world war 2 service records

[bombergirl]

Can anyone give me some idea of how i can find my dad's service records from the RAF . He was living in Woodstock at the time of his joining up  but am not sure just where he would have enlisted. His Name  is Norman Leonard Wordsworth.
Thank you for any help antone can give me

[andycand]

Hi

WW2 Service Records are still held by the Ministry of Defence. The link below has information about applying for a copy

http://www.veterans-uk.info/service_records/service_records.html

Andy

[bombergirl]

Thanks Andy    I will check that site out

regards Denise

[BORRI]

Hi Denise
I don't want to put a dampener on it but I have just received my Dads Army records and it comes with 6 double sided A4 sheets of Abbreviations.
My Dad was wounded twice in Italy, once at Monte Casino and again later when he was reported missing in action and was one of only 2 or 3 survivors out of a couple of hundred men.
All the records say is "missing, found in Hospital"
Don't get me wrong it's worth having but it was less than I expected and you could be charged £30 if they decided you are not next of Kin.
I haven't checked out WW2 at Kew yet but I think they have a lot more that will compliment his service records.
Good luck with your research. Borri

[channeal]

Apologies for being off topic..............

My husband is interested in looking at a map of Middlesbrough from 1882, because he is doing an article for a football history magazine. He has found a picture of the map in a book, but unfortunately it is small and hard to read. He is specifically looking for the football and cricket grounds.

A Google search led me to a post of yours (a few years ago now) in which you said you had a copy of this map and, I believe, very kindly emailed it to somebody. Do you still have it?

Chris.

[Plummiegirl]

Borri - sadly you got exactly what you requested his army records.

If you had want a more detailed indepth report (ie where his regiment was posted and what the regiment did) you really need the Regimental Diaries which in many cases I would say contain the information that most people think will be in their ancestors army records.  These regimental diaries are most likely to be kept at the National Archives at Kew, some can be found at The Imperial War Museum and some are also still in the hands of the appropriate regimental archives.

My dads army records contained pretty much what I already had (Dad never threw any of his old papers out).

Another thing to know is that there is up to a 10 month wait once you send of your money.

The only persons' to whom these records are free are the widows/widowers of the person whose records you are looking for, everyone else has to pay £30.00 and that includes the children of that person.

When I sent off for my fathers records, I enclosed a copy of his death certificate and my birth certificate to prove who I was. 

[BORRI]

Thanks Plummiegirl

You have just said the point I was trying to make, I just wanted to warn Denise before she spent her hard earned cash on something that isn't what she wants.

I sent my Fathers death certificate and I was a little surprised they didn't send it back with the information.

They sent me a letter about a week after I applied for the records apologising for the delay and then sent the records about 2 weeks later, all in all, 3 weeks.

My Mum is still alive so I applied in her name as she was interested to see them but soon lost interest once they arrived.

[IMBER]

We have managed to get RAF service records for my mother and father and my wife's father. All we got back after a long wait were single sheets and cryptic entries but working out what it all meant was fun and the information we gleaned was quite fascinating and worth every penny. I'd encourage you to apply.  We just sent scans or photocopies of the death certificates.