Morning All, This man is outside of my ordinary wheelhouse as i normally interested in Artillerymen; he was a TF Gunner in World War 1, then joined the RAFVR in January 1937, with number 744492; which i "believe" was part of a block allocated to potential pilots (?). That never happened, as he received an Air Efficiency Award in the rank of corporal; although there was a claim that he may have been an Air Gunner, maybe before the regs on them being Sergeants went through. He died in 1946 (cause unknown) and his ww2 medals were a late claim from his son, John Seymour Berry. I have sent in an FOI request so am waiting for that to come back; but thought in the meantime i would try the RAF experts on here for inspiration? Thanks, David
Why send a Freedom of Information - his full service record is open to you to apply for for £30 via the online method? At the moment the return if held by MoD is 2 to 3 weeks. All you need is an electronic copy (pdf etc) of his death certificate and to know his month and year of birth - everything else such as service number not needed and should only be included if positively know as correct. Very rare ww1+ww2 to an airgunner in RAFVR inc Air Efficiency Award,no reserve • £237.00 Ross
Hi Ross, Sorry, my ill-fitting language! That's exactly what i've done. I think i got used to call these FOI request. Is it really just 2-3 weeks?? My only experience is with Army ones which always seemed to take forever. Thanks, David
Record set England & Wales Deaths 1837-2007 First name(s) Bernard M Last name Berry Gender Male Birth day - Birth month - Birth year 1899 Age 47 Death quarter 3 Death year 1946 District Stepney County London Volume 5D Page 391
Thanks Tony, Yes he was born in late 1898, which is luckily over the 117 year rule. His son John spent his entire life in my hometown of Romford. David
Yup - last two applications for deaths in service were email returned 3 weeks 4 days and 2 weeks 2 days (last one applied for in June 2022) Ross
Can't argue with that kind of turnaround Ross! I must admit they did reply with an acknowledgement super quickly. I don't know if my man died in service or not, but it couldn't have been very long afterwards. I WISH i had been the one to pick this up from EBay as per the link you shared, especially at that price; sadly i don't know where the group went between then and me, but the issue box and the Air Gunner badge have sadly vanished. David
There is a quirk with the new online service that, unless you request, the Mustering section which gives trades is redacted on the blanket assumption that the subject is still under the GDPR Act. If you have not done so yet, pop an email reply to the acknowledgement email disclosures sent you (it will automatically relate to the case) and ask for "Informal review of Mustering in relation to publishing" that way the case officer will look at the date of death and will most probably not apply the default redaction. Also if not done so already ask for email return of service record - they then send you the record in pdf format and ask to reply by email for the password to open - faster than post and saves disclosures a quid or so on postage. Army is now the only service branch that solely uses the postal method - RAF and RN/RM now both online. Ross
Hi Ross, Yes i asked for the email version of his record; just makes sense. VERY good shout on the informal review of mustering; i've just sent them a follow on mail about that. It would be amazing if he actually was Aircrew at some point early in the War. Thanks again Ross, my RAF knowledge is limited so this is all great stuff. David
Hello David If he had died in service he would show on CWGC His death cert should give cause of death. regards Clive
Yes Clive you're right; i didn't think that was the case. However you never know, not even the CWGC is infallible.........but yes agree.
