I was delighted to receive today a copy of the official records for Louis Patrick Costello, one of my paternal grand uncles (the younger brother of my grandfather, James Sr.). Fascinating in a number of ways -- and a few things had me bust a gut in laughing.

He was 5 feet, 6 3/4 inches high, with brown hair and blue eyes (ilke me). Initial reaction: a roebuck of a human. (Oddly, a later document gives slightly different data, 5' 8", grey eyes, and fair hair.)

As I suspected, given his later profession in life (podiatrist), he'd been in the Royal Army Medical Corps. As such, then, he was not a combatant, though he obviously served. And in some fairly hairy places, too. The records show that he was in Crete for the Battle of Crete in May-June, 1941 -- something family legend had not told me. From 1941 to 1943, he served in Egypt and Palestine; he was serving in Egypt from February of 1942 to October of 1943, so he certainly would have been in theater for both battles of Alamein, making family legend highly likely.

The records appear to show that he was with the 168th Light Field Ambulance, which was attached to 8 Armoured Brigade; there's a diary by a member of the 168th LFA that I've ordered -- I'm going to see if my grand-uncle is mentioned in it.

The records show he served in Northwest Europe from June 11, 1944 through June 22, 1945, meaning he wouldn't have seen action on D-Day; what actions he might have been involved in can only be speculated upon.

One minor surprise: he enlisted in October of 1938. I wonder if the events of Munich, the month before, had anything to do with it. His civilian occupation was listed as "musician."

I had to laugh when he listed as his next of kin his older brother Michael Joseph -- who at that time was a general in the Irish Army!

He was given "exemplary" ratings for conduct upon his initial discharge in November of 1945 -- more on THAT, anon. Apparently, he was engaged mostly in nursing duties (Nursing Orderly Class Two), and was described as smart, industrious and capable in 1945 documents, though later 1952 documents (when he was called back) describe a "lack of tenacity of purpose."

On the other paw, at various times he was given assorted minor punishments, mostly for being pissed. He got 21 days for insubordination in June, 1941 (when he was in Palestine, a few weeks after he got evacuated from Crete), and got another dose a few weeks later. He also got a field court martial for being AWOL at one point (seemingly only for a day or so), and another for being pissed again. He seems to have had a clean record after 1942, though, except for getting pissed in Trieste, which resulted in him getting busted to Private, again. Maybe he had a rough time in Crete.

Rank: at various times, he bounced up and down from Private to Corporal and back again -- now where have we seen THAT before?

Awards: a fairly routine collection of 1939-1945 Star, Africa Star with 8th Army Clasp, Italy Star, and France-and-Germany Star, along with the Defence Medal and Victory Medal.

In other words: if my grand uncle had been a roebuck or a European mink, he would have fit right in with the Imperial & Royal Army as a squaddie.