Where to obtain my grandad’s war record

Gareth Barry Conlon said:
Having a service number is a good start. Also the division / squadron or whatever reference to the part of the military. Its much easier to find out what a larger group was up to than any individual.

I have my Grandads service number but didn't get much from that. I did know the name of the ship he spent much of the war on. The ship was a specialist command ship for the army to use during beach assaults. The ship was involved from torchwood (North Africa) to Italy (sicily and anzio) to d day normandy.

I'm pretty sure he was at all these key battles but would have been on the ship. I do know he was on the beach at anzio. And his ship was the command ship of gold beach. It was one of very few allied ships hit by a shell (other than the landing craft on the beach).
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1753454426631.jpeg
This is my dad with his Uncle Robert’s Arctic Star medal. Robert was on HMS Ardent, sunk by Scharnhorst in June 1940. I contacted War Office / Medal Office as my dad is last surviving (immediate) relative of Robert and they sent me / my dad this medal plus the Arctic Emblem.
 
johnnytapia said:
I’m trying to ascertain (mainly for my dad, but also for personal/family interest) my grandad’s military service records. He was a soldier by trade (I.e. non-conscripted) and served in the army from circa 1925 to end of WW2. He then joined civvy street. In WW2 I know he sailed on MS Batory to Egypt where he was based for part of WW2.
Where / who would I go to to try and get:
Full details of his service
Campaign Medal details - I’m assuming all soldiers would receive at least one, and my grandad possibly another linked to service in Africa.
I don’t know his exact date of birth, it was circa 1905. I do know he was born raised and lived in New Moston.
Any and all help greatly appreciated
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Applied for a fair few service records over the years (but none recently)
Previously the only place you could get them was from the MOD.
You had to apply for them, either as next of kin or as a "general searcher' and fill in appropiate form. It cost £30 and required a name and a date of birth and/or service number. You also usually had to produce a death certificate, as they would release more info to you if the person being researched had died more than 25 years ago.
Over the last few years, the MOD have slowly started to transfer WW2 era service records over to the National Archives at Kew.
If you have enough info (like their service number) you can use the NA "discovery' search engine to see if they are now stored there.
Most of the transferred NA service records have a 'closed till 2027' but you can request a review and have them opened earlier. As part of the process theyll send you a copy (but currently theres a 12 month backlog).
Also as part of this transfer process to NA, either Ancestry or Find my Past have the digital license for the files, so some service have started to become available via them.

For further research help etc for WW2 soldiers, ww2talk.com forum is probably the best place to go
 
Scaley said:
Do you know which Regiment/Corps he served with? Moston was a recruiting area for the Manchester Regiment, my Dads side of the family were from Moston and Collyhurst and have a bit of history with that regiment.
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had a relative from that area that was recruited into the Manchesters in WW2.
Was due to go to Iceland on garrison duty but got transferred to the Highland Light Infantry and landed in Normandy D-Day +6 with them.
The problem in WW2 was your average rank & file got transferred a lot between units and without the full service record they are difficult to track.
Generally though, if a soldier was recruited pre mid 1942, you can tell what regiment he started with from his Service No, as each regiment had a specific block of numbers to use. After mid 1942 every recruit got given a 'general service' starting with 14**
 
Ghandi's Flip Flops said:
had a relative from that area that was recruited into the Manchesters in WW2.
Was due to go to Iceland on garrison duty but got transferred to the Highland Light Infantry and landed in Normandy D-Day +6 with them.
The problem in WW2 was your average rank & file got transferred a lot between units and without the full service record they are difficult to track.
Generally though, if a soldier was recruited pre mid 1942, you can tell what regiment he started with from his Service No, as each regiment had a specific block of numbers to use. After mid 1942 every recruit got given a 'general service' starting with 14**
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The exact same thing happened to my Great Grandad in WW1, his medals are engraved Manchester Regiment but my Gran had a picture of him ready to embark at Liverpool docks later on in the war and he was HLI. I always assumed his battalion was probably decimated when he first went to France with the Manchesters.
 
mexico1970 said:
Have you tried here mate? You can view the records for free on site or order them online if you have the details I believe.

British Army soldiers of the First World War - The National Archives

This is a guide to the records of British Army soldiers who served in the First World War. Some First World War veterans continued to serve with the army after the war and for the records of these soldiers you should follow the advice in our guide to British Army soldiers of the Second World […]
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
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Is there one for the Second World War?
 
johnnytapia said:
Where did you go to to get the information?
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I use Ancestry.co.uk and Find my past.co.uk plus there is a brilliant website for Lancashire: https://www.lan-opc.org.uk which has most of the parish records from Lancashire. Baptisms, marriages, confirmations. Really interesting.
Along with a second cousin I never knew about in Australia we have traced my grandmother's family right back to the 1740s!! It's fascinating.

I also have a subscription to the 'Who do you think you are?' magazine which gives a lot of tips as well as some great articles.
 
Most from that era would never talk about the war and it seemed a bit taboo.

I would respect them and leave it be.
 
Corky said:
Most from that era would never talk about the war and it seemed a bit taboo.

I would respect them and leave it be.
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I’m doing this for my 87 year old dad. He has Alzheimer’s and terminal cancer and his dad is one of the very few things he can reminisce with any degree of lucidity and happiness. I’d love to be able to give my dad the chance to see his dad’s medals and details of where he fought. I’ve only seen my dad really cry three times:

When telling me about the time he stood, as a 7 year old boy at the entrance to his ginell and seeing his dad for the first time in 5 years as he returned from the war.

