HI all, This is a real long shot. Gifford I Langdon was my Grandfather. He was in a military band and served as a Stretcher bearer in WW2. He made it though the war but died in 1956. I have been trying to find some information on him but so far have found absolutely nothing. Is anyone able to think of anywhere I would be able to start? He had a brother called Cyril Douglas Langdon who served in the 5th Battalion of the Bluffs , I will also be researching him but I can see there is already a great deal on the Bluffs for me to read though on here first! Thanks to anyone who can help!
Hi Ben This question is the most often asked on here and the response, as always, is to obtain their service record, the forms can be found on this MOD link - Request records of deceased service personnel TD England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007 Name: Gifford I Langdon Death Age: 33 Birth Date: abt 1923 Registration Date: Mar 1956 Registration district: Surrey North Western Inferred County: Surrey Volume: 5g Page: 983 The I was for Ivor it seems - you will need a copy of his detah certificate when applying for his service records
You must appreciated that, unlike WW1, there is very little in the public domain on individual servicemen/women and, as Tricky says, obtaining service records are the only real place to start, they will enable you to compile a timeline of their service. I assume this is him? Casualty Once you have their records I would suggest starting a separate post for each person under their applicable regiments, post copies of the records and people around here will help as best they can. Good luck.
Interesting - according to a family tree on Ancestry Cyrils siblings are : Richard George Langdon 1913–1994 Edward Kitchener Langdon 1915–1987 Cyril Douglas Langdon 1916–1943 Vera Evelyn Narcie Langdon 1919–1994 Leonard Robert Langdon 1925–1973 Parents are : Frederick Harold Langdon 1887–1938 Frances Goldring 1891–1929 I dont see a Gifford?? TD
Langdon Cyril D 1916 Langdon Dorothy M 1927 Langdon Edward K 1915 Langdon Gifford I 1922 Langdon Leonard R 1925 Langdon Mabel V 1921 Langdon Richard G 1913 Langdon Vera E N 1919 Births all registered Yeovil, Somerset, all with mother's maiden name Goldring.
Thanks for your replies! especially Tony56! you have found 2 siblings I didn't know existed! As for Gifford, apparently he spent the majority of his life in the military so I was expecting to find something. I will have to apply for his records and see what we get. It seems odd as I have found no trace of any of it. Also thanks for finding that on Cyril, I thought I had just about found everything on the net him but have not seen that before!
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/55914545/cyril-douglas-langdon As this post started with Gifford, why not start a new post on Cyril so this one doesn't get too complicated.
Hi Again all, I have just been over to the government website to apply for Giffords Service records and on the main page is says you will need to know the service number. However, in the form itself it says that service number and/or date of birth must be included. Has anyone ever applied without a service number? Thanks
