Hi Everyone , Can you help ? A very general question and I hope not too broad. My late Uncle was in the Army in WW2 and captured at Tobruk . Don't know much more . How do I make a start in finding out about his war service ? Any advice appreciated. Many Thanks , Nick
Hello Nick The best thing to do is to apply for his service records- 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 and Home Guard records They cost 30 pounds but unfortunately there is an approx 12 month wait. Make sure you ask for the FULL records. If you don't have his service number, please make sure you put his correct date of birth on, they should find his records from that. If he was captured there may be a POW report filled in. I cannot help you with this but there are members who can. They will be along soon to help I am sure. Hope this helps Lesley
Nick - I would start with his full name and nationality. Lots of people from different countries were taken POW at Tobruk - Germans, Italians, British, Australian, NZ, South African, Polish (I think?) etc etc etc Anything else you know helps - his unit, his service number etc Do you have photos, letters etc from him? If so, scan them up so everyone can look for clues. But if all you have is his name & nationality then we should be able to go from there (unless it is John Smith from the UK - then his service files are the only real hope). cheers and good luck Dave
Hi Everyone and thanks to Lesley and Dave. Have more information about my Uncle, He was Richard Hardy a Sergeant in the Royal Corps of Signals , no 2581974 captured at Tobruk and a POW at STALAG 18A Wolfsberg ( Karnten) . What can I do to find out more about him ? Many thanks Nick
Hi Nick - you could also check to see if he completed a PoW Questionnaire at the National Archives. Service records are the way forward though.
Hi Nick - you could also check to see if he completed a PoW Questionnaire at the National Archives. Service records are the way forward though. Thanks Drew 5233 , Will try and follow this up. Regards Nick
Hi Nick - you could also check to see if he completed a PoW Questionnaire at the National Archives. Service records are the way forward though. Nick The file that will contain his questionnaire should be WO 344/133/1. Whilst there is no guarantee that you will find a report from him these files are always worth a look. John
Nick, You cound try ICRC (Red Cross) archives for POW records. Takes a good while for a reply though. ICRC Archives
