How do I find?

runepriest · Post by **runepriest** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 2:01 am

Hey all:

During the second world war, one of my aunts recieved The Letter, from the War Department informing her of the death of her husband. Two weeks later, this "casualty" showed up at their house, alive and well.

My uncle and another soldier who had the same name, were mixed up by the War Department.

My question is, how do I find service records for WW2 vets? All I have is a name, nothing else.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Brian

Post by **paddyscar** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 2:07 am

Hi Brian:

You'll find a lot of help in this thread, including some guidance of where certain records are and how to go about finding them. http://talkingscot.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=32

Also, which country are you searching?

Frances

runepriest · Post by **runepriest** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 2:14 am

Hi Frances:

Guess I should have mentioned that in the first place, huh?

This mystery "cousin", I believe, was part of the British Army, but I'm not sure.

I'll check out that thread.

Thanks

Brian

Post by **paddyscar** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 2:46 am

Hi Brian:

There are Canadian/US Armed Forces links at

http://talkingscot.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10349

I only asked because of your location

Frances

runepriest · Post by **runepriest** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 3:23 am

Well, the story goes like this:

My uncle, Adam Lawson (now deceased), was in Edinburgh on leave around 1942. He passed another soldier, and upon looking briefly at his name tag, saw the same surname. My uncle said it was like looking in a mirror.

Shortly after that, my aunt rec'd a letter from the War Department stating her husband, Adam Lawson, was killed in Action. This was obviously not my uncle.

He said that he "investigated" this incident a little, and determined the man that was KIA was a cousin. More details are unknown.

Hence the post about war and casualty records

I'm hoping that accessing these records from the British gov't is easier than trying getting them from the Canadian govt.

Brian

Post by **SarahND** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 7:43 am

Hi Brian,
Someone who knows more about war records will be along shortly, I'm sure, but I was wondering if you had tried to go back in the Lawson family to find out exactly who this man might have been? I see that in the U.S. World War II Army Enlistments database there is an Adam M Lawson who enlisted in Connecticut, but was born "Channel Islands or England or Great Britain or Isle of Man or Northern Ireland or Scotland or Wales"

how specific can you get?!

All the best,
Sarah

Later: I see from the censuses that he was born in Scotland, as were his parents Alexander Lawson and Martha Scott Muir. They came over in 1921, the address "from whence" being given as her brothers house (William Murray, 59 Eglinton Street, Beith, Ayrshire). Ten years later Adam goes back, the address given as 126, Glasgow Rd, Burnbank, Lanarkshire. Is this your uncle, or could it be the other man who was killed?

Currie · Post by **Currie** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 9:59 am

Hello Brian,

Any Commonwealth WW2 war death should be on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission site. http://www.cwgc.org/ A Scot or someone closely connected should appear on the Scottish National War Memorial site. http://www.snwm.org/website/frames.html I can’t see anyone there who would fit the bill but better check yourself.

The Ministry of Defence still holds the records of British WW2 soldiers. There are proceedings afoot to have these records released to the National Archives and this was mentioned in a previous post viewtopic.php?p=93352&highlight=#93352

Personnel records of deceased soldiers can only be released by MOD to official next-of-kin or with their approval. http://www.veterans-uk.info/service_rec ... cords.html

According to this old National Archives page: “Personnel records are received (by the Army Record Office) eight years after discharge and are held for at least 75 years after discharge before being passed to The National Archives.” http://yourarchives.nationalarchives.go ... ry_Records

So who knows how long it will be before these records are made available to the general public or are included on something like Ancestry. I would say it could be a long wait.

All the best,
Alan

Later: There’s an A. J. Lawson of the Transvaal Scottish, S.A. Forces but he died December 1941 in North Africa.

Alan

runepriest · Post by **runepriest** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 12:02 am

Thanks all for the replies. None of those mentioned seem to be the right ancestor. BUT, I do have another question:

Would the War Department still have records of the notices sent out to families who lost someone in combat?

If so, there may be a chance that I could find out who the original recipient was supposed to be for the notice my family recieved.

Brian

Currie · Post by **Currie** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 2:00 pm

Brian,

I can’t answer that one myself but for what it is worth I have seen the Australian Archives file of an Australian WW1 soldier who was killed in France. His family waited for a very long time for the return of his personal belongings and eventually, after making enquiries, they were told that they were due to arrive on such and such a ship. They received a parcel but when it was opened it was for another deceased soldier. Eventually they were informed that the ship carrying their son’s belongings had been torpedoed.

All of that was recorded on the file. If a British WW2 Army service file is intact you would think that any ongoing unscrambling of a mix-up would be recorded there.

Just guessing,
Alan