Hopelessly trying to find information

[DougStag83]

Hi All,

I'm hoping that you all may be able to help me.

I have been doing research on my family for years with varying degrees of success. For example i have my great grandfathers entire war record, my grandmother learnt that her father was in the Boer War and had no idea. But at the same time i have two that are frustratingly difficult.

My grandfather and his brother. Both served in the Navy during WW2 one on Submarines and one on Surface but i have been completely at a loss to find out any information (both have sadly passed now).

My grandfather was John Arthur Stenning. From what we know he wasn't allowed to sign up straightaway because he was doing an apprenticeship in carpentry and the Navy wanted him to complete that first. He was also demobed early to assist in the rebuilding efforts after the war had ended.

We also know that at least one of the ships he served on was HMS Devonshire (county class). He was a Petty Officer or Chief Petty Officer.

I know only a couple stories directly from the family.

1) He was on convoys at one point and his job was to go over to ships damaged and try to keep them afloat.
2) For some reason he had a distinct dislike for americans. Something about US warships supposed to be supporting British warships but they got called away leaving quite a lot of people to perish.


My grandads brother was Denis William Stenning. I know that he served on HMS Tactician and HMS Token and he was allegedly the first person to cross Portsmouth harbour in a dive suit. Apparently he was both chastised and commended for this by senior staff.

I have tried both Ancestry and National Archives but nothing.

I do hope someone can help.

[christanel]

Welcome to the British-Genealogy forums
You will not find WW11 service records online as they are still held by the MoD. This "sticky' explains and gives the link where you can download the application forms.
However before sending for naval records you need to be aware that prior to 1972 Royal Naval personnel were given their service records on discharge. Only pay details were kept for Pension purposes. Therefore the only information held on RN personnel who served prior to 1972 is their Service details (number, rank, name etc) and a list of dates and ships/shore bases.

But once you have those records you should be able to follow the ships through the logs/war diaries which I think are held at The National Archives in Kew. That does usually involve either a personal visit or hiring a researcher because not many records are as yet online.

If you came to us from Forces War Records this will tell you why you landed up here

Christina

[DougStag83]

Hello Christina,

Thank you ever so much. I did indeed come here via the Forces War Records site. The archives i've literally just learnt are about 5 minutes from one of the sites i work at so i think i'll try and pay a visit tomorrow.

[christanel]

Good luck tomorrow and if you need any help with any other family research just come back and ask.
Christina

[timbo58]

For submarine movements you'll need the submarine musuem at Gosport as far as I know..