RAF SERVICE RECORDS AT CRANWELL

[Buster11]

The Military Aircrew connection is that my father flew RE-8s and DH9as in the first War and was a codes and ciphers officer in the second, captured in Crete and ending up in Stalag Luft III, but MODs feel free to move as appropriate.

I decided to access his service records and had no trouble getting the WW1 lot from Kew, but those for WW2 are held at Cranwell. After completing a form showing I was NoK, that went off along with a cheque for £30. A letter then came back including the following paragraph.

“Your payment will be processed within the next 4 week period, but I regret to advise that the processing of your enquiry against the MOD FOIA Publication Scheme, may, as a consequence of diminishing resource and public demand for our services, take up to 20 weeks. “

An interesting set of priorities, I thought, - a month to cash the cheque and five months to deliver the goods. Have any other PPRuNers had any experience like this with WW2 service records?

[Pontius Navigator]

Buster, no. I got my wife's grandfather's records in the 4 week time scale from the RN. It looks as if the RN has contracted out storage and handling of its records to a contractor who therefore meets the T&Cs of the FOIA and their contract.

[AARON O'DICKYDIDO]

I received my father's records from Cranwell last year - within 4 weeks. I was well pleased with the documents they sent me. I also received my records within that time span - I was very disappointed with what they sent compared with my fathers. My recordsd were mostly just computer print-outs.

a consequence of diminishing resource and public demand for our services, take up to 20 weeks.

I suppose this is to do with the loss of staff at Cranwell in these hard times and an increase in interest in research of family documents.


Good service I reckon.


Aaron.

[OldnDaft]

Strangely enough the move of Disclosures of Information when Innsworth closed has resulted in a much less satisfactory service. When at Innsworth all queries were addressed and completed within 28 days. More progress as a result of the move to 1 Command?

[orgASMic]

OnD, I think Aaron has it. Closing Innsworth did not mean we just lost the building. We lost the horsepower as well.

[Rosevidney1]

RAF Innsworth had a good run as it was built as a temporary re-mount depot for the Army in WW1. When I was there for a few days in the 1950s awaiting a much postponed flight due to adverse weather it was just a large collection of wooden huts.

[Algy]

What on earth have WWII service records got to do with FOIA?

[Buster11]

The records arrived this morning, only ten weeks after the request was sent, though not, I suspect, due to the power of PPRuNe. I, too, wondered why FOIA was involved but maybe it's something to do with job creation...

Looking at the documents it's clear that calligraphic skill wasn't part of the job description for admin. wallahs in 1940.

[Motleycallsign]

"Looking at the documents it's clear that calligraphic skill wasn't part of the job description for admin. wallahs in 1940."

Maybe a bit busy dodging bullets and flak. Lucky the records survived after the fall of Crete.