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Army Service Information

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liquidamber¨°o.O

liquidamber¨°o.O Report 9 Oct 2007 23:53

Hi All

I had to share this with you, I am so exited, I just received my Grt Grandfather army service records dating from 1885 through to 1920.
This came by way of contact with a distant cousin, found by Moody Blue (thanks Brenda) and apparently he applied for them tthrough Mnistry of Defence, Bourne Ave, Hayes, Middlesex, with just a service number, now I don't know if there is a cost for this, but thought it might help others.

The information on this 3 page document (hand typed) is mind blowing, stuff I never knew, kids I never knew about, Overseas service. I know a lot of you have been there done that, but this is my first am grinning from ear to ear. So to all the people on this site that help us learners, Thankyou.

Frankie xx

Mark_of_Four_(Counties)

Mark_of_Four_(Counties) Report 10 Oct 2007 00:35

Hi Frankie,

Hayes repository is also the place where Civil Servants' service histories are sent, if that is helpful to anyone.

Correspondence from the employer to the family member should quote their staff number in a prominent place, which is the number Hayes would store it under. Last 7 digits of of the payroll number (on old payslips, if you unearth one) should be the same as the staff number.

Files may contain a Next of kin information card; death-in-service benefit nomination forms (only one beneficiary per form but possibility of several forms per file, with successive changes of nominee as their life progressed, they got married, etc); their original job application form - all could give clues to relations you have no knowledge of.

Last I heard, Civil Service files are retained until age 85, after which they are physically destroyed (all pension queries should long since have been resolved anyway), regardless of whether the person is still living or not.

I sincerely hope the same isn't applied to military service records as I hope to look into these one day.

Just don't all write to them at the same time - they already have a full plate.

If staff cutbacks are announced, then please all write to them at the same time


M
(not a resident of Hayes)

liquidamber¨°o.O

liquidamber¨°o.O Report 10 Oct 2007 00:42

Would just like to add that all this was done from Australia, so don't give up, keep trying.

Frankie