Genealogy Chat

My Grandfather has a National Registration Identity Card, by Each addresss (he moved several times) it has WAPS next to it. My mother has the same on hers, this is between 1923 and 1947. Anyone know or have an idea?

anyone?

Not really El, have you tried a google search that may help? What area was he in - was it anything to do with the district -

Penzance, cornwall. I tried google, got some wierd calculator and a link to WASPS (We Are Sexual Perverts) a strange band which I doubt my grandfather was into lol

Warden Air-raid Precautions Service?

Ah, but did you REALLY know your grandad? This could be part of his hidden life! I really dont know - Id just keep googling if I were you or check out the BBC wartime stories web site and perhaps pose the question there if you can - you really need someone of that generation to pick up on it, dont you? I suppose the P could stand for Penzance

What was a woman doing in 1923 with a card that wasn't devised until 1941????

Most peoples cards were manila coloured but can I guess that his was pale blue? Is it marked NR107A?

http://myweb(.)tiscali(.)co(.)uk/homefront/natreg/nr.html This tells you about the cards but could not see a mention of WAPS Maureen

Could it have something to do with Work And Pension Service? Just a guess. Kath. x

Blow me Paul, you have intimate knowledge of this - just how old are you!! National Identity cards and Persian Poems - what a man!

my mum didnt tell me the colour but number was GQ676797, each time he moved he had to inform these people he was born in 1923, his daughter had one also, she was born in 1947, similar patter to the above numer but hers had 'under 16' printed on it too Work and pensions sounds pretty good tho

Yes, they weren't abolished until 1951.

Thanks guys, it wasn't vital that I found out, it was just my curious mind seeing as it seemed to be stamped on everything ;) No I know my brain can rest l;()

Thanks for the compliment Heather. Here's a poem just for you.... When genealogy gets me down And a problem seems a right stinker I take my inspiration from My mate, the Positive Thinker!

I still have mine, valid til 16 february 1961 and has both my parents signatures on the back. Sylvia

Paul, marry me.

I still remember my National Identity card number and when the card was abolished I seem to remember that the same number was used for National Health cards. Lost my Nat Health card few years ago and asked for replacement and the number is ..... gave the old number and they said they had no record of such a number ! Only WAPS I can think of is Politically incorrect these days and not very pleasant at the best of times.. For sure it had nothing to do with Air Raid Precautions in the 1920s !

Elinor, sorry I can't help solve the mystery of the WAPS. We moved three times during the war and only remember the new address being added . National Identity Cards were issued in November 1939 and withdrawn in February 1953. Registration was in September 1939 when we were issued with our gas masks (nasty, smelly things).The ID numbers were (usually) 4 letters indicating the area issuing the card followed by the household number and a number indicating the position in the family i.e. NMPU364/1. Under 16's had a buff coloured card and over 16's were blue - a bit aggravating if you were a 15 year old trying to pretend to be a bit older!! I think Paul is getting confused with ration books which were green for under 5's and buff coloured for everyone else. I still have my old NIC - I got a blue one in 1944. Just a thought - what was his occupation? Some drivers, train drivers etc who had to travel through restricted areas had slightly different ID cards - these usually had a photo but could the WAPS indicate something like this? Kathleen

Due to lack of punctuation I do not know if he had to inform people every time he moved - or if every time he moved he had to inform them he was born in 1923. The 'every time he moved' bit makes it sound as if he might have been a foreigner, maybe his parents were German and had escaped here in WW1. or perhaps his father had been a POW here who had been allowed to stay on. Penzance is the hopping off place for the Channel Islands, did he come from there? Somewhere in my collection of junk/interesting ephemera I have an air raid warden' s helmet, but it only has the initials A.R.P. I think they were all 'wardens', it was not a title in the sense of a leader of a group. Sorry no more ideas Eileen