Hello all, I'm looking for help in finding out more about where my grandfather went in in WW2. He died in 1983, a few months before I was born and I only have fairly basic information to go on. To make matters worse, I've been told by National Archives they cannot provide his Service Record as its listed as missing. I know that he was in service from 1942-1946. From what my family understand he was in the Royal Engineers, but National Archives believed his service record grouped with REME, so possibly he was transferred to REME at some point. I'm wondering if someone with knowledge of units in operation at the locations he served at may be able to help me identify the unit(s) he may have in so I can retrieve a war diary (even if its not his actual unit, being able to see something from the relevant locations to understand something of the day-to-day would be interesting). From what my family know, I understand he served at the following locations / dates: * Orkney Islands (presumably training, 1942-) * Norway (Date/location unknown. He went back to Bergen after the war with my grandmother and saw people he had known during the war) * France - Bernières-sur-Mer / Juno Beach (June 1944 - arriving D-Day+3) * Italy+Austria - Venice+Vienna (June/July 1946) I'm very grateful to anyone who can help me find out more and/or narrow down the unit(s) my grandfather may have served with and their actions. Best Regards, John
Welcome to the forum Have you applied for his service records via link below Did NA explain why they think it is missing link here Get a copy of military records of service
Hi CL1. Thanks for the welcome. Yes - I applied for service records but I've been told they are listed as missing.
Hi again CL1. I realise I missed part of your message: I originally applied to The Army Personnel Centre in Glasgow in November 2021 using the printed out form (along with a cheque for £30) required at the time. I received a reply from them in May 2022 advising me to redirect my enquiry to National Archives (including an index number APV... to provide to NA) as all records were being moved there. Initially NA responded quickly and told me they had identified the relevant record but couldn't access it because it was in the process of being transferred so I should contact them again in July 2022 as it should be available by then. In July 2022 I was given the following message by NA: "Unfortunately, we have found that the record you have requested has been listed as missing. This means that it has been misplaced and cannot be located. This may have happened at The National Archives during the re-boxing process, during transfer of the records, or whilst it was in the possession of the government department that originally transferred it to us. It is rare that a record will go missing. We will not list records as missing until we have taken all reasonable steps to locate it. We carry out searches using a database that tracks all records involved in this project, whether they are held here or at the MOD. We also communicate between organisations that may have handled the document during the transfer process.". I emailed NA again in October 2022 in case the records had surfaced. However, in January 2023 I received this response from NA: "I have carried out a fresh search of our database based on the information provided, and the record is still listed as missing. I am very sorry to bring what I'm sure will be disappointing and frustrating news.". Reluctantly, it seems the chances of getting hold of the service records are slim. I'm hoping it might be possible to work back from the information I do know (the corps my grandfather was part of and the locations/dates he was at certain points of WW2) to determine which units he may have been part of and get a better idea of where he went in the war based on that. I don't know how realistic that is, but it seems worth a try...
Hi John Have you any photos of him in uniform and if it's not too personal, add his name as it could have come up on the forum before. Any information at all, even the slightest bit could help members. Lesley
Crikey John what a carry on and very disappointing. As Lesley suggests put what you have on here and forum members will try to assist further
Hi Lesley. Thanks for your message. Some of my family members prefer to leave the past in the past - I respect their wishes so I'll avoid sharing my grandfathers personal details on the internet. I appreciate this might limit my chances of finding information. I have searched thoroughly in this forum and across the internet without much success for now. From what I do know, he served as a corporal from 1942 - 1946 in the Royal Engineers / REME and was present at the following locations: * Orkney Islands (presumably training, 1942-) * Norway (Date/location unknown. He went back to Bergen after the war with my grandmother and saw people he had known during the war) * France - Bernières-sur-Mer / Juno Beach (June 1944 - arriving D-Day+3) * Italy+Austria - Venice+Vienna (June/July 1946) One lead I did find from this forum is the REME Museum archives which hold "tracer cards" from WW2. If I'm fortunate, I might be able to find some more detailed information from them. I've emailed them, so will see where that leads.
