Hello, I am pretty new to this site so apologies if this sort of question has been asked before:- My father served on two ships during the war, the first was HMS Wallace (Duke of Edinburgh served aboard at same time), the second was HMS Newfoundland. I have Dads service records which shows him serving on this ship 8 feb 1945 to 11 sept 45. This ship was present in Tokyo Bay for the signing of the Instrument of Surrender 2nd Sept 1945, I think my Dad was on board at this time ( ie. his service record dates) and I also seem to remember he had a little paper flag of the rising sun fixed to a wood stick (maybe a momento of this occasion? ) but how can I prove he was on board and not on leave or absent for some reason, in other words are the service record dates 8 feb to 11 sept just general, and not show short absent times? etc. I have looked on Ministry of Defence site but there does not appear to be a contact for such a question as this.. Thanks in anticipation.
Doubt if you will find a 100% answer unless you have corroborative evidence such as a letter home from your father describing the event. What Service Records are you looking at? Is it his Form S459 - Certificate of Service (which will have been given to him on discharge and for which no duplicate will have been retained by the RN) or is it extracts from the P&V ledgers which you have obtained from the MoD? It might help if you posted a copy of the Record on this thread. Tim
Thanks for swift reply, the record called :- 'Record of Naval Training and Active Service' is held by Dad's grandson - I have a blurry copy of it, so I will get a better copy and post it next week as I want to ask some other basic questions about the terminology etc. - Cheers
Hello Tim, I have resolved my query, My younger sister and also my Dad's grandson have both stated that Dad had told each of them that he was on board in Tokyo Bay on the signing, so I am happy with that, Dad like lots of others must have opened up a little more as he got older. My sister has decided to send for Dad's records for the sake of £30 so we shall wait and see what we get - if anything. I have attached a scan of HMS Newfoundland in Sydney several days after the Tokyo Bay signing - difficult spotting my Dad ! Thanks, Geoff
So glad you've resolved that with a definite answer. Any problems interpreting the records when you receive them just post on here. Tim
