Sqd Ldr John Richard Welsh RAF, A.F.M. - Request

Good evening,

I`m trying to find out information about a distant relative, Sqd Ldr John (Jack) Richard Welsh, s/n 35012, who died 27.09.40 whilst serving in the Royal Air Force. From looking at the CWGC website I assume he died in Egypt as he`s commemorarted in the Cairo War Memortial Cemetery etc. but I`m struggling to find the circumstances surrounding his death and which squadron he was with at the time.

There`s quite a but about his promotions on the London Gazette website but again, no clue to a squadron which would be a good starting point.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

MTIA

John

 

hello John

official route to his service records Get a copy of military service records - GOV.UK
Squadron LeaderWELSH, JOHN RICHARD
Service Number 35012

Died 27/09/1940

Aged 41

Royal Air Force

A F M

Son of Thomas James Welsh, M.B.E., and Kate Welsh; husband of Edith E. Welsh, of Pennington, Hampshire.


INSCRIPTION
AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN AND IN THE MORNING WE WILL REMEMBER HIM, OUR BELOVED

regards
Clive

 

The RAF Casualty Communique has his cause of death as Died on Active Service. I haven't got the precise description here, but that means he died of non-war related illness or injuries.

As suggested by Clive, you really need a copy of his official file from the DoD

As he had been awarded the Air Force Medal he must have been commissioned from the ranks - Officers can not be awarded that medal

Going off his promotion to SQNLDR he was in the Technical Branch

 

Gents,

Thank you both very much for your replies and information.

I must confess I hadn`t really considered going down the service record route yet as he`s not a very close relative and I`ve already spent a small fortune in that direction with closer kin.

I`d hoped (cheekily perhaps), that someone might be able to fill the missing gaps in with regards to the circumstances of his death and his last unit. I know people on the forum have specialist areas of knowledge and felt someone with a strong interest in the RAF might have a better idea where to look for such records, other than me floundering around on Google.

Anyway, Dave, I think you`ve already provided some clues with your response. I`d just assumed he was with a squadron and died in action and it looks as though that is probably not the case. I`ll keep digging.

Regards,

John