Mystery history

[BLLCH20]

hi, first post here.
Australian born son of Scottish father, i have grown up hearing stories of dads WW2 naval service in trincomallee(?), running a light workshop on a destroyer repair ship. HMS Woolwich .
seemed to have many adventures, got up to no end of mischief, no talk of combat but was apparently trained in enigma machine workings in case one was found in hands of japanese ship or sub
he is 92 now, story and evidence has been consistent over time. we have photos medals etc
recently added a new chapter, apparently he initially did time in the army in Holland behind lines reporting on German shipping before secondment to navy. several visits to Holland, some by submarine, evading capture, armed with sniper rifle, saw combat, worked with dutch resistance, etc....
i called major BS but for a man who cannot remember what happened 15 minutes ago he has stuck to the story and added more details but all unable to be checked,
when i check this site for any record for him there is none in any service at any time.
this suggests to me he has either made the whole thing up and played it out in his mind often enough over the years that he believes every word or that he is telling the truth and he was involved in some covert stuff that he has been at pains not to divulge over the years but is slipping out now his mind is going.
i haven't raided his personal stuff as yet to try and find more info as i think he would be unhappy to have me go through his things, he is happy to talk about time in Ceylon but gives very limited info about anything else saying that Ceylon was a holiday in comparison and he doesn't want to dredge up the other stuff
over the years there have been a number of times when his response to events/conversations have suggested that there was more going on than was being said. it may go some way to answer some questions about his life choices and relationships post WW2.

as much as i feel that there is no basis in reality for much of what he has said it does seem to fill in a blank period about which we knew nothing. i am not sure what to believe..

what avenues are there to further explore this?
what does it mean if his records are not on this site? has he picked up some medals along the way as payment for a bet and made up the whole story?


regards

JB

[Pam Downes]

Hello JB,

Welcome to British-Genealogy.

From your reference to 'this site' I presume that you have arrived via FWR so please read
this message.

Can we assume that you are talking UK service records, and not Australian ones? If so, post-1921 are still held by the Ministry of Defence. The good news is that your father can apply for them free of charge. The bad news is that you will have to persuade him to sign the application form.
See here for further links.

Pam