Another daft question.....

[DgJay]

In making this post I am making a lot of assumptions, so everything I say could be completely wrong.
But...do the army records that are available from the Ministry of Defence for the £30.00 cover National Call-up in about 1950 and if they do, based on the fact that someone was called-up but failed to be accepted on medical grounds, and therefore never had an actual service record, would there still be a record that could be obtained giving details of the situation.

[Janet in Yorkshire]

Amongst surviving WW1 records, I have come across some for men who enlisted ,went to barracks but were then rejected on the grounds of not being able to become an efficient soldier and were discharged. So, records of such scenarios must have been kept. (Nothing seemed to escape army paperwork!)
However, I have no idea about post WW2 National Service. Have you sent the MOD an e-mail about your inquiry? That would be my first port of call - they should be able to give you a "blanket" answer, I would have thought.
And no genuine question is ever silly.

Jay

[Olde Crone Holden]

I am sure that you would have to be proven next of kin to stand a chance of seeing such records, always assuming the person concerned is deceased of course.

OC

[Sylvia C]

I would imagine that those records might well be sealed and available only to verified next of kin, if indeed they were kept and are available.

I KNOW that my brother failed his medical exam for National Service in about 1947/48 .......... he had flat feet :D

He was also almost completely blind in his right eye but had perfect vision in the left, never wore glasses until the day he died.

He was in the Sea Cadets, had excelled with them and wanted to go into the Navy .......... and they were willing to take him because of his record in the Cadets, promised they could teach him to use a gun using his left eye, but he would be a "desk sailor" because of the feet.

That wasn't what he wanted ........... so the official turn down was "flat feet".

[Sylvia C]

I would imagine that those records might well be sealed and available only to verified next of kin, if indeed they were kept and are available.

I KNOW that my brother failed his medical exam for National Service in about 1947/48 .......... he had flat feet :D

He was also almost completely blind in his right eye but had perfect vision in the left, never wore glasses until the day he died.

He was in the Sea Cadets, had excelled with them and wanted to go into the Navy .......... and they were willing to take him because of his record in the Cadets, promised they could teach him to use a gun using his left eye, but he would be a "desk sailor" because of the feet.

That wasn't what he wanted ........... so the official turn down was "flat feet".


A classmate of mine in the late 1950s, after NS had ended, wanted to be a pilot in the RAF ........ his medical reason for turn down was "deviated septum in the nasal passage". Again not a major defect in real life, but apparently a major problem for a pilot.


What I'm trying to say is that a medical reason for turn down often seems to be for simple things like "flat feet" or poor sight.

[highland ranger]

Just to point out that if the person concerned died more than twenty five years ago their records can be applied for by any person who pays the usual fee.

[DgJay]

The person concerned died about six years ago, and I am/was the next of kin with proof of such. really I suppose what I am asking is would there be a record kept of the event.
Probably the best course is going to be Janets advice, send a query to the MOD and see what they say...

[highland ranger]

There is a helpdesk which I would imagine could advise you as to whether there is likely to be such a record:

Army Personnel Centre Disclosures 1 Mail point 520 Kentigern House 65 Brown Street Glasgow G2 8EX

Contact Telephone Number: 0345 600 9663

(The helpdesk is contactable by telephone between 1000hrs to 1200hrs and 1400hrs to 1600hrs Mon-Thu and 1000hrs to 1200hrs Fri)