Find Living Relatives

I am searching for any information about my birth father, Peter Bowman. He was born I estimate around 1945 and was stationed at Tidworth Barracks in November 1966. I would like to find out where he was from, etc. as I have no other information about him.

Many thanks.

If he was in the army he could have been born anywhere I,m afraid

Doesn't your family know anything more about him

If you look on FreeBMD there are lots of peter bowman,s born in the 1940,s

See if there is 'memories of Tidworth' style internet page & post on there. It's possible you could work out which regiment he was in. Then you could also post on the Regimental Association site. Don't mention you are his child, just that your (unnamed) mother knew him and would like to know how his life worked out.

This address for it is on one of the phone directory sites.

Tidworth Army Camp
Marlborough Road, Bulford Barracks
Salisbury, SP4 9LZ

You could write and ask which units were there 9 months before your birth. They might refer you elsewhere but at least it's a start. They wouldn't give you any details about your father even if they had a record of him.

Thank you so much everyone for coming back to me - I thought I had switched on my email alerts but hadn't! I am assuming I can switch that functionality on?? Anyway...

Unfortunately my mum is unable to fill in any blanks at all about him. I realise this is really a case of long term detective work... I have looked into the Tidworth/regiment type web pages and have come across his name on the King's Hussars website but I thought he was in the Parachute Regiment. I will certainly contact Tidworth Barracks as suggested to see which units/regiments were stationed there in Nov 1966 (I was born 1967). I can't see why they wouldn't be able to tell me that, as you suggest.

Further to that, I will hopefully be able to narrow down the search to the regimental association and go from there; I realise what with data protection and everything they wouldn't give me any details, but at least I might be on the right track.

Thanks again for all your help. If I have any joy I will come back to you all! :-)

Hi Amanda, it's not just data protection but it's about the security of ex service members so you could meet a brick wall.

There is Forces Reunited, he may be on there or someone who knows him.

https://www.forcesreunited.co.uk/

They also have a Facebook site, I haven't so can't do the link.

Don't forget he could be in a corps such as REME or Royal Engineers so not with a regiment as such, just attached to them. Hopefully you have the correct regiment. Ex service associations could be the way to go.

Did your mother ever see him in uniform with his beret on? It should be maroon, if not he wasn't a para. Did he ever discuss length of service etc? The longer he served may make it easier to find him.

The army camps on Salisbury Plain in the 1960s were large so you could have a big job ahead of you but it's not impossible. I hope you are successful. :-)

just for infomation.

The newly formed Para Squadron (RAC) formed 3 Feb 1965 and were based at,Candahar Barracks Tidworth.

The Para Brigade was based 30 miles away at Aldershot.

https://paradata.org.uk/units/parachute-squadron-royal-armoured-corps

Hi there,

Yes, good point; I have considered the security of ex-service personnel issue and realise the enormity of the task and the probable outcome. But I have to try. I have asked my mum about the colour of the beret and am awaiting her reply.

My plan is to write a letter to Tidworth Barracks and try to discover which corps he was actually in and then try the regimental association, forces reunited and any other websites which might be relevant. I will check out the new para squadron (RAC) too.

One new thing I did find out today is that the man in question left Tidworth (and my mum) at the end of 1966/early 1967 as he was posted abroad.

Thank you so much for all your help and suggestions. My hope is that one day I can post some positive news on here :) fingers crossed.

Hello all, just to confirm, he wore a maroon beret.

Many thanks.