Thomas Emrys Jones, Any information? Options

[annsamtree]

I am trying to locate my wife`s grandfather Thomas Emrys Jones, He apparently served in the RFC joining as a fitter at the start of the war, I am waiting for a copy of his picture which was taken as he walked away from an aircraft he had crashed! After the war he became a famous composer in Wales of Male voice pieces, Any help on tracking him down would be greatfully appreciated. I hope to go to Kew in the next few weeks but any help before I go would be great, I know this is a long shot but nothing ventured

[per ardua per ma...]

The RFC was a standard army unit and their records can be found in the normal army searches (WO 363 WO 364, etc & Ancestry). On 1 April 1918 the RFC merged with the Royal Naval Air Service to become the RAF. Their records are original documents held at Kew in AIR 79, but they are stored in service number order. Without that number you have little chance of finding the record. There is an incomplete alphabetical index to the numbers in AIR 78.

This post has been edited by per ardua per mare per terram: Nov 6 2009, 06:25 PM

[annsamtree]

I have found after many hours searching the wrong area of records his service record , the problem was he apears to be an officer and I have found his record in AIR 76.
This opens a some new ares to sort out

What was his rank? It is not on the record.

What was his service no? There is a reg papers no 22493 is this it?

He joins 12 5 18 the C D D (cadet Distribution Depot?) Does this mean he was a cadet prior to joining or became a cadet here? Also what and where is it?

14 7 18 Passes medical as fit to be observer or pilot

25 7 18 joins what looks like 7 s of a (school of aviation?)

2 11 18 Joins what looks like no 1 s of a g (school of aerial gunnery?)

That is the last entry on the record, there is no mention of him leaving.


Any help with these problems would be wonderfull or even a shove in the right direction would be good!

[john_g]

annsamtree

If as you say he was a fitter he would have had (depending when he enlisted) a six figure number and you will need to find this to then request his AIR79 record. There is an index in AIR78 I have used this many times and found it useless, I suggest you look for his medal card and if he was an other rank this should be recorded on the card.

You say he has an AIR76 record, Officers are reckoned not to have had numbers, well this is not true, on his AIR76 right had side below the address and next of kin details you will see a number beginning PI (sometimes looks like PJ) followed by a number this is his Personnel Index number, you will not find this on a medal card.

If he was a Cadet at 7 At School of Aeronautics based in Poultney Street, Bath he was under instruction as an Observer.

I have never heard of a C D D, post a scan of that section and we might be able to sort it out.

1 School of Aerial Fighting and Gunnery was at Turnberry, although at the date you mention it had become 1 Fighting School.

He is not listed in my April 1918 AF List or Aug 1919 list.

john_g


www.66squadron.co.uk

[annsamtree]

Thanks for your help I will try and scan the document over the weekend for you to see.

[mickdavis]

I rather suspect that the 1 S o AG refers not to Turnberry but to 1 (Auxiliary) School of Aerial Gunnery, which was based at Hythe. Turnberry was 2 (Auxiliary) SAG until May 1918, when it merged with 1 School of Aerial Fighting to become 1 SAFG then, more appropriately, 1 Fighting School. The SAG at Turnberry trained, mainly, pilots, while Hythe was solely for observers.

[per ardua per ma...]

I suggest you look for his medal card

The RAF Medal Index Cards have yet to be released. The army cards available online show only a small fraction of RFC or RAF personnel.

There is sometimes a cross reference to the service number a man had as an other rank on the AIR 76 records.

[per ardua per ma...]

he apears to be an officer and I have found his record in AIR 76.

How many sheets did you find for him? These have been microfilmed with the first sheet uppermost and then the next upside down. There is often another sheet and sometimes a fourth or more.

[annsamtree]

Thanks for all your help, There were two sheets in his service record, the first contains his service , the second contains only 1 item which is his medical board where he is passed fit for a role as observer or pilot.
I have scanned the record but I am having difficulty attaching it to my mail,perhaps I shall have to read some instructions!
On examining closely his posting to no 1 s of ag in the incoming authority confirming box it has been written as
6 s of ag or 16 I can not decide if the 1 is a line or a 1

Any help in understanding how his training is given would be a great help and about the units

[per ardua per ma...]

Files can only be attached if they are less than 100k, so reduce the resolution or crop bits.

[annsamtree]

 untitled.JPG ( 72.73K ) Number of downloads: 0


I hope this has worked! This is a section of his service record there is nothing else to be seen on the page with the exception of his name and address. On the can the only thing that has not come out to well is his no which looks like 22493.

I found out last week at Kew that AIR 76 is now online at Documents on line