Treasure delivered to my door.
I am overwhelmed with what I received in the mail from Margaret!
Click here to read my previous post about how to Obtain Polish WWII Military Records (part 1)
It took about 8.5 weeks (from the point of payment) for the records to arrive.
I was hoping for a few pieces of information, however I was pleasantly surprised. 22 documents were at my fingertips, including two photos.
For starters, all the documents, except one are all in Polish. The files range from personnel records, lists of qualifications, progress reports, application for day passes, Military Academy records, registration notebooks (with all of his handwriting), medals received and a very long Military Service Record!
This is just the beginning of the adventure. More to post once I dig in.
14 Comments
[…] How to Obtain Polish WWII Military Records (part 2) […]
Thanks or this info Alex, and for posting your Dziadzio in the Kresy-Siberia Virtual Museum at http://kresy-siberia.org/won/?page_id=19&lang=en&text=Frankow&id=129690
Stefan 🙂
Thanks for stopping by Stefan! I am so glad I have made new friends through these communities, who value and regard our soldiers.
[…] Click here to read Part II about my record adventure! […]
Do I need fathers birth certificate, not available. Death certificate is all I have. Father and Mother
Hey Barbara! Good question. If your father is the one who was serving, you do not need his birth certificate – just your own, or your mother’s (depending on who is next of kin). In my situation, my Babcia would have been next of kin, but she passed away – thus I needed my dad’s birth certificate because he is next of kin. I hope this helps 🙂
Hi, all i have is photographs. My mum was only 4yrs old when her mum left her father and she isn’ even sure of his name. Could you please maybe suggest somewhere i could send these photos to get some information?
Thankyou
HI ! I got them the same way. Margaret is the kindest human being in the planet !
Hi. I have been speaking to a lady at the MOD in Northolt called Monika. She has been so helpful so far and done way more than I would have expected. It’s the way things should be. I feel quite excited to find out more about my grandfather, but also a bit doubtful. Almost feels voyeuristic and as it was something he never talked about, perhaps I shouldn’t delve either. Got to try though. Feel a sense of duty to honour him and all his fellow countrymen who did so much. Good work Alex!
Hi Alex
I am searching for my fathers army record, as he was a polish soldier do I use the “army specific form” available on the MOD website and send it to Kentigern House
Also do you have a phone no for Margaret.
Thanks in advance
Robert
Thanks so much for this advice, we are tracking my mums family tree and her father was polish and fought during ww2 but joined PRC in UK also, hoping to track down military records as what we have about him and his military career are sparse. We have his record book but barely any info in that so hoping to find out more but didn’t really know where to start, Fingers crossed we have just found a starting point, thanks to you.
I am overwhelmed coming across this page. I started my research on my father just a few days ago and have already uncovered so many useful pieces of the jigsaw. But alas the big pieces are still missing because we have so little information and only a death certificate as official documentation. But I uncovered Margaret at the MOD earlier today and sent her an email, so I’m hopeful that some information will present itself soon. I am so overjoyed to hear of other’s missions to reveal their family history, like we are all being pulled by the same cord, to know our personal truths, so we can feel complete. Wishing everyone here (and elsewhere) on this fascinating and often heart-wrenching journey, the very best of luck in unearthing their own treasures.
Hi – you can also obtain copies of documents from the Institute of National Remembrance in Poland, if they have something on the person you are seeking information about. The applications are in Poland and English. I have not done this process but work as a translator for them so have read various things about it. They have a good deal of WW2 documentation as well as the Communist period. (See: https://ipn.gov.pl/en/applications/1555,Applications.html)
There is also the Polish Underground Study Trust in London, which has a lot of records, many of which are online.
https://studium.org.uk/index.php/en/
Krzystek’s List has records of Polish airmen (and a few women) -over 17,000 (weren’t they the best!) https://listakrzystka.pl/en/
Neville Bougourd is another person I recently came across, who uses the list above as well as other sources. He mainly focuses on Squadron 304. If anyone sends him pictures of airmen, he’s apparently happy to help get them restored.See: https://304squadron.blogspot.com/p/photographs.html
Hope this is helpful to someone. There is nothing like finding out more about your family and seeing who they were and where they are from.
hi alex,
reading all this and the comments is so consoling and interesting. i am in the process (early days) of searching on my grandfathers WW2 service and history. he was polish and in the PRC. alot of your pictures look the same as the paperwork i got from the polish war archives in ruislip, i also went through all the polava you did with identification like you, which i found great satisfaction in once they agreed and sent me the forms.
i wish you the best of luck with your search.