Royal Flying Corps- has anyone had any luck?

[allie island]

I was wondering if anyone on here has had any luck tracing RFC records?

I would love to find my Granddad's, but over the past few years have drawn blanks everywhere.

I believe most of them went up in smoke during WW2 :(

ps I think there are some Officer's records, but my little G'Dad was just an ordinary private as far as I know!

[KiteRunner]

Alison, my great-grandmother's cousin Walter Claude Ricks was in the RFC and his medal index card and "pension records" are on ancestry.

[allie island]

Thanks Kate - I have had a look there but no luck - am I doing something wrong or were you just lucky?

[KiteRunner]

Think I was just lucky, Alison - could be because he was invalided out?

[Elizabeth Herts]

I can't find my grandfather, Frederick Alexander. I have been looking for ages. He was an Engineer in the RFC, and I have quite a few photos of him in his uniform and a couple of him on a motor bike looking very dashing. He was in the RAF when he was married to my grandmother in Glasgow in 1919.

I found my grandmother's service records, though! She joined the women's branch, and that is how they met.

[Meridian Line]

I, too , have had no luck with my RFC, Smith Stephenson Worthy, despite having a photo of him in uniform.

He was an engineer, & I'm wondering, if he serviced/built the aircraft in the UK, & so wasn't posted abroad, therefore, didn't recieve any medals.

[allie island]

My Grandad was John Charles Sommerville.

He was a clerk in the RFC on account of poor eyesight and disabilities from neglect when he was a baby, including a 'withered' arm and half an index finger!

I know he was posted abroad - mainly France I think as he knew a few French songs (not too cheeky ones!) and some phrases.
The annoying thing is that I remember seeing his medals and a photo of him in uniform when I was very little, but have lost track of where they went after he died.

I've been in touch with people on an RFC etc web site, but nothing there either I'm afraid......

[Elizabeth Herts]

Meridian Line/Louise:

We seem to have similar occupations. My grandfather was an engineer too. After he left the RFC/RAF he worked as an aeronautical engineer. He worked all over the country, but at Farnborough for quite a while until his retirement.

Just before the end of WW2 he was sent over the the USA to show off the latest technology. I wish I could find his WW1 records.

[Night Owl]

Have you had a look at the National Archives research guide? If your men (assuming they weren't officers) were still in the RFC on 1st April 1918, their records went to the RAF and should be at Kew or still held by the RAF. It sounds as if they are more complete than the Army records if you can manage to find them.

The National Archives | The Catalogue | Research Guides

Jackie

[Elizabeth Herts]

Jackie, Thanks for the tip - I wil certainly look into it.

I'm long overdue a trip to Kew. *starts making list*

[Meridian Line]

Thanks, Jackie, I didn't know about the RFC/RAF transfer. Definitely worth looking into.

[Sheila from Down Under]

Hi --- My"Father"of the couple that adopted me was Harold Bean and he was in the RCF, as a printer, I have a photo of him in uniform, but like you I can get knowhere even after a flurry of e-mails, so any tips are more than welcome.
Sheila