A few years back my Grandad died after a prolonged illness. During that time my Dad stayed at our place in Brisbane and travelled up to the north coast to spend each day with Grandad. Over the last few months we all spent more time with Grandad.
We all knew that Grandad was in the RAAF in World War 2, we knew he flew in Lancaster Bombers but really we did not know much more. However over the last few months Grandad showed us the “Golden Caterpiller” (a medal given to all that have been saved by their silk parachutes), the map he carried so if he was shot down over Europe he could move towards allied lines.
Today I looked for his service record in the Australian National Archives, however his record is not currently open to the public as it has not been checked for national secrets. It is not likely that my Grandad performed covert missions, just likely they have not got to his record to clear it.
I paid a small fee and they will now check it, copy it and send me the copy. In about 30 days I should know more.
I will keep you posted.