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General => Armed Forces => World War Two => Topic started by: oibert on Wednesday 23 December 09 06:32 GMT (UK)
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I have just received a copy of my fathers marriage certificate dated 1943, my query is there appears to be a number (badly written) above the profession box, it is a seven digit number with AC/2 underneath, could this be his service number? if so how is the best way to obtain information on him. please forgive my ignorance on this but any help would be greatly appreciated,
His occupation is listed as( railway booking clerk ) in brackets as shown with royal air force above it.
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AC/2 is rank - Aircraftman second class
The number is probably his service number. If you can post it we can check it to see in which block it falls (and hence when he enlisted).
You can apply for his service records:
http://www.veterans-uk.info/service_records/raf.html
Ask for photocopies of the original docs, and if you have any problems deciphering it then I'm sure we will be able to help
K
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hi Kyt, thank you for the response and the information, this is quite a pandoras box for me as i knew nothing of my fathers service history except that he was in the raf. The number as best as i can decipher is 1675156 or 1615156, but i would say the first number is the best bet.
Once again thank you for the reply,also as i live in australia now there could be a delay in replies due to the time difference.
regards oibert.
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Hi oibert
Was your father's surname Smith? Because 1675156 belonged to Alex Smith who was commissioned in 1944 (Commissioned number: 165806). This person reached the rank of Flying Officer by the end of the war. Original enlistment in Nov 1941
1615156 does not come up in the London Gazette which implies that this person was not commissioned as an Officer. Enlistment in Oct 1941.
From that you should be able to work out the correct service number, which will make getting his service records easier
K
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hi Kyt
yes indeed my fathers surname was smith(you can imagine the trouble i have had!) but his forename was jack, and i believe he became a navigator, what rank would that be? So the plot thickens. As i do not have his birth cert yet i cannot tell if he had a second name, but i have copies of both his marriage certs and there is no mention of any other name bar jack. I am reasonably certain he was born in 1923 so i have just ordered a birth cert to try confirm that, so if that is the correct cert i can tell if he had another name. Just a thought what was the minimum age to join the raf? could his age help? Once again thank you for the reply.
regards oibert.
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Oh dear, I have made a big boo-boo. :-[
Jack Smith is the next name down from Alec and I copied and searched the wrong number!! I'm very sorry. Alec Smith's number was 1675139/165806
1675156 Jack SMITH (Commissioned number: 165753). Commissioned at the same time as Alec.
Promoted to Flying Officer in 14 Jan 1945.
And Navigator was a role rather than a rank. They were, as the word implies, navigated the aircraft to and back from their target. However, without his record it would be impossible to say which type of aircraft he was on.
Must stay off the eggnog
K
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wow Kyt
thank you so much for that, i can now just about confirm all my fathers details when i receive his birth cert, your help with this info has been fantastic. I started doing my family research as a favour to my daughters but it has now got me so intruiged i will keep going for myself.I will advise when i have the service records, once more(again) i cannot thank you enough.
By the way you may go back to the egg nogg, and seasons greetings to you and yours.
regards oibert.
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Let us know how you got on with his records. I, for one, would be interested in his units etc.
Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year
cheers (mmmm more eggnog :D)
K
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no problems
oibert
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hi folks
could anyone tell me how long it can take to receive raf records. I sent away (with cheque) in mid january and have yet heard any word. I may be being rather impatient but i am dying to get my hands on them. Do they close for the christmas new year break? could that be the delay? any clues?
regards oibert.
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The time seems to vary but I had to wait months on two occasions when ordering such records. You have to bear in mind that the unit concerned has priorities unconnected with family history and so these requests just have to join the queue.
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thanks Imber
I appreciate your reply, i at least now have a better understanding of how they work. thank you.
regards oibert.
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Stop press!
talk about eerie, i had no sooner replied to my last query when the postman rang the bell and handed me my dads raf records. ask and you shall receive? what a coincidence! It looks like i have some reading to do, can't wait .
regards oibert.
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OK so i have spent two days going through my fathers records and i can't seem to make head nor tail of them. The main problem i have is, the records seem to me to be disjointed, by that i mean there seems to be no sense in the time line ( they have him serving in a unit in 1944 followed by another unit in 1943) are the records normally like this and would it be advisable to formulate my own timeline before i go any further? They also have him coming from a unit but not going to another unit, then 5 months later appearing at another unit. I suppose i expected this to all be ordered and clear but after all it was war time! I guess i just need to know if this is normal record keeping for the time, and what would be the best way to go about this?
This is only his time as an ac/2 and lac, I have only just glanced at his time as a flying officer and that seems to make a little more sense but the writting is hard to decipher in a lot of cases.
I would appreciate any help i could get to sort out his records.
regards oibert.