How do I obtain the RAFVR Service record for my late Great Uncle?

Hi, I have recently returned from visiting the war grave of my great uncle in Arnhem. I was totally blown away by the courtesy given by the dutch and how the school children lay flowers every year. My Uncle is one of two servicemen buried at Wijchen, Netherlands (details in my sig).

I spoke to the church curator and he informed me that the children would probably like to know more about my Gt Uncle, as they only have two graves to look after, so I thought I would try to dig up his service record. Any ideas on how I can start?

Thanks in advance for any advice

 

Welcome




2 casualties here including your Great Uncle


Flight Sergeant WILLIAM HENRY SKEWES

1384994, 190 Sqdn., Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
who died age 23
on 21 September 1944
Son of William Henry and Gladys Mary Skewes, of Camborne, Cornwall.
Remembered with honour
WIJCHEN ROMAN CATHOLIC CEMETERY

Flight Sergeant PETER HAROLD BODE

1583111, 196 Sqdn., Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
who died age 21
on 21 September 1944
Son of James and Rose Elizabeth Bode, of Ward End, Birmingham.
Remembered with honour
WIJCHEN ROMAN CATHOLIC CEMETERY


Also please post any photos/info you have and im sure members on here will be able to assist

 

Thanks CL1!

As a result of the great work carried out by the war graves commission I found my relative's grave without any problems. Problem is I don't know much about him and was wondering if there are any good links that anyone could suggest that would enable me to find out more about his service record (number of missions, where he was based etc).

 

Hi Kevriz first of there is the ROH for 38 group 38 Group RAF, Roll of Honour, 15th January 1942 - 15th September 1945 (letter S) then there is his entry in J.A.Heys ROH book for battle of Arnhem, of listed on page 139. Skewes William H. F/SGT (WO/AG) RAF 1384994 AGE 23 F/sgt, jumped at to low an altitude and was buried at Bergharen.RC cemetery at Wijchen.

 

Kev im sure when the members log on whose expertise is the RAF then you will get more info/suggestions

 

Hi Kev

You should find the following links of help;

http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/general/23223-obtaining-raf-service-records-rules.html

Ministry of Defence | About Defence | What we do | Personnel | Service Records | Making a Request for Information held on the Personnel Records of Deceased Service Personnel

Regards,

Nick

 

Thanks guys, this is awesome....I never knew he jumped at low altitude but this makes sense as there was only one other crew member who died. I'll take a look at the links and try to get my head around it all.

FYI, my father passed away 16 years ago last week and never got to visit the grave. He would have been the same age as my youngest son (7) when my Grt Uncle died. I recall my Dad telling me that he remembered his uncle visiting in uniform for the last time and telling him all about the airplanes he flew in, regalling him in tales of derring do. Apparantly the grave has never been visited by a member of my family until last week.

 

Flight Sergeant WILLIAM HENRY SKEWES

1384994, 190 Sqdn., Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
who died age 23
on 21 September 1944
Son of William Henry and Gladys Mary Skewes, of Camborne, Cornwall.
Remembered with honour
WIJCHEN ROMAN CATHOLIC CEMETERY
Hope this is a help........

21 September 1944.

190 Squadron.
Stirling IV LJ823
Place: Haren south west Demen.

Initially this aircraft was damaged by flak and was then attacked by enemy fighter aircraft, A running battle ensued, during which the dispatchers baled out and then another members of the crew followed at intervals. The pilot crash landed the aircraft and was thrown out before the aircraft was destroyed by fire.

Casualties.....

W/O. Leslie John Billen. 22. Bomb Aimer (supernumerary for operational experience)
F/S. William Louis Pretsell Cairns.22. Bomb Aimer.
F/S. William Henry Skewes. 23. Wireless Operator.

 

Initially this aircraft was damaged by flak and was then attacked by enemy fighter aircraft, A running battle ensued, during which the dispatchers baled out and then another members of the crew followed at intervals. The pilot crash landed the aircraft and was thrown out before the aircraft was destroyed by fire.

Casualties.....

W/O. Leslie John Billen. 22. Bomb Aimer (supernumerary for operational experience)
F/S. William Louis Pretsell Cairns.22. Bomb Aimer.
F/S. William Henry Skewes. 23. Wireless Operator.

