Records at Fleet Air Arm Museum Yeovilton Som.

[j.r.f]

Pals.

I was lucky enough to go to the WFA seminar at yeovilton last saturday 15th November.The talks were good but the thing that moved me was the exhibition put on by the museum.I did not know that they have a lot of material relating to sailors and royal marines.These are personnel related records covering a date range from mid to late 1800s to mid 1900s.To my mind this was akin to finding a gold mine.There were big books filled with original documents,some must tell the complete story of some personnel.They said they could photocopy records,though this might be a bit difficult because some of the books are very thick.However they said there would be no problem photographing them with a digital camera.

So if you have someone associated with either the navy or royal marines and especially if they had something to do with flying,give the Fleet Air Arm Museum a try.

CHEERS.

JOHN.

[Jonathan Saunders]

I understand the non-flying records related to mainly RND men. Apparently the MOD were ditching them in the 70s and the Fleet Air Arm managed to save them. My understanding is that a lot of RNAS pilots came from the officer ranks of the RND, hence their interest.

However beware time delay if you cannot visit in person. I did contact them via email about an OR service record about a year ago and received an acknowledgement telling me it would be dealt with in due course but basically to expect a significant delay and I am still waiting. Obviously they cant help their funding/staffing issues but be prepared for a long wait.