Tag: RAF Records

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RAF Operations Record Books for the Dambusters squadron go online

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Latest News:

TheGenealogist is marking the anniversary of the famous Royal Air Force Dambusters raid on the Ruhr Valley dams in May 1943 by releasing a massive tranche of fully searchable RAF Operations Record Books (ORBs) including those ORBs for the famous No 617 Squadron giving an insight into their lives.

Wing Commander Guy Gibson and his crew boarding their Lancaster bomber
Wing Commander Guy Gibson and his crew boarding their Lancaster bomber

With a release of 1,550,018 records, bringing the total to 6,748,021 these new diary-like RAF documents paint a picture of the goings on in a squadron on a day-to-day basis for those units under British control. 

These are uniquely fully searchable by:-

      • Forename and Surname 
      • Squadron
      • Date Range

Using keywords users can also search for Service Number, Rank, and Duty, Aircraft type and location where the fields appear in the record. This makes it possible to easily find your Royal Air Force ancestors and discover more about their war time activities on the base and in the air.

 

See the usefulness of these contemporary daily diary entries in a short video that spotlights the famous leader of No 617 Squadron, Wing Commander Guy Gibson, V.C., D.F.C. and Bar, D.S.O. and Bar as he and his unit prepare for their mission to drop the bouncing bombs on the German dam targets.

Or watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vd0gcQdbV_4

The Operations Record Books are for squadrons primarily from after the First World War, although there are a few early squadron records from 1911 to 1918. These ORBs follow the daily happenings in the air and on the base, and frequently name the brave aircrew who battled against the odds. 

You can use the collection to follow an airman’s war time experiences from these fully searchable Air Ministry operations record books which cover various Royal Air Force, Dominion and Allied Air Force squadrons that came under British Command. The AIR 27 records allow the family history researcher a fascinating insight into their relatives serving in a number of wartime air force units, as can be seen in the video and article that shines a light on Wing Commander Gibson and his squadron. 

      • See the wartime operations of air crew
      • Discover pilots, navigators, radio operators and gunners mentioned in the diaries
      • Find airmen receiving an Honour or a Medal
      • Note the names of squadron members wounded, killed, or who did not return
      • Fully search these National Archives records and images

Find out more about the AIR27 record-set here: https://www.TheGenealogist.co.uk/Air27

This release expands TheGenealogist’s extensive Military records collection for Diamond subscribers.

To take a deeper look into these records read TheGenealogist’s feature article and see how 617 Squadron recorded the famous Dambuster operation in the ORBs from the time.

https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2021/guy-gibson-and-the-dambuster-raid-found-in-raf-operations-record-books-1411/

 

About TheGenealogist

TheGenealogist is an award-winning online family history website, who put a wealth of information at the fingertips of family historians. Their approach is to bring hard to use physical records to life online with easy to use interfaces such as their Tithe and newly released Lloyd George Domesday collections. 

TheGenealogist’s innovative SmartSearch technology links records together to help you find your ancestors more easily. TheGenealogist is one of the leading providers of online family history records. Along with the standard Birth, Marriage, Death and Census records, they also have significant collections of Parish and Nonconformist records, PCC Will Records, Irish Records, Military records, Occupations, Newspaper record collections amongst many others.

TheGenealogist uses the latest technology to help you bring your family history to life. Use TheGenealogist to find your ancestors today!

 

 

*Disclosure: Please note this post contains affiliate links. This does not mean that you pay more just that I make a percentage on the sales from my links. The payments help me pay for the cost of running the site. You may like to read this explanation here:

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RAF Air Force Lists and thousands of extra names on War Memorials released

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NEWS:  Press Release from TheGenealogist

TheGenealogist has released 71 new Air Force Lists with over 2 million names, as well as 385 extra War Memorials listing over 31,000 names.

Commonwealth_Air_Aces_of_the_Second_World_War_CH3757 via wikipedia commons
Wing Commander Brendan Eamonn Fergus Finucane, DSO, DFC & Two Bars.  Public Domain

Air Force Lists

The launch of this major resource gives access to 71 new Air Force Lists from 1919 to 1945 with over 2 million searchable names.

Air Force Lists are useful for family history researchers to see when an officer joined the RAF. They can also tell you what the airman’s rank was in different years and, by looking at the letters written after his name in the list, they can tell you what medals your ancestor had been awarded. These join a large run of similar Army and Navy Lists and other military records on TheGenealogist.

Use these records to: 

      • Find ancestors who became officers in the Royal Air Force 
      • Discover their ranks, service numbers and medals awarded
      • See which branch they served in and their dates of posting

 

War Memorials

With 3,400 new photos in this release, these new records include a number of schools and colleges including the Sevenoaks School where WW1 former pupils who served are recorded as well as casualties and medals awarded to them. Other schools and colleges included in this release are: The University College School, Hampstead; Merthyr Tydfil County School; Lord Weymouth Grammar School in Warminster, Wiltshire; Leeds, St Anne’s RC School; and West Leeds High School. 

