can only find RAF Changi and Seletar.
Now here's where I'm gonna start quizzing the real military historians cause I'm clueless on UK military history when it comes to squadrons and the like. Did any of these deploy to any nearby warzones? I know Malaysia was all the hype back then, alongside Korea. Also were there any possibility of a Royal Engineer regiment being posted there? Thank you.
(tried my best to provide as much info as possible, maybe too much... apologies)
