Trying to find my late father's naval record

[davidrichards27]

Hi all,
This is my first post on the forum and I am really hoping that someone might be able to help me find my late father's Naval Service Record.
I am a bit stuck as due to suffering from mental health problems, anxiety and depression, and on a limited income I am ashamed to say I don't have the spare funds to pay to the MOD.

So, here I go, my father's name was Geoffrey David Richards, he was born in 1944, I believe it was in the Navy sometime in the early 1960s and I understand he trained at HIS Ganges at Shotley.
I also understand he was at sometime invalided out of the service.

Apart from that, I have huge gaps, I seem to remember him mentioning something about being a submarine resupply ships and bring in Malta at some point.

I don't know if this is enough for someone to go on, but if anyone can please help me I will be immensely grateful.

Since the start of lockdown, I have been trying to write my own life story and background, and I gave some huge gaps still to fill.

Hope someone might be able to help me?

Many thanks
David

[Frodo]

Welcome to the Forum. I have tried looking for your father but with no success. Unfortunately the MOD seems to be the place to go for the records you want especially as they are relatively recent. I sent for my father's WW2 Merchant Navy records and only gained a small amount of information above what I already knew but my husband did the same for his father's Army records and received a lot of information

Did you know that there is an HMS Ganges Museum and they have a lot of photos relevant to the 1960ies on line. There are a few class lists and a lot of group photos where they are asking for help identifying people. They have a contact email so I wonder if it is worth contacting them about that aspect of your father's service

[davidrichards27]

Thank you for your help, I will make contact and see if they can help.

[Frodo]

I'm happy to help. It is possible that there may be a delay in any reply from them as most museums etc are operating with minimal staff while they are closed due to lockdown regulations.

[Jimmy]

I think you will find there are no records online yet for any armed forces after the first world war, if you have his service number you should be able to get them from the appropriate government department.