Gordon highlanders records

shipperley · Post by **shipperley** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 1:34 pm

hi all,
According to my dads birth certificate, my grandad was in the gordon highlanders during ww2.
I can't find any information on him or his service.
I have visited the "bydand" site but drew a blank.
we believe he may have died in conflict but again have found nothing to confirm this on any site we visited.
His name was Alexander Sim.
Where can i look next?
julie

CatrionaL · Post by **CatrionaL** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 1:44 pm

Hi Julie

Have you had a look at the Commonwealth Graves Site?

http://www.cwgc.org/

Put in the Surname, but not the given name, simply the letter A

Unfortuanatelly, there are several Alexander Sim's listed with the Gordon Highlanders, but possibly the family details of one of them might ring a bell.

You have perhaps already tried the Scottish War Memorial sight?

http://www.snwm.org/

Best wishes

Catriona

shipperley · Post by **shipperley** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 2:58 pm

hi catriona,thanks for the quick response

I have been on the scottish war memorial site and also the commonwealth war graves site and again nothing,it's getting very frustrating

Sometimes i think the past doesn't want to be uncovered!!!
thanks julie

CatrionaL · Post by **CatrionaL** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 3:09 pm

Hi Julie

Sorry to hear that you still haven't been able to find your Alexander Sim.

May I just ask? When you say you have found nothing, does that mean that you haven't found his name or that the details of soldiers with the same name don't correspond with the information you already have.

A daft question perhaps, but needed to ask it, just in case.

Hope someone else has some fresh and useful ideas.

Regards

Catriona

shipperley · Post by **shipperley** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 3:24 pm

Hi again,
I did find some Alexander Sim's but other info i have on them didn't tally

Maybe it's time to consider if the info i have is correct.

thanks for trying anyway
julie

DavidWW · Post by **DavidWW** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 4:26 pm

Julie

If it was indeed the case that he died in WWII then he should be recorded on the CWGC site, so that you need to start looking at less than close matches. (BTW Don't ignore matches where the regiment is other the The Gordons, in case he was transferred at some point.)

A letter to the Gordon's Regimental Museum at .......

Viewfield Road
Aberdeen AB1 7XH

....might produce some info, - a donation of £10 or equivalent to the museum to assist them with their running costs will be greatly appreciated, and is likely to speed the reply.

If your dad is still alive then he, or if not, you, as next of kin, can write off to .....

Army Personnel Centre,
Kentigern House (Room 5109)
65 Brown Street
Glasgow G2 8EX

(tel 0141 224 3509)

....for the necessary forms, which should be filled in and returned with the required fee - currently £40. The only catch is that, due to too many genealogists wanting such records, the waiting time is currently around 9 (nine) months.

David

Post by **Tracey** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 8:50 pm

£40 now

I was just looking today at the form i got sent last year and was thinking it was time i sent it back

that had a fee of £30 on it and if it keeps rising by £10 a year i had better get my skates on

apanderson · Post by **apanderson** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 9:02 pm

Hi Julie,

The CWGC might not necessarily have a note of your grandad.

I've been a volunteer (photographer) for them for the past couple of years and have found many, many more names in the cemeteries and graveyards than are on their database.

I believe they have all the CWG stones erected on record, but not those erected by the men's families. Obviously that doesn't mean that these men are all actually buried in these cemeteries, but their names appear on memorials.

Would your grandad have been mentioned on any of your family's gravestones? A long way for a shortcut maybe, but it would save you a few bob if he was, as occasionally there is a date (or at least an approximate date) of death, sometimes which particular battle, sometimes regiments, ages etc.

Another avenue you might consider is this site:
http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?

Anne

shipperley · Post by **shipperley** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 9:34 pm

thanks to you all for your ideas and suggestions

I must admit it had never occured to me that my grandad may have been transferred from the Gordons(thanks David

)
I think my next move has to be to contact their museum.

I don't know if he is on a family headstone somewhere in Scotland.
Sadly both my gran and dad have passed away so i have nobody left to ask

and i live in Gt Yarmouth Norfolk England,so it would be differcult to look for and i wouldn't know here to start

thanks again for all the help,
julie

DMcNay · Post by **DMcNay** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 11:07 am

DavidWW wrote:
If your dad is still alive then he, or if not, you, as next of kin, can write off to .....

Army Personnel Centre,
Kentigern House (Room 5109)
65 Brown Street
Glasgow G2 8EX

(tel 0141 224 3509)

....for the necessary forms, which should be filled in and returned with the required fee - currently £40. The only catch is that, due to too many genealogists wanting such records, the waiting time is currently around 9 (nine) months.

David

Good news. If you're the next of kin, and can prove it, you don't need to pay the charge. Also, the maximum waiting time is nine months, but I got mine back after about eight weeks.

It's well worth requesting the service records from them. The information contained in them is fantastic. My fathers had his enlistment papers, service history, and the results of his assessment for Officer Training School.

Regards,

David