Great Grandad in WW2

[alllegs]

Hi,

A bit of a stab in the dark here, I have 4 of my great grandads WW2 medals but no other information about where he served and what brigade (is that the right word?) he was in.

His name was Fred Bainbridge and he was born in 1904 in Willington, Durham and married Mary Edith Neilson in Crook in 1926.  He survived the war and returned home with the Defence medal, the Africa Star, the 1939-1945 Star and another medal which I cannot identify as yet.  It is circular and had the king on one side and a lion standing on a weird thing with a beasts boday and a birds head on the other side. The ribbon is stripy, red, blue, white, red, white, blue, red.  The blue and red on either edge are wider than the white, red whire in the centre.

I would love to know which regiment he served in and where he served.  I have tried searching the National Archive site and Ancestry for information but can only find WW1 information, I guess he'd have been too young to serve in WW1.

TIA
Legs
xxxx

PS, is it possible to find out if ancestors served in any war even if you know nothing except their name?  I cannot find anything which indcates anyone except my great granddad fought in any war, surely they can't have all escaped?

[Thudnut]

Hi Allegs,
the other medal you mention is the War Medal 1939-45.
http://www.medals.org.uk/united-kingdom/united-kingdom054.htm

You can request his service record from:
Army Personnel Centre
HQ Secretariat
Historical Disclosures
Mail Point 400
Kentigern House
65 Brown Street
Glasgow
G2 8EX
Tel: 0845 600 9663, option 1, then option 3

If you let them have all the information you have, they should be able to trace your Great Grandfather.  I think it costs about £30.00 and you have you wait quite a few months for a reply, but it usually is worth it.

Good luck, and thanks for making me feel old!!  Great Grandfathers in WW2, indeed!!! 

Thudders

[Wendi]

Beat me to it Thudnut!

Hi Legs !

To get his service record you must be next of kin to your GGrandad, or obtain their permission.

it does cost £30, and you must have his death cert.

It is not easy to track down rellies in wars unless they leave behind clues, a photo in uniform to ID a regiment or something like that, unless they have a really unusual name 

Wendi 

[alllegs]

Thank you Thudnut ans Wendi,

That's stumped me already then as I'm not my great granddads next of kin, my granddad is, I'll have to ask him for permission.  I do have his original death certificate and his medal though so fingers crossed!

In regards to finding other War ancestors, I have some photos of them in uniform, however I'm not sure who is who in the pic's, other than that I just have a handful of names of people who were of the correct age to serve in WW1, WW2, the Boer War etc....  Not very helpful really!!
I'll dig out the photo's and post them on here and see if you guys can shed any light on them!

Thank you again
Legs
xxxx

[Wendi]

I'll dig out the photo's and post them on here and see if you guys can shed any light on them!

Go for it, we do love a good Photo Query on the Armed Forces Pages! look forward to seeing them!!

Wendi 

[Thudnut]

Don't forget to show the photographs to your grandfather too!

He is the best source of information available to you!  Whilst you are at it, get as much information from him about all his memories as you can.  In years to come, that first-hand information will be invaluable.

If your grandfather is agreeable, why not record his memories.  A voice recording would be a great family heirloom!

Good luck!
Thudders

[celia]

Hi Legs
I haven't posted on your topic, read it soon after posting, i like to to see any updates,how are you getting on with the search?

Celia

[alllegs]

Hiya Celia,

Thank you for your interest, to be honest I've not had time to get any further with my search, I've been working all hours to pay off student loans etc.  I will keep you updated with anything I find in the nearish future!!

Legs
xxxx