Frank Ernest Gant (elusive military records)

[Janeyg]

We have hit a brick wall in finding Frank's military records. Family recalls him serving in the Army in Libya and Italy in the Second World War. It was thought he was with the Norfolk Regiment but nothing is recorded in his name (or alternative spellings). We cannot get Army Service Records from the Army Personnel Centre in Glasgow as we have no service number. Family recalls him saying he trained at Muckleburgh in Norfolk which is the County he was born and lived in. We were told to contact the Castle Museum in Norwich which houses Norfolk Yeomanry records but nothing for Frank has turned up there. We have photographs of him in uniform which show on one a cap badge which looks distictly like Britannia which we have been told is the Norfolk Regiment. Other than hiring a researcher, we have currently run out of ideas - any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[wilson8]

Looks like a tough one to solve. I just took a look at this and found several Army units that served in both North Africa and/or Libya as well as in Italy. Perhaps if you check this way, you might at least be able to narrow down which regiment / division he served in. I hope that others here may be able to help you locate him. Good luck.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...n_World_War_II

[Jomot1]

I have obtained service records without a service number before, so long as you have a date of birth and a death certificate. The actual MoD form says "SERVICE NUMBER AND/OR DATE OF BIRTH MUST BE INCLUDED"

[Janeyg]

Oh ok - yes I can see this on the form now - I'll definitely give this a go as I thought the service number was mandatory (senior mis-reading moment!). It just seems so strange that nothing is coming up on searches with all the various genealogy sites. Many thanks.

[Pam Downes]

Oh ok - yes I can see this on the form now - I'll definitely give this a go as I thought the service number was mandatory (senior mis-reading moment!). It just seems so strange that nothing is coming up on searches with all the various genealogy sites. Many thanks.

Do you mean about his service in the army? If so, it's not surprising simply because service records post-1921 are not in the public domain. What 'snippets' are relate to various specific records, such as prisoners of war.

Genealogy-wise, there is plenty of information about him. In five minutes I found his birth and death registrations, his entry in the 1939 Register, and his parents' marriage registration, the address he was living at when died (not necessarily where hd died), and the fact that he left a will.

Not having any idea of how familiar you are with some of the genealogy sites, I used FreeBMD and the Probate Calendar, both of which are free to use.
https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/search.pl
https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/#wills
(Make sure you search using the 1959-1996 tab!)

For the 1939 Register you have to use either Findmypast or Ancestry which although they are subscription sites may be available for free at your local library. Alternatively you can take out a free 14-day trial but make sure you untick any autp-subscribe button otherwise your bank account will get a shock.

For all BMD certificates order only direct through the GRO.
https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/

Pam

[Janeyg]

Hi Pam - we were just looking for army service records and no wonder we couldn't find anything as it is post-1921. Thank you so much for this information - we didn't realise! We have got all the normal genealogy records thanks so I am going to - as Jomot1 stated above - apply for his service records.
Thank you all for your help - it is most appreciated.