Tydvil Ronald James

Hi, I’m looking for anyone who may have information, or may have known Tydvil Ronald James. Despite the fact that I grew up knowing this man to be my uncle, I never met him and have recently discovered that he may actually be my grandfather. As a family we know very little about him, I have cousins who have also never met him, but have researched him and come up with a little information and some details. One of the things my cousin, also an ex-serviceman, discovered is that Tydvil was the recipient of an Italy Star medal, a France and Germany Star and an African Star. We also know that he was a member of the SAS, but not whether any of the medals are related to his SAS service. So we are now praying that we can find out more about him from those he may have served with, since he seems to have left the family after my fathers birth in 1942. My father was born out of wedlock, then adopted by Annie Mary and Arthur Norris, Annie Mary was Tydvils mother. Sadly Tydvil died in 2004, his mother (my gran) died in 1987, and my dad died in 2009. The only family member alive who may know the truth is my aunt, Tydvils sister, who sadly has dementia. Below is a picture of one of my aunts with Tydvils uniform. Any information would be much appreciated as we know next to nothing about him.

 

There is only one route and that is his official service records, only available here:
https://www.gov.uk/get-copy-military-service-records/apply-for-someone-elses-records

 

Thanks Tony, I'll get on it.

 

Apologies if know this already & it does not help with his military record, but just incase, is he the same person who appears on an online tree on ancestry which seems to be from the Moran family as:

Tydvil Ronald JAMES
born 7th May 1921 (from death cert)
1949 Married Charlotte Norah MORAN (born Bermondsey 1924, died South Somerset 2004) between Apr-Jun 1949 Paddington Registration District, London.
1951 on electoral roll of Paddington Hospital, 285 Harrow Road. Also registered at the hospital is his wife Charlotte & another person with the same surname, Vera Marie JAMES.
1952, as above, but the only other JAMES shown is John H M JAMES.
1957 on electoral roll with Charlotte at no 1 Bevin Court, Holford Estate, Cruickshank Street, Finsbury, London WC1. (could no 1 have been the ground floor caretakers flat ?)

The owner of the tree can be contacted by anyone registered with ancestry via private message on there.

 

Gaynor.

Does the Africa Star have a metal number 8 or a metal 1 on the ribbon?

Regards

Frank

 

1939 REGISTER
4 Zion Terrace, Rhondda U.D., Glamorganshire
Name - DOB - Occupation - Marital status
James Coombes - 23 Mar 1875 - Coal Hewer Unemployed - Single
Alice M Coombes - 10 Jul 1912 - Domestic Servant - Unemployed - Single
Maud T Mullings - 21 Jul 1914 - Hotel Chambermaid Unemployed - Married
Tydvil James - 07 May 1921 - Coal Filler Below Ground - Single
The record for this person is officially closed.

 

Gaynor,

My records show there was a "Pte T James" in the wartime 2nd SAS. I believe he had come from the Hampshire Regiment and that his service number was 6457541 but, as Tony has pointed out, the only sure way to know whether this is Tydvil is too apply for his service record under a Freedom of Information request using his full name and date of birth.

Best of luck,

Skip

 

I had a look on the Keystone/Archway nominal rolls in the hope of finding a James amongst the chaps Skip, but drew a blank there (with my eyesight as it is now though I'll check again when I return home).

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

 

Thank you so much for this information, this is the sort of thing I was hoping for. We knew he was associated with a hospital in some way, and that it was somewhere in the Paddington area, we have a letter of recommendation he must have asked for from the employers there. This also means that he married and had children, which we had no idea of, they have to have been his children as there are no other James family members of those names. Again, thank you so much, this means a lot.

 

Thank you for your response, in all honesty I have no idea, I'm not sure where the uniform or medals are. I shall ask my cousins if they know where they are and if there are any numbers on the ribbon.

 

Thank you for your response, we have this information, but it's one of very few things we have managed to find. James Coombes was my grandmothers first husband and the man we suspect is Tydvils father. Tydvil used the name Coombes for his boxing career.

 

Thank you so much Skip, this is very helpful. My only issue with applying for Tydvils service record is that he died in 2004, would I get his full service record or would I have to wait 25 years for the whole thing. Would I count as next of kin, I can't prove I'm his granddaughter, I don't have my fathers original birth certificate and am unsure if Tydvils name would even be on that. I have my fathers adoption certificate, so I could prove I am Tydvils niece. Thanks again for your response.

 

I wonder if his Will would contain any family information - £1.50:
https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/Wills?Surname=james&SurnameGrants=james&FirstName=tydvil&FirstNameGrants=tydvil&YearOfDeath=2004&YearOfDeathGrants=2004&AdvancedSearch=True&IsGrantSearch=True&IsCalendarSearch=False#wills

 

Thank you Tony, it would definitely be interesting to find out, much appreciated.

 

Well, no insignia buffs have turned up - yet, so I'll have a shot.
He has a lance corporal single chevron and also an Airborne parachute sign.
The black triangle with a downward red arrow - don't know, also whatever is in red above the para emblem - anyone?

It also shows his medal ribbons over the chest pocket, looks to be three, but without a good quality close up of those two areas may be difficult to add more, but there are specialist here who may need to be made aware of the thread, for their input.

Is that a green? beret with Regimental badge?

 

Good morning Kevin, I'm trying not to be too speculative in the hope that Gaynor and/or any family members may yet be Able to obtain Tydvil's service records.

However, I'm certain (well almost certain) that it's a red dagger within the black triangle. And it looks like a "COMMANDO" shoulder title above the para wings. Green Commando beret with (subdued) SAS cap badge.

On that basis (and what we can see of the rest of the uniform) my initial thoughts were of a 30 Commando (Assault Unit) connection. They worked very closely with the SAS towards the end of the war and immediate post war.

Hope this doesn't point towards any false trails, and again, purely speculative on my part.

Kind regards and best wishes to all with this matter, always,

Jim.

 

Jim, completely agree on the red dagger / black triangle and SAS beret spots..... my eyesight can't pick out Commando, old age!.......also, at least two of the chest ribbons look like the France & Germany and Italy service ribbons.

Paul

 

All one-eyed (physically!) and magnifying glass for me Paul.

The joys of advancing years, detached retinas, and maybe too many bangs on the bonce (though some I know would say not enough!)

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

 

Sorry if my bumbling and stumbling leads to incorrect details, so agree that it's best to wait for the Service Records to clarify.
It's just that no comment had been made on the uniform so far and wanted to establish whether they confirmed what was so far known.
If it looks right, fair enough, but there could have been confusion over whose tunic it was and didn't want people to go down the wrong path if that might have been the case.

There can't be THAT many Tydvil's surely?

 

Gaynor

You do not need his birth cert, only a copy of his death certificate and his date of birth to apply. It’s worth reading the firms closely

TD