This was a question posed whilst D-Day and 2nd World war events were being screened on the television. A family ring round found that we knew very little about my father’s war service. Just like many others of his generation, they went off to serve their country and on return put their medals in a drawer and said very little about their experiences. They were happy to come home and resume their jobs if they were fit and able to do so.

This prompted me to try and find out more information and was pleasantly surprised to find the Government offer a free service for next of kin, or £30 plus death certificate for other relatives of full service records including postings and other details. This applies to Army, Royal Navy and Air Force Service. You only have to provide date of birth, but if you know their Service Number and Regiment it helps speed up the process.

Some private companies can charge a fortune for the same service and similarly data base searches or membership of Ancestry.com for example can also be expensive.

The web site is at

https://www.gov.uk/get-copy-military-service-records

Take advantage of this free service – we have.

Richard Mills