My grandmother described herself as WAAF number 2106561 and In the 1939 register she declared herself as Secretarial Staff Of The No Chas Company Women’s Aux Air Force. Since my mother was adopted at birth I have no other information about this lady as we have only recently been able to find her. Does anuyone have any information on what the No Chas Company is or was?? and where the records might be?? TIA
Hello Tracy if you post her name forum members might be able to give you more information. Service records link Service records (1939-present) The Women’s Royal Air Force was disbanded in 1920 and then reformed in 1939 as the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force. It reverted to its original name in 1949, and finally merged with the Royal Air Force in 1994. Visit the GOV.UK website for information about how to request a summary of a service record from the Ministry of Defence. regards Clive
Hi Tracy. Is it possible to see the actual entry in the 1939 Register. As I have no idea what this means, No Chas Company. No, does it mean No or Number, Chas is this a shortened name or initials? Another point,WAAF number 2106561. That number appears not to have been allocated until Aug 42. 2100000 to 2199999 2179999 Aug 1942 WAAF Enrolments by I of R. Edited to add The official WAAF WRAF RAF(W) Association website
[Thank you for this information so far. The number makes sense as it was found on a document dated 1945 (and not on the 1939 register). Unfortunately the image is not readily available as it is on Find my past which is a subscription site. Her name was Phyllis Davies
Hi Tracy If you have further info on Phyllis, date of birth, where born, is Davies her maiden or married name, if married then what was her maiden name, husbands name, parents names etc etc - any and all will help to join the pieces of the jig saw together we hope TD
It's complicated (involving adoption) and therefore I am reluctant to share too much detail. Suffice it to say that I have her DOB (1920), she was single and born in Shropshire. My main interest is trying to establish what her service record was and the Government site insists on me being Next of kin (I don't know whether I am or not) and a death certificate and I don't know whether she is dead or alive.
You do not need to be next of kin to receive service records - Request records of deceased service personnel - GOV.UK, although you may not receive the FULL service record. Yes also today you will need a copy of the death cert, this is not required if they died in service and are on the CWGC database. TD
Unfortunately she didn't die in service nor is on the CWGC database. I think since she seemed to be in a civilian /secretarial post this would have been unlikely anyway.
so in that case you need to find a copy of her death certificate to send with the forms to MOD - we can help with that but would need to know roughly when & where she died and her name at that point TD
OK she was single when my mother was born (adopted straightway) but we have no idea if she married later nor whether she is dead or alive. The service record might give some background as my mother was born in an unmarried mother's home in London - we do know she was from Shropshire.
OK - Phyllis Davies births in Shropshire 1920: maybe one of the town names rings a bell?? Name: Phyllis Davies Mother's Maiden Surname: Jones Date of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar 1920 Registration district: Madeley Inferred County: Shropshire Volume Number: 6a Page Number: 1335 Name: Phyllis Davies Mother's Maiden Surname: Stone Date of Registration: Jul-Aug-Sep 1920 Registration district: Ellesmere Inferred County: Shropshire Volume Number: 6a Page Number: 1316 Name: Phyllis Davies Mother's Maiden Surname: Tutton Date of Registration: Jul-Aug-Sep 1920 Registration district: Ellesmere Inferred County: Shropshire Volume Number: 6a Page Number: 1309 Name: Phyllis M Davies Mother's Maiden Surname: George Date of Registration: Jul-Aug-Sep 1920 Registration district: Shifnal Inferred County: Shropshire Volume Number: 6a Page Number: 1154 Name: Phyllis M Davies Mother's Maiden Surname: Davies Date of Registration: Jul-Aug-Sep 1920 Registration district: Atcham Inferred County: Shropshire Volume Number: 6a Page Number: 1252 There are some family trees with a Phyllis Davies born 1920 in Shropshire but it would need another piece of information to confirm or not any of them. For instance there are 40+ Phyllis Davies born 1920 whose death is registered in England & Wales, so as said any minor piece of information (middle initial etc) would help to narrow this down. TD
OR - you could contact the association as above and ask them for their interpretation: The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (World War II) The Women's Auxiliary Air Force was formed in 1939 and it was renamed the Women's Royal Air Force on 1 February 1949. Later service records are still held by the Royal Air Force and information can be released to former service personnel and next of kin. Contact them through the Veterans UK website or write to: RAF Disclosures Section Room 221b Trenchard Hall RAF Cranwell Sleaford LINCS NG34 8HB 01400 261201 ext. 6711 ext. 8161 / 8159 (Officers) ext. 8163 / 8168 / 8170 (Other ranks) We have members here who have requested service records for research purposes for military personnel who are not in any way related. Often next of kin is used in this context as for a military persons wife or husband applying for their records is free, for anyone else, as in your case the fee is £30 TD
I have that iron currently in the fire with them (as it were). It would have been so much easier if she had had a middle initial. Many thanks for your help. I have a question/article being published in the Association's next magazine.
