Author Topic: WO 315 lookup request at TNA at Kew: Paratrooper Wladyslaw Baranowski  (Read 342 times)

Offline kob3203

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WO 315 lookup request at TNA at Kew: Paratrooper Wladyslaw Baranowski
« on: Wednesday 15 November 23 14:28 GMT (UK) »
Paratrooper Wladyslaw Baranowski almost certainly served in the the 1st Independent Parachute Brigade (Poland) in WW2 and I'm hoping to find his unit and service number. The following two record sets seem the most promising but aren't digitised, so a visit to Kew is necessary. Being in SE Asia I can't do this myself:

- WO 315/39/5 Parachute Brigade - Stars and Medals.
- WO 315/52/7 Enlistment into Polish Resettlement Corps of members of the Polish Home Army in Germany

Further background in the Any chance to find WW2 Polish paratrooper Wladyslaw Baranowski service record ? topic
Most roots researched back to the early/mid 1800s. Years noted as 'pre' refer to my direct ancestors, although I'm interested in any relatives:
Mitchelstown, Co.Cork: CORBETT (pre1935), SWEENEY  (pre1935), CUSACK? (pre1894), KEYS? (pre1894)
Mallow, Co.Cork: BROWNE (1895-1935)
Caher, Co.Tipp: BROWNE (pre1895), PURTELL(pre1895)
Cashel, Co.Tipp: FANNING (pre1886)
Llanelly, Carms: GRIFFITHS (pre1934), REYNOLDS (pre1901), WILLIAMS (pre1934)
Ton Pentre, Glams: LEWIS (pre1901)

Offline Andy J2022

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Re: WO 315 lookup request at TNA at Kew: Paratrooper Wladyslaw Baranowski
« Reply #1 on: Friday 08 December 23 16:26 GMT (UK) »
Hi kob,

I was at TNA today and had a look at the two references you provided. No luck in answering you specific questions. The first piece, WO315/39/5 just deals with the high level policy, deciding things like how many days in a particular theatre or operation should count towards a medal. There are no individuals named that I could see.

The second piece, WO 315/52,  is huge - about 2 inches thick - and there was no way I could study it all in the time available to me. Subdivision /7 within the overall file was relatively small and again was concerned with policy, not the actual enlistments of soldiers. There were long lists of individual (some over 400 names long and not in alphabetical order) in other parts of WO315/52 and I scanned then for his name and didn't find anything. They were mainly lists of individuals whom the Russians were pressing the British to 'release' to them on the grounds that they were Soviet citizens. The vast majority of these men were refusing to go back to occupied Poland. There were also lists of Polish officers who had served with SOE, but again, your man didn't feature among them.

I saw absolutely no references to Peterborough or RAF Spitalgate, or even any specific camps, but to be honest I was speed reading hundreds and hundreds of fairly dense documents, with around a quarter being in Polish so not much chance of making out what was being discussed.

Offline kob3203

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Re: WO 315 lookup request at TNA at Kew: Paratrooper Wladyslaw Baranowski
« Reply #2 on: Saturday 09 December 23 05:43 GMT (UK) »
Thanks very much for looking - I was hoping that there'd be some sort of nominal roll by regiment in one of those two collections, but it appears not.

Next step may be to send an email to the MOD address in the Poland In Exile link you gave me.

Thanks again.
Most roots researched back to the early/mid 1800s. Years noted as 'pre' refer to my direct ancestors, although I'm interested in any relatives:
Mitchelstown, Co.Cork: CORBETT (pre1935), SWEENEY  (pre1935), CUSACK? (pre1894), KEYS? (pre1894)
Mallow, Co.Cork: BROWNE (1895-1935)
Caher, Co.Tipp: BROWNE (pre1895), PURTELL(pre1895)
Cashel, Co.Tipp: FANNING (pre1886)
Llanelly, Carms: GRIFFITHS (pre1934), REYNOLDS (pre1901), WILLIAMS (pre1934)
Ton Pentre, Glams: LEWIS (pre1901)

Offline garstonite

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Re: WO 315 lookup request at TNA at Kew: Paratrooper Wladyslaw Baranowski
« Reply #3 on: Saturday 09 December 23 07:24 GMT (UK) »
do you know where and when he was born - who he married ? we might find a family tree ??
oakes,liverpool..neston..backford..poulton cum spittal(bebington)middlewich,cheshire......   sacht,helgoland  .......merrick,herefordshire adams,shropshire...tipping..ellis..  jones,garston,liverpool..hartley.dunham massey..barker. salford


Offline kob3203

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Re: WO 315 lookup request at TNA at Kew: Paratrooper Wladyslaw Baranowski
« Reply #4 on: Saturday 09 December 23 15:56 GMT (UK) »
He was born on 20 Oct 1915 in Wlodzimierz, Wolyn, Poland (also known as Włodzimierz Wołyński, Volodymyr-Volynskyi, or Volodymyr, and now in Volyn Oblast, NW Ukraine I believe).

