How to find out which service Uncle served in in WW2

[2Harriet]

Hi,
I am trying to find out which service my husband's uncle was in. He served before and during WW2. With a common name John [Johnny] Murray, it has been impossible so far. [Even now that I have found his D.OB  3 Dec 1914, Russell St., Ayr, Scotland ] He was mentioned in dispatches apparently at some point. Searched Ancestry and Forces War records. He was [in the Army?] in the Middle East Campaign and went right to the end of the war finishing up in Germany having stormed Hamburg and occupied it. He died in Queensland Australia in 2009 having had no contact with family for many years. Anyone got any ideas about how to find out about his time in WW2, please?

[rosie99]

Service records after 1920 are still with the MOD.
https://www.gov.uk/get-copy-military-service-records

[2Harriet]

Thanks Rosie99 but I don't have a service number for that or a service.

[KGarrad]

You don't need a service number to apply for WW2 records

The form says service number OR date of birth.

[MaxD]

The brief outline of his presumed service says army to me.  There is at least one Mention for a J Murray for service in N Africa in 1943.  He was in the Highland Light Infantry.  The MiD lists give no further information.
While the MoD forms say the fee is non-refundable, cases have been known of the fees being returned in the event of nothing being found.  I'd apply to the army side (but then it isn't my £30).  There really is no other way short of something being found in the family.

MaxD


 
 

[majm]

Hi,

Is it likely he received a pension in his later years in Queensland?  If so,  perhaps the Australian Department of Veterans Affairs would have funded it under arrangements with UK Ministry of Defence.  There may be archived files via Australia's National Archives ... naa.gov.au  His immigration details also likely to be with our NAA. 

And perhaps his service was in the Australian military ...if so,  those files should be indexed at NAA 'records collection' too.

JM