Genealogy Chat

Willow, have you checked the medal card index on the National Archives site? Chances are he joined an army regiment and then transferred to the RFC, then joined the RAF when it was formed in 1918.

Have you tried the British Legion. Even if they don't know the answer, they would probably know where to look

I have a relative who according to his marriage was in the RFC, but it does not state his squadron name, he was married in Glasgow and born there aswell. I know without the squadron information it will be a task and a half to find his service papers. So I was wondering if perhaps he joined a local squadron, or atleast one in Scotland. Also on his marriage certificate the couple underneath married the day before, the man was also in the RFC. Am I clutching at straws?

Battle ofBritain home page gives a history of Number 1 squadron both webbys start raf(.)mod(.)uk if you google each squadron eg RFC 2 squadron you should be able to find them good luck

according to the RAF Coltishall webby there was only seven of them . Their webby gives a good history of No 6 squadron, so only 6 to go!

Willow, are you referring to squadrons based in the UK for home defence?

wish I could help you Willow, but I know very little about the military, despite being an Army wife in the past! Mind you, I am learning all the time thanks to tracing my family.

Well, i have been looking for a list of all the RFC squadrons that exisited in the UK, but im not having much luck.

Willow, there will be people far more adept than me on this site, but, yes, it does interest me greatly. I would not offer myself as an expert though.

Paul, am I right in remembering that your quite good at military history?

Do you think so, Paul? This is going to be new territory for me, so may take some time!! Thanks Karen and Willow for the leads. Will follow them up, can't wait to get started.

Boy, you've got an interesting one there! Do keep us posted on what you find... I suspect you're on the verge of a fantastic breakthrough.

its gotthis info on it: Recruited Christian Surname Rank Age Ft. Ins. Enlistment Occupation Town County Country Enlisted Period Remarks

Fascinating! Thanks guys. Looks like this is going to be another learning curve for me. Can't wait to get my teeth stuck in this!

that webby is meant to have /~indwgw/minerva.htm at the end of it but the board keeps regecting it for some reason lets see if it will let me this time

Found this aswell, looks like you need to contact the British Library to get anymore information on him. Service in India If a man saw army service in India this could have been because: he served in the British Army – in which case details should be sought in the records of the British Army, which are preserved at the PRO. he served in one of the three armies of the Honorable East India Company (namely: Bengal, Bombay and Madras); in which case details should be sought in the records of the East India Company, which are preserved at the British Library. These armies were totally separate though, to confuse matters, the Crown took responsibility for the EIC armies after the Indian Mutiny (1858) and subsequently merged them into the British Army. Soldiers were then given the opportunity to be discharged or transfer to the British Army

try this webby (lose the brackets) www(.)users(.)rootsweb.com/(~)indwgw/minerva(.)htm Seems most of them were enlisted on 'unlimited' so deserting was the only way out ! Scary

Thanks Karen. much appreciated. xx

HEICS stands for Honorable East India Co. Service.

Found this 'a list of all persons who embarked on HEICS Minerva for the Madras Army in 1827' will read more