A small tribute

[GaryS]

My Grandfather who was with 144 Squadron and finished his time with the Dallachy Strike

Beaufighter from Corgi,and caption printed from Squadron records.
Flew from RAF Davidstow Moor during Op Overlord.

[Yammer]

That's a nice memorial - well done

[GaryS]

That's a nice memorial - well done

Thank you.

[Punkrunner62]

A very nice tribute to your grandfather, simple but effective.
Cheers.

[XWP29]

Excellent, thanks for sharing the memorial, like to know more about the story if possible.

[GaryS]

Excellent, thanks for sharing the memorial, like to know more about the story if possible.

Other than training in Canada,being based at various locations(Strubby,Wick,Banff,Davidstow and Dallachy),being chased across the North Sea by a Blohm und Voss bv141,lending out his lucky rabbits foot and it not returning and W/C Tony Gadd being a wonderful CO i don't really know much else.
Said he also flew Hampdens and Lysander but never mentioned being on another squadron,though 144 were a Hampden Sqn before transferring to Coastal Command.unfortunately his log book has gone walkies and not being direct next of kin I can't request anything from the M.O.D.

[CenturionSapper]

Very nice memorial,
Well done thank you for sharing

[Focal_Plane]

Excellent, thanks for sharing the memorial, like to know more about the story if possible.

Other than training in Canada,being based at various locations(Strubby,Wick,Banff,Davidstow and Dallachy),being chased across the North Sea by a Blohm und Voss bv141,lending out his lucky rabbits foot and it not returning and W/C Tony Gadd being a wonderful CO i don't really know much else.
Said he also flew Hampdens and Lysander but never mentioned being on another squadron,though 144 were a Hampden Sqn before transferring to Coastal Command.unfortunately his log book has gone walkies and not being direct next of kin I can't request anything from the M.O.D.

Gary,

That final statement is a bit of a misconception. I`ve obtained service records for related personnel who are NOT next of kin as there is a provision for the next of kin to provide written permission to an applicant. In other words, if you know anyone who is the next of kin, and they are willing to let you apply on their behalf, it can be done in this manner. You simply need to ask them to write a short letter stating they are providing permission, get them to sign it, then send their letter with the necessary cheque and application forms which you can find via the link below.

If you`re not next of kin you can also apply as a "general enquirer", but I believe the individual has to have been deceased for 25 years. Certain details are redacted, usally family details, but the remainder of the service record, including all training and squadron allocations are not. When applying you`ll also need a copy of any death certificate, unless your Grandfather died in service, which you can purcahse on line. You can find out more here:-

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/request-rec ... -personnel

https://www.gov.uk/order-copy-birth-dea ... ertificate

You may also be interested to know that at present, due to the Corona Virus, all digitised records held at the National Archives in Kew are able to be downloaded for free, you just need to register and there`s no charge for that. There is a limit of 50 files per month but that should be plenty for anyone. Fortunately most of the RAF squadron war diaries have been digitised.

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

There is a search engine and if you type in say, "144 Squadron RAF Operations Record", you should get plenty of hits. Normally there were three sorts of files kept by squadrons in their war diaries; 1) Record of events, 2) Summary of events and 3) Appendices. These are PDF files sorted individually by year and month. Most of the RAF records are prefixed AIR 27.

Sorry if you know all this as I don`t know you`re circumstances but felt it best to mention it in case you`re missing out on the chance of finding out more. I`ve been researching my Grandfather`s service in the Royal Artillery for ten years now so good luck.

A very nice display BTW.

John

[GaryS]

Hi John.thanks for the information.
I have downloaded a few documents from Kew,mainly based around D-Day and 'Black Friday',when 404 sqn took a hit over Norway and had 144 as outriders for them.
I need to get hold of my uncle really to try and dig deeper,but its proving difficult.
I tried via my mother to get records but as she wasn't the eldest they wouldn't let her get access either.

[Focal_Plane]

No problem Gary,

I`m sorry you`ve had trouble like that, It`s so ridiculous really as your Mum is a direct relative. I mean, what`s so secret that they won`t allow a relative to have such a record? It beggars belief what some of these organisations hide behind.

I had similar trouble with the CWGC when I wrote to them about records held on my Grandfather`s death / burial. It was like extracting teeth and I had to push and push until they sent me what they had. Even now I`m not confident they told me everything. I also found out, after obtaining my Grandfather`s service record, that the MoD also have the medical records and these aren`t released under a100 year rule and for "patient confidentiallity" rules. Again, they don`t make this known and, if you`re the last in line as I am, who are they protecting? My Grandfather spent at least one period in hospital in India and I`d like to know why but I`m not allowed the record. His regimental record shows lots of troops being admitted and so I have a pretty good idea what was wrong with him as the camp he was based in at the time was in a marshy area. His letters and the aforementioned make me suspect malaria, but it would be nice to know. If they`re thinking they`re protecting his reputation (i.e. he might have had an STD), who would really care nowadays and sadly he`s long gone.

Good luck with your search and the battle against officialdom.

John