WW2 historical records

[R8Steve]

Does anyone know where the best place to look for records of crew/flights from WW2?

My grandfather was a navigator on a Lancaster bomber that was shot down during WW2 and he spent several years in a German POW camp and i'm looking to find out more information about him.

Has anyone done anything like this before and have any hints for where to start?

[Eric Mc]

National Archive at Kew.

RAF Museum Hendon.

Staring point would be for finding out about the individual would be -

Name
Date of Birth
Service No.

[aeropilot]

R8Steve said:

Does anyone know where the best place to look for records of crew/flights from WW2?

My grandfather was a navigator on a Lancaster bomber that was shot down during WW2 and he spent several years in a German POW camp and i'm looking to find out more information about him.

Has anyone done anything like this before and have any hints for where to start?

Is your is parent that was the son/daughter of him still alive, or can you claim as being next of kin?

WW2 service records are still held by the MOD, but you can apply for a copy of his service records from the MOD.

See link here:

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

.

[MG Mark]

Did this a few years ago for a relative of my partner, who was a Lancaster Flight Engineer, killed when his aircraft was lost in action near Ottignies in Belgium in 1944.

As mentioned above, the key to all is his Service number, from which you can obtain his Service record. This will have the key details of dates and units from his enlistment, through training, and on active service etcetera.

From that, you'll be able to find out locations, squadron operational records and so on. Much can be found on the internet via various websites, such as squadron associations, before needing to fill in missing details from Kew or Hendon.

Good luck, it's a satisfying and rewarding thing to do, particularly when you can share the results with family

[R8Steve]

Thanks all, much appreciated.

I'll see if i can get his service number and take it from there.

Also, Mark, just seen your e-mail, many thanks for that. I'll get back to you when i have some more details.

[Jaguar steve]

We've done the RAF service record search for my dad who flew a Horsa glider carrying a field gun and its crew on operation Varsity along with some other research through ex-services associations.

We know his combat report from another source states his a/c was raked with machine gun fire on descent into the Rhine, he was seriously wounded at the controls and crash landed behind enemy lines some way off the target and taken POW. His RAF record of injuries are wrong and there's several inconsistencies and loose ends in the official version of his postings around the UK and other flight duties for the 18 months prior to Varsity - several hours of which have been neatly cut out mid-page of his flying log all together - so best back up the official version with as much research as you can.