Bob Richards

[Bob Richards]

I am researching my father's WW2 history. He served aboard HMS Zulu, tribal class destroyer from the time of her launch to the time of her sinking in 1942 during Operation Agreement. He was awarded the DSM and was twice mentioned in dispatches. I have found the Gazette notifications for these awards but is there anywhere I can find the reports or recommendations which led to them? Any help would be appreciated.

[christanel]

Hi Bob and welcome to the British-Genealogy forums
If you came to us from Forces War Records this link explains the connection.

Do you have your father's service record? If not you can order it Here from the MoD for a fee of 30 pounds and you will also need to give his birthdate and supply a copy of his death certificate. Unfortunately at the moment there is a looooong wait of up to 18 months to receive them. What details of your father's service will be in them I don't know.
Meanwhile you could try searching Here on The National Archives for any relevant war diaries that may have some information.
Christina

[Pam Downes]

Hi Bob,

Probably the best source of reasons why awards were made is the local newspaper. Many are available online either through the British Newspaper Archive or Findmypast, though obviously you need to know where he and/or his parents were living at the time of the award. Newspapers not online ae often available in the town library.

As you say your father served on HMS Zulu, I'm assuming he was in the navy. Regarding RN service records, only limited information is held by the MoD as (after WW1) sailors were given their service records on discharge. Scroll down this tutorial to the RN section.
https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/tutorials

I noticed that Christina gave you the link to army records at The National Archives. This is one for naval records.
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/...ond-world-war/

Pam

[Bob Richards]

Thanks very much for the reply. I have his full service record, which was among his possessions when he died. I have tried National Archives but couldn't find anything relevant, but will try again. Local newspapers did mention his award but it was only a one line entry with no details. I do remember asking him once, a long time ago, and the rather vague answer was that he climbed up a mast to repair a radio aerial which had been damaged while under enemy fire, but typical of dad and thousands more of that generation, he didn't talk much about his war service. One thing I have found recently is a book entitled "Massacre at Tobruk" which gives the story of Operation Agreement, where his ship HMS Zulu was one of several Royal Navy ships sunk. That throws a lot of light onto part of his service. It was quite a disastrous mission by all accounts.

[Bob Richards]

Thanks, Pam. I have tried National Archives but will try again as I know that more recorda are constantly being added.

[suemalings]

I am researching my father's WW2 history. He served aboard HMS Zulu, tribal class destroyer from the time of her launch to the time of her sinking in 1942 during Operation Agreement. He was awarded the DSM and was twice mentioned in dispatches. I have found the Gazette notifications for these awards but is there anywhere I can find the reports or recommendations which led to them? Any help would be appreciated.

I did a search on Google for HMS Zulu, Most of the sites give the same info. but one from the BBC WW2 Peoples War gave a bit more insight as someone has been researching their father who served on the Zulu. There is also a list of Commanding Officers on another site (Uboat.net). Just in case you have not already looked, it might be worth going through the lot.

[Bob Richards]

Thanks very much. I have looked at so much online that I can't honestly remember if I have gone down this particular path before, but will give it a try. It does seem though from information received from other sources that most medal and MID citations were destroyed after WW2 because of a lack of storage space, which is a shame as it is likely I may never get the full picture.