War Memorials for workplaces and sporting organisations can help flesh out an ancestor’s life in revealing their occupation or recreational pursuits. Examples include the Gloucester Rugby Club; Gloucestershire County Hall staff for WW1 WW2; the Travellers Club in Pall Mall; Leeds Council employees WW1; Leeds, Kirkstall Brewery; Leeds Stock Exchange members and clerks; London; Army & Navy Stores WW1 – memorials for two of their department stores; and London, Union Discount Co.

Rolls of Service

Included in this week’s release are also a number of Rolls of Service for the Boer War, WW1 and WW2, as well as some for civilian casualties in the Second World War such as Salcombe in Devon and Portsmouth.

This release brings the total number of War Memorials on TheGenealogist to over 597,000.

Use these records to: 

      • Find ancestors who fought for their country in various conflicts
      • Discover workplaces or organisations that some ancestors were associated with

This release expands TheGenealogist’s extensive Military records collection and when used with connected resources, such as the RAF Operations Record Books (ORBs), Aircraft Identification book from 1939, Military Death records, War Memorials and others on TheGenealogist, it can be possible to really build an ancestors story.

To see an example of this, read TheGenealogist’s article: Paddy Finucane the Spitfire Ace

These records and many more are available to Diamond subscribers of TheGenealogist.co.uk

 

About TheGenealogist

TheGenealogist is an award-winning online family history website, who put a wealth of information at the fingertips of family historians. Their approach is to bring hard to use physical records to life online with easy to use interfaces such as their Tithe and newly released Lloyd George Domesday collections. 

TheGenealogist’s innovative SmartSearch technology links records together to help you find your ancestors more easily. TheGenealogist is one of the leading providers of online family history records. Along with the standard Birth, Marriage, Death and Census records, they also have significant collections of Parish and Nonconformist records, PCC Will Records, Irish Records, Military records, Occupations, Newspaper record collections amongst many others.

TheGenealogist uses the latest technology to help you bring your family history to life. Use TheGenealogist to find your ancestors today!

These records and many more are available to Diamond subscribers of TheGenealogist.co.uk

 

 

*Disclosure: Please note this post contains affiliate links. This does not mean that you pay more just that I make a percentage on the sales from my links. The payments help me pay for the cost of running the site. You may like to read this explanation here:

http://paidforadvertising.co.uk

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Battle of Britain RAF Operations Record Books (ORBs) released on TheGenealogist

Disclosure: Please note this post contains affiliate links.*

NEWS:  Press Release from TheGenealogist

To mark the 80th anniversary of the start of the Battle of Britain (10 July 1940 – 31 October 1940)  TheGenealogist is releasing over 2 million new RAF records. These records not only cover this important fight for Britain’s survival, but also encompass all of the Second World War period for a number of squadrons. This release brings the total ORBs records to 3.7 million and are part of TheGenealogist’s extensive Military records collection.

The ORBs are fully searchable by name, aircraft, location and many other fields, making it easy for researchers to find their aviation ancestors. These ORBs are the latest release to join TheGenealogist’s large military records collection which is always being expanded.

Image of a Hawker Hurricane I R4118 of No 605 Squadron.  Image: Arpingstone / Public domain
Hawker Hurricane I R4118 of No 605 Squadron.  Image: Arpingstone / Public domain

The fascinating pages from these diary-like documents tell the stories of brave aircrew, including those at the time of the Battle of Britain, 10 July 1940 – 31 October 1940. Recording patrols flown, the daily journal records give insights into the everyday lives of the personnel on bases. Researchers can use the collection to follow an airman’s war time experiences from these fully searchable Air Ministry Operations Record Books which cover various Royal Air Force, dominion and Allied Air Force squadrons that came under British Command. Sourced from The National Archives the AIR 27 records allow the family history researcher an interesting insight into relatives who had served in air force units under wartime conditions. 

The ORBs provide a summary of daily events. Some are ordinary entries, such as the names of new pilots posted to the squadron, entertainment on the base, or even noting the fact that an officer has become engaged. Sadly, these ORBs also record the death of pilots, crashes, or names of airmen that were missing in action. As names of personnel are recorded in these reports, for a family history researcher wanting to follow where an ancestor was posted to and what may have happened to them in the war, ORBs are often very enlightening documents. 

Use these records to: 

      • Read the war movements of personnel in air force units
      • Discover if a pilot, navigator, radio operator or gunner is mentioned in the action
      • Find if an airman is listed for receiving an Honour or an Award
      • Add colour to an aircrewman’s story 
      • Note the names of squadron members wounded, killed, or did not return
      • Easily search these National Archives records and images

Read my article written for TheGenealogist: Ace in a day

These records and many more are available to Diamond subscribers of TheGenealogist.co.uk

 

 

*Disclosure: Please note this post contains affiliate links. This does not mean that you pay more just that I make a percentage on the sales from my links. The payments help me pay for the cost of running the site. You may like to read this explanation here:

http://paidforadvertising.co.uk

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