Hi I am conducting some research on my grandfather Bill (William) Royle who served in The RAF Air Sea Rescue service as a coxswain. The reason I am trying to find out further information is that my grandfather has now passed away and the stories he used to tell me have always fascinated me. He told me that he served as a coxswain on a fast RAF 3 engined boat. He served in the English Channel, but also North Africa. He also dropped commandos off in Sicily, went through Italy and then got sent off to Burma, where his craft was blown up when landing on a beach. He then spent nearly 2 weeks escaping through the jungle with the captain of the boat, who rather amazingly was apparently German! He spent several weeks in South Africa en-route to the Far East and I have some photos of him whilst in Cape Town. Can anyone or does anyone have any information on which unit served in the areas mentioned or could you please point me in the right direction? Many thanks.
Hi I am conducting some research on my grandfather Bill (William) Royle who served in The RAF Air Sea Rescue service as a coxswain. The reason I am trying to find out further information is that my grandfather has now passed away and the stories he used to tell me have always fascinated me. He told me that he served as a coxswain on a fast RAF 3 engined boat. He served in the English Channel, but also North Africa. He also dropped commandos off in Sicily, went through Italy and then got sent off to Burma, where his craft was blown up when landing on a beach. He then spent nearly 2 weeks escaping through the jungle with the captain of the boat, who rather amazingly was apparently German! He spent several weeks in South Africa en-route to the Far East and I have some photos of him whilst in Cape Town. Can anyone or does anyone have any information on which unit served in the areas mentioned or could you please point me in the right direction? Many thanks.
hello Jroyle service record link below https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-defence/about/publication-scheme#special-subject-access-requests-ssar--extended-access-to-information regards Clive
Good day J. Royle and welcome to the forum. If anyone in the family has your Granddad's RAF service and pay book this should tell you the dates of posting to the units he served with. Failing being able to trace that document it may be worthwhile for you to apply for his service record from the MoD. This link will take you the the relevant page of the MoD website: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-defence/about/publication-scheme#apply-for-service-personnel-service-records Good luck!
Not too sure which post to reply to - I see both have recommended applying for his service records. Upside is that they should answer most questions your family has - downside is that it takes around 12 months to arrive (and costs 30 quid upfront). While you are waiting it wouldn't hurt to add his FULL name to the thread (middle names??), also scan and add any photos (front and back if anything is written there). Plus any official documents held (pay book?) or medals held by the family or any letters that might have been written to and from him during the war. Anything helps. His story is fascinating but he could have served in any one of dozens of small boat units - probably a couple of different units unless his whole unit moved from Europe to Asia.
Hi I am Steve Royle my dad was Bill Royle He lived with us for the last 16 years of his life I spent many hours talking to him about the war Happy to share them with you if you still want
