Help - British Service Records WWI/WWII

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domus.don

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Hey Guys,
I am trying to find some information on the following soldier who served with the British Forces in both World Wars. He was English.

WWII Information that I have;
Kenneth Gutrie Lewis (aka Lewis K.S.G.)
199985 CQMS
668 Company RASC
Born on August 18th 1900
Passed on April 8th, 1955

Apparently he served in Africa then Italy. POW during the campaign in Africa.
 
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It's incredibly unlikely that you will find any service records from his WW1 service; as the majority of the British records were lost during the Second World War - reference the so-called "burnt records".

When searching for records from the Great War, the first step is looking for the British (or Canadian) medal card: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk...des/british-army-medal-index-cards-1914-1920/

One can also search via the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, if unsure if a soldier was KIA. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/

As for service records from the Second World War, good luck gaining any access to them. You certainly won't get them for a Canadian service member, unless you are a direct relative - you can look that up for yourself.
 
The Medal Information cards are sometimes the only remaining indication that the man served. They were photographed (in black-and-white) by the National Archives and were then going to be destroyed, until they were acquired by the Western Front Association, who had them rephotographed (this time in colour, and this time on both sides, although there is rarely anything written on the other side). Websites like Ancestry provide access to the colour copies, for a fee, though sometimes around Nov 11th they make it free for a week or so.
Service records of those discharged before 1921 have been released to the Archives (although only about 30% survived destruction in WW2). If the man re-enlisted later (as many did) it will have been retained.
Unit War Diaries have been released to the Archives, although the usefulness of these varies according to the conscientiousness of the officer entrusted with their upkeep, and the amount of other military work he had to do at the same time.
http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldiers/how-to-research-a-soldier/
 
I can't remember the name, but there is a Gazette on the internet that lists OBE and DSC awards
My Grandfather is listed there for his OBE and DSC
Even tells you what they did in some cases
He served in WW1 and WW2 Royal Navy and Mechant Marine
 
domus.don said:
Any information on his unit would also be appreciated.
Click to expand...

Can you tell me where he lived? The local RBL might have records of some kind.

CQMS is an appointment. Company Quartermaster Sergeant, so he might have been either a Staff sergeant or a WO2.

BTW, the only reference I can find to 668 Coy RASC is as a petrol transport unit in Italy.
 
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can14 said:
I can't remember the name, but there is a Gazette on the internet that lists OBE and DSC awards
My Grandfather is listed there for his OBE and DSC
Even tells you what they did in some cases
He served in WW1 and WW2 Royal Navy and Merchant Marine
Click to expand...

That will be the London Gazette (or in some Scottish cases the Edinburgh Gazette). The sheer numbers of these awards later on meant the citations are often rather brief.
 
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