Friday 22 May 2020

TheGenealogist expands early RAF Operations Record Books collection

From TheGenealogist (www.thegenealogist.co.uk):

Over One Million RAF Operations Record Books released on TheGenealogist

TheGenealogist has expanded its unique collection of searchable RAF Operations Record Books with the addition of 1.2 Million new records for aircrew operations.

Operations Record Books (ORBs) are official air force documents chronicling an air force unit from the time of its formation. They were intended to be an accurate daily record of the operations that the squadron carried out in peace and at war. The ORBs are for squadrons primarily after the First World War, but there are a few early squadron records from 1911 to 1918. TheGenealogist uniquely has made the Operations Record Books fully searchable by name, year and keywords.

This collection also includes some record books for Dominion Air Forces (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa) as well as Allied Air Force squadrons under British Command and can be used to find the stories of brave aircrew, giving insights into the operations that they carried out. The ORBs follow a daily diary format giving summaries of events and can reveal the death of aircrews, crashes, as well as less disquieting entries such as the weather for flying, promotions and the decorations men of the squadron received. ORBs also detail the areas that the fighter planes patrolled, or the bombers targeted, as well as where the squadrons were based as the war wore on. These duties and assignments include bombing the enemy, patrolling the skies, convoy escorts, submarine hunts, attacking docks & shipping, dive bombing raids, and more.

As aircrew personnel are named in these reports, those wanting to follow where an ancestor had been posted to and what may have happened to them will find these records extremely informative.

Use these records to:
  • Add details to an aircrewman’s story
  • Study the war movements of personnel in air force units
  • Discover if a pilot, navigator, radio operator or gunner is mentioned in the action
  • Note dates airman received promotions, medals, or other honours
  • See the names of squadron members wounded, killed, or who did not return
  • Easily search the transcribed records and images licensed from The National Archives

This latest release expands TheGenealogist’s extensive Military records collection and is available to all Diamond subscribers.

You can read their article about a famous fighter ace and a bomber pilot who flew more than 120 operations:
https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2020/air-27-operations-record-books-capture-airmen-from-fighter-and-bomber-squadrons-during-ww2-1261/


(With thanks to Nick Thorne)

Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course starts June 8th - see www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. My next book, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is out shortly, also available are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

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