Jump to content
Free downloads from TNA ×
The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

GWF is free to use so please support the Forum

Paul Roberts

A blog by syd in General

  • entries
    22
  • comments
    17
  • views
    4,057

The power of the Great War Forum: How it helped me to complete a book about my great-great-grandfather, who had 30 grandsons serving King and country in the Great War

syd

Entry posted by syd

1,010 views

 Share

Ten years ago, I found a grainy old picture of a John Roberts on a village history archive. At that stage, I didn’t know who he was.

But he shared my surname. And, with his bushy sideburns, beard and broad smile, he looked so much like my dad.

A caption beneath the image astounded me. It said that John had 30 grandsons serving King and country in the Great War.

It inspired me to find out more about the octogenarian and his grandsons. And the truth could not have been more remarkable.

John, a retired agricultural worker who had lived all his life in Devon, turned out to be my great-great-grandfather.

One of his grandsons who went to war was my grandfather, George Burnett Roberts, who served as a horse transport driver in the Army Service Corps.

I had a picture of George, who died in 1948, the tunic buttons from his uniform – but knew nothing about his war service.

In the past ten years, I have researched John, who lived to the grand old age of 90 after having 15 children and almost 100 grandchildren.

I have traced 20 of his grandsons who served on the Western Front, in Mesopotamia, Gallipoli, Egypt and Palestine.

Seven never made it home. Several had remarkable escapes from death – one after being shot in the head and another who survived two of the greatest ever cavalry charges.

I have also traced two grandsons-in-law who survived the war. And a great nephew of John who died in the First Battle of Ypres in 1914.

The great nephew – Sgt William James Roberts, of the 1st Coldstream, Guards – lived on the farm where I was born and brought up in Mid Devon.

The research involved poring over military and parish records, thousands of newspaper pages, Census returns, birth, marriage and death certificates, and visits to villages, cemeteries and churches.

I hit many brick walls. But the Great War Forum helped me to get past these seemingly insurmountable hurdles time after time.

I asked many questions about the war service of John’s grandsons. And there was always someone ready to help me.

The Forum helped me to establish the war service of Corporal Sam Roberts, of the 8th Devons, who died on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

It also assisted in confirming:

·        The war service of Sam’s brother, John Francis, who was killed in the trenches in France in September 1916

·        The identity of Sidney Roberts, a private in the Queen’s Westminster Rifles, who died in August 1917

·        The war service of Frank Roberts, of the 16th Devons, who survived being shot in the head in Palestine in 1917

·        The war service of my grandfather, who joined the ASC at 17 and returned home to work as a head cowman and farm bailiff in Devon

Forum members provided the right help at the right time, frequently providing details of little-known information sources.

The book I have written would not be with the printers now but for the help I have received from the Great War Forum.

I would like to say a big thank you to all who have assisted me in any way. You have helped to make my seemingly endless project a reality.

The book (History Maker: John Roberts – the man with 30 grandsons in the Great War) is due to be published early next year.

Paul Roberts

 Share

2 Comments

Recommended Comments

German IR 169

Paul,   

 

     First, congratulations on the pending publication of your book.  It sounds like a fascinating topic and one that will resonate with all of us who had forefathers who served in the Great War.   I also could not agree with you more on your comment regarding the great value of WFA member engagement to provide key source material for researching books.  

     Like yourself, I was inspired to write a Great War book based on my own grandfather's service in the during the war, albeit from the German perspective.   The first edition of the book, Imperial Germany's 'Iron Regiment' of the First World; War Memories of Service with Infantry Regiment 169, 1914-1918, was released in 2014.  Largely based on WFA input and source material, I was able to publish a second edition in October.   The quality, and quantity of this information provided by WFA members enabled be to add over 100 pages of new content, photos and maps, making it a fairly rare, English-language account of a German Regiment that fought across the Western Front from the very beginning to the very end of the war.   (For those interested, more info is available at www.ironregiment169.com)

 

All the best for the future success of your book, we look forward to more posts once it nears completion.

 

Best Regards

 

John Rieth 

Link to comment
syd

Many thanks John for your comments and encouragement. It is fascinating to read of your work in putting together your book about Germany's 'Iron Regiment', and how the Forum helped you. I look forward to reading more on the link you have supplied.

My book is to be printed in January, and will be published in early February. I have been asked to do a series of talks in Devon about it - particularly in the villages where John's grandsons were born and raised. The first is to take place in late February.

I have been greatly encouraged by the interest in the book. I also hope that, once published, new information will surface that will enable me to do a second edition in a year or so.

I will provide an update very soon.

Kind regards

Paul

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...