RAF Chaklala, Rawalpindi

[andrewclark]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this request, but here goes... I am trying to find out anything about RAF Chaklala, Rawalpindi, which was then in India but is now in Pakistan and is a Pakistani Air Force Base called Nur Khan, where my (sadly long-deceased) father-in-law served during 1945-46. I have been able to learn some very basic information from internet research but can't seem to get much beyond that. I have also been told by family members that he was awarded three or four medals, including the Burma Star. Although I can't find any evidence of him actually serving in Burma, I understand that some (paratroop?) operations carried out from Chaklala were against the Japanese occupation of Burma, so I'm wondering if this explains why. He would have been an AC1 or AC2 at the time, but his service records don't go into any detail so it's difficult to understand what he might have been doing there. I'd be very grateful for any help offered, especially as I’m trying to compile as much as I can before his son’s (i.e. my brother-in-law’s) birthday in December……

[iainpeden]

If you have his service number you could give the National Records Office in Kew a ring to ask them for advice into researching his service. If you can find the squadron number he served with they will have a diary.
The more information you can get on here the bestter as somebody will always be able to add to it.

[100arw]

Andrew,
Visit the National Archives in Kew (https://nationalarchives.gov.uk/) if you get the chance. Then look up the Station Record book. All available documents i.e. RAF station, squadron, wing etc will be available. With luck you will not only see arrival and or departures details, but any events and even photos.
What is included is all down to the guy/girl assigned at the time to collate the info.
P.

[toom317]

Have you tried asking on PPrune? There's some pretty knowledgeable folk on there who might be able to help.

[Focal_Plane]

Hi Andrew,

Really you need to obtain your Father-in-Laws service record to sort out his service history properly. You can find the relevant unstructions and PDF / MS Word forms to fill in here:

https://www.gov.uk/get-copy-military-se ... es-records

This will cost you £30 and will usually take about three to four months. You will need a copy of his death certificate and, although it says you need to know his service number, that`s not exactly true. If you don`t have this usually they will find the record by his exact date of birth, full name and the arm he served in.

Be warned however service records can sometimes be dissapointing in content, they`re not how you might imagine, in-so-far-as, often they are full of military abbreviations which make little sense to the layman. That said, with a little deciphering they can often prove a gold mine of information. They`ll certainly confirm his medal entitlement and from what you`ve written the award of the Burma Star would seem logical. In those times believe it or not, Burma was classed as being in the Indian theatre of operations. My grandfather`s paperwork states he died in India but he was actually in Burma. It`s just a thing of its time and doesn`t seem to make sense nowadays.

You may like to try joining the WW2 Talk Forum and ask a few questions there. They`re a very helpful bunch on there and can help a lot with service records etc.

http://ww2talk.com/index.php

HTH

John

[Focal_Plane]

Just to be clear,

Army, Navy & RAF personnel service records are not generally kept at the National Archive at Kew, albeit some officer related material is. They are obtained from the link in my earlier email.

Service records often reveal which unit an individual was attached to and then, as rightly stated, information on these units can often be obtained from Kew. Virtually all RAF Station and Squadron records which exist are held at Kew. Many squadron records have now been digitised and can be downloaded for a small fee. You can search for these via:

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.u ... ced-search

All RAF records are prefixed AIR. Here for instance is an example of a 617 Squadron record, reference AIR 27/3783 .

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.u ... /C16501853

John

[eagle driver]

Although unable to contribute directly ,I would like to show my admiration for those that have added there contributions to what on the face of it is a difficult request from the OP .
The depth of knowledge on this forum sometimes amazes me.

[andrewclark]

Many thanks to all who have contributed so far. It is very difficult, as all I have to go on are a copy of his service records, which contain very little information and the few entries that they contain are difficult to read. His wife is no longer with us, and his two daughters know very little about his RAF career. Ironically, his son has the most information, but we can't ask him as we are doing the research for his birthday!

On joining up, on New Years Eve 1943, he had been placed in Medical Category Grade 2 F.167a 'Not suitable for training at present', and appears to have served at RAF Feltwell for about a year, immediately after his basic training - logged as HH, which I understand means 'Headquarters Holding'. This was immediately before being posted to ACSEA in June 1945 and on to Chaklala in April 1946. While he was at Feltwell, No. 20 Glider Maintenance Unit (equipped with Horsa gliders) was also there, so perhaps there is a glider connection, although that Unit left Feltwell almost a year before he arrived at Chaklala - so that could also be irrelevant. I realize that this isn't much to go on but my wife and I are really appreciating the help being given by you guys in our quest. Thanks again, Andrew

[Thunder]

Maybe it would help if you post his name, service number, dob etc etc..... then we can all help search the web.

[andrewclark]

Thanks to all for your help. Thunder - to be honest, I've spent a lot of time searching with all of those and got not nowhere - mainly, I suspect, because he held only a very low rank and also because I don't know what he trained (he doesn't appear to have gone to RAF Halton) as or why he spent a year at Feltwell . Also, I'm really running out of time to prepare the information as a birthday gift for my brother-in-law, so I think I'm going to have to give up. But thanks again to you all - my wife and I have really appreciated your help.

[andrewclark]

I've really appreciated everyone's earlier help on this, but I have another question. There's an entry on my Father-in-Law's Form 543, immediately after the mention of CHaklala, which says something like "21 Q & IL PARTY - RAF Worli (A.Rel.). I'm pretty sure that means he was sent to Worli for a ship back to the UK for demob. but what would a "Q & IL PARTY" be? Again, any suggestions welcome! Thanks, Andrew