RootsChat.Com
General => Armed Forces => World War Two => Topic started by: Jason Jase on Sunday 28 August 22 00:47 BST (UK)
-
As far as I know during WWII my British grandfather Arthur Raymond Fortt (born 11 Jan 1916 Bath, Somerset, England died 24 Nov 1997 Christchurch, Dorset, England) Joined the RAF during WWII.
During that time was he was stationed for some reason or other at Pennfield ridge New Brunswick at an Canadian Air force base. Other than that I know almost nothing of his time in the war??? I tried looking it up but as for military records go I haven't learned to navigate them very well.
I assume he had something more to do with photography rather than a fighter pilot. I did her a story that after he died in 1997 some of his glass negatives ended up in some airplane museum some where in England.
I was wondering if we can find out where he was stationed, when and what he did during WWII
-
WW2 service records are still with the MoD
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=651361.0
-
I assume that you know he married a nurse named Pamela R Barr in 1940, and if so do you have their marriage cert? It may contain some details about his rank or unit at the time of the marriage. It will also have his address which might be useful.
-
He was serving with No 34 Operational Training Unit RAF which was responsible for pilot and navigator training under the Commonwealth (or 'Empire')Training Plan. He was in the RAF Volunteer Reserve and his rank was Leading Aircraftsman (roughly equivalent to a senior Private or Lance Corporal in the Army). His number was 3383557. With that information you should have no difficulty in getting his service records from the MOD.
He was known as Ray. All the courses which went through the OTU had a course photograph taken, so I would be unsurprised to find he may have been responsible for taking and printing many of them, given his pre-war occupation as a photographer.
Source: https://sites.rootsweb.com/~nbpennfi/penn8b3No34OTU.htm
-
On 28 Aug 1942 he was one of two photographers in the Advance party under Sqn Ldr JA McRae who moved from Pennfield Ridge to RAF Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Movement Order: https://sites.rootsweb.com/~nbpennfi/penn8b3No34OTU_NominalRoll_Course1_MO1A.htm
Ray had flown "sailed from GOUROCK, SCOTLAND in R.A.F. Transport "M/S BATORY" p.m. 8th April, 1942, and docked, after a comfortable and uneventful voyage, at HALIFAX, N.S. p.m. 16th April, 1942", and arrived at Pennfield Ridge on or about 20 April 1942, having travelled the last leg by train. Pennfield was always intended to be a temporay base for No 34 OTU. The OTU closed on 17 April 1944.
Source: https://sites.rootsweb.com/~nbpennfi/penn8b3No34OTU_History.htm
-
:)
thank you for finding all this
-
I would love to track down more of is photos. My parents have some but the donated all the glass slides of the planes and military stuff to a museum after he passed away and they where extremely happy to have them.
We are in Canada and my parents said they were too difficult to ship here.
He was a professional photographer and cataloguer of antiques after WWII. He even photographed Queen Elizabeth coronation gifts.
-
So I found that after Raymond landed in Halifax with his wife Pam, who went with him. They went from there by train to Yarmouth, NS where No.34 OTU was first established. May, 1942 then they came to Pennfield Ridge
-
I found a historian of Pennfield ridge and pictures of Raymond and his wife. I also found a PDF on the training program the RAF set up in Canada so as for this I found way more information than I expected... ;D
-
That's an excellent result, Jason.
-
Good morning,
I presume you will already have found details of the Pennfield Parish Military History Society.
Such a fantastic resource and a mine of information with many course photographs as someone else mentioned. Maybe your relative took my Uncles course photo.
I had a photo but did not know where it was taken until l stumbled across the Pennfield site and there were others with similar backgrounds.
My Uncle was posted there from No.9 Bombing and Gunnery school at Mont-Joli, Quebec and was then on a further course for air gunners before he got his stripes.
See my original post, search "21 Brave Airmen".
I tried to search for details of all 21 airmen on the photo with good success.
My Uncle ended up at RAF Grimsby (Waltham) as a Lancaster rear gunner and was lost without trace on a raid to Berlin in September 1943.
I still have the fateful telegram that reported him missing.
His story is in a book, Battle of Berlin, Failed to Return. (first chapter).
Good luck with your research.
-
I would love to track down more of is photos. My parents have some but the donated all the glass slides of the planes and military stuff to a museum after he passed away and they where extremely happy to have them.
We are in Canada and my parents said they were too difficult to ship here.
He was a professional photographer and cataloguer of antiques after WWII. He even photographed Queen Elizabeth coronation gifts.
Some of his 'still life' photographs relating to his work on antiques sold in two lots at auction, this listing has a few details about him in the last photo related to the lot. It all relates to that part of his life and mentions where some of those photos were published.
https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/east-bristol-auctions/catalogue-id-sreas10330/lot-a144c7e3-62ce-4c32-95fb-aa2d012f0f3d#lotDetails (https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/east-bristol-auctions/catalogue-id-sreas10330/lot-a144c7e3-62ce-4c32-95fb-aa2d012f0f3d#lotDetails)
S_L