The Nosey Genealogist

While I was visiting London I was asked to help research an Indian Army Officer from the Second World War. This person had joined up in the UK and transferred from England to the Indian Army serving in the Royal Indian Army Service Corps.

The aim was to find the officer’s birth date for a daughter, as the details were not recorded elsewhere in her family because of his divorce, early on in her life.

At the British Library, once reader registration was completed, we entered the Africa & Asia Room. The staff at the desk were very helpful and pointed us to the Indian Army Lists where we were able to find the Second Lieutenant in the volume for 1943 under RIASC. For some reason, however, although most other entries had dates of birth listed, our man had not!

All was not lost as my accomplice could provide the necessary paperwork to show that she was the man’s daughter. With this the British Library staff were able to go away and come back with his actual service record and she was able to read his record, to see his signature and to take a note of his date and place of birth. With this valuable information she can now start researching the paternal branch of her family that until now had seemed closed to her.

A search on ancestry.co.uk with the correct details gave his birth and death index record to follow up on.