What Commonwealth soldier was this soldier from?

[Jean-Loup]

A friend has an 8th Army item marked to a Pvt Williams K. 46896.
I was wondering if there is any way to find out if he was British, or perhaps Aussie, NZ, S. Africa, etc?
I have never researched australians or NZ soldiers before, so wouldnt know where to start, though I know that the ANZACs seem to be very researchable compared to British soldiers.
Any help, or links to the reference websites would be appreciated.

Jean-Loup

[macleod]

Hi Jean-Loup

he was a New Zealander (taken from the Armed Forces Records):

First Name: K
Surname: Williams
Fate: Prisoner of War in Italy
Information: P.O.W. Camp number 57, Gruppignano Near Udine, postal mark number 3200
Rank: Private
Service Number: 46896
Duty Location: Italy
Campaign Medals:
War Medal 1939-1945
1939-45 Star
Service: New Zealand Army


regards

macleod

[Jean-Loup]

Thanks a lot for this info. In the title I meant to write "what country", not "what soldier" of course.
What is the website you found this information on?
Any way to find out his full name, homtown, date of capture, etc?

I find the British and Empire habit of using initials instead of the first name most irritating!

JL

[macleod]

Hi Jean-Loup,

as I said, I found this info on the UK Armed Forces Records (https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/). It costs around 10 euros per month and the information I gave for K. Williams is pretty much all you can get from it. But you can sometimes really luck out and get more information if the person you are looking at has been mentioned in despatches, or awarded a medal for valour (normally a pdf link to the London Gazette). Better still if you are looking for an officer, as it usually lists when he has been promoted. It is constantly being updated and so it is not complete - for example, my grandfather is not listed. But I find it very useful when considering a purchase of a named British army officer tunic (I have many...) in that I can check whether the unit badge, rank and medal ribbon on the tunic is correct. I'm not aware of a better resource out there, other than amateur web pages devoted to particular units....sorry..

regards

macleod

[Jean-Loup]

So there is no official NZ site with this sort of information? Is NZ as stringent as the UK when it comes to keeping info on its soldiers private?
It seems to me there is an Australian site on which much information regarding its soldiers can be found, however I never had the change to use it. Am I correct?

Can you by any chance check if you have anything on a Vol Peggy Baker, W/42861?

[Bond]

Does the online RED CROSS POW records site cover WWII?

Well done to macleod for finding so much out for you.

[macleod]

Many thanks Bond. To Jean-Loup, I can't really comment on Australian and NZ records as I only collect British army, but there is a link to Australian records on the website.
When you say "Vol Peggy Baker, W/42861", I presume you mean "volunteer" and Peggy is a woman? There are a number of Miss and Mrs P Bakers - nurses during the war.

regards

macleod

[Jean-Loup]

This is the link I had in mind concerning Australians, that is easy to use and effective: http://nominal-rolls.dva.gov.au/ww2#Search

It seems NZ doesnt have such a simple way of finding records online in real time, and that requests can only be made by next of kin "If you are requesting details about another living person, information can be disclosed only if you have the signed and written authorisation of the individual concerned. NZDF Archives will not release information unless you can show us this authority."
http://archives.govt.nz/research/ord...ervice-records
http://www.armymuseum.co.nz/research/family-history/


Indeed, Vol Peggy Baker is presumably Volunteer Peggy/Margaret Baker. Is there any way of finding one with a matching serial number?

[Jean-Loup]

By the way guys, what would your thoughts on the remains of this self made ID tag be? IT seems to be for a Gunner Spencer, service number ending with 543. What do you think his branch of service was? It clearly is something ending with a C, with the second last letter perhaps being an R?

JL

[Jean-Loup]

With looking at name and service number only, this is a potential match... But with a name like Spencer, there are bound to be a lot of potential matches

[peter monahan]

I would have said that the two initials in the middle are 'G R' rather than 'C R' but why he'd put that in I have no idea.

[kaiserII]

We, like Australia, have a site for researching WW1 soldiers. As there are WW2 Veterans still alive, you require either permission of the soldier concerned or proof of death. When the last WW2 Vet passes into history Im sure those records will be made public too

[2ndAIF]

By the way guys, what would your thoughts on the remains of this self made ID tag be? IT seems to be for a Gunner Spencer, service number ending with 543. What do you think his branch of service was? It clearly is something ending with a C, with the second last letter perhaps being an R?

JL

The C is the Second half of R.C (Roman Catholic) the servicemans religion, you can just see a fraction of the 'R' where it has broken off. 'If' it is an Australian tag it would be more likely WW1 as rank wasn't officially used on WW2 tags. Although having said that and the fact it is a home made tag there is a slim possibility it could be WW2.

[Jean-Loup]

"When the last WW2 Vet passes into history Im sure those records will be made public too"

The problem is that once they are all dead, researching them looses 80% of its purpose.

Thanks for the hint on RC being Roman Catholic. I didnt think a soldier would write such a detail in such large letters (larger than his name!) on a self made ID tag, and in fact I am not 100% this interpretation is the correct one. I agree there is a very good chance this is the correct interpretation however.
Regarding the rank, I have had the luck of finding three WWII era self made commonwealth ID tags, and all three have the rank noted.

JL<!-- / message -->

[BrentNunns]

Hi Jean-Loup,

Anyone can request New Zealand WW2 service records of deceased former service personnel, whether it is for a research project, your family history or your personal interest.

The "no cost" process is simple if the NZ Defence Force has notification of the death of the person whose service records you are interested in. If the person is still alive or the NZDF cannot confirm they are dead you will hit a brick wall until a death notice can be obtained.

The following link will take you to the site for accessing WW2 NZ Defence Service records.
http://www.nzdf.mil.nz/personnel-rec...ce-records.htm

The following link is the form you will need to supply your details and the details of the person you are interested in, and why your interested in their records.
Sign and date it at the very bottom of page 2, send it off you will receive complete service records.
http://www.nzdf.mil.nz/downloads/pdf...l-app-form.pdf

As a researcher if you request a copy of a single military service file within a 12-month period the copy will be provided free of charge.
If you request copies of more than one military service file within a 12-month period the first file will be provided free but the second and subsequent files will be charged at the rate of $28NZd per file.
Or you can do what I have done in the past and use different close family members to apply for each service record to avoid costs when applying for family groups of records.