Hi newbie here. I've been trying to get any info on my Grandad who flew Stirlings during the war. Sadly he died over 15 years ago and everything he had from the war he got rid of as soon as it was over. The only thing anyone else in my family seems to know is my Uncle who is fairly certain that he was in 90 squadron.
If anyone could point me in the right direction as to the finding out of anything a bit more detailed I'd be very happy!!
Coxy, the first thing that is needed is your Grandfather's name. Can't do much without that. Did he leave behind his logbook? I presume you are from Britain, and few of us Canucks flew Stirlings, but there is a lot of info out there for you. Good luck.
His name probably would help. D'oh. Its Dennis William Smith. Sadly he kept nothing, one of the few things I do know is that at the end of the war he became a military camera man and was sent to Bergen-Belsen to film around the camp there. It really stayed with him as you can imagine and he never spoke about it until the end of his life when he was really ill and would complain about not being able to get rid of the smell.
So as soon as the war was over he binned everything. The only thing we still have is a picture of him in his uniform.
Hi Coxy! As you can see from other postings on this Forum there is quite a good success with tracing aircrew via this Forum!. I take it your grandad was a pilot? Have you sent away for his service record as that will give you all his info and they are really fascinating.to read. Was he Royal Air Force? Anything else that your uncle or other family members can re call all helps! Old letters,all that sort of stuff?
Hi Linda, he was a co-pilot as far as I'm aware. To be honest I'm rubbish at finding such things out, so when I came across this place I had to post. Who would I send away to about his service records? And yes he was RAF.
Nope all gone. He got with my Nan just after the war so no letters, at least none that she has. Everything else I've been told about. I'm annoyed with myself really as I remember him telling me the funny stories but never asked anything else.
Hi Coxy The national archives at Kew will hold his service record-nationalarchives@ionmx.com I think it costs about £30 Can your nan or anyone else remember where he was stationed in the Uk? Your uncle mentioned 90 squadron? Maybe you could post his photo up here,in case someone recognises him.
I would encourage you to get your grandfather's service records, this will uncover quite a bit of info for you. From there you can check out the squadron ORB (Operational Record Book) to see what ops he flew on.
Thank you all very much for the info. Just going through that link now. Hopefully it will lead to what I'm after. If anyone is interested I'll keep you posted.
I've been looking for info for a while now but I was given an Stirling airfix kit for christmas, its made me pull my finger out and find out what I can. The idea being that if I can find out his plane I will make the kit up from that.
My mum has a fantastic picture of him in his uniform somewhere, If she'll alow me I will post it.
Interesting to see a request for info re a 90 Sqn "bod". Try going to http://www.mildenhallregister.stirlingpilot.org.uk and you can ask someone. There are a lot of old Crew members on this site, as the Bomber Squadron Association for the Mildenhall Register; XV, 90, 149 and 622 sqdns. Met a few at the last reunion. Maybe someone will remember? You can also contact me or the Register people direct from the site.