gnr.ktrha Posted 7 March , 2006 Share Posted 7 March , 2006 Hello, I have done a fair bit of research into a relative who was killed with Bomber Command in WW2 and one of the main sources of information on his Sqdn was the Operational Record Books. In the First war did Sqdn keep a similar type of Diary/Record ? Would they be at Kew ? I'm interested in what records exist relating to 204 Sqnd RAF in 1918. Thanks for looking Regards, Stewart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeW Posted 7 March , 2006 Share Posted 7 March , 2006 Stewart, in answer to you questions - yes and yes. To find out what is at Kew you can search the catalogue here: National Archive search Hit the "Search the catalogue" button, type in 204 Squadron and Air1 in the subject and department area boxes and you should see a list of all the documents relating to 204. In fact I've done it for you: Subseries within AIR 1 204 Squadron R.A.F. previously 4 Squadron R.N.A.S. AIR 1/1679/204/118/2 Record book. 1918 Mar. - 1919 Jan. AIR 1/1679/204/118/3 Bomb dropping reports. 1918 Sept. - Oct. AIR 1/1679/204/118/4 Pilots flying time book. 1918 Apr. - Oct. AIR 1/1679/204/118/5 Record of enemy aircraft brought down. 1917 Apr. - 1918 Oct. AIR 1/1679/204/118/6 Combat reports. 1918 Apr. - Nov. AIR 1/1680/204/118/7 Weekly flying log. 1917 Feb. 1918 Feb. AIR 1/1680/204/118/8 Officers flying times. 1918 Oct. - 1919 Jan. AIR 1/1680/204/118/9 Officers flying times. 1918 Sept. - 1919 Jan. AIR 1/1680/204/118/10 Signals log book. 1918 Mar. - June AIR 1/1680/204/118/11 Signals log book. 1918 Oct. - Dec. AIR 1/1680/204/118/13 Signals log book. 1918 Aug. AIR 1/1681/204/118/14 Signals log book. 1918 Dec. - 1919 Jan. AIR 1/1681/204/118/15 Signals log book. 1918 Aug. - Oct. AIR 1/1681/204/118/16 Particulars of officers on joining. 1918 Apr. - 1919 Jan. AIR 1/1681/204/118/17 Particulars of officers. 1917 Apr. - 1919 Jan. AIR 1/1681/204/118/18 Particulars of officers. 1918 Feb. - 1919 Jan. AIR 1/1681/204/118/19 Movement of officers. 1918 Apr. - 1919 Feb. AIR 1/1681/204/118/22 Field returns. 1918 Apr. - Sept. AIR 1/1681/204/118/23 Aeroplane flying times log book. 1917 Nov. - 1918 Dec. You probably won't want anywhere near that lot Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnr.ktrha Posted 7 March , 2006 Author Share Posted 7 March , 2006 Hello Mike, Thank you very much for this list, did not know that that much was there. I did a check of the NA website a few weeks ago and found nothing, I must have been having an off day, or using it wrong Regards, Stewart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Henschke Posted 7 March , 2006 Share Posted 7 March , 2006 Date, Time, Duty, Height, Type and No. of Aeroplane, Pilot, etc was recorded on Army Form W. 3348 'Combats in the Air' which included a section for remarks on hostile machines - type, armament, speed, etc and a narrative of the action. Chris Henschke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeW Posted 7 March , 2006 Share Posted 7 March , 2006 Date, Time, Duty, Height, Type and No. of Aeroplane, Pilot, etc was recorded on Army Form W. 3348 'Combats in the Air' which included a section for remarks on hostile machines - type, armament, speed, etc and a narrative of the action. Not a lot of use when the man Stewart is researching was shot down by ground fire - I have an unfair advantage here as I saw his earlier posting on the "aerodrome.com" forum. I missed out the 204 Squadron citars for that reason, I also missed out the official "history" of 204 which is in the air1 files - these are in general inaccurate and misleading and I wouldn't recommend them to anyone. mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Henschke Posted 7 March , 2006 Share Posted 7 March , 2006 Long live the unfair advantage! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnr.ktrha Posted 8 March , 2006 Author Share Posted 8 March , 2006 I've been found out using another forum! Thanks for all your help. I hope to get down to London this year, I havn't been to Kew for over 10 years. I was a soldier in London, and used to go to look at MIC's. In those days there were no soldier's papers available. I must say that the internet does make this sort of thing easier, and it's great to be able to make easy contact with people who know what they are about. Thanks Regards, Stewart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stan Posted 8 March , 2006 Share Posted 8 March , 2006 For those who wonder what these things look like here is a scan of one (courtesy of that expert on all things Naval via that collector of all things Dallas). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnr.ktrha Posted 9 March , 2006 Author Share Posted 9 March , 2006 Stan, Thanks for posting the image, fantastic to see, that's the sort of thing I was hoping would be available at Kew. I'll I have to do now is get there. Regards, Stewart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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