RAF service information

Discussion in 'Searching for Someone & Military Genealogy' started by Ace Rimmer, Feb 24, 2020.

  1. Ace Rimmer

    Ace Rimmer Member

    HI there,
    I'm trying to track down some details of the service of my step-grandfather, Ronald Reginald Bayley Phillips (1580277).
    Many years ago he gave me his silk blood chit from the CBI theatre and his pilot's wings, but apart from that I know little else. Unfortunately he is not a blood relative and I'm not in contact with his NOK so don't think I'll be able to apply for his official records.

    Any help would be greatly appreciated!
     
  2. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    Request records of deceased service personnel

    Thats why they have these forms

    Not the immediate next of kin forms:
    Application part 1 form:
    General enquirer's form (v6.1) (PDF, 99KB, 2 pages) or
    General enquirer's form (v6.1) (MS Word Document, 134KB)
    Application part 2 forms:
    Royal Navy/Royal Marines part 2 (PDF, 98.8KB, 1 page) or
    Royal Navy/Royal Marines part 2 (MS Word Document, 50.5KB)
    British Army part 2 (PDF, 19.5KB, 1 page) or
    British Army part 2 (MS Word Document, 43KB)
    Royal Air Force part 2 (PDF, 24.1KB, 1 page) or
    Royal Air Force part 2 (MS Word Document, 46KB)

    TD
     
  3. Ace Rimmer

    Ace Rimmer Member

    Thanks, although from my reading of that site without NOK consent they will essentially only tell me what I already know?
     
  4. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    for a period of 25 years following the date of death of the subject and without the consent of the next of kin, MOD will disclose only

    Well as I dont know when he died - if it was 25+years ago then effectively you would receive the whole lot, but in any case may be worth applying as you are family, you are not 'unrelated' so suggest you use the next of kin form and fill in where it says 'grandchild'

    https://assets.publishing.service.g...24-request_service_details_NOK_part1_v6.2.pdf
    Read the list below and when you come to the first living relative of the deceased subject
    place an ‘X’ in the box and write their full name next to it. This process will enable you to
    identify the person who the MOD will regard as the immediate Next of Kin.

    This was the form I used for my fathers records and filled in the 'son' section, to be honest they arent going to check fully through genealogy web sites

    TD
     
  5. wibs12

    wibs12 Well-Known Member

    I'd second what TD has put...... and wouldn't assume either you can't get anything or what you do get you may already know....... what's for certain is if you don't apply then you absolutely won't get to find out what they have on file..... not being nowty, just think if you've got questions anything is worth a go, even if it costs a couple of quid and a bit of time.

    Found a couple of bits and pieces that suggest he may have enlisted in Birmingham sometime after June 1941. Assume this is the guy:

    Name
    Ronald Reginald B Phillips
    Birth 25/03/1922
    Birth Registration Date: Apr 1922
    Registration Quarter: Apr-May-Jun
    Registration district: Hereford
    Inferred County: Hereford & Worcester
    Mother's Maiden Name: Bayley
    Volume Number: 6a
    Page Number: 852
    Spouse Marjorie Darbyshire
    Marriage 10/1947 Manchester Lancashire United Kingdom
    Death 06/2005 Hereford Herefordshire, Monmouthshire England and Wales

    Only other military item is his application for membership of The Burma Star Association, shows him with 31 RAF Squadron

    Screenshot 2020-02-24 at 16.45.52.jpg





    See this link:
    Article on 31 RAF Squadron:
    No. 31 Squadron (RAF) during the Second World War

    No. 31 Squadron spent the entire Second World War operating as a transport squadron, based in India. In the inter-war period it had been involved in the constant low level fighting on the North West Frontier, but in April 1939 it converted to the Vickers Valentia (inheriting its aircraft from No. 216 Squadron), and began to operate as a bomber-transport squadron.

    For the first eighteen months of the war the squadron remained on the North West Frontier, but in March 1941 it was one of the squadrons rushed into Iraq to help defeat a German inspired coup. After helping with the defence of Habbaniya, the squadron took part in the fighting against the Vichy French in Syria, before returning to Karachi. A detachment from the squadron was used to fly supplies to bases in the Western Desert over the winter of 1941-42, but the Japanese entry into the war ended that, and the squadron moved east to the Burmese border.

    The squadron would spend all but four months of the war against Japan operating over Burma. Early in 1942 it flew supplies to the army retreating to the Indian border. The squadron took part in the fighting at Imphal, flying in supplies and evacuating casualties from the besieged town. That four month break started in July 1944, when the squadron was moved to Calcutta for a rest from front line duties and to practice towing gliders.

    The squadron returned to the front in November 1944, and took part in the final campaign in Burma and the advance to Rangoon. A brief pause followed, but in the immediate post-war period the squadron took part in fighting in the Dutch East Indies.

    Douglas DC-2
    April 1942-April 1945: Douglas DC-3
    September-December 1942: Lockheed Hudson IIIA
    March 1943-1944: Douglas Dakota I
    May 1943-1945: Douglas Dakota III
    February 1945-September 1946: Douglas Dakota IV

    Location
    27 October 1938-December 1939: Lahore
    December 1939-February 1941: Peshawar
    February-26 March 1941: Lahore
    26 March-September 1941: Drigh Road
    Detachments to Shaibah, Basra and Habbaniya
    September 1941-18 February 1943: Lahore
    December 1941-February 1942: Mingaladon
    February 1942: Akyab
    February 1942-April 1942: Dum Dum
    April 1942-February 1943: Lahore
    18 February-21 May 1943: Dhubalia
    21 May-21 June 1943: Khargpur
    21 June 1943-July 1944: Agartala
    11 July-1 November 1944: Basal
    1 November 1944-1 January 1945: Agartala
    1 January-6 February 1945: Comilla
    6 February-15 May 1945: Hathazari
    15 May-August 1945: Kyaujpyu
    August-1 October 1945: Mingaladon

    Squadron Codes: ZA (Valencia)

    Duty
    1939-1945: Transport Squadron, India
     
  6. travers1940

    travers1940 Well-Known Member

    there is a 31 Squadron Association & it seems there was centenary reunion in 2015 to mark the squadrons founding as part of the RFC.
    31 Sqn Association

    Also to download on this site is a short book Stories from the Burma Campaign by John (Jock) Hunter, a pilot in 31 Sq in India from 1944. The text I saw does not mention Ronald Phillips by name, but gives a lot of detail about how the squadron operated.
    https://www.31association.co.uk/history/stories-from-the-burma-capaign/

    and to purchase A Goldstar Century 31 Squadron RAF 1915-2015 by Ian Hunter
    https://www.31association.co.uk/history/a-goldstar-century/
     
    Tricky Dicky likes this.
  7. Ace Rimmer

    Ace Rimmer Member

    That is an incredible amount of information and far more than I expected or hoped to receive! Many, many thanks Wibs12 and travers1940. Off to read now :)
     
  8. KevinBattle

    KevinBattle Senior Member

    His Application Form for the Burma Star Association shows he was still alive in 1987.
    Did he continue flying after the War, for any airline etc?
     
  9. Ace Rimmer

    Ace Rimmer Member

    No, he became a small-time farmer in Rhodesia. Died in 2005.
     

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