My great uncle Ernest Middleton 1917-2000 born in Sheffield served during WW2 in the army as a ordinary soldier. We still know very little about his war service. He once described going round Africa to reach Egypt on a troopship and this took him to the Western desert. He wasn’t commissioned or captured as far as we know so that closes off any useful info in the London Gazette or Ancestry-type websites He never spoke about the war in great detail and all other family members never knew anything else. The only thing they recall/recalled when asked about him was that he was discharged before the war ended or was ill or something to that effect. Many of this board may suggest that we should obtain his service record and send in the necessary documents etc,but there is an obstacle to this My mum has a fear that obtaining Ernest’s service record will reveal some shocking long buried family secret.She is the next of kin to her uncle died childless. She believes there is a good reason why no one spoke about Ernest’s army service. She believes that there is possibly something shameful or unpleasant contained in the records the army hold. I respect her unease in approaching the army for Ernest’s record, but I was wondering about dealing with his lost medals. After we were removing possessions from his home in Spain in 2000 we came across his WW2 OHMS medal presentation box, which was empty apart from the medal inventory slip.The medals were never found either in the UK or Spain. Sadly we can’t prove that the medals were stolen from the Spanish house despite the fact there was evidence of several break-ins.They might have gone missing earlier. The medal slip listed 4 medals should be contained in the box,but there were no ticks in the respective boxes. The box states on the top that if the package was undelivered it should be sent back to Royal Signals Records,Balmore House,Caversham,Berks.So I assume he was in the Royal Signals Can I do if anything about finding what medals were awarded? Does the army censor any sensitive/upsetting medical info they disclose? If I knew that I could reassure my mum that it wouldn’t be a shock.Plus when a man is discharged it just states that he was dismissed under a certain paragraph of the King’s Regulations and never the exact reason? All I want to know is his units really and where he ended up in the war. Any help will be gratefully received.
Hello jrf84 You will find many War Veterans never spoke/speak of their time in service not through a deep mystery/secret but out of choice either through the trauma or just not wanting to speak about their experiences. Service records are the way to gtherwise you will not gain clarity and it will always be ifs and buts and rumour. Ministry of Defence | About Defence | What we do | Personnel | Service Records | Making a Request for Information held on the Personnel Records of Deceased Service Personnel regards Clive
Hi WW2 records are a bit different to WW1, so you may not see that sort of information. As for the medals, they are in the records, as far as I know that is the only way to find out about them. If you want some idea of what is contained in them, then have a look at my Dad's- http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/searching-someone-military-genealogy/21898-war-records-help-abbreviations-interpretation-service-records.html You have to go through a few pages to get to them. regards Robert
This also gives you some idea of the convoys at that time, you may be able to find out which one he went on- WS Convoys regards Robert
I have to agree with Clive and Drew, without seeing the record you will always be in doubt about what actually happened during your great uncles service. I doubt if there is anything seriously disturbing in the record although many do document minor disciplinary matters which a veteran may consider slightly emarrassing. I wouldn't worry about that, some of our veteran members have charges on their record and sometimes have a giggle about the charges. Few servicemen were angels and it was all too easy to get caught for a minor infringement.
Thanks for the advice and the links to example service records and the convoys listings.I'll have to consider what we should do next. Also I haven't looked through all my great uncle's surviving papers yet.There may some clues yet to be found,I'm hoping his paybook may have survived and might be in the material in our garage Since I last posted I realises that by using some easily accessible surviving papers and objects,which are not military related I have the means to determine an approximate date when Ernest was sent to North Africa. It just so happens that one wartime Xmas,Ernest's much younger brother decided to test his new typewriter and wrote about his christmas presents he received.Yet he never typed out what year it was.However,this sheet of paper mentions that Ernest was on active service and to his knowledge his ship had still not arrived at its destination The important thing is we have a mention of other presents and who they were from.Yesterday I found an address book which was given to this younger brother at christmas 1940 and who gave it him.Now if the present giver's name matches the name on the typed sheet we can say Ernest was deployed to N.Africa in late 1940
jrf84, Good luck with your research. I too agree with the above comments about obtaining the service record. Regards Tom
jrf84 Does the inventory slip from the medal box tell you what was supposed to be in the box? If it does post the details and it will help the members with the research, also if there is a service number post that as well.
