George Ivor Gray Stone

[hastingsoliver]

So I have a but of a family mystery that I've been working on for a few years and now I'm at a dead end and need some advice. George Ivor Gray Stone is my great uncle. My grandmother's brother. He was born in St. Buryan on April 15, 1917. Mother Sarah Beatrice Stone and unknown father. He married Lorrain Hill June 1940 Penzance. He had 2 children with Lorrain. I have only two sources of information after that. The South Australia Police Gazettes 1862-1947 in which he is on a list of deserters from H.M. Service. Under Navy it gives a brief physical description and then says deserted from HMS Duke of York 26/4/46 warrant filed at CIB. The next report is 1947 where he is listed on the "recovered" list. The thing is is he's never been heard from since. I have been in contact with his daughter and according to her she has no idea what happened to him, has no pictures of him etc. I have entered him into every search engine on every genealogy site I have access to. I have looked for a military file for UK and Australia, newspaper archives, find a grave and on and on. Anyone have any other ideas or do I just call it a day? 

[Cornish Terrier]

The only thing I can suggest is to get in contact with the South Australian Police. If information appeared in their Gazette then they may be able to elaborate on the term "recovered" which may help explain what happened and what he was 'recovered' from.

Also - by H.M. Navy I presume he was in service with the British Navy so there should be more information available in Navy records.

CT

[hastingsoliver]

Ive tried to find any sort of military records but so far no luck. Good idea about the police however, cant hurt to try.

[zibetha]

Hi, and please know that any stars by my ID come from participation rather than expertise.

I have a good bit of personal experience and some success finding "mystery" family members. I don't discount family memories/stories as there can be truth in them. For more recent generations, you will run into privacy limits. That includes military records. WWII records are still somewhat private, and in the USA, some were destroyed by fire. However, a research request by a cousin of mine did turn up information.

There are boards for former military members that accept queries if you know a unit, ship, etc.

In your family's situation, I would wonder if George wanted to disappear or might have lost his life during the War II era. If he did survive, he could have descendents unknown to you. A DNA test could help you there. It helped me identify a great-grandfather with a very common last name. How much the time and money do you want to spend? DNA tests are pretty reasonably priced; test the oldest family member that you can. The time involved might be greater as the DNA databases are built from people who have chosen to test, and thus random. You need to check back as these continue to build.

Build what you can and keep reviewing from time to time as record bases and DNA databases continue to grow.

Best of luck,
Zib

[donne]

From what I read on The National Archives website, the records of ratings joining the RN after 1928 are still with the Ministry of Defence. You can apply for your a copy of your own records or of a serviceman you know to be deceased but you probably need to supply more information than you have available, see www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/royal-navy-ratings-further-research/#5-men-entering-after-1928 .

From what I gather, HMS Duke of York was transferred to the British Pacific Fleet as flagship about June 1945 and docked at Sydney around July 1945. This was too late to see any action against Japanese forces but the ship was present at the surrender of Japan in August 1945. It returned to Plymouth June 1946. It seems an odd time for George Stone to desert - April 1946 - just before the voyage home. Perhaps he had formed an attachment in Australia and preferred to stay put.