Local newspapers are excellent sources for military information. It was very common for towns/county papers to print information about service members before, during, and after training with information regarding training places and units of assignment. They also would frequently mention those who has received awards, and who had been wounded or killed in action. It was common to mention the parents names and their address. Although they didn't always print a photograph, those that did usually had a copy of one from a military source. So be sure to check the local libraries in or near their wartime address. Any local librarian will be glad to help you view the wartime issues of their newspapers on the microfilm equipment. Remember, the names of the papers may have changed due to mergers or buyouts. So check with the local library if you run into that situation. Rick

What Rick says is pretty much true for UK, although I cannot recall ever coming across a newspaper report over here covering training and unit assignments. Sometimes a newspaper would print part of a letter received from a man 'in the field', but it either did not mention the unit (except in the broadest terms - 'Private Smith is serving with the Essex Regiment') or location, or if it did it would then be some months out of date. Even air raids, while giving names of victims and sometimes street names, would identify the town very vaguely ('a coastal town in the south-east'). All this, of course, was designed not to provide useful feedback to the enemy. Nonetheless, UK newspapers are indeed a valuable source. Particularly where a man or woman was killed in the line or duty, it was commonplace to give a brief biography, often accompanied by a picture. Names of parents, spouse, children, siblings, etc. are often mentioned. If he/she had died on home soil and the next-of-kin could afford to have the body brought to the hometown for burial, the newspaper would often carry a lengthy report of the burial/memorial service, listing names and relationship to the deceased of family who attended. And the birth/marriage/death columns are always worth checking - many newspapers started a separate 'war deaths' or similar title classified column during both World Wars. Richard Goring visit my website at http://www.goring1941.freeserve.co.uk for: The Register of Essex-Related Dead of World War II [ROERDOWW2] The South-East Essex War Memorials & Monumental Inscriptions Project ----- Original Message ----- From: <Snowfrog1961@aol.com> To: <WORLDWAR2-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, March 19, 2006 9:57 PM Subject: Re: [WORLD WAR II] Want to request military records > Local newspapers are excellent sources for military information. It was very > common for towns/county papers to print information about service members > before, during, and after training with information regarding training places > and units of assignment. They also would frequently mention those who has > received awards, and who had been wounded or killed in action. It was common to > mention the parents names and their address. Although they didn't always print > a photograph, those that did usually had a copy of one from a military > source. So be sure to check the local libraries in or near their wartime address. > Any local librarian will be glad to help you view the wartime issues of their > newspapers on the microfilm equipment. Remember, the names of the papers may > have changed due to mergers or buyouts. So check with the local library if > you run into that situation. > > Rick > > > ==== WORLDWAR2 Mailing List ==== > We are an international list! Please, always tell the list what country your ancestor is from. This helps all of us, especially you! If you give dates please help us understand the date you are referring to. For example: 4 Nov 1944 or Nov 4, 1944. > > ============================== > Search Family and Local Histories for stories about your family and the > areas they lived. Over 85 million names added in the last 12 months. > Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13966/rd.ashx > >