Sergeant Joseph Benjamin Borman Royal Military Police and Royal Air Force
The Man Joseph Benjamin Borman was born on 26th January 1915 in Grimsby, Lincolnshire. His Mother’s maiden name also appearing as Borman, suggesting h may have been born out of wedlock. There is no information on Joseph’s early life, but upon leaving school he became a Tapper and on 15th May 1937 aged 22, in Christ Church, Croydon, Surrey, married Minnie Alice Tate. They lived at 65 Euston Road with Minnie’s parents. His Father’s name is given as King Borman on their marriage cetificate! During the late 1930s, Joseph enlisted into the Queen’s (Royal West Surrey) Regiment, Territorial Army as a Private and with service number 6087813. This number was from a block (6076001 – 6132000) allocated to this regiment under the 1920 renumbering of the British Army. The numbers covered both Regular and Territorial enlistments. Under this 1920 scheme a man retained the number given to him on enlistment when transferring between Regiments or Corps. On 1st November 1938 Joseph transferred to the 4th Battalion The Queen’s Royal Regiment (63rd Searchlight Regiment), and on 24th March 1939 into the Royal Army Medical Corps, and then the Royal Military Police – retaining, as above, the same service number. In 1939, Joseph and Minnie were living at 5 Brandries Gardens in Beddington and the 1939 census shows Minnie as having moved back with her Mother, but Joseph is absent presumably as he had already been called up. Joseph was embodied during 1939 with World War II imminent and subsequently saw service in the Africa and Italy campaigns. At the end of the war he was awarded the 1939-45 Star, Africa Star, Italy Star, Defence Medal and War Medal 1939-45. He was also awarded the Efficiency Medal ‘Territorial’ for 12 years in the Territorials with war time service counting double. This was listed in Army Order 84/1960 and therefore a very late issue. During 1947 and following his demobilisation from the Amy, Joseph re-enlisted into the Royal Air Force, with a new service number 4021508, this being from a block (4017000-4029999) allotted to regular enlistments - non ATC - at RAF Cardington and allocated in December 1946. Joseph and Minnie divorced at some point, and during the third quarter of 1951 aged 36 he re-married to Georgina Wilson Gordon Irvine in Basford Nottingham, where he had moved to with the RAF. He was promoted to Sergeant and saw active service in Aden between 1957 and 1960, where due to a disagreement about land and associated oil rights, the Iman of Oman rebelled against the Sultan of Muscat and after initial setbacks the Sultan called for assistance from UK forces. Joseph was awarded the General Service Medal with ‘Arabian Peninsula’ clasp and in 1964 awarded the RAF Long Service and Good Conduct Medal for 18 years service, this announcement appearing in the RAF News of 6th June 1964. Joseph retired from the RAF in about 1970 aged 55 and became a Head Caretaker, living with Georgina at 2A Loughborough Road, West Bridgeford, Nottinghamshire. Sadly he died a year later on 16th September 1971 aged just 57 in the General Hospital, Nottingham and leaving £1606.00. He was cremated at Wilford Hill Crematorium on 21st September and his ashes scattered in the garden of remembrance. Georgina lived another six years and passed away on 10th June 1977.
The Story The group of medals awarded to Joseph Benjamin Borman were acquired from E-Bay during November 2019, and of interest because of the double long service medal combination, including an Efficiency Medal and with a third named, General Service Medal. They came with no detail, but due to the unusual surname and only two matches on Ancestry.UK, it became straightforward to gather information. Additionally, with Deceased Online and thanks to John Scott, Librarian of the Birmingham Medal Society, further detail on enlistments into both the Territorial Army and Royal Air Force from his service numbers, the award of the RAF Long Service Medal and cremation details were provided. Which all helped build up a brief biography of Joseph. Sadly he died very young aged just 57, and only a few years after retiring from the RAF.
Word War II Medal Award Certificate showing award of five medals.
Medal Details:
- 1939-45 Star: Unnamed as awarded.
- Africa Star: Unnamed as awarded.
- Italy Star: Unnamed as awarded.
- Defence Medal: Unnamed as awarded.
- War Medal 1939-45: Unnamed as awarded.
- General Service Medal: 4021508 SGT. J.B.BORMAN. R.A.F.
- RAF Long Service and Good Conduct Medal: 4021508 SGT. J.B.BORMAN. R.A.F.
- Efficiency Medal: 6087813 PTE. J.B.BORMAN. R.M.P.
This page last updated 9 Dec 19