I am trying to find information about my grandfather, Freddie Battley. He was in ordinance with 59 Squadron. His wife Hazel Battley (maiden name Marsh) past away a year ago and I have inherited some of his medals and squadron shields. Which he used to have on display in his pub, The Bell in Rye. I know he was in the war and remained in the RAF after for some time and went to several foreign postings like Singapore and Egypt but beside that I know very little.
I have spoken to my mother and asked her to write down all that she recalls about him and his service in the RAF. From speaking with her, she confirmed the Egypt and Singapore locations, and he has a service medal for Malaysia so I assume he was sent their during the time the family was in Singapore. She indicated that he entered the RAF as a boy, earliest enlistment age and worked his way up the ranks.
At the end of his career he was a liaison officer with the US forces involved with nuclear weapons storage. She said that he retired early as he was not a yes man and did not see himself advancing any higher in rank. I believe she said lieutenant and squadron leader, which I don’t understand as he didn’t fly but I have asked her to write all she recalls down and send it to me.
She also has a list from my Aunt of all the places that they lived over the years so once I get that I am hoping to fill in some more gaps and postings. I will see if either has a service number for him which was a suggestion from another squadron page I contacted that he served with.
That page only is concerned with flyers but did give me the address to request his service records but I need his service number to do so. I know when we went to visit when I was a child he was working as a Rep. for Coke a Cola in the Uk. I remember him handing us all one when we arrived, in a can and warm.
Thanks again for the assistance and I will definitely be in touch as I find out more.
I have some other images to send of my Grandfather (my Moms side of the family) , his wife, him as a boy and I’m assuming him after he left the service. I’ll check with the family and confirm this. I remember talking with my dad about the pubs that my Grandparents owned and he worked in from time to time so that they could go on vacation. Dad had Pub experience from his college days. You have my permission to post the images to your site. I’m assuming that is how he ended up as a Rep for Coke a Cola as he did this while he owned the Bell in Rye. That’s all I have for now.
Dave
In his memoirs, Richard Los notes that during the Battle of France, Cpl Battley lead a groundcrew to France from the UK just days before the French surrendered.
