James Gerard Murphy widnes Royal Air Force (Auxiliary Air Force) 919/23 Balloon

[englandphil]

Hi Tony

When he joined the AAF he was seconded to the Barrage Balloon Reg. at the outbreak of war - would he have needed an engineering background for that?

His service number indiates that he joined the AAF pre-war, and at that time Balloon Command was at the least in its infnacy so it is possible that he worked prior to Balloon comand in another occupation.

I might have a problem getting his service record as, technically, I'm not next of kin.

As Jim has now been dead over 25 years, anyone can apply for his service record as lomng as they pay the admin Fee, but any personal data will be omited.  Would be worth rining the records office and asking what you would get.

P

[Lynntony]

As Jim has now been dead over 25 years, anyone can apply for his service record as lomng as they pay the admin Fee, but any personal data will be omited.  Would be worth rining the records office and asking what you would get.

Thanks for that Phil. A little job to do in the New Year.

If he joined the AAF pre-war, would that have been part-time, as with the TA?
Just curious as to why he would be described as "upholsterer (deceased)" on his daughter's marriage cert.

Tony

[englandphil]

Tony, they may have asked for his peacetime occupation, and whilst he joined up pre war, people would still have refered to his trade.  The AAF started a big 'Full Time' and 'Reservist' dive in Late 1938 and started the Balloon Commands for West lancs in march 1939 on the basis of they realised that the threat from Germany was real, and that the defenxce of the country needed improving.  The fact that War wasnt declared until 6 months later would be irrelevant

I will see what is in the electoral role pre 1939 when I am nest at the Library

[jemmalou82]

hello i know this is an old post but i have stumbbled across your search in effort to find some rugby history of my dads. My name is jemma murphy, James Gerard murphy the one whom you speak here is my great grandfather, other names related to his other than the ones you have mentioned on other posts are Nancy, Gerard ( passed away in childhood ) Jerry and James ( my grandfather )  if you have found the right connection to your own circumstance and are still looking ( i know many years have passed ) please get in touch because your search has raised many questions now of my own.


thank you for reading feel free to contact me.

Jem

Details of living/possibly living people removed in accordance with Rootschat policy.
See also: http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=635285

[jemmalou82]

Hi everyone im very new to this as i came across this purely by accident with no intent in mind to dig into family history. I was researching into my dads rugby history on the internet just randomly googling his name and past teams, when i came across a search by someone else who was looking for the Murphy Family of Widnes.

this was the post i found ........

      "I'm trying to locate anyone with information about the Murphy family of Widnes. Do these names mean anything to you :-
James Gerard (Jim) Murphy... I know that James died in 1943 and is buried in Widnes Cemetery, but have no information about what happened to the rest of the family. Can anyone please help?"

Naturally i was intrigued since i recognise every name, James Gerard was my great grandfather and some of the names missing from this list are Nancy, Gerard ( passed in childhood ) Jerry and my grandad James ( Jim-lad) the last time i saw the family was roughly 10 years ago at uncle Jerrys funeral.


What im wondering is, who is the person asking about our family and did they follow the right path? it was a few years since the original post so im wondering if they managed to find anything more, plus we could potentially be second cousins.
What has also captured my intrest is the mystery surrounding James Gerards death, as it is believed he was killed on barracks during a fight/argument with a fellow serviceman whom was never brought to justice ( if he was guilty of course ). My dad has more info.

Please feel free to contact me if you know anything about this search or the family its got me and my dad very curious.
thankyou

jem

[aghadowey]

This looks like the query you found-why not try contacting them with the email address provided?
http://blogs.chesterchronicle.co.uk/cheshire-memories/1900-1999.html

See also:
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,494894.msg4826549.html#msg4826549

[jemmalou82]

because it was an old post i wasnt sure if they still had this contact detail i have found out they are on this forum but i only registered yesterday and couldnt private message,  i could have my knowledge completely wrong as we dont see the rest of the family that often, ive asked w questions of the few i am in touch with and i understand that this IS the right family connection however it may have been one that wants to remain distant, for me however im very interested to find out more about my family.

Also it would be good to get any new information from another source since it has started something for me and my dad now 

Jem

[millymcb]

Hi Jemma

Welcome to Rootschat

I have merged the two threads so that all the info and the replies stay in one place. Hopefully the original poster will be online again soon.

In the meantime - any other questions on a different subject please feel free to start a new thread on the relevant board

Milly

[jemmalou82]

hi and thank you. I've not had time to fully explore this site yet and get the hang of what to post or not, i just saw this request and was very excited about what i have accidentally discovered.

Apologies for any faux pas made so far, but i am quite hooked on this now so many questions, its like I've stubbled into an episode of who do you think you are 

Jem