In need of advice. 3770251 Harry Fitzgerald

Discussion in 'Searching for Someone & Military Genealogy' started by Philf, Mar 10, 2019.

  1. Philf

    Philf Member

    Hi guys,

    I'm currently looking for info on my grandad, but have no idea where to start. From the info I have received from family members, he was in the AAC as parachute infantry and was a POW at Stalag4d. From this I believe I found his service number of 3770251 but I'm not sure where to go to find out anything I can.

    What are the best sites to find info?

    Thanks, Phil
     
  2. idler

    idler GeneralList

    Request a copy of his death certificate, then apply to the MoD for his service records - they are not available from anywhere else but should tell you precisely who he was with and when. They can work off full name and date of birth so don't fret about the service number being right.

    If you want to speculate in the meantime, you could have a look at Paradata. Many of the airborne units have been studied in extreme detail - particularly for Arnhem - so you never know...
     
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  3. 4jonboy

    4jonboy Daughter of a 56 Recce

  4. gmyles

    gmyles Senior Member

    Hi

    Agree with everyone above, acquiring his service records is always the best start.

    However assuming you have the right service number FMP casualty database returns that he was in Sicily, serving with 3rd Parachute Battalion when he was taken prisoner on 14/07/43.

    The war diaries for this particular Parachute Battalion have been transcribed at 3rd Parachute Battalion

    More info on the Operation he was involved in. Operation Fustian - Wikipedia

    Hope this helps

    Gus
     
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  5. Tullybrone

    Tullybrone Senior Member

    Hi,

    If he was POW you can apply to Red Cross via this link for his POW papers. You need to be quick off the mark 20th May as the application window usually closes after a couple of hours due to the quarterly limit having been reached.

    Hopefully a member will turn up his POW number for you from Ancestry or FMP. However if there is no POW number it may be that he was captured very late in the war and no number was allocated. It’s still worthwhile to apply to ICRC though as it is a free service.

    Requests for information about people held during Spanish Civil War or the Second World War: Quarterly limit reached

    It might be worth having a look in U.K. National Archives to see if he completed a post Liberation Questionnaire on his repatriation. It requires a personal visit to Kew - if you can’t make it there several forum members offer a look up and copy service for a reasonable fee (a great deal less than National Archives would charge).

    Good Luck.

    Steve
     
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  6. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    Agree with all those above plus for info:

    UK, British Prisoners of War, 1939-1945
    Name: H Fitzgerald
    Rank: Private
    Army Number: 3770251
    Regiment: Army Air Corps
    POW Number: 222817
    Camp Type: Stalag
    Camp Number: IV-B
    Camp Location: Mühlberg, Elbe, Brandenburg

    TD
     
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  7. Philf

    Philf Member

    Thanks for the info so far guys, I never knew he was in Sicily, his name was Harry Fitzgerald :)

    Looks like I have some reading to do, I'm sure my Dad will like to read it too, he didn't get to find out much.

    Thanks, Phil
     
  8. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    Before reading I would suggest filling in those forms for his service records, you might have much more reading to do after you have them

    TD
     
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  9. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

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  10. horsapassenger

    horsapassenger Senior Member

    Member of 3rd Parachute Battalion captured on Op Fustian (Sicily) 14 July 1943
     

    Attached Files:

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  11. horsapassenger

    horsapassenger Senior Member

    Apologies - he says that he was taken POW on the 15th
     

    Attached Files:

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  12. Guy Hudson

    Guy Hudson Looker-upper

    Screen Shot 2019-03-10 at 16.10.51.png
    EVENING EXPRESS 24th August 1943

    Screen Shot 2019-03-10 at 16.11.50.png
    LIVERPOOL ECHO 12th October 1943
     
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  13. Philf

    Philf Member

    Thanks for all of this guys, my dad hasn't seen any of it! I will apply for his service record ASAP. Out of curiosity, how do you guys fine this stuff?

    Thanks, Phil
     
  14. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    Years and years of practise, skill and lots of spare time on your hands :unsure::rolleyes:

    TD
     
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  15. Philf

    Philf Member

    Here is a picture of him, I'm not sure on the time frame but it looks like the same pic the papers used :)
     

    Attached Files:

  16. Tullybrone

    Tullybrone Senior Member

    Subscriptions to Ancestry and Findmypast sites plus British Newspaper Archives (available for free in most large public libraries) are helpful as well as the points TD makes above.

    Steve
     
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  17. harkness

    harkness Well-Known Member

  18. Jim Hibbert

    Jim Hibbert Member

    Hello Phil .
    My name's Jim Hibbert I'm Jackie Hibbert's ( Fitzgerald) son
    I came across your post by putting Granddad's service number into Google.
    Were you able to find out any more details apart from what's on your thread.
    To be honest I'm a bit worried about showing mum the images and details you were given by the people on here , but I feel I need to.. which of mum's brothers is your dad?

    Regards mate
    Jim
     
  19. Tony56

    Tony56 Member Patron

    Jim, Phil has not been on the forum for about a year, I have sent him a message in the hope that he receives an alert by email and sees your message.
     
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  20. Jim Hibbert

    Jim Hibbert Member

    Tony.

    Many thanks very kind of you..
    I found all the information on Phil's thread very interesting indeed. Mum couldn't tell me much about Granddad's wartime efforts as he wouldn't talk about it himself. So most information is patchy apart from the international red cross information mum had gathered a few years ago. Our grandad passed away when I was around 12 years old . But to this day I can still remember him sitting cupping his ear trying to watch the telly whilst all of us were running around crazy. A true man's man and our hero.
     
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