the inclusion of a link on this page does not imply any kind of endorsement

1.1 Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The CWGC provide the magnificent Debt of Honour on-line database for Unit and Grave information on those who have a resting place and those for whom there is no known grave. This was launched in November 1998 and has been extremely busy ever since.
It is a good starting place for finding out about someone who died.
The CWGC website is at http://www.cwgc.org/

1.2 Armed Forces Memorial, National Memorial Arboretum, Alrewas, Staffordshire
Lists all those who died on duty in the UK Armed Services since WW2, Go to the Roll of Honour link on their website.
http://www.forcesmemorial.org.uk/

1.3 Other similar databases
Australia http://www.awm.gov.au/
Canada http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=collections/virtualmem
New Zealand http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/130/cenotaph-database

2.1-2.4 - go to Ian Allan site search page and do a search on the author

2.1 RAF Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War W R Chorley (Ian Allan Publishing)
Bill Chorley's series of books covering Vol 1 1939-1940, Vol 2 1941, Vol 3 1942, Vol 4 1943, Vol 5 1944, Vol 6 1945, Vol 7 Operational Training Units 1940-1947, Vol 8 Heavy Conversion Units and Miscellaneous Units, 1939-1947, Vol 9 Roll of Honour 1939-1947 is an indispensable source of information for finding out about individual Bomber Command aircraft losses.
Crew details, base, take off time, aircraft details, task and fates are given where known.

On-line additions and amendments to the series are provided via http://www.rafinfo.org.uk/BCWW2Losses/ [FWH0708]

2.2 RAF Bomber Command Losses in the Middle East & Mediterranean
David Gunby & Pelham Temple (Ian Allan Publishing): Vol 1 of two projected volumes has been published

2.3 RAF Fighter Command Losses of the Second World War
Norman L R Franks (Ian Allan Publishing): this has been published in three volumes.

2.4 RAF Coastal Command Losses of the Second World War
Ross McNeill (Ian Allan Publishing): one volume has been published so far.

3. Bomber Command War Diaries
Martin Middlebrook & Chris Everitt (Penguin), provides background information on each of Bomber Command's operations 1939-45.

4. Public Record Office, Kew, London:

4.1 Advice on researching someone who served in the Royal Air Forces
General information: National Archives at Kew, London http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/familyhistory/military/airforce/step6.htm

RAF: Detailed advice and addresses via http://www.veterans-uk.info/service_records/raf.html and http://www.raf.mod.uk/links/contacts.cfm

RAAF: via Australian War Memorial website http://www.awm.gov.au/

Australians: The Department of Veterans' Affairs World War Two Nominal Roll website was created in November 2002 to honour and commemorate the men and women who served in Australia's defence forces and the Merchant Navy during this conflict. This site contains information from the service records of some one million individuals who served during World War Two. Australians enlisted in other Commonwealth or Allied forces are not included.

The National Archives of Australia http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/recordsearch.aspx

RCAF: Canadian Genealogy Centre http://www.collectionscanada.ca/genealogy/022-909.007-e.html

RNZAF: http://www.nzdf.mil.nz/

SAAF: SANDF Documentation Service Directorate, (Personnel Division), Private Bag X289, Pretoria, 0001, South Africa: fax: +27 12 323 5613: "Documentation Centre of the Department of Defence houses military archives and records dating back to the period when the Union Defence Force was formed in 1912.  This does include personnel files of SAAF members that served during the First and Second World War.  Service Records for members that served in the South African Forces can be obtained from Documentation Centre (Personnel Archives).  Unfortunately the Documentation Centre does not maintain a web-site or the facilities to answer enquiries by e-mail.  You are requested to forward any such enquiries or request to Documentation Centre by postal service or facsimile."
SANDF website http://www.dod.mil.za/ [FWH 1007]

4.2 Operational Records of the RAF
This guidance leaflet is at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/RdLeaflet.asp?sLeafletID=155

5. Bomber Command
Rob Davis's website on Bomber Command is a 'must' for those researching bomber crews, with very useful Bomber Command information (via his home page) and more specifically 'finding out' help, which is at this page: http://www.elsham.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/raf_bc/finding.html

There is an excellent 60th Anniversary Bomber Command website on the RAF website.
Bomber Command Association also have a website.

Other Bomber Command sites that are particularly worth visiting are:

Greg and Ginny's: http://www.hellzapoppin.demon.co.uk/
Larry Wright's Avro Manchester and Lancaster Archive: http://www.lancaster-archive.com/
and Bob Baxter's www.bomber-command.info

6. RAF Structure and records

6.1 Air Historical Branch: this is now based at RAF Northolt:
Air Historical Branch(RAF)
RAF Northolt
West End Road
Ruislip
Middlesex
HA4 6NG

6.2 Air of Authority - Malcolm Barras' site on the History of RAF Organization
http://www.rafweb.org/

6.3 RAF Commands - Ross McNeill's pages are a growing movement and equipment history of the squadrons and associated units forming RAF Commands during the period September 1939 to August 1945.
www.rafcommands.com

6.4 RAF Ranks
http://www.raf.mod.uk/organisation/ranks.cfm

7. Imperial War Museum
The IWM provide useful general guidance for family researchers http://www.iwm.org.uk/server/show/nav.00100a

8. RAF Museum Department of Research & Information Services
The Department (known as "DoRIS") houses the Library and Archives of the Museum, as well as providing reader and enquiry services about the history of the Royal Air Force. Based at the RAF Museum, Hendon, facilities exist for viewing items from the archives and library: http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/london/research/index.cfm

9. Honours and awards

9.1 London Gazette
World War issues: This searchable database is not the easiest to use and ideally you will need the service number of the person you are searching for.

