Flight Lieutenant James Castles DFC

paul707 · Leading Aircraftsman

Flight Lieutenant James Castles DFC

AW · Air Commodore

Paul,
Quickest way for further research is to post details of any suadrons he flew with, which should be in his logbook. I have a collection of Squadron ORB's (Operations Record Books) and if he's in any of them, i can help with information. If not, then i can tell you how to further your research.
Alan.

paul707 · Leading Aircraftsman

Thanks Alan. I'm very grateful for your help. The log is at home in Staffordshire, I'll be back there at the end of the month so will send you details then.

Kind regards

Paul

paul707 · Leading Aircraftsman

Hello Alan.

In 2012 I post on here looking for help to research my great uncle, James "Paddy" Castles. You kindly offered to help me. I was supposed to locate his log at the family home and let you know which squadrons he was with.

Unfortunately when I finally found what I thought was his log, it turned out to be his training log rather than his operational one, so i don't have any details of his active service.

I wanted to ask if it will still be possible for me to find out more about my uncle's service without his log or details of the squadrons he served with?

We know very little about his service other than at some point he was awarded the DFC.

Kind regards

Paul

AW · Air Commodore

Paul,
I've found a
reference to a F/O J.A. Castles DFC.

paul707 · Leading Aircraftsman

Hello Alan

Thanks for this. I'm very grateful for your help.

I'm sure that the record that you have find is him. His second name was Andrew and he was often addressed as J.A Castles.

It's interesting that he is listed as F/O because I once heard a family friend joke that Paddy had 'lost a stripe' during his service.

Please could you let me know how I now progress this and find out the details of my uncle's service.

Kind regards

Paul

07971 543938

AW · Air Commodore

Paul, you can do no better, than to start with the 49 Squadron Association website at www.49squadron.co.uk click on Personnel Index then WW2 then Aircrew. Under "C" you will find his name, and when you click on it, it will give you information, plus, 2 photo's of him with his crew. By the way, they have him as Bomb Aimer and not Navigator.

paul707 · Leading Aircraftsman

thank you Alan, i will do this. the bomb aimer/navigator thing is confusing as i have always been told he was a navigator. hopefully i'll get to the bottom of that.

i'll let you know how i get on.

thanks again.

Paul

paul707 · Leading Aircraftsman

Alan - quick question - The 49 squadron site suggests that my uncle was posted in in May 1944 and posted out in August 1944. Is it possible for me to find out about his service prior to and after this. I now have his service number from the 49 squadron site:55809

Thanks

Paul

paul707 · Leading Aircraftsman

Sorry to bother you again Alan, but do you think this entry in the London Gazette, shows a promotion from flight sgt to pilot officer?

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/36685/supplement/4113/data.pdf

I found this by googling his name and service number.

His entry is the 10th one down on the left hand side of the page.

Best

Paul

AW · Air Commodore

Yes, that's his Commission as Pilot Officer. As for his previous service to 49sqdn, you can possibly see from Peddie's Service Record, that he probably took the same route through as Peddie, starting at 26 OTU, as the crew would have teamed up there for the first time after initial training.