Researching WAAF Emily Amelia Penny

**Fish_1960** · 24th January 2021, 10:27

Hi, I'm quite new to this forum and I wondered where would be the best place to find the service record for my late mother in law? she was a WAAF, and survived the war, she used to regale me with her tales from her time in the service, I'm sure she must have joined close to the start of the war as I'm sure one of her memories was an attack on RAF Manston or some other RAF airfield on the coast in SE England.

**Resmoroh** · 24th January 2021, 11:32

Fish1960, Hi,
You can get a copy of the Service Record via https://www.gov.uk/get-copy-military-service-records. It will cost you £30 and you have to jump through some hoops - and I don't know what the time-delay is currently (used to be about 5 wks!). Plenty of folk on the Forum will help with decoding the acronyms, etc, etc.
In the interim if we could have the lady's full name it might just co-incidentally turn up somewhere in the vast amounts of data held either by members and/or in various on-line databases.
Needles have been discovered in haystacks!!
HTH
Peter Davies

**Ian Brown** · 24th January 2021, 11:44

Hi,

Just to add to Peter's post. I received a couple of service records last month. They took almost exactly four months, from sending the details to receiving the records. To be honest, with the pandemic, I thought I might take a lot longer.

**Fish_1960** · 24th January 2021, 12:32

Thank you peter,
Her name then would have been Emily Amelia Penny, I'm pretty sure she was driver early in and was at a Bomber airfield later in the war, she used to tell me how she used to get told off for "riding" on the bomb trailers behind the tractor.

Cheers

Lee Fisher

**Resmoroh** · 24th January 2021, 14:59

Lee,
Emily Amelia Penny
Penny, Emily Amelia Enlisted WAAF 437481 in Block 430001-440000 issued Bridgnorth after 01-Mar-41.
TNA File AIR 78/125/4 Image 150 R1C1
Probably did her Square Bashing at RAF Bridgnorth No 1 WAAF Depot (30 May 1941 - 30 Sep 1942) – now probably the industrial estate(?).
Don't know where the WAAFs were trained to be MT Drivers!
HTH
Peter Davies

**Fish_1960** · 26th January 2021, 09:56

Thanks Peter, that's really helpful as I'm filling in the .gov form and that requires her service number which i didn't have, thanks again :)

Lee

**Billwebb** · 27th January 2021, 19:48

Well worth sending off for service record, I sent off for my (late) mum's record a few years ago, fascinating reading but they not only sent me her 'service record' mostly at St Eval but also sent her war medals, which apparently she had never claimed.