Help finding Grandfather's service records

[Mouse123]

My dad has been trying to find his father's service records for some time and seems to have hit a dead end. My Grandad served in the RAF, during the second world war, as a medical orderly. My father applied for his dad's records via the military but was told that they had been unable to find anything. His service number is on the Forces War Records site so there is a record somehwere.

My grandad spent some of his time in the RAF on The Queen Mary on Transatlantic crossings when she was a troop ship and he spent some time in New York after the ship was torpedoed whilst the ship was under repair. He also worked in crash crews for Liberator bombers and was commended in daily orders.

Could anyone help point us in the right direction as we are not sure where (if anywhere) we can try next.

Thank you in advance for your help.

[macwil]

Hi, mouse123,
Welcome to Brit-Gen.
Records for Armed Forces personel serving after 1920 are still held by the MOD.
There is a Sticky Here about applying for those records.

In Brief:- If the person is still alive then only they can obtain their records (without charge), their spouse, (or parents if no spouse) can obtain the records also without charge but will need to supply a copy of the person's Death Cert. For anyone else it will cost £30, a copy of the Death Cert. plus patience.
There is a restriction on the amount of information supplied to non NOK for 25 yrs after date of death.

A Cert. is NOT required if the person died whilst still serving.

Regards,
Malcolm.

[Mouse123]

Hi, mouse123,
Welcome to Brit-Gen.
Records for Armed Forces personel serving after 1920 are still held by the MOD.
There is a Sticky Here about applying for those records.

In Brief:- If the person is still alive then only they can obtain their records (without charge), their spouse, (or parents if no spouse) can obtain the records also without charge but will need to supply a copy of the person's Death Cert. For anyone else it will cost £30, a copy of the Death Cert. plus patience.
There is a restriction on the amount of information supplied to non NOK for 25 yrs after date of death.

A Cert. is NOT required if the person died whilst still serving.

Regards,
Malcolm.

Thank you for your reply Malcolm. My dad has tried the MOD with the dutifully completed forms, death certificate and fee but they were unable to locate the records. Do you know if there is anywhere else that we can try? My father is almost 80 and he would love to see a copy of his dad's service records but I am not sure how to ake that happen if the MOD can't find them.

[macwil]

The only thing I can think of is that maybe, just maybe there has been an error in transcribing his service number.
Try looking for his name in AIR 78 from the National Archives. It is a downloadable file containg names and service numbers. You will need to find the right file though, there are several covering different years/ranks.

EDIT:-
This will take you direct to the record files

[Mouse123]

Thank you! I'll give that a try.

[Mouse123]

The only thing I can think of is that maybe, just maybe there has been an error in transcribing his service number.
Try looking for his name in AIR 78 from the National Archives. It is a downloadable file containg names and service numbers. You will need to find the right file though, there are several covering different years/ranks.

EDIT:-
This will take you direct to the record files

Thank you, that was a very helpful link. I found the record and unfortunately the number was correct. I am going to try request the records again from the MOD and see if it can be located this time.

[macwil]

I suggest you include a covering letter pointing out his inclusion in AIR 78 maybe include a screen shot/clip of the record and quote the reference no. of the file you found it in and ask for an explanation of why if they cannot find his records. Add that your 80yr old father really would like to see his father's records.

Good Luck.

[hijimhere]

basic details name and if possible service number and rank might allow searches that could prove worthwhile!