RAF pilot research

[jim lemon]

Can someone tell me if there are any online resources to research the RAF pilot who owned this uniform? Thanks for your time.

[Spasm]

Jim

Looks like a DFC ribbon which assuming the owners name is on the label (pics are a bit small for me to see) you should be able to find him in the London Gazette.

http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/search

Some WW2 records are kept on Forces War Records which will also have census records, you will have to pay to see these records

http://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/records.asp?gclid=CKWw0eao6rwCFUcTwwod6koA6Q

Gallantry awards are available in the National Archives, some are available to see on line but some have to be ordered at a small charge

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

RAF records for WW2 may be available through Veterans UK - depends if veteran is alive and will cost about £30 and a few months of waiting

http://www.veterans-uk.info/service_records/raf.html

On the National Archives there is a section to employ a researcher who will find all there is to know (legally available) and will get things done a lot quicker too. They charge a set amount per day's work.

Other Gents on here will have DFC records so worth checking if your man is actually entitled to the award rather than just having a ribbon sewn on to a uniform.

Spect they'll be other inputs from others as well.

Good luck and keep us updated.

[jim lemon]

Thanks so much. If I find anything I'll post it. The tag states Halliwell, N.S. and 254/5 which I assume is 254th Squadron.

[jim lemon]

Here's a larger pic

[jim lemon]

I did find a Norman Shuttleworth Halliwell service number 109430 listed in the London Gazette, however no reference to a DFC. I'll keep researching. Here's a picture of the tunic on display (note: the cap is not from the same veteran). Thanks for all your help.

[peter monahan]

Jim

I see that he began his career as an AC1 [different serial number] and was commissioned in 1941, also that he was still serving in 1947 when promoted to Pilot Officer but there only seem to be two Halliwells with the DFC in the Gazette, a Stanley Halliwell and a Gordon Halliwell. Perhaps the ribbon bar has been improved, as someone else suggested, but possibly not. The search engine for the Gazette is sometimes a bit wonky, at least for earlier records, so its possible he's there but not coming up.

Edited February 27, 2014 by peter monahan

[jim lemon]

Interesting that the veteran started out as an AC1 and was then commissioned. Was that common in the RAF? I can't tell if the DFC was added by looking. The person who sold it to me didn't even know it was a DFC ribbon, but who knows how many hands it has passed through since the war. Thanks for the information, I'll keep searching and let you know what I find.

[jim lemon]

One more question, am I correct in assuming the 254/5 on the tag would designate the squadron?

[peter monahan]

I wouldn't think going from AC1 to commissioned rank would be that common, though a man with pre-war service. I would have expected it to have been Flight Sergeant to P/O.

The number 254/5 on the clothing tag is more likely to be a batch number or order number, I think, than a squadron designation. But that's a guess.

[Arthur]

Hi,

I have found this information in the January 1945 R.A.F. List:

Hope that it helps.

Regards

Arthur

[peter monahan]

"Equipment Branch" might well explain the commission: a pre-war technical specialist of some sort - parachute rigger, radio tech or some osuch - who was commissioned when the service expanded. It makes the DFC a bit odd though - hard to qualify for the flying gallantry award from the ground!

I wonder if this uniform has been 'improved' by the addition of ribbons by some dealer [or even collector]. That seems to be coming increasingly common as a way of selling otherwise fairly common uniforms from the WWII period, helped of course by the scarcity of information on individual servicemen.

[Arthur]

Hi

I've found a couple of other entries for N. S. Halliwell during March and November 1942:

Regards

Arthur

[peter monahan]

Interesting. I wonder what "Specialist Engineering" means. Engines or runways? Or bomb fuses?