The Burma Star Association

Discussion in 'Burma & India' started by Shiny 9th, Jun 24, 2013.

  1. lionboxer

    lionboxer Member

    The recent edition of the Dekho states the website will be launched this Autumn after working with Findmypast for three months to photograph and digitise each of the 56,000 or so membership records. Potential treasure trove there for us Burma fanatics!!
    Lionboxer
     
    Shiny 9th likes this.
  2. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    To keep all things together, the new BSA Memorial website is now on line (thanks go to forum member High Wood for the heads up):

    Burma Star Memorial Fund
     
    timuk, PackRat and Mr Jinks like this.
  3. veronicad

    veronicad Well-Known Member

    The membership records of the Burma Star were available during Findmypast free weekend.( last week) I was going great guns, a message came on screen.Hey Sherlock , come back in 24 hrs !! Stopped in my tracks.
    Veronica.
     
    bamboo43 likes this.
  4. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Hi Veronica,

    Glad you are using the database. Forum member High Wood told me they were up last evening. I've been busy on the actual sight, adding 9 new 13th King's to my research list and inputting extra info on about 80 others. It has been exhausting but very rewarding. Are you picking out individuals or trying for all the DWRs?

    Steve
     
  5. veronicad

    veronicad Well-Known Member

    Hi Steve, was last evening free? Yes I was exhausted too. I was going through Dekho first of all. Then switched to records of Burma Star membership.I was looking for DWRs . Many of those which I had a knowledge of. But time and again I got an interest in others of 23rd Bde. In the past I have been a member of Ancestry and Findmypast. Ancestry at the moment.When time comes for renewal, I am undecided.
    Veronica.
     
  6. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Veronica,

    The link I put up is for the actual BSA website not FMP, it is totally free:

    Burma Star Memorial Fund

    I screen shot the membership forms when I want to keep them. I have not gone through the Dekhos yet, will need to take my time with those.

    Here is an example of a screen grab:

    Fergusson B. BSA membership copy.jpg
     
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  7. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Bingo!! Just found the Burma Star membership card for the only soldier I know to have been a pal of my grandfather. He was Fred William Walker from Leyton in North London. Although both men were from the capital, they were both posted to the Devonshire Regiment in 1940. This probably means their friendship goes back to before they sailed for India in June 1942. Well pleased.
     
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  8. Shiny 9th

    Shiny 9th Member

    Thanks for the heads up on this. It is a real treasure trove. The link works for me but have only managed to find the site through that, since internet search seems to go to the old BSA place.
     
  9. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    I had the same problem, the site has only just reached the top page of Google when using the search term Burma Star memorial fund.
     
  10. Shiny 9th

    Shiny 9th Member

    Looks as if we need to get our brains used to the new name then!
     
  11. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    How useful is it proving for your research? I have manged to pick up information on 120 plus 13th Kingsmen, even if it is only discovering a christian name for someone I've known about for a while. It has been quite nice to send these forms off to the many families I have come into contact with over the last ten years or so.
     
  12. Shiny 9th

    Shiny 9th Member

    Well, I really need to go through all the magazines in a logical way. Mostly so far, it has just been seaching under the title "9th Royal Sussex" and finding names in the obituary columns but not much else. As you cannot know if a man you have a record of was or was not a member of BSA, it needs a systematic search of the database. So far have not tackled this! Because of this, I do not know what the membership records consist of. Do they contain much detail?
     
  13. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Best case scenario, you might get the soldiers address at the point he joined the BSA. His full name, rank and Army number, plus his unit/units. Some give more details than others.

    Search criteria is the key. For me looking for men of the first Chindit expedition, I have used:

    Wingate
    Chindits
    13th King's
    Longcloth
    13th
    77th

    13th gave up more examples for instance than putting in 13th King's.
     
  14. Shiny 9th

    Shiny 9th Member

    Yes, I found some strange anomalies on searching both Sussex and 9th Royal Sussex. As ever it needs a methodological approach and a proper amount of time to go through it.
     
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  15. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    I'm just about to resume searching through the Dekhos. Thankfully I already have most if not all the issues 1970 through to the present day. So it is the 1950's and 60's that interest me really. I have already found one or two little gems that will make great additions to my website, so its a good start.
     
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  16. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    An update from the latest issue of the Dekho magazine, clarifying the on going intentions of the BSA in regards legacy and the new Memorial Fund:

    BSA Editorial 2.jpg BSA VJ Day Commemorations 2020 2.jpg
     
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