I was looking through old family photos and I came across an tattered leather wallet engraved 'Berlin' with some coat of arms. I asked my grandmother about it, and she says it was her father's from being in the (British) Navy. With Berlin being so far in land, were the British Navy ever deployed there in the West Berlin occupation?
Are there any good records of deployment available for free?
Yes, the Royal Navy (it's the RN, not the British Navy) was deployed to Berlin in the years following WW2. Men from the RN first entered the city in July 1945, touring the city and participating in ceremonial activities. In August, the British Naval Headquarters, Berlin, was established. This provided a base for British officers participating in meetings of the Tripartite Naval Commission - the multinational committee which determined the distribution of ex-German naval assets. In September, the HQ was established as a stone frigate, the Princess Irene. Here, Admiral Harold Burrough directed RN operations in Germany. This included administration of British, and British-directed German, minesweeping in the North Sea. Princess Irene was disestablished in July 1946, but the RN HQ remained in Berlin until January 1951.
Hello there! As your question is related to looking for identification/information regarding military personnel, our Guide on Military Identification may be of use to you. It provides a number of different resources, including how to request service records from a number of national agencies around the world, as well as graphical aids to assist in deciphering rank, unit, and other forms of badges or insignia. While the users here may still be able to lend you more assistance, hopefully this will provide a good place to start!