Genealogy Chat

Can anyone tell me how long army records are taking to come through and if so how much do they cost to get and where do I send for them , thank you so much , I don’t know if there are any military people on here , but I know my grandfather was in North Africa he was born in 1903 so in 1943 was 40, when did the fighting stop in North Africa and would he have come straight home or would he have gone on to fight in Italy, I have a photo of him and he’s wearing shorts and a battle dress shirt ( think that’s what it’s called) with the sleeves rolled up. We are trying to put a time line on a family issue and these details may help , thank you so much for taking the time to read this

Copied from my post on Military Chat

You have to apply for them and pay £30.00, unless you are the service person's widow(er).


https://www.gov.uk/guidance/request-records-of-deceased-service-personnel

You MAY also be required to provide a copy death certificate, and to prove your entitlment to apply.

They take several months, even in 'normal' times

As for when fighting stopped in N Africa - google is your best bet

BUT - where your relative was deployed after N Africa depends on which unit he was serving with

If you know what regiment he was in you could start researching the regiments history.
Much of the Eighth Armydid go on to fight in Sicily and Italy. Following the fighting in Italy my father was sent to Greece and I think his brother went to Malta.

My father went on a troop ship in convoy in 1940, from Glasgow to an unknown destination, which turned out to be Egypt, arriving there on 30 Dec 1940.
He was in Egypt and Libya for a year each (I'm not sure which was first, although he did initially land in Egypt) , followed by Italy for 1 yr 2 mths, and Greece for 3 months, then back to Britain.

I was disappointed by the lack of detail on his service record.
There are lots of dates of when he was moved from one place to another - but apart from his initial training period, the only place mentioned is Egypt, on the date of disembarkation.
Lots of vague things like "Posted to 2 Coy Base Depot", "Posted to Port of Embarkation", and so on.

I only know about Libya, Italy and Greece from a medical form on which he had to fill in a section himself, about overseas places served, and length of time in each place. And of course from photos he took and what he told family members.

Family legend has it that he was at the Seige of Tobruk, and I'd hoped for some detail about that - but there's no mention of it in his record.
The dates could fit, however, so the story may be true.