Wanted : Researcher

[stevedrew]

To Forum participants in England:
I need someone to go to the PRO in Kew to copy some records. I'm kinda far away at the moment. What I need is Robert Alexander Little's War Dossier and that of Roderic Stanley Dallas. According to the RAF Museum, these should only be a few pages. Can anyone do this for me in conjunction with their own research? I'm willing to cover all expenses, and even willing to reciprocate at the Australian War Memorial for English researchers wishing info on Aussie Pilots.
Regards,
Steve Drew

Steve

I could do this when i get back from uni for Christmas (17th Dec) if you give me the details. I have not done this kind of thing before, so it would be good experience! Don't know about passing the information on by e-mail as my access is limited when i am at home.

Mark

[stevedrew]

Mark,
I appreciate your offer. That could be daunting, fronting up to the PRO. I've been in contact with the RAF Museum and they have a lot of the documentation I require, and they stated that sadly, English War Dossiers are very much lacking when compared to the Australian version. We get everything here! I've been told that the War dossiers usually amount to 2 pages each! I'm not going to England just for that. As for the rest of my research, that should be pretty easy, as I am requesting entire files and no searching through them is required (i.e Squadron Diary Naval 8 etc.), so that is apparently fairly easy by conventional post. I may also be "off-line" soon, so perhaps snail mail is the way to go. I'll contact the PRO and find the numbers of the files I require and their respective sizes so we can figure out your expenses incurred for reimbursement, and I'll get back to you. Thanks again mate.

Steve Drew

G'day Steve,
You may know this but here goes.
Both these blokes flew for the R.A.F (More correctly R.F.C.) but they were both Aussies. Here's a little on them:
Robert Little was born in Melbourne, Australia on 19th July, 1895. Little joined the Royal Naval Air Service in 1915. Posted to Dunkirk in June, 1916, he flew in several bombing missions before joining the Naval Squadron in October, 1916.
Flying a variety of aircraft, including the Sopwith Camel, over the next 19 months Little had 47 victories. Robert Little, who was Australia's top flying ace, was shot down and killed on 27th May 1918 during an attempt to shoot down a Gotha bomber.

Roderic Dallas was born in Mount Stanley, Queensland on 30th July, 1891. Dallas joined the Australian Army in 1913 but on the outbreak of the First World War applied for a transfer to the Royal Flying Corps. After being rejected by the RFC he joined the Royal Naval Air Service in 1915.

Flying a variety of aircraft, including the Sopwith Camel, over the next three years Dallas had 32 victories. Roderic Dallas, who was second only to Captain Robert Little in Australia's table of top flying aces, was shot down and killed by the German Ace, Johannes Werner, on 1st June 1918.

Some more info on my site: www.anzacs.net

all the best with your research,
John

[stevedrew]

John,
Thanks for your reply. Did know all that, but thanks anyway. I like your site!

Steve Drew

Steve

The cost of reproduction seem pretty low (35p a sheet of A4) but they have a special handling charge on certain documents that could increase the price. If we are taking a couple of pounds then there is no need to worry about paying me back. You may want to search on-line for the record numbers:

www.pro.gov.uk

Happy hunting!

Mark

[stevedrew]

Mark,
Thanks. I suspect it could be somewhat more than a few pages. What I will do is to go searching through the PRO on-line (shudder!) and locate the numbers of the files I want, then ask them the size of these documents, I've been stung before. Then I'll get back to you by direct email (as opposed to going through the Aerodrome Forum), tell you what I need, how large it will be, and tell you that I have forwarded an International Bank Draft by mail. Thanks again. Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
Steve.

Steve if you are going to e-mail me then please use the address on this e-mail and not the other one! Thanks

Mark