Bomb disposal units - research help

Discussion in 'Searching for Someone & Military Genealogy' started by LukeATurner, Oct 21, 2020.

  1. LukeATurner

    LukeATurner Member

    Hi all,

    people were really helpful on the last request I made here so here goes again! Firstly, how do people find the Forces War Records website? I am trying to work out my grandad and great uncle's service numbers from there, but I find the search is really hard to use and the results that you get are very scattershot. Does anyone have any tips on how to make it work, or other resources for finding service numbers? They'd be gratefully received.

    Secondly, I believe my great uncle was in bomb disposal. He sadly killed himself in 1958 and my dad wonders if it was due to PTSD, though his parents blamed a bad marriage. I've been trying to find out what units might have been involved in bomb disposal but am a bit stuck - was it generally the Royal Engineers and some specialist RAF units? Again, any help would be appreciated,

    many thanks

    Luke
     
  2. 4jonboy

    4jonboy Daughter of a 56 Recce

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  3. LukeATurner

    LukeATurner Member

    Hi Lesley, thanks for flagging - I will delete and repost with nary a mention of their name!
     
  4. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

    No need to delete.I've changed title.

    You say you want Army Numbers - why is that? Just wondering if it is for application to MOD ?
     
  5. LukeATurner

    LukeATurner Member

    Thank you! Yes I'm trying to research my grandad, who served in an army unit on the railways in Sierra Leone, and my Uncle Reg, who we think worked in bomb disposal. I was hoping to find the numbers so I could write to Glasgow and find their units and start looking for operational records at the National Archives

     
  6. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

    In that case you don't need their numbers, if you have their dates of birth. You will need death certs or similar proof of death.

    For general research, the main sources for numbers are :
    • CWGC (if death occurred during service, also no need for D. cert)
    • POW lists (online via usual genealogy sites)
    • War Office casualty lists (FMP have them; some members might do look-ups)
    • Gallantry awards & Honours (online via TNA website ; WO 373 Series) The National Archives | Discovery Advanced Search Form
    • London Gazette - mainly useful for Officers; Other Ranks mentioned if gallantry award received The Gazette | Official Public Record...
    • Attestations - some are online
    • Soldiers' Wills - Find a soldier's will
    • War Diaries - at TNA Kew, not online ; some nominal rolls and mentions of ORs, mainly in Appendices but rare
    • Missing Personnel files - at TNA Kew, not online; only worth checking if casualty status was Missing at some point and of course if you know Regt/unit.
     
    Last edited: Oct 21, 2020
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  7. LukeATurner

    LukeATurner Member

    Thank you! I've got my uncle's death certificate coming from Kew. I've tried a lot of these alternatives but it does seem that they had the sort of military careers that didn't leave much of a record. I have found a Reginald George Turner on FMP but I'm not 100% sure if it is him or what it means - here's the image of that

    a reginald george turner royal artillery.png


     
  8. Tony56

    Tony56 Member Patron

    Luke, The image that you posted shows that Reginald George Turner enlisted with the Royal Artillery, service number 930623, you will have also no doubt seen that this chap was wounded in Italy on 5.10.44 serving with 80 Medium Regt.

    The big question, as you correctly point out, is this the right man!

    It is possibly only his service records that will tell you, otherwise it may be all guesswork, unless confirmed some other way.
     
  9. LukeATurner

    LukeATurner Member

    This is the trouble! There are quite a few Reginald Turner's out there. Same with my grandad Percy too. I will keep ploughing on.
     
  10. Tony56

    Tony56 Member Patron

    If you are ploughing then there is only one furrow to follow, and that is service records!
     
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  11. travers1940

    travers1940 Well-Known Member

    Service records are the way to go, but in the meanwhile, a persons service record could have been mentioned at the inquest into his death, esp if it was thought to be a contributing factor. Records of most inquests from the 1950's will have been kept, so try the local county or city record office. Expect a fee, maybe £ 30 min, and there is usually a 100 year closure rule, despite it usually being a hearing open to the public at the time. However as next of kin I was able to get records of a non-contraversal inquest in Surrey from 1946 in the last few years.

    Inquests are also usually reported in the local papers. Again copies may be at the County Record Office, local library, held at the paper (if it still exists), or it may be on the index of the British Newspaper Archives website. But would certainly be at the British Library if you are near London & they are open.
    Newspapers
     
  12. LukeATurner

    LukeATurner Member

    Thanks Travers1940, I've given the Gloucestershire records office a try, though they say they abide by the closure rule. Fingers crossed that they might make a similar exemption. I'd already planned to go to look through the newspaper archives - the years I'm after are just available at Cheltenham library and the dept is, typically, closed due to covid. I've got a BNA sub but they've not yet got the papers I need for the right years unfortunately.

     
  13. travers1940

    travers1940 Well-Known Member

    Just had a very pleasant weeks stay in Gloucester, and would you know it The Soldiers of Gloucester Museum which had recently reopened after Covid, got flooded soon after so was closed !

    I backed up my app for inquest records with photo copies of loads of certs proving next of kin status and that seemed to do the trick.

    Good luck with the newspapers.
     

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