I had a letter with regards to my aplication for the Service Records of my late Grandfather. It stated that I would have to wait 9-12 months to receive them, and offered to refund the £30 fee. Is 9-12 months a normal turnaround period?
Daniel, With a little luck you should not have to wait the length of time quoted, so stick with it. Regards Tom
A friend ordered his Father's records last September. He was told August and they have yet to arrive.
My father requested my Grandads records (RAF) in June and we got them 2 weeks ago (took just over 4 weeks) They seem rather basic for info Covering his TA service 1934-39, then postings in the RAF 1940-47, RAF Aux 1947-51, RAF 1951 till he died in Aden 1960. A few courses and lots of discrepancies on what units were actually formed when he was in them (plus a few that seem odd as my family can not remember him going where the units were ie. Canada) A few courses and job employments at the end of each year (31st Dec each year) As far as my Dad and his Brother and Sisters can recall he served as an AG for the duration (Blenheims, Wellingtons, Lancasters) but the paperwork does not have him in a Bomber unit till 1944. Forms 543, 543A and 543R I seem to have some acronyms that do not match the sheets they gave me either. ?
I ordered my fathers records and they said a 6 month wait. I got them in 6 weeks. It's definitely worth paying 30quid-they contain a lot of information which I never knew. Best money I ever spent. Lesley
What do you normally get with the service records We got 6 sheets of card photocopies with promotions, units (which seem a bit strange), qualifications, forfeited days, employment?, good conduct. No medals awarded though, although I have his 39-45 Star, France and Germany Star, The Defence Medal, 39-45 Medal. He served in Aden from May 1952 to April 1954 and May 1958 until his death in Aden in June 1960 which would mean he was entitled to the GSM with Arabian Peninsular. Since no medals are mentioned am I missing something
Hi Leecy Yes you must be missing a page, or not reading it. In the Service & casualty forms it should say AWARDED ... and dates. Also since you know his details, you could send a letter to the Medal Office at MOD - Ministry of Defence | Defence For... | Veterans | Medals | Contacting the Medal Office and ask them for a list of his entitlement to confirm what you have regards Robert
In Canada, the stated time line is seven months. The reality is more like seven weeks. From the colony...
See here: http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/searching-someone-military-genealogy/3105-ww2-service-records-address.html A pointer to my own records can be found on my comment #20 and I have to admit that even after 69 years I still refer to them when I want a definitive date Ron
Hi bofors Looking again the only mention of awards he recieved is a Good Conduct Badge in 1943 which is below some time forfeited? entrys for 1940 (1 day), 1941 (2 days), 1944 (14 days). All the boxes for medals etc are blank, next job contact medal office Along with some more attempts to find out about these units he served with that were not formed when he was in them ? and what he did when he said he was an AG between 1940 and 1944 when I can trace him going to AG training after a spell at Abbey Wood ACRC (corresponds to family remembering him coming home with burns on arms after '3rd' bail out)
As my mother and father have alway argued about the date my father joined up. I finally persuaded him to apply for his records. It was decided that the records would be posted to me, instead of him, as I am more interested in them than he is. So the application form was posted on the evening of the 17th of July 2011. Three days later, I had a phone call from Glasgow. Asking me to comfirm that I was the person who the records should be sent to, and wether I wanted the full records or just a draft copy. I was told everything was ok and the forms would would be processed. So estimated that if I was lucky, might just get them before xmas. Came home from work tonight 11th Aug 2011. And there they were lying on my desk. 26 Days. I can only think that they were fast tracked as they were requested by the person whose they were, and he is now approaching his 85 birthday. He served in the RE from 21st Dec 1944 to 27th Feb 1948. Once I have digested it all, I will post what he did etc. He did not achieve anything spectacular, but very interesting reading. Went AWOL a few times . The Army were so precise AWOL for 2hrs 43 mins. Must have been good pubs in Ripon .
I sent for my dads in march 2011 and i am still waiting .They say this is because of the high number of claims for pensions from active members of military and their families who come first .Fair enough .I dont have any gripe with that at all .But it is a long wait .I should have got my arse in gear quicker .
I sent for the service records of 2 relatives in January 2011. 1st. Royal Navy which I received in a matter of weeks. 2nd. Royal Irish Fusiliers which I am still waiting on.
Royal Marine records came back very quick - couple of weeks. BUT a complete waste of money - absolutely no useful information whatso ever. Nice earner for the MOD.
RCG Went AWOL a few times :frown:. The Army were so precise AWOL for 2hrs 43 mins. Must have been good pubs in Ripon . The Army were always very good at using KRRs to get the maximum sentence, even for the slightest of "crimes". Take my experience, for example. In North Africa, in 1943 we were stationed at a G-d forsaken hole named Guelma and it was the done thing to wait for the evening roll call about 18:30 and then pay a visit to the local village bar. Un-beknown to us, the BSM decided to hold an extra roll call at 21:30 and of course we were "missing". The next roll call was at 05:00 am the following morning, Now have a look at the details of the only charge against me that I collected during my forces career. I was classed as being absent for 7 hrs 35 minutes although we were all back in camp well before midnight. Now, all these years after the event, I can have a bloody good laugh but, at the time in question, I was more than slightly pxxxxd off !!!!
Sorry to be the harbinger of doom, but my grandfathers records took exactly 10 months to arrive at my door.