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Great Uncle in Burma during WWII

Post your queries about your military ancestors, or help fellow researchers find out about theirs.
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WoolieHE
Posts: 22
Joined: 22 Jul 2020, 13:36

Great Uncle in Burma during WWII

Post by WoolieHE »

My Great Uncle Frederick Robert Smith was born 1912. He married but had no children. When I was a child I remember him a as a very smartly dressed man, standing very straight in that military fashion. I know from my dad that during WWII he was radio operator in the airforce and was posted in Burma, stationed Chittagong. From the local village archive I know he may have enlisted in the RAF in 1941 and that he may have been in the village Home Guard before enlisting. I do know the village set up a fund for soldiers arriving home penniless from the war and that Uncle Fred was one of the recipients. He did suffer from bouts of Malaria in the years after.

He died in 2004. I know very little else about him other than when he returned home he worked as a Dyeworks warehouseman in Bures, Suffolk and was a sidesman in the village church.

With the surname Smith and no service number I am at a loss as to where to begin to find any RAF records for him or where to find out about RAF activity in Burma during the war?

Many thanks in advance for any help.
meekhcs
Posts: 468
Joined: 02 Jun 2020, 18:19
Location: Lincolnshire, but Hampshire born and bred!

Re: Great Uncle in Burma during WWII

Post by meekhcs »

https://www.gov.uk/government/collectio ... ce-records

WW11 Records of service personnel are still held by the Government. See the link above and you should find details of where to apply regarding RAF personnel. His full name, and date and place of birth should be enough for them to find his records. There is a charge, £30 unless it has increased, and it usually takes several weeks.

Another member may add more precise info but you should find it through the above link.

Regarding RAF activity in Burma, google should lead you to any info out there. I am not sure if the Great War Forum covers the RAF. They are a very knowledgeable bunch and if you post there someone will I am sure point you in the right direction. www.greatwarforum.org
Sally
Thunder
Posts: 436
Joined: 14 Jun 2020, 01:43

Re: Great Uncle in Burma during WWII

Post by Thunder »

I am no expert, but for what it is worth. His service at Chittagong, then in India, now Bangladesh, would lead to actions carried out by the RAF in Burma in 1944 attacking the Japanese. There is a large period of time as he should have been called up earlier than 1941 given his age (then about 27) and should have been allocated to a unit from 1939. His RAF record should be able to fill in the gaps. There were units out there dealing with communications and radar and he may have been attached to one, The National Archives Discovery catalogue have a number of operational records in the AIR series, I typed in Chittagong into the catalogue.
VALLMO9
Posts: 757
Joined: 13 Jun 2020, 21:28

Re: Great Uncle in Burma during WWII

Post by VALLMO9 »

I wonder if he was stationed at Hathazari Airfield in Bangladesh. It was located near the railhead on the main railroad line to Chittagong.
Hathazari Airfield was used as a radio relay station by the USAF, but several RAF squadrons were assigned to this airfield, as well.
The No 117 Squadron RAF was stationed at Hathazari Airfield. It was a transport and communications unit during WW2.

There was also Chittagong Airfield - used as a combat airfield - as well as a supply point and photographic reconnaissance base by the US Army Air Force during the Burma Campaign. I believe the No 136 Squadron operated from RAF Chittagong from late 1942 to summer 1943.
WoolieHE
Posts: 22
Joined: 22 Jul 2020, 13:36

Re: Great Uncle in Burma during WWII

Post by WoolieHE »

Thank you all for your suggestions. Thank you meekhcs, I was aware of the the ability to order up the service records, but thought a service number was required. As my great uncle had no children and his wife and siblings are also dead, my dad, his nephew, is still alive. Would that count as next of kin? I know that if you are next of kin it is still free to order up service records.
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AdrianBruce
Posts: 358
Joined: 14 Jun 2020, 18:57
Location: South Cheshire

Re: Great Uncle in Burma during WWII

Post by AdrianBruce »

Your Dad is his next-of-kin.

(Though whether anyone actually checks this, I have no idea! The only time I had to claim to be next-of-kin - to repair a grave - nobody actually checked if I was, because I think it was thought better that it got repaired!)

Not sure about costs.
Adrian Bruce
WoolieHE
Posts: 22
Joined: 22 Jul 2020, 13:36

Re: Great Uncle in Burma during WWII

Post by WoolieHE »

Thank you for the clarification
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