William Howell Kinsey Owen - Hong Kong to 1947

(Sgt?) Bill Owen (also known as Kinsey Owen) was my father, born 7/9/1925 in Amlwch, Anglesey. He was always reluctant to speak of any action that he saw in WWII, but spoke freely about the training he enjoyed at Achnacarry. He was in Malta at some point during the war. He drove a Bren Gun carrier at some point, and remained in Hong Kong until 1947 leading me to believe that he was with 1/5 Commando.

He passed away in April 1995.

My stepmother misplaced photos and other memorabilia that he'd retained from his Service days, and I'd be most grateful to anyone who could offer any more information about him.

Thank you.

Rob.

Hi Rob,

Unfortunately, we don't seem to have any record of your father; however, the commando Association does not have access to service records and the data base/Nominal Rolls that we have on this Website have been compiled by two or three of us searching through documents, books, letters, War Diaries etc. gathering names and information.
We acknowledge that there will be some people who will have slipped our net - but we're anxious to add them - they all deserve to be remembered...

So with Bill we will have to start from scratch and see if we can build up a foundation to start with.

Do you have any idea which branch of HM Forces he was in - the Army or the Royal Marines?
Do you have any photos of him in any uniform at all?
Do you have any document from his service days which mentions his name or any other military detail?
Any little anecdotes - even those that you might think unimportant or very trivial may have that tiny clue that we can pick up on.
(In other cases I was told, 'Dad always talked of a pig that they were fattening up for Christmas ...' and 'Dad said the CO had two dogs...' Both these anecdotes allowed me to quickly pin down the unit - where others had failed)

You can apply to the MoD for a scan of his service record which will give you details of his unit and most things from recruitment to demob, however, the Army & the Royal Marines' records offices are in different places and as the search costs £30, I don't want you to apply to both Offices and for you to pay out £60...

Nick

Hi Nick,

Thank you for your reply and the advice it contains.

As I mentioned in the original enquiry, my step-mother misplaced my father's own papers and photos (some years ago) and it's unlikely that they will resurface, unfortunately.

I'll follow the route of applying for his Service Record. Should I receive information which might assist you with this site, I'll send details to you.

Thank you once again.

Rob

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 19/06/2019 20:36:07

Rob,

Here is the link to the Gov.UK site where you will find the appropriate forms.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/request-records-of-deceased-service-personnel

You'll need the 'Next of Kin' form
plus a Service specific part 2 form

Send them off to the address on the Part 2 form together with the £30 remittance and a copy of the Death Certificate - if you don't have that, you can obtain a copy from the Gov.UK site too.
Don't worry about his Service Number - as long as you have his Date of Birth that will be enough.

The Mod is the only custodian of WWII service records, so please don't be suckered in by other online sites with their scurrilous claims of having 'All Military Records' - they don't and it will cost you a year's subscription to find that out...

We're here to help so please don't hesitate to ask if you get stuck...

Nick

Hello Nick,

Thank you for your very quick reply, and the information provided.

Regards

Rob