My grandad asked me today if he could find an old army colleague using a computer?

Question

Is there anyway he can find out if he is still alive. They worked together in WW2

Answer 1

a LOT depends on the country. If you are not US based, this will not be as much help.

The social security death index (free at www.rootsweb.com) is the 1st place to search, to rule out if he already has passed away.  If there are several of the same name, compare the birth dates, and possibly state where card was issued. If he is NOT there, it does not mean that he didn't die pre 1960s.

Ancestry.com isn't free, but does have a free trial, or can be used often at your library. What you are looking for here, are ww2 draft records, or enlistments.. you may even find Grandpa here. But for his friend, what you are working for, is date of birth and where he came from. I BELIEVE there also is a section for veteran grave places (don't quote me on how extensive this is).

WHERE they worked, may have a history page up now. Hubby #1 was a pilot in Vietnam, and I recently stumbled onto a website with extensive history of his flight school, complete with class pics, etc. Use google for this angle. If they have a reunion group, it might be linked on such a site. Also.. put the work/school name in quotation marks for the exact phrase, which will find places where the phrase is embedded, not main focus. Think of different terms for search.. if not the place, then exact name of the unit.

Technically, yahoo doesn't allow info on living persons. Thus, we will "know" he is dead (wink wink) and we are looking for an obit.  Make sure your email is enabled on your profile, since persons sometimes will send private info directly.

One of us can PROBABLY find something. If you are not US, please contact itsjustme as she offered, since she is very good with UK sources.

Answer 2

UK answer.

If you would like to email me the mans name, I would be quite happy to have a look to see if he is still alive. I would need a location, a name and  a rough idea as to his age. I wouldn't post the mans name as there is a chance he is still alive, then if he is  you would be breaking the law.

Or you could try registering with these people and then you can ask on there.

http://www.forcesreunited.org.uk/

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

Contact the local recruiting office and ask them for the web address to the world wide locator.

Answer 4

There are a few things you could try.

If there is a possibility that he may have died during the war then you can search for him at http://www.cwgc.org/ which has most of the war graves logged for WW11 for the commonwealth and links for others.

If you think he may have died since the war then you can search the death records for his name - helps if you know a rough date of birth for him. Any genealogy site should be able to locate them online. A popular site is http://www.ancestry.com/ but you will either have to subscribe or pay per view.

To find old service friends who may be alive you can try one of a number of sites such as http://www.servicepals.com/

There may also be sites especially set up for whichever regiment your grandad was in - google it and see what comes up.

Good luck!

Answer 5

Try this site--http://www.vetfriends.com/search.cfm

for members of the Army -- Navy -- Air Force -- Marines--and  Coast Guard. There are currently 875,767 members.

You can: Search for Veterans & Military Personnel,  Military Units , Military Records , & Military Photos .

Gold & Platinum members can search our registry to find US Veterans whom you haven't heard from in years!

Fees:  Silver member - $29 for 2 Month Trial Membership Gold member - $9.97 Monthly

Platinum member - $47.00 yearly

Lifetime member - $97 and receive a

FREE Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps or Coast Guard baseball cap.

Free membership gets you:  

Enrolled in the Veterans, Active & Reserves Database so your friends can find you.  

Email notices whenever someone from your unit also becomes a member.  

U.S. Military news from around the world!  

View Ranks & Insignias for the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines & Coast Guard.  

Authentic Military Photos from WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Cold War, Desert Storm, Afghanistan, Iraqi Freedom, and more.  

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Directory of nationwide Veteran Associations including WWII, Korea, Vietnam, American Legion, VFW and more.  

Access to the Veterans Business Directory of Veteran-owned companies and professionals

Silver, Gold, Platinum & Lifetime members receive the above benefits in addition to:  

Search for military personnel and veterans in our registry of hundreds of thousands of VetFriends members.  

Information on how to request Military Personnel Records, Medals & Separation Papers (DD-214) from the U.S. Government. Complete forms to get your own or your parent's military records!  

Post "Searching For" messages to help find your friends.  

Submit a Military Picture of yourself from when you served and a current picture that is displayed with your information when your Veteran friends find you.  

Post and learn about upcoming reunions.  

Participate in online bulletin boards with your own or a relative's unit(s).  

Browse current military pay rates.  

Friends and Families welcome!

Also links to:

US Army Units

US Navy Units

US Air Force Units

US Marine Corps Units

(I became a free member to help my friend find his birth father)

http://www.military.com/

Has a "Buddy Finder", Units, etc.

Military.com's FREE membership connects servicemembers, military families and veterans to all the benefits of service — government benefits, scholarships, discounts, lifelong friends, mentors, great stories of military life or missions, and much more.

10 million members strong

Search over 20 million records for military buddies with Buddy Finder..

Search over 35,000 unit pages, find reunions and correspond with old friends.

(Joined this site, too, for same reason as above).

Answer 6

aberdeen, it's hit or miss, but zabasearch.com has helped me find old friends a few times--and failed to a few times, too. And of course, don't overlook a basic search, putting the friend's name and every variation of it (for instance, "Jim K. Smith" "James Kendall Smith" "James K. Smith" etc.), in quotes, using Yahoo search, Google, and every other one you can find. (They don't produce identical results.)

The more unique the name, especially the last name, the better the chances of success. If your granddad know what his colleague's home state was, and if the guy stayed there, the odds go up again.

Good luck!

Answer 7

Lots of sites out there that reconnect ex-forces but with the official government sites you have a better chance of finding the details of those who died than those who survived. I wish you luck, my attempts proved fruitless.