OT- my grandfather's service

[tranquillo 10]

I've just started researching my grandfather's WW1 service life as very little is know about by the reast of the family.

I became interested when it was rumoured that he was in the RFC.

 

I managed to get a photo of him in uniform and it shows that he was in RE as a signalman and gained a "skill-at-arms" award.

I also have a copy of his original sign up papers which were dated May 1918 when he was 19 years old and mentioning that he was in previous service of Royal Engineers. Clearly he joined the RE's whilst under age and was discharged. He may also be the person of the same name that I found a medal roll for in 1915 - that would have put him at 16 years old - but this is not proven.

It seems that his 1918 application resulted in him serving in the then RAF and he was posted to Iraq where, in 1922, he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal. About all that is known here is that his plane had a fault and it forced him to land in the middle of the desert and he lived with nomads for 5 days 'till he was rescued.

 

It's all fascinating stuff. Because he served in WW2 as well his records are with the RAF and not archived so a personal application will be made for those. His early (underage) career will likely remain a mystery unless his RE records were moved to the RAF when he joined them.

 

 

[+Baltika 85]

Very interesting to find out about the service history of one's relatives. Thanks for posting.

 

The sad truth is that one often has to go digging in government archives to discover basic information.

 

My paternal grandfather was British merchant navy in WW2 and apparantly survived torpedoing and sinking of his ship in the Pacific, but he died before I was old enough to ask him the sort of questions I have now. Curiously, my father, aunts and uncles do not even know the name of the ships my grandad served on. But the pattern in those days was, do not talk about it. So I am not surprised.

 

The value of these forums becomes self-evident when these sorts of questions are asked.

 

Cheers,

 

Baltika

Edited July 15, 2010 by Baltika

[tranquillo 10]

Very interesting to find out about the service history of one's relatives. Thanks for posting.

 

The sad truth is that one often has to go digging in government archives to discover basic information.

 

My paternal grandfather was British merchant navy in WW2 and apparantly survived torpedoing and sinking of his ship in the Pacific, but he died before I was old enough to ask him the sort of questions I have now. Curiously, my father, aunts and uncles do not even know the name of the ships my grandad served on. But the pattern in those days was, do not talk about it. So I am not surprised.

 

The value of these forums becomes self-evident when these sorts of questions are asked.

 

Cheers,

 

Baltika

 

You're absolutely right. Apparently my grandfather "didn't talk about it", at least not at length anyway and this is part of the trouble I'm having. There are several of his sons and daughters living but this is all news to them as well. In WW2 he was based at an airfield just outside of London working on radios but was sworn to secrecy as to the exact nature of his work.

After my holiday I'll visit the archives in Kew and see if there's anything of his RE record there - his RAF one will have to be applied for. Also a lot of WW1 records were lost when the building they were housed in was bombed during WW2 and only about 2/3 were salvageable - his signup papers are burnt around the edges.

[MikeDixonUK 5]

I always find the more you learn about your own personal history, the more amazing you find it that you even managed to be born at all, for example what if your Grandfather was killed in WW2, or WW1 before fathering one of your parents - they would never exist, and so you would never exist - then carry on the same thought all the way back through History, it's enough to drive a guy crazy. (well, crazier, anyway. )

 

Aparantly my Grandfather didn't like to talk about his experiences either, I would have liked to have met him but unfortunately he died quite a while ago before I was born.

 

He was in the 1st Airborne Division as a Paratrooper (Airlanding) during Operation: Market Garden, and fought in the Oosterbeek perimiter - like I say though he didn't realy talk about it much aparantly, so most of what people in the family know are just from vague stories like about swimming the Rhine, or being in a field under Tank fire, etc.

 

The only solid "evidence" of it being a telegram dated a few days after the end of Market Garden adressed to my Grandmother saying he was safe (no doubt an emotional moment reading that) - a Pegasus arm patch and (what the internet tells me) a Hitler Youth Dagger (although aparantly he got that off someone else.)

 

Other than that we found a picture in him from a History book about the Border Regiment during WW2, which was taken during Market Garden:

 

 

He's the one in the centre at the back, with some other Chaps from his Platoon.

 

Other than that I'm aware of a Great Grandfather who fought in the 1st World War (the Father of the above Grandfather's Wife) although we know almost nothing about the specific details, but from a Medal Card from the end of WW1 we think he was in the Royal Scots and then the Machine Gun Corps.

Edited July 15, 2010 by MikeDixonUK

[Morris 2]

My grandfather was a air gunner (AG) during WW2 in B24's for the SAAF (South African Air Force).

He was born in Scotland.

A few months before he was laid to rest I had a few hours with him and we spoke about his "GREAT AIR WAR".

 

He never said much but i could notice that it was not easy.

He said that on about 20% of the group photo (All South Africans) returned home after the WAR. The rest were shot down.

He mentioned that they flew Night Missions (there insignia were a "Night Owl with Archy spotlights") i have it in possession.

 

I wish i had more time with him every day.

 

m

[tranquillo 10]

 

I wish i had more time with him every day.

 

m

 

Yep, I agree but I was only young when we used to visit my grandfather - I can remember being about 9 or 10 and going in his shed at the bottom of the garden and watching him make keys and all sorts - and by the time you're old enough to realise, then it's too late.

Sounds like I must be a bit older than you guys:yikes:

 

And Mike, yes I do think about that if he'd died in the war then he wouldn't have married and had the eight children who then spawned 15 who then spawned..........etc. It's mind boggling.

[RAF_Louvert 101]

.

 

tranquillo, thank you very much for sharing this information about your grandfather, and good on you for trying to find and preserve his service record. Thank you as well to Baltika, MikeDixonUK, and Morris, for sharing the stories of your relatives as well. I wish more folks took an interest in their own family members who have like stories that should be preserved. Far too soon the last remaining, living sources of such valuable and personal information will be gone forever.

 

.

[themightysrc 5]

Hi,

 

I work in a UK based library service and I would urge all UK OFFers reading this thread to join their local library service. You'll then - very likely - be able to do FOR FREE loads of genealogical research on your forebears, and, what's more, be able to get a s**tload of advice free from professional archivists and historians. These are important local resources, which, I regret, we all may be in danger of losing, depending on how the next few years pan out. I'm currently delving into the past on my maternal side, and have found out incredible things - my great uncle was one of the very last out of Dukirk, for example - and I could not have done this without there being a free service to me via my local library and local studies set up.

 

Use it, or have it taken away forever - I kid you not.

[tranquillo 10]

Hi,

 

I work in a UK based library service and I would urge all UK OFFers reading this thread to join their local library service. You'll then - very likely - be able to do FOR FREE loads of genealogical research on your forebears, and, what's more, be able to get a s**tload of advice free from professional archivists and historians. These are important local resources, which, I regret, we all may be in danger of losing, depending on how the next few years pan out. I'm currently delving into the past on my maternal side, and have found out incredible things - my great uncle was one of the very last out of Dukirk, for example - and I could not have done this without there being a free service to me via my local library and local studies set up.

 

Use it, or have it taken away forever - I kid you not.

 

+1 .

[Hasse Wind 46]

No pilots in my family, I'm afraid - mostly just poor bloody infantry doing the dirty work in WW2. And not one of them is still alive, after all these decades. They took most of their experiences to the grave. I guess talking about all those things and digging too deep was too painful and difficult. And I can't really blame them, as much as I would have liked to know more. I do have some letters and pictures, and I know where they served and when, but that's about all there is left. They did their duty and have deserved their rest.