I obtained my Grandfather’s military service record, I didn’t have a clue how to read it never mind understand it. So I googled how to decipher military records and Rob’s name popped up, I’m glad it did. The research he did was second to none. He gave me a story which followed my Grandfather’s steps in detail, when and where he went. Also, Rob detailed it like a history lesson which you didn’t learn at school. I had a lot of respect for my Grandfather, but now even more. Thank you so much Rob I’m truly grateful.
Mark Withnell
During a period of some months Robert went to the National Archives and copied war diaries for me. His service is great and for a good price. What I really liked was the fact that he was thinking along since he has a lot of knowledge in doing research into World War Two related topics. So besides my own overview of war diaries, he came with suggestions that were really helpful and provided me great insights in my area of study. I had a quite extensive list of war diaries to be copied, during the process, he kept me up to date about progress, so I knew when to expect what. In case I need to have more war diaries or advice on how to find some ww2 related information, Robert is for me the go to person.
Kevin Lemmens, Netherlands
I can`t praise Robert`s research service highly enough. Having received what Robert described as the worst service records he`d ever seen I had almost given up any hope of being able to find out what my father did after landing in Normandy on D Day. Robert doesn`t give up and thanks to his tenacity, ongoing advice, thorough knowledge of his subject and what seems to be a genuine desire to help I now have a very fair picture of my father`s journey from the landing on D Day through to Nijmegen and all the battles on the way.
I have paid what appears to me to be a ridiculously low price for something I could never have achieved on my own. I can now collate all the information I have and my father`s story can be passed on in a format anyone can understand rather than the random collection of pieces of paper that I started out with.
Mansfield Barker
Excellent service, above and beyond what was hoped for. I’m in Dublin, Ireland and had hit a dead end researching my grandad’s war service during WW2. Rob was 100% engaged with frequent communications; delivering good general guidance along with great specific detail (all backed up by copies of the appropriate documentation). Such a pleasant experience to deal with someone so reliable and professional … I cannot recommend Rob enough.
Matt Johnston
Great service, despite impediments caused by Covid closures and restrictions. I have no hesitation in recommending Rob’s services to anyone wishing to research their family’s war history. I previously had only a sketchy knowledge of my Dad’s service but the information Rob has just provided me with is very detailed and will help me to fill in the blanks in his story. Thanks again Rob.
Gilmour Jamieson
I got in touch with Rob to see if he could help me find out what my grandfather did during the war. Rob did an amazing job in putting together a very easy to read narrative. He explained the bigger picture of what was happening in the war to give the information context. He included helpful explanations of what military terms and jargon meant and pictures and maps which enriched the text. He brought my grandfather to life for me for the first time and I felt I had an insight into a real person – this was so much more than a list of dates.
All of this was done during the Covid crisis and of course there were inevitable delays in Rob being able to access the files he needed. He kept me informed throughout, frequently making contact to let me know what stage he was at. Rob has put together a really lovely piece of work which will become a treasured family heirloom. I have no hesitation in recommending him to anyone who wants to find out more about what someone did during their war years. Many thanks Rob!
Hannah Mears
I contacted Robert in order to flesh out the details of my father’s WW2 service. I had his pay book and service record but out of context they meant less. Robert set to and researched the events and time scale surrounding his service from 1942 to 1945. He then put the events together in a narrative form that brought to life what my father would have experienced during his time in the Army. It made real the chronological detail and the training my father would have gone through and what happened after he landed in Normandy on June 12th 1944. I fully recommend Robert’s services in adding detail and realism to what may otherwise have been dry and sparse facts and would say I have a better picture of what my father did during that time.
Barry Porteus
This was just the service we were looking for. My family and I were so looking forward to receiving my Grandfather’s army service history from the MOD in Glasgow but those records were so short and the handwritten notes were hard to read. This service made sense of all the military records and brought together all the little pieces we knew to make one easy to read chronological summary of my Grandfather’s time in the army. We now know what life was like for him. We really appreciate the way historical commentary and insights were added to the summary narrative as it added colour and context. We would not hesitate to use this service again.
Lisa West
After both my parents had died, I needed to learn more about my mother’s military history during WW2. I was very fortunate to be able to hire the services of Rob Clark to do this. Even though my mother was a particularity challenging case to research, Rob Clark was most diligent in locating and interpreting all sorts of information that would have been extremely difficult, if not impossible, to find myself. I cannot recommend a WW2 researcher more highly. Thanks, Rob!
Michael Hoppe
I am totally thrilled with the military research that Rob has done for me. I just would not have known where to start and was desperate to find out about my late Grandfather’s military history as a soldier in WW2. Thanks to Rob’s skill and expertise at navigating all the sources of information I now have a full picture of where my Grandfather went during his 5 years service, and even the location he was wounded. It was a very emotional and moving experience to read the report that Rob had written. I can’t express how grateful I am to Rob for his time, effort and expertise; he has given me a wonderful insight into my Grandfather as a young man and soldier. I’ve been able to look at this alongside the family history and narrative that I know and gain a deeper understanding of events and people.
I was delighted to know which medals my Grandfather was issued. I plan to get a replacement set and to wear them – on the appropriate side – at a Remembrance service in November at the church close to his original family home, and where his mother and father are buried. I also plan to take them to the Menin Gate, Ypres, when I next go and wear them during the act of remembrance at the Gate. It will be so poignant to have a focus on the medals to remember both my Grandfathers’ service during WW2 and his fellow pals and soldiers. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have found Rob via his website. His research and investigative skills are superb. He had made the whole process an absolute pleasure.
