Sandy Reed Posted January 30 Posted January 30 (edited) My Father Kenneth John Chapman (18.5.1923-31.1.2013) - I have .... - 'Certificate of the Service of ...' - Medal bar and a few medals (Burma star) - book 'And the Dawn came up like thunder' with and an inscription by my father 'every word in this book is true' ...Diver, QR2 , small arms, Mountbatten, destroyer, flotilla, pre-landing specialist ... 8 yrs service, 5 years on reserve....' - and his green beret How do I find out the history behind it all - where do I go ? Who do i speak to? He never spoke of it even in the years he had Alzheimers. Sandy Reed (his daughter) Edited January 30 by Sandy Reed Error on date and extra info
Farkas Posted January 30 Posted January 30 Hello Sandy, I hope we can initially find a mention or two of your Father to motivate your continued search… There are many privately maintained projects that aim to recognise and preserve the contribution made by men in for example a local area or with particular units, with some more details from yourself I’ll see what I can find. The official British World War 2 service records unfortunately are still not available to the general public however usually there are some available to the family of those that have died. I’m happy to help point you in the right direction for that. So, If you are happy to, would you provide some more information for us please. Army or Navy? Doesn’t sound like RAF. & The unit within the army/navy. & Rank & Service number. 🤞 this may be on the certificate you mention or will possibly be discernible from a photo of him in uniform if available. Anything you have might help Lastly for now, that book you mention is about British Prisoners of War held by the Japanese. Do you know if he was a POW or not? From his inscription he was either one himself or knew those that were. The Burma Star also supports that presumption. I look forward to seeing what you have. Best Wishes tony 🍻 1
Sandy Reed Posted January 30 Author Posted January 30 Hi Tony Thankyou for your prompt reply. Royal Navy Portsmouth JX324372 ... also Ex P/Jx 324372 Service record from 13.1.1942 - 20.6.46 Majority of ships (bases) i can read with rating AB (able seaman?) In the book he also wrote "Having been involved in several of the releasement of prisoner-of-war camps before the peace treaty signing Hong Kong......we made a promise to Mountbatten never to forget those who never returned" Also on a piece of paper "...we went in to release the P.O.W.s Burma, Thailand, Mayla, New Genika, Java and many smaller island camps" signs himself P.O. Ken Chapman "'R' class destroyers Lord Mountbattens flotilla group, For landings and dirty jobs, When needed which was quite often!!"
Sandy Reed Posted January 30 Author Posted January 30 Also i have just realised he had a cloth badge on his green beret (he may have sewn it on?) The Commando badge
Farkas Posted January 31 Posted January 31 Hello again! A bit more to add… I’m going to try and summarise a bunch of stuff I’ve been reading. It’s easier for me to rattle off a ‘list’ 👍 First, all RNavy records including your Fathers have survived and are available upon request provided that a death certificate or similar proof is supplied. His service number is P for ‘home base’ Portsmouth and the ‘JX’ is for ‘Seamen and Communicators’. His AB is indeed for Able (bodied) Seaman but as you thought it appears he was in fact a Commando. The Royal Marines have been around for 100’s of years. Commando units though, both of the army & navy, were only first created in ww2. As I understand it… The Royal Marines created their own separate commando units in 1942 but there were also ‘Royal Naval Beach Commandos’ The courses/qualifications your Father lists ie ‘small arms’ & ‘pre landing specialist’ are consistent with and would qualify him for this role. https://www.commandoveterans.org/RoyalNavalBeachCommandoMemo The RNBC not Royal Marines Commando role is consistent with his late war Far Eastern RN deployment and the early 1946 record cut off point, despite you knowing he served on for several years post war. All this and more is going to be in his records. Once you have them you will have the facts about his service. If you still then want to understand the context and attach background to his story you can. The unchallenged best source of information re units and their operations for you is going to be www.commandoveterans.org Everything about each unit and theatre of operation is on there. But first you need to get his records… https://www.gov.uk/get-copy-military-records-of-service/apply-for-the-records-of-a-deceased-serviceperson I genuinely think your Father had an interesting war. I’m sure you can find the answers you are looking for. Hopefully you share some with us on here… please just ask if you need a hand. best wishes tony 🍻 🏴🇬🇧
Sandy Reed Posted January 31 Author Posted January 31 Good morning Thankyou for your encouragement and advice, which i will start working on tomorrow. As my father and many others have said we will remember them. I would add 'and thank them' God Bless Sandy.
Sandy Reed Posted January 31 Author Posted January 31 hi I have applied for 'Deceased persons Military Record' it was painless. As you know, it can take months as they have to manually process it. I am really thankful for your enthusiasm and prompt acknowledgement. Now I have to have patience. God Bless Sandy 1
Farkas Posted February 1 Posted February 1 Well done Sandy that’s awesome… If you’d let us know what you find I’d be very interested. cheers tony
Sandy Reed Posted April 9 Author Posted April 9 Hooray the paperwork came through a couple of weeks ago but I am disappointed. Firstly the 'Navy Search' sheet of ship/shore establishment - majority of it was the same as his original papers. I though I would have been told more e.g. where he was based and what he was doing. Also I have no idea which is a ship or which is an actual ship. Secondly there was another sheet which had ....'ship in which Serving' S161 Assegai and a bit 'redacted' (no date) ....under that is a/ab 6.1.43 S161 Adria (which agrees with his original paperwork) ...under that is ab 6.1.43 S161 Gombroon (date disagrees with original paperwork) what is S161? The accompanying letter said I can give feedback but maybe the above is normal. So how do I find out where he was and what was he doing e.g.on the internet I read Assegai was Durban - Africa which my dad never mentioned. what would be your advice? God Bless Sandy R
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