Uniform

[andybarr]

Any one no what Uniforms theses are he is my Grandad,some one said it was an RAF one,not to sure

[Neil Wilson]

I would say that they are 2 different uniforms, maybe 2 time periods. Top one he is wearing shoes which would indicate officer to me.
Second one look like a pip on his shoulder.
Do you know what year these would be?

[andybarr]

Thank you for your reply Neil,not to sure someone said the single photo is a uniform surplice from the WW1,with black buttons

[Lesley Robertson]

I think that the top one is RAF. Don't think the other one is - not with that completely closed collar.... Could be a trainee uniform.

Andy, since you could be 17 or 70, just knowing that he's your grandfather isn't a lot of help. We need a timeframe...
And a name and number would be nice!

[ARCRE_UK]

In the top photo he's wearing standard 1937 pattern khaki battledress that was issued throughout the war.

Although the RAF did also wear khaki battledress there is nothing in the photo to indicate that he's RAF. There should be some sort of RAF insignia on his blouse like eagle shoulder badges, qualification wings or rank slides. It's impossible to tell what the cap badge is other than a rough shape.

Judging by the background, I'd guess that it is taken in North Africa, e.g. Cairo or Alexandria. The ribbon is indistinct but as it is quite light in colour, it's possible it’s for the Africa Star. The ribbons for the Africa Star were issued from late 1943 onwards.

The lower photo shows him in pre-war uniform which was certainly still being issued in mid- to late-1939. The rank badge again is difficult to read. I'm leaning towards it being "RE", i.e. Royal Engineers. That would also fit the shape of the cap badge in the top photo.

Can you share his name with us?
Best wishes,

Lee

[Lesley Robertson]

It was the cap that made me think RAF.
Obviously more widely used than I realised.

[andybarr]

Thank you all for you'r repleys ,Lesley im 53 yrs young my dad is 76 we only just found out that this is his dad long story .The person in the photos is Cyril Bertrum Christmas born 1916 died in 2007 we acquired these photos of his relatives but they too didn't have a clue,on his service number thank you for your help ps we did a search on his name on the war records site on to find a Cyril D Christmas,and not a B for his middle name

[timbo58]

His main service records will only be held by the MOD, no one else will be able to get access to them.
They can be obtained by a subject access request application -the forms are on the veterans UK site.

FWR do indeed have some records from this era but they are mainly:
Listings from army/navy/air force lists (officers only), POW records, records of schools and firms rolls of service, gallantry medals, mentions in despatches etc, all of these are those that have been found in the public domain.