Article about: Hi everyone, i have over the past few months been trying to find out any details i can about one of my grandads service. All i have to go on is his name - Arthur Walker, date of birth, and t
Hi everyone, i have over the past few months been trying to find out any details i can about one of my grandads service.
All i have to go on is his name - Arthur Walker, date of birth, and the facts that i have managed to find on the back of old photos, for example that he was in the 1st batt. kings own scottish borderers and he was in belgium during sept and oct 1945
I also know that he was in palestine during 1946 with the KOSB.
I have tried getting his service records from the MOD, and they unfortunately cant find them, which is hard to believe as surely there can't have been many Arthur Walkers in the 1st Batt KOSB.
I noticed that on the images of him in belgium 1945, he has no rank stripes, but in the images of him in palestine he is a lance corporal. Would there be anyway of finding a list of promotions? or would the regimental diary help at all?
Really guys I have hit a brick wall and wondered if i was missing any other avenues i could try.
thanks for you time in reading this!
Ed.
p.s. here is a pick of him in palestine, he is 5th from the left at the back.
and back right on this one, which is either in palestine or cyprus?
Great photos and are they wearing MKIII/IV helmet?
As for your search I wonder if they need a service number to go on e.g. if there are two men with the same name perhaps they just don't take it any further or maybe they only give a certain amount of search time to the case if full details are unknown.
I do hope someone can help you out as when I received my grandfather's record I was very surprised to find what he actually did for the few months he spent in France in 1944.
his list of promotions will be in his service record. Regimental War Diary is unlikely to mention him as they generally only mention officers (occasionally NCO's).
Did he have a middle name as Arthur Walker is quite a common name? I would try them again with his full name, place and date of birth, parents name etc. Otherwise, is there a family member that may have any docs for him (pay book etc) that would state his service number?
Hi Tom, no he had no middle name.
I will try the MOD again i think, and throw everything i can into the equation.
I thought i might have found him on the KOSB pages of the palestine GSM medal roll, but unfortunately there are 3 different walkers, but no A walker.
His two sons (my dad and uncle) have no idea about his service, both born in the early 40's and he never talked about it, they both remember that he wouldn't let either of them play with toy guns or pretend to be soldiers.
He was Born in 1912, so may have even joined the army before the war, its anyones guess really. again not very helpful!
Sorry to bump an old thread, but UPDATE!!!! my grandads service documents have finally arrived!
It's been a VERY long process, and with the help of a great guy at the KOSB museum, we have slowly discounted all the other possibilities and managed to get his service number, and therefore i now have his docs!
I will post these when i get a chance as they are rather confusing as he seems to have transferred from the RAF to the Welsh regiment, to the leicester regiment to the KOSB. and i might need a few pointers on what things mean!!!
a couple of quick questions though,
do i now need to apply to the AM for his RAF service documents?
If he had claimed his medals (which we dont think he did) would there be a medal slip copy in the document??
Ed, not sure about his RAF service record but there was no A Walker who attested in the RAF up to 1939 (according to Find My Past).
As for his medal entitlement, it'll be noted on his record. My grandfather's record is stamped with the medal date of issue which was 1998, I imagine they also made a note of issue date back in the day so if there's nothing there it might be worth giving the medal office a call to find out for sure.
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