Good Day. I am trying to find more information on my grandfather "Hendrik Adriaan Pistorius" who was an Acting Flight Lieutenant in WW2. He was born in the Transvaal and served in Southern Rhodesia. He was awarded an MBE from King George VI. Is it possible to find a rank number and photograph and what his duty involved?
Hi & welcome to the forum. He may have been part of the Rhodesian Air Training Group that at its peak operated 11 airfields to train allied aircrew. Southern Rhodesia in World War II - Wikipedia Other possibilities were keeping the civil air routes going & possibly delivery routes for replacement military aircraft. Travers
Relinquishes his commission as Pilot Officer 31st Dec 1946. I notice there are no post nominal letters MBE so maybe that came later. Page 1441 | Supplement 38566, 22 March 1949 | Londo...
I note his RAF Service Number is shown on the two London Gazette entries as 160027. I expect he served throughout WW2 as an RAF officer, wearing 'Rhodesia' on his uniform. Wiki gives some details of the history involved and that Rhodesians who served in the RAF often joined squadrons which included (Rhodesia) in their official title. See: Rhodesian Air Force - Wikipedia There was a more famous Rhodesian who served in WW2. See: Bomber Harris There are number of threads here if you search online with: "rhodesia" + "training" site:ww2talk.com We always recommend applying for their Service Record, even if it takes a year, it is the definitive record and is not available online. Hopefully it will give more details, e.g. where and which squadron he served with. Details on a PM next. Neither his name or service number have appeared here before your thread. There is a very slim posting on him on: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/GBKN-5RJ He was born in 1919 in the Orange Free State (you do need his actual Dob) for the service application and died 1/4/1959 @ Ruwa, Goromonzi, Mashonaland, Southern Rhodesia. His nickname was Harry. If you look for his father's profile there is more information and what appears to be a family member, Fanie / Fannie who a few years ago was adding information. The site is free to join. An online search for his name, plus nickname and RAF found nowt. Not a surprise.
Addie, Thanks to a RAF expert here Ross aka RAF Commands you do not need the full DoB to apply online for his record (assuming one was kept by the RAF). In Post 2: RAF - South East Asia I checked the form too: Select the service - Apply for a deceased person's military record - GOV.UK Now, do you have access to a digital copy of his death certificate?
Unfortunately we do not know his date of birth. I was informed that he was under the Southern Rhodesia Air Force stained at Belvedere, Salisbury. His MBE states Acting Flight Lieutenant........not sure what all the role entailed. I do have his death certificate. He died in 1959.
If he stayed in Southern Rhodesia during WW2 I am puzzled he then appears twice in The London Gazette, when the self-governing colony had it's own official gazette. That is one reason why applying for a RAF record is worthwhile IMHO. Plus, there is unlikely to be any Rhodesian service record available now. Is there an ex-Rhodesian Air Force FB group? Often useful for a request for information. Or a FB group for the training mission in Rhodesia: Rhodesian Air Training Group.
