A couple of questions related to requesting soldier records

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ccamfield
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A couple of questions related to requesting soldier records

Post by ccamfield » Mon Mar 16, 2020 5:24 pm

I understand why wartime records are restricted for family/privacy reasons...

Does anyone have any advice on how to proceed if you aren't sure if a particular soldier is deceased or not?

Also, to find out if someone served at all and has a service record? In this latter case, in the War Museum library, they have a copy of the Valentine SP (Archer) Workshop Manual on the inside of which are an old owner's sticker (with name and address) and a sticker thanking that person for their donation to the library. I wonder if this person was in the Canadian Army - it's a French-Canadian name - but it's a little odd in that the manual is from 1947, and we Canadians didn't use the vehicle past 1945.

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Temujin
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Re: A couple of questions related to requesting soldier records

Post by Temujin » Mon Mar 16, 2020 7:45 pm

ccamfield wrote:
Mon Mar 16, 2020 5:24 pm
I understand why wartime records are restricted for family/privacy reasons...

Does anyone have any advice on how to proceed if you aren't sure if a particular soldier is deceased or not?

Also, to find out if someone served at all and has a service record? In this latter case, in the War Museum library, they have a copy of the Valentine SP (Archer) Workshop Manual on the inside of which are an old owner's sticker (with name and address) and a sticker thanking that person for their donation to the library. I wonder if this person was in the Canadian Army - it's a French-Canadian name - but it's a little odd in that the manual is from 1947, and we Canadians didn't use the vehicle past 1945.
Right, lets start with the first part.......if you aren’t sure if a particular soldier is deceased or not?

In order to get the records of a WW2 Service person who DID NOT die in the war, the person has to have been decease for 20 years (exactly, not 19 and 8 months, 20 years)......and you have to “prove it”.....BUT LAC is very lenient on the proof, a death certificate, or a picture of the headstone, or an obit but you do have to proof the person has passed away. Suggestion, if you give us the persons name, rank or any information you have, we can search to see if we can find ANY info to help you one this

UPDATE: I forgot, even if you could confirm the death......it can take up to a YEAR to get the records. I JUST RECEIVED in Jan my father in laws records, and we ordered them OVER a year ago......so it takes time......and then we didn’t get his FULL records, just a 20 page or so “snap shot’ of pages, EVEN THOUGH I asked for his FULL RECORDS.....so that means going back to them and asking again, and possible the LONG WAIT AGAIN

Second question......how to find out if some served AT ALL and has a service record

Again, you need to contact LAC and “request his record”.....on the request form, you fill in as MUCH INFO as you know, name, age, birth date, where he/she was born, possible place where they joined the service..........as MUCH info that you can give them. LAC will then confirm if a RECORD for that person exists........NOW, let say the answer is NO (well end of story)...........if they say YES, they will give you a little info to confirm that they found the right person, if YES, then they will ask for proof of his death........AND your may NOT HAVE THAT, but at least you know a RECORD DOES EXIST

BUT........sorry, lots of “buts”.......if the person tried to join the Armed Forces, and then was “rejected” their will be NO FILE......the did have files, but the government YEARS ago approved the destruction of these files.....so you won’t find a file

The LAST info or question on the Manual........maybe again you could post a photo of the info or sticker, and we may be able to help research the name, but without seeing more detail of what you found, I’m not sure how to advise you on this.

So, we can help with some of the “legwork” research if we have more information on WHO you are looking for, and as much detail as you can give us.......Can’t promise we will find anything, but having a “website and more people” helping can’t hurt.

Cheers, and good luck

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Temujin
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Re: A couple of questions related to requesting soldier records

Post by Temujin » Tue Mar 17, 2020 10:50 am

I forgot to mention, one source that you can check to see if you can find a name is the Royal Canadian Legion Last Post. It’s not a very large database, but it can help sometimes

Link to the site and page to search

https://legionmagazine.com/en/last-post/

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Re: A couple of questions related to requesting soldier records

Post by klambie » Tue Mar 17, 2020 7:19 pm

On Q1, you can get records without proof of death. I've only done it via a researcher, though I suspect it can be tried via the ATIP link that now appears on the records request page. Last time I used him $30, about a 30 day turnaround, so makes sense to me to use him all the time if I'm not on site. Heard someone recently (here or ww2talk?) with an 18 month estimate for a file.

It will be a censored file, so his personal details, next of kin etc. will be blacked out, making it a poor choice for genealogy. But if you are just looking for units/dates etc., it's fine. PM for contact info.
Kevin Lambie
www.reginarifles.ca

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Re: A couple of questions related to requesting soldier records

Post by ccamfield » Thu Mar 19, 2020 9:22 pm

Hi guys,

First, I want to say thank you for your input!

I am having a little memory lapse at this moment - who did I have in mind for my first question? It will presumably come back to me.

With regards to the second person, he was Joseph J Sauve, or at least that's what this War Museum sticker says (see attachment). The odd thing is that I don't see a Joseph J Sauve in the Last Post, but there is a Joseph A Sauve there, ex-RCEME, who passed away in 2013. But that could just be coincidence.

I think I would need to look at an old Ottawa phone book if I wanted to look up Mr Sauve's old residence to see if I could confirm the initial. Maybe the Toronto Public Library has those, if not Ottawa - not something I can do now.

PS Temujin, that sounds tremendously frustrating, and I just wanted to say I'm sorry they're giving you the runaround.
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Re: A couple of questions related to requesting soldier records

Post by ccamfield » Fri Mar 20, 2020 5:27 pm

On further thought, regarding other soldiers, I was more generally thinking of anyone I am aware of who received an award while using an Archer, such as Lt David Heaps, MM (d. 2000, per the Last Post) and Sgt Darrow Gomez, DCM (d. 2005). It's not that I particularly want to focus on those who received medals, but they are the few individuals whose names I know.

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