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Hi All

I'm trying to identify my late father's WW2 RAF service number in order to gain access to his service records. Drilling down through the personnel index I've arrived at AIR 78/75/9-3. Now I'm stuck.

There are three potential Ronald Heywoods: one with an F in a scircle stamped on it, one stamped "MILITIA", and one otherwise unadorned but so faded as to be barely legible. How do I know which is mine?

He was born 1924 near Chester, signed up  (probably Ellesmere Port) before he was called up, trained at Yatesbury (and I *think* Brid) before going via ship to Cairo and on to somewhere north of Sorrento. He was WOP/AG in Wellingtons, and his final squadron was mainly South African. I'm particularly interested in which (if any) medals he was awarded and what happened to them as I'm fairly sure they were never actually in his possession.

I am in no position to visit TNA or Hendon, nor to pay anyone else to. I can avoid the £30 fee by sending off in my currently extant Mum's name but I will presumably have to scare up a copy of his death cert.

Re my reply 3 - did you have a look at that 1891 entry.

Hehe! I was just doing that - we crossed in the post!

1881 he is Thomas Grimes b Duddon 1863

RG11  3550/29/10

Well spotted! How did I miss that one? It certainly looks like a C not a G to me too. Born Duddon fits with where he was aged 8 even if he might have been born in Tarvin.

Hi All

Another of my late father's knotted research threads which has been doing our collective heads in for decades:

My ggf Thomas Crimes was allegedly born 1862/3 according to the 1871 census and to his death registration. I can't find a birth or baptism for him anywhere, but all his siblings (older and younger) are born at Duddon and registered, Parents are William and Mary nee Rowlands.

He then disappears again completely until he marries Sarah Parsonage in 1895. from there we have him in the 1901 and 1911 census returns living in the village of Ashton with a growing brood of offspring, but claiming to be born c1867. He is NOK on his son William's Army papers in 1916. We know when he died in 1924.

All the bits I have are on my Crimes database if anyone has time to look.

I remember my Nana (his daughter Ida) telling us there were some family tales of him being involved with a fairground or possibly a circus in his youth but there is no provenance for that. She also thought there was some sort of rift between him and his parents. Apparently, all in all, he was not an easy man.It has also always struck us as odd that, as the eldest son, he is named Thomas, and not William which was a bit of a family 'thing'; this was reserved for his brother a year younger. Dad had a theory that Thomas might actually belong to one of his Rowlands aunts (Eliza b1826, Hannah or Anne b1830, Ruth b1839, Rebecca b1844). If this were to be the case then mathematically my money would be on Rebecca or maybe Ruth. Unfortunately none of my digging about has produces anything on that front either, but my next avenue may well be his numerous Crimes aunts as the culprit.

If anyone out there can help me shed any light here I would be unbelievably grateful.

Blue skies!
Anthea