He married a Parbles (edit - details removed as there's a possibility she's still alive) in Peterborough in 1945. I found a marriage notice in a local paper that said he was a paratrooper from a Polish unit. They had three children who may still be alive. I found GRO birth registrations at FreeBMD that match the three children he named on his US petition for naturalization which confirms it's the same person. If any of these or their descendants are researching family trees he'd be in their trees.

He married my grandfather's sister Ellen Corbett in Willesden in 1955 and they emigrated, ending up in Chicago, where he died in 1982 (two years after his wife) - no children.

I added him to the FamilySearch tree a while back as Walter Baranowski  https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/GKDT-76H along with all the information I have about him.

He's also in my kob3203 Corbett trees at Ancestry, FindMyPast, and MyHeritage. I don't have paid subscriptions to any of those sites so I can only see other people's trees at MyHeritage, and haven't fond him elsewhere there.

Modifications to the post (additions, except for the removal of details of his first wife) marked in bold
Most roots researched back to the early/mid 1800s. Years noted as 'pre' refer to my direct ancestors, although I'm interested in any relatives:
Mitchelstown, Co.Cork: CORBETT (pre1935), SWEENEY  (pre1935), CUSACK? (pre1894), KEYS? (pre1894)
Mallow, Co.Cork: BROWNE (1895-1935)
Caher, Co.Tipp: BROWNE (pre1895), PURTELL(pre1895)
Cashel, Co.Tipp: FANNING (pre1886)
Llanelly, Carms: GRIFFITHS (pre1934), REYNOLDS (pre1901), WILLIAMS (pre1934)
Ton Pentre, Glams: LEWIS (pre1901)

Offline kob3203

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Re: WO 315 lookup request at TNA at Kew: Paratrooper Wladyslaw Baranowski
« Reply #5 on: Sunday 10 December 23 06:58 GMT (UK) »
Deleted (accidentally quoted my previous post instead of modifying it. Please see previous post which has been amended)
Most roots researched back to the early/mid 1800s. Years noted as 'pre' refer to my direct ancestors, although I'm interested in any relatives:
Mitchelstown, Co.Cork: CORBETT (pre1935), SWEENEY  (pre1935), CUSACK? (pre1894), KEYS? (pre1894)
Mallow, Co.Cork: BROWNE (1895-1935)
Caher, Co.Tipp: BROWNE (pre1895), PURTELL(pre1895)
Cashel, Co.Tipp: FANNING (pre1886)
Llanelly, Carms: GRIFFITHS (pre1934), REYNOLDS (pre1901), WILLIAMS (pre1934)
Ton Pentre, Glams: LEWIS (pre1901)

Offline Kiltaglassan

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Re: WO 315 lookup request at TNA at Kew: Paratrooper Wladyslaw Baranowski
« Reply #6 on: Sunday 10 December 23 07:30 GMT (UK) »
Deleted (accidentally quoted my previous post instead of modifying it. Please see previous post which has been amended)

What amendments did you make in your post #4?

Always beneficial to use 'strike through' and indicate at the bottom that the post has been amended or added to.


Researching: Cuthbertson – Co. Derry, Scotland & Australia; Hunter – Co. Derry; Jackson – Co. Derry, Scotland & Canada; Scott – Co. Derry; Neilly – Co. Antrim & USA; McCurdy – Co. Antrim; Nixon – Co. Cavan, Co. Donegal, Canada & USA; Ryan & Noble – Co. Sligo

Offline kob3203

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Re: WO 315 lookup request at TNA at Kew: Paratrooper Wladyslaw Baranowski
« Reply #7 on: Sunday 10 December 23 07:41 GMT (UK) »
Mainly additions, now marked in bold. Strikethrough of details I shouldn't have included wouldn't be wise  :)
Most roots researched back to the early/mid 1800s. Years noted as 'pre' refer to my direct ancestors, although I'm interested in any relatives:
Mitchelstown, Co.Cork: CORBETT (pre1935), SWEENEY  (pre1935), CUSACK? (pre1894), KEYS? (pre1894)
Mallow, Co.Cork: BROWNE (1895-1935)
Caher, Co.Tipp: BROWNE (pre1895), PURTELL(pre1895)
Cashel, Co.Tipp: FANNING (pre1886)
Llanelly, Carms: GRIFFITHS (pre1934), REYNOLDS (pre1901), WILLIAMS (pre1934)
Ton Pentre, Glams: LEWIS (pre1901)