Service record of Ex-Para at Arnhem

[Creo]

Please excuse if I am posting this is the wrong forum.
I am trying to research a little about my father who served in WWII.
He and my mother are deceased, and my sister and I have very few records and information, so I have been struggling to make progress. The websites that offer searches never give any results of searches on his name.

If anyone can give me a nudge to progress this I would be very grateful.

Name: Clarence Ernest Davies (always knows as "Mick")
Rank: Private
DOB: January 2 1920
Military service that we were told by my father:
Joined up at outbreak of the war into Grenadier Guards. Transferred sometime after to the Commandos based in Scotland.
When the Commando unit that formed the beginning of the Parachute Regiment he then became part of 1 Para.
(He used to say that he was one of the first 500 Paras)
He fought in North Africa, Sicily/Italy, Arnhem.
His medals are:
The African Star - Army
The 1939 - 1945 Star
The Defence Medal
The Italy Star
War Medal 1939-1945
He was demobbed at the end of the war.

My sister has the family "archives" and is trying to locate more info, but she hasnt been able to locate his death certificate so we are unable to apply to the government for his service record, and we just cannot find his service number.

Thank you,
Joe

 

[Bodenplatte]

You can apply to the Registrar of Birth, Marriages and Death for the district in which he died for a copy of his death certificate.

If he was serving when he married, or when any of his children were born, it is likely that his service number and rank will be on the relevant marriage/birth certificates

 

[slick]

As long as you have his full name and date of birth, you don`t need his service number to apply for his records. See link.... Get a copy of military service records
You`ll need to download the "next of kin" form and the "British army" form

 

[Gluteus Maximus]

Based on his history, if he didn't transfer after reaching his first parachute unit then he served in 1 Para which was formed from 2 Cdo.

 

[FourZeroCharlie]

. . . and he should also have the France and Germany Star.

 

[FourZeroCharlie]

. . . and would have been living in/around Irthlingborough, Northants, in 1939?

 

[goodoldboy]

. . . and would have been living in/around Irthlingborough, Notts, in 1939?

Northants mate.

 

[FourZeroCharlie]

Northants mate.

Plop!

. . . obliged to you, though.

 

[Creo]

Those were the only medals that were sent to us by the MOD after she applied for them after my father's death.

My father was from Rushden in Northamptonshire.

Thank you all for your advice and help.

 

[FourZeroCharlie]

Those were the only medals that were sent to us by the MOD after she applied for them after my father's death.

Confused, now: if the old boy had served at Arnhem, he would be entitled to the France and Germany Star. If it was absent when the rest arrived from MoD, then only 1 of 2 things could have happened:

1. MoD missed the entitlement off his record.

2. He was never at Arnhem.

As an aside, was he taken PoW or was he lucky enough to escape the pocket and cross the river?

Also, you say that 'she' (Mum? Sister?) claimed the medals after his death: therefore MoD will have a record of prior contact with them by a family member. If you and sister are soul surviving Next of Kin, then you entitled to his full Service Record, though it will cost you £30.

Get a copy of military service records

Get military service records for the army, Royal Navy, Royal Marines or RAF from 1920 - who can apply, how long it takes, cost, how to apply

www.gov.uk

My father was from Rushden in Northamptonshire.

Thank you all for your advice and help.

Then this may be of interest to you. It's a copy of the 1939 Register which records your father as a 19-year old leather dresser:

 

[Tartan_Terrier]

See if you can find him here, it's the nominal role for 1st Parachute Battalion when they embarked for Africa:

Nominal Roll of HQ Company, 1st Parachute Battalion, on embarkation for North Africa, November 1942 | ParaData

www.paradata.org.uk

Edit:

Maybe 'S' Coy, 5 Platoon, 2 Section. 818745 Pte Davies.

Or from HQ Coy

4032256 Pte Davies (a carpenter) from Admin Platoon

6350275 Pte Davies from the Intelligence section

Found him (I think) 2618844 Pte Davies of the Mortar platoon of HQ Coy. The number fits as being among the block allocated to the Grenadier Guards.
You can see the number blocks here: Army Number Block Allocations

 

[pimpernel]

If he jumped at Arnhem then his name will be on one of the nominal roles - such was it's place in The Parachute Regiments history.
He doesn't appear on Para Data Roll call search | ParaData
1st Parachute Battalion Nominal Roll En Voyage for North Africa. | ParaData 1st Parachute Battalion nominal role. have a look through that.

 

[Creo]

He said he was a leather tanner before joining up, so leather dresser I would assume means just that.

He was in a mortar platoon, used to tell us about it and always complained that the mortar rounds he carried if they werent used in whatever conflict he had dropped into he had to carry them back.

Never would have doubted his Arnhem experience. He told us he was in the group that ended up surrounded in a Country House, and were rescued by Poles whom came over the Rhine. So he wasn't a POW.

We can claim his record but the website says unless the person is deceased over 25 years ago its a restricted record. I am still tracking down his date of death but it is circa 22 years ago.

As to medals he never claimed them. After he passed (over 20 years ago) I suggested to my Mum that it might be good to request them and for my sister to have them (she was his favourite). My Mum said she would sign any forms required. Somehow I must have found enough info to send in the medal claim but I have no recollection of how I found out enough.

Thank you so much for your researches and efforts, and support. Amazing what you have found, and somewhat humbling and sentimental to see his name in those lists.

Edit: I just recalled he told me that a film was made about Arnhem a year or two after the war, and that someone contacted him to see if he wanted to be in it as it was a sort of re-enactment of the battle with servicemen who had fought there. He said he wasnt interested.

 

[FourZeroCharlie]

He said he was a leather tanner before joining up, so leather dresser I would assume means just that.

He was in a mortar platoon, used to tell us about it and always complained that the mortar rounds he carried if they werent used in whatever conflict he had dropped into he had to carry them back.

Never would have doubted his Arnhem experience. He told us he was in the group that ended up surrounded in a Country House, and were rescued by Poles whom came over the Rhine. So he wasn't a POW.

We can claim his record but the website says unless the person is deceased over 25 years ago its a restricted record. I am still tracking down his date of death but it is circa 22 years ago.

As to medals he never claimed them. After he passed (over 20 years ago) I suggested to my Mum that it might be good to request them and for my sister to have them (she was his favourite). My Mum said she would sign any forms required. Somehow I must have found enough info to send in the medal claim but I have no recollection of how I found out enough.

Thank you so much for your researches and efforts, and support. Amazing what you have found, and somewhat humbling and sentimental to see his name in those lists.

Edit: I just recalled he told me that a film was made about Arnhem a year or two after the war, and that someone contacted him to see if he wanted to be in it as it was a sort of re-enactment of the battle with servicemen who had fought there. He said he wasnt interested.

Give the Registrar of B, D and M a ring:

Name:	Clarence Ernest Davies
Death Age:	76
Birth Date:	2 Jan 1920
Registration Date:	Jul 1996
Registration district:	Isle of Wight
Inferred County:	Isle of Wight
Register Number:	A77A
District and Subdistrict:	5561A
Entry Number:	20

 

[scalieback]

....Edit: I just recalled he told me that a film was made about Arnhem a year or two after the war, and that someone contacted him to see if he wanted to be in it as it was a sort of re-enactment of the battle with servicemen who had fought there. He said he wasnt interested.

Possibly ‘Their is The Glory’ filmed in 1946: