The more information you can assemble about an airman before you start querying official sources, the better your chances of success. Try to provide:
service number
anything you know about where he served. Bomber Command was divided into groups, each of which were composed of squadrons. Knowing the aerodrome, or 'station', from which your man worked will also help.
RAF Personnel Management Agency
PMA (Sec) 1B
Building 248A
HQ RAF Personnel and Training Command
RAF Innsworth
Gloucester GL3 1EZ
Website: www.mod.uk/contacts/raf_records.htm
If you are directly related to the person you are inquiring about, the RAF's Personnel Management Agency may be able to supply his service record. The Agency releases service records to the airman himself or his next-of-kin; anyone else must obtain written permission from the person in question (or his next-of-kin). There is a fee of £25.
The Air Force List
National Archives
Ruskin Avenue
Richmond
Surrey TW9 4DU
Tel: 0208 876 3444
Website: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
The Air Force List is also held at:
The Imperial War Museum
Department of Printed Books
Lambeth Road
London SE1 6HZ
Tel: 020 7416 5000
Website: www.iwm.org.uk
The ranks and dates of promotion of RAF officers are recorded in the Air Force List. The National Archives also hold station record books and the operational record books of individual squadrons. Access to the Archives is by reader's ticket; these can only be obtained in person, on proof of identity.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
2 Marlow Road
Maidenhead
Berks SL6 7DX
Tel: 01628 634221
Searchable website: www.cwgc.org.uk
Details of RAF and other Commonwealth services personnel who died in World War II.
These resources in Find out more may also be useful:
Forces Reunited
Footprints in the Sands of Time: The RAF Bomber Command prisoners of war in Germany 1939-45
The Aircrew Association
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The Bomber Crew (clockwise from top left): John, Tim, James, Tanya and Luke
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