Elaine Mitchel-Hill, Granddaughter of a WW2 Soldier
My grandfather Reginald L. passed away when I was 16 years old. He never spoke to me about his past nor told me stories regarding the Second World War which he participated in. My grandmother gave me – before she passed away last year – some pictures, letters and information she received from him during the war. After the war, he came over to live in Belgium. It was my burning desire to learn about my grandfather’s war history. I started to google…. dug a bit deeper…article …pictures…maps…..but it was clear that it was going to be very difficult (read impossible) to get the pieces of the puzzle all by myself.
The one thing that received all of my attention was Rob’s website….once reading it, it was crystal clear to me! It felt like an angel that was sent by my grandfather… As of the moment I’ve contacted Rob, this feeling only amplified. Thanks to Rob’s amazing research skills and his passionate digging work I’m feeling so blessed and amazed with the documents he provided! There is no way I’ve could have found it all by myself. But Rob did. And I’m 1000% sure he can help YOU as well. Don’t hesitate, I highly recommend his approach and professional help.
Tom B, from Belgium, Grandson of Reginald L, WW2 Private
Thank you so much for all the fascinating information and for going into such detail too, I’m going to enjoy re-reading it and looking over the maps & diaries, I had no idea about the Pioneer Corps! Thank you so much for the narrative as it makes it all makes much more sense than anything I could have tried to work out from looking over the service record, etc. myself, and the snippets about the Stukas dive-bombing and the enemy machine guns and so on gave me goosebumps – so much more vivid than just a list of dates. Many many thanks and I will be wholeheartedly recommending you to others!
Emma Longworth
My Father wrote some of his war time memoirs of the almost 7 yrs he served with the British army. During this time he was initially a part of the home guard before being posted to the Middle East and then to Europe. During his service, he transferred between regiments, Corps and Brigades all of which I personally find somewhat confusing. I re-read the memoirs after them sitting on my bookcase for many years and decided I wanted to know more, unfortunately by this time my father had passed away.
As I now live in Australia I was not able to personally visit any British archives and had only the internet as my resource. I found researchingww2.co.uk and contacted Rob to see what could be done if anything. I now have the full picture and understanding of my father’s war service thanks to him. He undertook all the research and forwarded it to me across the world.
At all times Rob has been highly professional, dedicated and thorough in his work, more importantly he has always been friendly, approachable and helpful. From first contact, he indicated a cost which I found to be very reasonable and at the conclusion of his work the price was the same. If you, like me, are seeking information but are not sure how to get it then contact Rob I highly recommend him.
John Cowburn Australia
Thank you very much for the comprehensive and detailed information. My Dad never spoke about his war experiences, so it’s given me a good insight into his wartime exploits. Your costs for this service are very reasonable and I would encourage others who are trying to research their family military history to use your service.
John Mills, Son of a WWII Soldier
For many years I had wanted to obtain the war diaries of my father during his service abroad in World War 2. However, I was not familiar with obtaining access to these records or of how to copy them. I therefore always kept putting off the task as being too daunting or too expensive or both. I then contacted this researcher who quickly and efficiently photographed for me the 1000 pages which made up the relevant diaries and then gave me a link so I could download them. So about a week after I had first contacted him I had everything available to me and saved on my PC. The size and photographic quality of the jpeg files is superb which means they are capable of reasonable enlargement to help identify any poor handwriting in the originals and the price was very reasonable for so much work. I am therefore keen to recommend this researcher to anyone else thinking about doing the same.
Peter J Bilbrough
I finally decided to take the plunge to find about my Dad’s war history from WW2. He never spoke of it and never claimed his medals. After he died my Mam refused to let my brother apply for them, ‘let sleeping dogs lie’. After my Mam died, it raised its head again, more so with my brother, who had always been very passionate about the history of WW2 and the part my Dad played. So, I decided to take it on myself to find out as much as I could and surprise my Brother with the findings.
The first stage of applying for his War Service History was pretty straight forward but then I hit a massive sticking point. I tried to understand the scrawls, abbreviations, etc on this document first created in 1939. I tried researching this on the internet, contacting people and finally joining groups on social media. Only realising that not all records are available and some were lost to fire. The other thing is when you live in the north, records held in southern areas aren’t easily accessible.
I could have taken my time and maybe one day got somewhere with it but we are all getting older and my brother was 10 years older than me and I didn’t want to wait. Luckily for me, one of the groups I contacted gave me a few links to follow and luckily for me, one of those was Rob’s website. Having read his reviews, I knew this was the only chance I had to find out more than I ever could. While I knew that even to an expert, information would be limited and I didn’t know what to expect, Rob didn’t disappoint. His report was as thorough as it was possible and opened my eyes to the terror and devastating conditions our service people, our hero’s, our freedom creators endured and more importantly, what my Dad went through. I have now applied for his medals and can’t wait to see the expression on my brother’s face, when my sisters and I present it to him.
I would definitely recommend using Rob because of his knowledge, access to information and attention to detail. Thank you Rob for all the effort you put into this. You have made me see my Dad in a totally different light
Nora Richardson