My grandfather served in the merchant navy during the war and anecdotal family tales put him on convoy runs to russia as well as serving on the Ohio during the convoy run to Malta 'Operation Pedestal'. I have his Korean war UN medals but nothing else. He could barely read and write english so never applied for his war medals. so far I'm having a great deal of difficulty finding anything on his service. part of the problem we don't even know his date of birth because even he himself didn't know it and we never did find out before he died. so. a) how can I get his merchant navy service record. b) are there any crew lists for ohio out there where I might be able to find him and see if this famiyl tale is true?
so. a) how can I get his merchant navy service record. b) are there any crew lists for ohio out there where I might be able to find him and see if this famiyl tale is true? Lancer, I may be able to help you out here but I need to know his name as a minimum. I have a partial list of crew from OHIO from the official crew list at Kew but I also have the unofficial complete list from other sources. Regards Hugh
His name was the same as mine Vincent Formosa (his UN Korean medal box doesn't list a middle name and my father has no idea if he had a middle name or not.) he was a greaser/stoker by trade but could have served in another capacity. He was maltese. I'm afraid that's all I know.
Hello Vincent, I don't see him listed on the "Pedestal" crew list but as I don't have the complete official list from Kew there is a small possibility that he could still have sailed on that voyage. I would advise you try and obtain his form CRS 10 from Kew [service record from Jan, 1941], if it has survived. It should be held in piece BT 382/598 The official crew agreement for OHIO is held at Kew in piece BT 381/2179 Best if you are able to visit Kew to obtain these files as they are costly to obtain online. If you need any further information please make another post. Regards Hugh