Applying for Army Service Records

[Nifty1]

I want to know the army service history of a uncle,who died in the mid 1970s
As his wife is also deceased, I think that.his next of kin would be his children. Is that so, and is there any order of precedence between the oldest and youngest.

I already know a little of uncle’s service history.

He was already in the army before WW2 started, I think that he was at Bovingdon  and was due to leave the service but re-enlisted. He was part of the group,of soldiers that were evacuation ated from Normandy. He left France at Breast and later continued his service in North Africa. In the post war years he was stationed at Celle and Luneberg. After he completed his service in the mid 1950s he continued to work for the army as a Barrack Store Accountant .

I know that some service records can be comprehensive but wonder what the difference would be in what would be made available to be If I was to apply for them without a covering note by the next of kin.
Can anybody please guide me further in this matter ?
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/913065/NNOK_request_service_details.pdf

[KGarrad]

Next-of-kin only applies to deaths within the last 25 years, I believe.
Different information is limited to NOK in those cases.

I have applied for a few service records, and have never needed NOK permission.

[Kiltpin]

Fill out the form, 
Enclose your cheque,
Enclose photocopy of Death Certificate,
Tick the box that says "Next of Kin",
Wait 4 to 6 weeks and a bundle will arrive. 

They will probably email you and tell you that there is a great backlog and there might be delays. I have done this over 10 times now for aunts and uncles and for a neighbour (no relation) and have never had a problem. 

The form gives you the option of stating that you are a genealogical agent, but I have never used that. 

Regards 

Chas

[nicdigby]

Fill out the form, 
Enclose your cheque,
Enclose photocopy of Death Certificate,
Tick the box that says "Next of Kin",
Wait 4 to 6 weeks and a bundle will arrive. 

They will probably email you and tell you that there is a great backlog and there might be delays. I have done this over 10 times now for aunts and uncles and for a neighbour (no relation) and have never had a problem. 

The form gives you the option of stating that you are a genealogical agent, but I have never used that. 

Regards 

Chas

Hi, do you happen to have the email address for them please, from when they emailed you telling you of delays? I'd like to know how long the delays are at the moment, have been waiting for three months so far.

[Kiltpin]

Hi Nic, 

I will see what I can find. I will have to dig through old emails. The last time I used the service was about mid-2019, so almost 2 years ago. 

Three months seems excessive to me, but we are in lockdown with nothing else to do. My quickest turn-around was three weeks, for my father - the first one I sent off for. Six weeks is the maximum I have had to wait. 

Regards 

Chas

[Hotice56]

My mum applied for my dad's in May last year and they arrived 2nd week of January so maybe a while.

[GrahamSimons]

They quite reasonably prioritise records which affect the welfare of veterans or their families - things like pension queries, for example. That means that family history queries get parked until they have time to deal with them. So waiting times can vary a lot. As I believe they are paper records which need scanning, that will depend on people being able to go into the offices, and Covid will have made that much harder.

[carol8353]

About 10 years ago I applied for my dad's WW2 RAF record. It took about 5 months to come through.

[AntonyMMM]

The Army records office are currently warning of delays of a year, maybe longer. I understand they didn't have anyone processing the applications at all for quite a few months after the first March lockdown and have a huge backlog to work through. I applied for one in June - heard nothing so far, and cheque not been banked.

Royal Navy - I applied for two at the same time last June  - received an email reply in October saying the documents could be another 3-8 moths (nothing arrived as yet, although cheques have been banked).

So you will  need to be very patient.