You have her name and service number Send a copy of death certificate to mod on the official form with £30 cheque You will receive records in approx 8-12 weeks
James I think finding this is one of the major problems, once found it should be easy. Tracy, Have you asked for information from the adoption agency or possibly via the Salvation Army, access to the original file would/should provide some of the vital info you need to know TD
Thank you James but as I said earlier I don't know whether she is dead or alive. I'm afraid the process of adoption was handled by the home which is no longer there and no records were deposited anywhere (confirmed by Salvation army amongst others).
Tracy, I am no further forward with, No Chas company. As uncertain whether it is a co in the WAAF or a private company or what year Phyllis was with it or where it was. Was it an error in transcribing it from a handwritten document? Could it be N. O. Chase Co? What year was your mother born in? What area of the country was she brought up in? As you state you are from Shropshire is this Past tense or present tense? If present tense then you have to think, how did the family get back to Shropshire if your mother was born in London.
RCG - yes the 1939 register is handwritten and it doesn't help that the entry is on the fold of the pages. To answer your other questions, 1945, Oswestry, present tense and grandmother gave a Shropshire address to the London address (I don't know the actual mechanics of the adoption process) but I surmise that she took the baby home to then hand it over to the new parents but don't know why it wasn't adopted by a London couple for example.
I would say that Phyillis Davies was a member of a RAF ATS company...such companies were eventually restructured from being Army aligned to be totally absorbed by the RAF to become the Womens Auxiliary Air Force. In 1938,RAF ATS (Auxiliary Territorial Service) Companies were set up.These were composed of 48 companies and their role was to act as non combatants whereby the Regular and Territorial Armies the RAF were relieved of such a role.Each company was attached to a Flying or Barrage Balloon Squadron of the Auxiliary Air Force or to a regular RAF station in areas where there was no AAF unit.In actual fact 1-49 RAF ATS Companies were envisaged but Nos 18 and 37 seem to be not allocated. AAF Flying Squadrons 600-616 (No 606 not allocated)....these were titled after their district or area. Barrage Balloon Squadrons Nos 900-999 some identified by district or area,some not. The City of Aberdeen was the first RAF ATS Company set up and the last being the County of Surrey which was affiliated to RAF Farnborough. How the structure evolved is interesting and reflects the concern shown by the rise of Hitler on the continent.The development arose from the international tension at the time and at a conference enabled by Hore -Belisha,the Secretary for War who had authorised the doubling of the Territorial Army in 1938.a discussion on Emergency Service took place,The government being aware of such a future requirement as early as 1936.The conference named this non combatant force as Womens Auxiliary Defence Service.....WAD....an abbreviation which was found to inappropriate for individuals to be referred as a WAD.Consequently the new force was to be titled Auxiliary Territorial Service,the ATS, was born and as such was Army aligned. It was anticipated that at least one ATS company would be attached to a local RAF unit,identified by a RAF armband.By the summer of 1939, records of individuals in what would be titled RAF ATS Companies became the responsibility of the RAF and the RAF ATS were gradually withdrawn from the ATS structure.On 28 June 1939, the divorce from an Army aligned ATS was complete when the WAAF was formed as a separate organisation from the RAF ATS Companies. .....a blue uniform was envisaged for the WAAFs but these were made available in sparse quantities by the beginning of July 1939. Squadron information as below. List of Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons - Wikipedia I wonder if the entry "No Chas Company" might read No 610 Chester Company which would be the RAF ATS Company affiliated to No 610 (County of Cheshire) AAF Squadron but bearing in mind that the 1939 Register was raised until the autumn.
Do this ring a bell birthdate wise. Name: Phyllis Davis Birth Date: 28 Mar 1920 Date of Registration: Dec 1976 Age at Death: 56 Registration district: Bridgnorth Inferred County: Shropshire Volume: 30 Her entry in Air 78/43 page 612. Harry would Phyllis have had different number when in ATS?