OMG, I can't tell you how much I appreciate this. Incredible, I know my family will be just as amazed.

I take it there's no mention of the other chap buried next to my uncle? Harold BODE?

 

I take it there's no mention of the other chap buried next to my uncle? Harold BODE?

21 September 1944

196 Squadron.
Stirling IV LJ810
Place: Between Niftrik and Heren.

This aircraft was attacked by three fighters and although one was shot down by the air gunner, the others pressed home their attack successfully. This crew had completed their tour on 19 September but agreed to fly another sortie due to the shortage of crews. Azouz and his bomb aimer were Jewish and this day was the Day of Atonement. having baled out, Azouz was machine gunned by the enemy fighters which had been attacking his aircraft and he was killed.

Casualties....

W/O. Mark Azouz. 22. DFC. Pilot.
F/S. Peter Harold Bode. 21. Air Gunner

 

OMG, I can't tell you how much I appreciate this. Incredible, I know my family will be just as amazed.

I take it there's no mention of the other chap buried next to my uncle? Harold BODE?

You will I'm sure be interested to hear that my Father John (Snowy) Brown was Rear Gunner with your Great Uncle in the crew of 190 Squadron Stirling IV LJ823 when shot down over Arnhem. I have a 'photo that was taken a while before the fateful mission. Dad is still alive, aged 90 this year, and was very interested to hear of your search.

http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/album.php?albumid=287http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=287&pictureid=2458
http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/album.php?albumid=287&pictureid=2458
Hope this photo is of interest - I'm new to the forum so I hope you can see it. Let me know.

 

You will I'm sure be interested to hear that my Father John (Snowy) Brown was Rear Gunner with your Great Uncle in the crew of 190 Squadron Stirling IV LJ823 when shot down over Arnhem. I have a 'photo that was taken a while before the fateful mission. Dad is still alive, aged 90 this year, and was very interested to hear of your search.


Hope this photo is of interest - I'm new to the forum so I hope you can see it. Let me know.

This is incredible. I would never have dreamt that I could find out so much information. The photo is the icing on the cake!

It's great to hear Snowy Brown is still alive and has memories of Bill. working in such a confined environment they must have had a few hairy moments! Please wish him well for me...if there's anything he wants to know about Bill I am more than happy to try and provide it. I am going to visit relatives in Cornwall in a few weeks and intend taking all of this information with me, including a printout of the photo. They will have more info on my Gt Uncle, but I have no idea if they knew of the circumstances of his death. If not, the information you have all provided will go a long way to answering some of their questions. I am also waiting to hear from the curator of the Wijchen cemetary as he was making enquiries with the local schools for me, as they may want to know more about the war graves they have 'adopted'.

You guys have been great and you have my heartfelt thanks

 

Hi everyone, I've got some dog tags from my relative, and I would like to know a bit more about him. I did find out he was in the R.A.F volunteers reverse but that's all I know, please could someone help me.

F/LT.

G.G.M.CHRISHOLM

PRES.

R.A.F.V.R

143936

Thanks

ww2 case study

 

You might be interested to know that there is quite a bit of detail about this crash, including information from the Air Despatchers and the Navigator F/Sgt Ross, in the book "Green On" by Arie Jan van Hees (Pages 211-212)

John

 

I have read the above thread and understand the process for obtaining service records. My question relates to the records of my cousin whose service number I unfortunately don't have.

Is there a way of finding this prior to applying for his service record?

The info I have on him is very limited, as follows: Edward Kerstein MILSOM, born 9 Aug 1917 at Hartlepool, Co. Durham, died 1985 at Hereford. A Corporal in the RAF, he attended No 33 SFTS at Carberry, Manitoba, in 1942. I don't know if he graduated as a P/O or anything about his subsequent career in the RAF.

 

I understand all you need to get service records is the full name and date of birth and you have those.

 

Thanks, SDP.

 

If you download AIR 78/111 from The National Archives you will find his service number listed on his index card.

1170963

Regards
Ross

 

Hi,

If you suspect he was a commissioned RAF officer have a look on London Gazette via below link.

Regards

Steve Y

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/