Arthur "Jock" Darling

Can anyone advise me where I can obtain service records or any info about my wife's father who was a commando during ww2. I've attached a photo of him.

Many thanks in advance

Brian

Hi Brian,
Welcome to the CVA.
Your father-in-Law was a Royal Marine therefore you'd probably need to apply to MoD for his Service Records for more detailed info

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/36206/request_for_service_details_nok_application_part1_v5.pdf

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/36202/request_for_service_details_rnrm_application_part2.pdf

Unfortunately these will take some months to arrive so if you can supply us with more info in the meanwhile we will do our best to give you some general information.
For instance, do you know which unit he served with?
Any relevent information will help.

Nick

Hi Nick

Very little is known as he never spoke about it, but I will quiz family members further to see if there is any more info.
He was born 1916 in Roxburghshire, full name Arthur Gillespie Darling.
He went across to France from Newhaven, Sussex. He met his wife to be there who worked in the NAAFI at Newhaven.
On the back of the photo, all it says is "Passed by censor 14638"
Unfortunately that is all I know at the moment.

Brian

Hi Brian,

Thanks for your reply but it still doesn't give us much to go on...
Does your wife (or her family) have any service documents relating to her father - anything with a service number or any other tiny snippet of info (even abbreviations or acronyms may be of use)?

Our experience tells us that very few of our WWII Veterans spoke of their experiences to their children but, occasionaly, it has been known for them to skip a generation and talk to their grandchildren or nephews/nieces about their wartime exploits.
Even little comments about towns & villages in Europe that he may have passed through can help us pin down his unit and, from there, we can start to bring the pieces of the jigsaw together...

Nick