Sydney John Godden - naval records?

My grandfather was born in 1910 and died in 1948. In a newspaper article about his death it states that he had been a gunner in the Royal Navy during World War Two. I'm not sure how accurate that is (the article also says he was born in his parents house which is patently not true as he was born out of wedlock and his birth wasn't legitimised until 1938, just before he got married) and I had always been under the impression that he had been in the Merchant Navy.
I can't find any military records for him at all?
I have tried variations of the spelling of Sydney, still no joy. He was from the Ashford, Kent area. The closest military record I can find is for an SJ Godden who was in the East Kent Buffs? I have a photo of him in what appears to be naval uniform - no hat and no insignia to indicate ship? All a mystery. My dad is no longer with us but was only 9 when his father died so I don't think he would have been able to provide any additional information. Any suggestions as to how I might be able to find out more?

https://www.gov.uk/get-copy-military-service-records. The records for this period are still held by the ministry of defence.

Hello Tracy,

Welcome to British- Genealogy. :smile5:

If you came to us via Forces War Records, this will explain.
https://www.british-genealogy.com/th...rs-Please-Read

The records on FWR are specific to an event, certain group of people, place, etc, and are not service records which, as Gortonboy has said, are still held by the MoD.

Until I think 1972, naval personnel were given their service records upon discharge from the service, and therefore the MoD have limited information. Off the top of my head (I'm on the tablet so can't access my bookmarks and can't 'manually' find the page I want) it's mainly a list of the ships served on and the dates.

Pam