Forces Reunited

[Just Gillian]

I have just come across my late mother's name on the above site.

I am completely unfamiliar with Forces Reunited and wondered if someone could explain what the system is for adding names - ie can a name be added by someone who is searching for fellow soldiers or does FR add the names. Her brief profile is partly correct but her listed year of joining the Regiment in WW2 is incorrect (she would only have been 16).

[kiterunner]

It does seem that you can post details of someone who you are looking for, but as far as I can see, those names only come up if you look at the "Missing Friends" list; they don't come up as matches on the main Name Search. It looks as though the main Name Search will only find people who are, or have been, members of the site.

Also they have an advert for Forces War Records which appears at the top of the search results screen, and that advert has a name search facility which will take you directly to the Forces War Records site and shows you the matches on that site (a sister site of Forces Reunited.) FWR does have a database of records which they added themselves from various sources, not just members. We have to be careful what we say about them, but people have said in the past that when they joined FWR it was not made clear to them that their membership would be on continuous renewal unless they disabled it. Also you should note that the Advertising Standards Authority ruled against them last year and the ruling is listed as ASA Adjudication on Forces Reunited Ltd: Forces Reunited Ltd t/a [trading as] Forces-war-records.co.uk
http://asa.org.uk/Rulings/Adjudications/2013/2/Forces-Reunited-Ltd/SHP_ADJ_211686.aspx#.U_NGrI3wvIU


Did you definitely find your mother's name on Forces Reunited itself, or was it via the Forces War Records ad?

[Just Gillian]

Thanks Kate.

Yes, her name and profile are definitely on Forces Reunited itself.

In the profile "Where are you now" bit, her whereabouts is incorrect but is in the general area where she served. Perhaps there is someone else with an identical name, but the regiment is correct plus 1943, her year of leaving.

[annswabey]

I don't use the FWR site for the reasons Kate gave (and other reasons!). Is it worth you looking at the Collections List on the site to see if she might fit into any of the categories there?

[Just Gillian]

Sorry Ann - I hadn't anticipated being unable to get back online last night.

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll give it a try.

My parents' army paperwork is all in a sibling's loft so I can't immediately confirm the regiment listed. As there were no other births in England, Wales, Scotland or Ireland for the same name it is possible this is a married name of someone unconnected.

I'll have a google to see if I can find where the 37 Heavy Anti Aircraft Regiment was stationed in 1942/44.