Albert (Berty) Robinson

[jrobinson.106]

As far as I am aware, my uncle Berty, joined the Royal Navy sometime in 1937, and served through WW2, I am told he was involved in the Battle of the River Plate ??, he retired sometime in the mid 1970's, he was staying at the Royal Navy hotel in Southampton, and was transferred to the Navel Retirement cottages in Plymouth, he passed away sometime in the late 1970's or early 1980's, his remains were transferred to Northern Ireland for internment, this is the only info I have on him, any info would br greatly appreciated,
Thanking you in advance,
James HRobinson.

[Pam Downes]

Hello James,

Welcome to British-Genealogy.

Unless you have extra information about Albert which you have omitted I think you will need to do a little more digging before you can make progress. Unfortunately you're dealing with a fairly common surname.

Service records for personnel who served any time after 1921 are still held by the Ministry of Defence. However RN personnel who left the service prior to 1972 were given their records when they left so all the Mod have on file is their service details (number, rank, name etc) and a list of dates and ships/shore bases. But as you say Albert retired in the mid 70s you might be lucky in obtaining a fuller record.
But before you can apply for his records you need to obtain a copy of his death certificate. Based on the information you've given so far I can only see one 'likely' candidate in the GRO Index, but he's a Thomas Albert; birth date given in the death index as 11 Jun 1910 whose death was registered June quarter 1981 Plymouth registration district. Do you know when Albert was born? You should at least know who his parents (your grandparents) were. If you can tell us any of this information we might be able to help you further.

Details of how to apply for service records can be found here.
And if you came to us via Forces War Records, this will tell you how we are connected.

Pam

[Lesley Robertson]

James, welcome in!

Don’t forget to check Bertie, the alternative spelling, as well.
Do you know when and/or where he was born/living? If we can work out his age and area, it might help him stand out from the crowd. Even knowing which of the 4 UK countries he came from is a start, a county is better and a town or parish is good!