Aguero

When he had to move into his care home.

I think my grandad wouldn’t mind me helping his son find out something that brings his son so much happiness.
 
johnnytapia said:
I’m doing this for my 87 year old dad. He has Alzheimer’s and terminal cancer and his dad is one of the very few things he can reminisce with any degree of lucidity and happiness. I’d love to be able to give my dad the chance to see his dad’s medals and details of where he fought. I’ve only seen my dad really cry three times:

When telling me about the time he stood, as a 7 year old boy at the entrance to his ginell and seeing his dad for the first time in 5 years as he returned from the war.

Aguero

When he had to move into his care home.

I think my grandad wouldn’t mind me helping his son find out something that brings his son so much happiness.
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Good luck mate. Hope you can find something for your old man.
 
SWP's back said:
Is there one for the Second World War?
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Its only recently that ww2 stuff has started to be made available online.
I would always say start with getting the service records, but theres usually a 12 month backlog/ time delay in receiving them.
While waiting for them theres other avenues to explore.
The 1939 Register (on Ancestry) is not a bad place to start if you know where a serviceman lived around that time.
Also worth checking Marriage Certs (again on the likes of Ancestry and FMP), if they got married during the war years, as usually their sevice no and regiment would be listed.
If a serviceman died during ww2 (and up to 1947) then the commonwealth wargraves site (cwgc.org) is definately worth a look.
Theres also a load of stuff at the National Archives at Kew, like war diaries, missing personnel files etc. Theyre not online bit can be copied. The NA will quote you hundreds of £s for the service, but theres a few independant researchers who charge a fraction of that.
If they were a POW theres also Prisoner Liberation Questionnaires available, or you can still request info from the Red Cross.
All depends how far you want to dig.

Is there something specific youre looking for?
 
Ghandi's Flip Flops said:
Its only recently that ww2 stuff has started to be made available online.
I would always say start with getting the service records, but theres usually a 12 month backlog/ time delay in receiving them.
While waiting for them theres other avenues to explore.
The 1939 Register (on Ancestry) is not a bad place to start if you know where a serviceman lived around that time.
Also worth checking Marriage Certs (again on the likes of Ancestry and FMP), if they got married during the war years, as usually their sevice no and regiment would be listed.
If a serviceman died during ww2 (and up to 1947) then the commonwealth wargraves site (cwgc.org) is definately worth a look.
Theres also a load of stuff at the National Archives at Kew, like war diaries, missing personnel files etc. Theyre not online bit can be copied. The NA will quote you hundreds of £s for the service, but theres a few independant researchers who charge a fraction of that.
If they were a POW theres also Prisoner Liberation Questionnaires available, or you can still request info from the Red Cross.
All depends how far you want to dig.

Is there something specific youre looking for?
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I’ve applied for my grandad’s marriage certificate as I’m hoping that will give me his dob and / or service number and I can then start with the NA office armed with bit more precise information
 
johnnytapia said:
Where did you go to to get the information?
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The two main sites I used were familysearch.org and findmypast.com , as I found out more things such as his squadron, a bit more googling brought more info…turns out he was in the same RAF Squadron as Donald Pleasence !!!
 
johnnytapia said:
I’m trying to ascertain (mainly for my dad, but also for personal/family interest) my grandad’s military service records. He was a soldier by trade (I.e. non-conscripted) and served in the army from circa 1925 to end of WW2. He then joined civvy street. In WW2 I know he sailed on MS Batory to Egypt where he was based for part of WW2.
Where / who would I go to to try and get:
Full details of his service
Campaign Medal details - I’m assuming all soldiers would receive at least one, and my grandad possibly another linked to service in Africa.
I don’t know his exact date of birth, it was circa 1905. I do know he was born raised and lived in New Moston.
Any and all help greatly appreciated
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You (and all the others asking on this thread can apply for full copies of a relative’s service (Army) records by writing to:

Disclosures 4
Army Personnel Centre
Kentigern House
65 Brown Street
Glasgow
G2 8EX

I used to work there and managed the section that deals with the requests (of which there are loads). You will have to wait but if they have the records they will copy them for you.
 
GFBlue said:
You (and all the others asking on this thread can apply for full copies of a relative’s service (Army) records by writing to:

Disclosures 4
Army Personnel Centre
Kentigern House
65 Brown Street
Glasgow
G2 8EX

I used to work there and managed the section that deals with the requests (of which there are loads). You will have to wait but if they have the records they will copy them for you.
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That is fantastic. I’ll do that tomorrow
 
This thread has got me thinking. My Mum’s maternal Grandad served in WWI. I have his service number and I know he served in the 21st Battalion Manchester Regiment and the date he was attested. I also know he was then in the Royal Engineers and have the service number from there. How do I find out where he served during his time in the Army?
I was too young to remember my great-Grandad, he died when I was a young girl but my older siblings said he was a very stern man. Maybe if he went through some awful things as a fairly young man, this might have something to do with it?
 
GFBlue said:
You (and all the others asking on this thread can apply for full copies of a relative’s service (Army) records by writing to:

Disclosures 4
Army Personnel Centre
Kentigern House
65 Brown Street
Glasgow
G2 8EX

I used to work there and managed the section that deals with the requests (of which there are loads). You will have to wait but if they have the records they will copy them for you.
Click to expand...
I’ve just seen this, is that where they served? I already have details of Regiments and Army numbers.
 
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