9.2 to those in the Royal Canadian Air Force
Composed by Hugh Halliday and hosted on the Air Force Association of Canada's most useful website
http://www.airforce.ca/English/heritage_en.php?abouttab=hon_top

10. Finding people

Aircrew and Groundcrew Research - primarily WWII focussed - looking for someone you served with, or for those from a unit or an aircraft you are researching? http://www.rafinfo.org.uk/airsearch/

Also these (please note: no responsibility can be taken for the content or services offered by these external websites, some of which make charges for some of their services):

RAF News is another way of keeping in touch and also provides a penpals section [the RAF News link seems to be inactive at present 0708]

The Royal Air Forces Association have a section for those seeking to regain contact with other members of RAFA
http://www.rafa.org.uk/

for all the armed services, for those seeking to regain contact with those they served with, with many other facilities

modreunited

WW2 Ex-RAF

All current and past RAF, from the same source as WW2 Ex-RAF

The Royal British Legion also have a section for those seeking to regain contact
http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/

www.192.com provides an on-line search facility for people resident in the UK.

11. Family records a compendium of useful websites http://www.familyrecords.gov.uk/

12. Teletext pages http://www.teletext.co.uk/News/a2z.aspx

13. Luftwaffe Historical Associations
In some cases families and researchers may be seeking information on which Luftwaffe units or pilots were involved in the shooting down of particular aircraft. I am grateful to Gert Overhoff for the list which he has compiled for me from Jaegerblatt.

Information via Cross & Cockade International Association of WWI Air Historians: Germany has put their full war graves register on line. It helps if you speak German - but if you don't just click on "Grabersüche Online" from the home page, then "Zur Onlinesuche".

It's a good quick search engine giving you the full name, precise memorial location, date of birth and death, and home town.
http://www.volksbund.de/

14. Explanatory note on RAF Squadrons
Wing Commander C G Jefford's book 'RAF Squadrons, a comprehensive record of the movement and equipment of all RAF squadrons and their antecedents since 1912' (Airlife 1988, ISBN 85310 053 6) is another useful source of information about the aircraft and stations which RAF squadrons have used.

In compiling the Register I have shown those units which Wg Cdr Jefford listed. If a squadron is missing, either it never actually formed or I have made a mistake (if so, please email the editor, Frank Haslam, with any corrections).

15. If you are not having much luck, you can try doing a search on the Internet. There are many search engines, I happen to find Google easy to use and quite good. You can do your searches from here.

For example if I was looking for 207 Squadron RAF I would simply put that in the 'search box' below and then click the Google Search button.

If you come up with information that would be useful for the Register, please let me know. Good luck!

16. Google News™ on the RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF - if you click the News Alert button you can request Google to email you when they pick up a news story on any of these.

17. TEE-EMM was issued as a restricted document to RAF aircrew during the Second World War. The 60 issues contain a variety of articles and cartoons, especially of Pilot Officer Prune, to illustrate how others have got things wrong or how they should be done, written and presented in easygoing way but nevertheless very much to the point.
Available from Cleaford Services Ltd on CD as Acrobat™ pdf files.

Luftwaffe Historical Associations [Mar 2003] courtesy of Mr G Oberhoff
to send an email replace AT by @ and take out spaces

JG1/JG11 Theo Nau, Rheinblickstr. 12, D-55422 Bacharach
Tel/Fax +49-6743-1827

JG2 Richthofen Paul Müngersdorff, Zum Mühlenberg 58, D-53844 Troisdorf
Tel +49-2241-404249 Fax +49-2241-409210

JG3 Udet Gerhard Baeker, Immelmannstr. 10, D-53757 St.Augustin
Tel +49-2241-27189 Fax +49-2241-204600: gerhard.baeker AT t-online.de

JG5 Eismeer Ernst Scheufele, Kastanienweg 8, D-64546 Mörfelden-Walldorf
Tel +49-6105-74477 Fax +49-6105-455470

JG26 Schlageter Werner Molge, Schenefelder Platz 4, D-22869 Schenefeld
Tel +49-040-8305872

JG27 Sighart Dinkel, St.Ilgener Str. 66, D-69181 Leimen
Tel +49-6224-72075

JG51 Mölders Dr. Heinz Lange, Freiheit 1, D-51429 Bergisch-Gladbach
Tel +49-2204-55154

JG52 Alfons Altmeier, Dohrer Weg 4, D-56814 Faid
Tel +49-2671-4865

JG53 Pik Ass Walter Seiz, Am Schieferbuckel 24, D-72760 Reutlingen
Tel +49-7121-346822

JG54 Grünherz Hermann Hammerstein, Joseph-Schmid-Weg 25, 87700 Memmingen
Tel +49-8331-928961 Fax +49-8331-928962: h.merstein AT t-online.de

JG77 Jakob Müller, Boninstr. 4, D-64546 Mörfelden-Walldorf
Tel +49-6105-44602

JG301/302 Willi Reschke, Gartenstr. 3, D-99105 Stotternheim
Tel +49-36204-50989

JG400 Dr. Reinhard Opitz, Hermann-Fleitmann-Weg 9, 44265 Dortmund
Tel +49-2304-68629

Me 262 Wings Alfred Ambs, Harztalstr. 51, D-83714 Miesbach
Tel +49-8025-1532

Night Fighter Wings Herbert A W Thomas, Velsstr. 46, D-44803 Bochum
Tel +49-234-352539

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