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General => Armed Forces => World War Two => Topic started by: SmallTownGirl on Monday 10 February 25 12:29 GMT (UK)
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An uncle of mine served in the Royal Artillery during WW2 and I've found a medal card in that name. It might be him, although the age isn't correct, so it might just be someone else with the same name. Anyway, the address on the card if a bit of a puzzle and I wonder if anyone could suggest what BM/Belga might stand for? I'm thinking that if I knew that it might help me (in some, as yet, unknown way) to establish whether or not it's my relative. If you see what I mean?
Any ideas, anyone, please?
Thanks
STG
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Probably totally unconnected, but . . .
Belga is a News Agency. "Inspiring the Belgian Media Community Since 1920"
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Yes that's all I could find too.
Do you know where he went during the war?
Could BM/Belga relate to something other than an address :-\
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Yes that's all I could find too.
Do you know where he went during the war?
Could BM/Belga relate to something other than an address :-\
I know he was stationed in Germany at some point, because he married a German girl and their first child was b. ~1947/48 in Germany.
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The Medal Card will often have his number on it. You could use that number to look for a RA Attestation Record on FindMyPast and a RA Tracer Card on Ancestry.
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The Medal Card will often have his number on it. You could use that number to look for a RA Attestation Record on FindMyPast and a RA Tracer Card on Ancestry.
I've done that already thanks.
The only info on Ancestry is the card (that I've snipped the image from), and on Find My Past the RA attestation listing shows that he joined in 1940 and was transferred to the army reserve 16.6.1946. He doesn't have a particularly uncommon name, so he could simply share a name with someone else. The Ancestry card gives his age as 25, whereas my uncle would have been 34/35 ish.
On a more positive note, I did find 15pp of records on Ancestry for a maternal uncle who enlisted in 1931 and served until 1937 before being recalled for WW2 when he served until 1946. Am chuffed with that find and that's what prompted me to look to see if any other WW2 records had somehow escaped the clutches of the MOD and/or National Archives.
Thanks again
STG
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Hi STG
The 'Age/Service Group' was a grouping of soldiers with the same age and service profiles who were to be released at the same time - it is not his age, so he may have been in his thirties as you say.
Regards
Skoyen89
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Hello STG,
As everyone on RC loves an obscure challenge - how about this.......
From the London, England, City Directories, 1736-1943 in Ancestry, there are 3 references for the year 1930 in respect of the Belga Importing Co. Ltd.
The address at which it was based is 89 Great Russell Street, WC1.
Which address is immediately adjacent to The British Museum - otherwise: The BM.
Willyam
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I did wonder if BM = British Museum 🤔
Thanks
STG
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This may (or may not) help:
https://www.acronymfinder.com/British-Museum-(BM).html
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Hello STG,
Having found nothing further regarding the Belga Importing Co. Ltd., I felt it prudent to see what might emerge from a search of the London Electoral Registers 1832-1965.
Somewhat unhelpfully, this revealed that, from 1946 until his death in 1969, one elector consistently present at no. 89 was Sir Edward Stanley Gotch Robinson - quondam Keeper of the Coins at the BM.
However, returning to the address provided on the medals card, what does strike me as significant is that the card is not endorsed with such as: "medals returned - undelivered/undeliverable". Which means, for me, that they successfully reached their destination.
Which in turn implies that the use of BM as the principal delivery address was something that was well known to the sorters at the nearby Mount Pleasant Sorting Office, and also to the posties who would have been delivering mail by the sackful to the museum. Regarding 'Belga', this could well have been an internal location which would not have played any part in the external delivery process.
Willyam
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Hello STG,
Having found nothing further regarding the Belga Importing Co. Ltd., I felt it prudent to see what might emerge from a search of the London Electoral Registers 1832-1965.
Somewhat unhelpfully, this revealed that, from 1946 until his death in 1969, one elector consistently present at no. 89 was Sir Edward Stanley Gotch Robinson - quondam Keeper of the Coins at the BM.
However, returning to the address provided on the medals card, what does strike me as significant is that the card is not endorsed with such as: "medals returned - undelivered/undeliverable". Which means, for me, that they successfully reached their destination.
Which in turn implies that the use of BM as the principal delivery address was something that was well known to the sorters at the nearby Mount Pleasant Sorting Office, and also to the posties who would have been delivering mail by the sackful to the museum. Regarding 'Belga', this could well have been an internal location which would not have played any part in the external delivery process.
Willyam
Thanks for your thoughts/efforts on this. It seems that, for now at least, it will remain a mystery.
STG