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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

Ma! He's blethering again...

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An ordinary bloke ...


Jim Clay

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Who? Thomas Archibald Clay, my Grandad's younger half brother.

Ordinary? Yes, just like so many more of the millions who served King and Country between 1914 and 1919, whether as Regulars, or eager, patriotic early volunteers, or conscripts.

Little is known of Thomas beyond one very youthful photo, 3 small oil paintings which he produced as a very young man, possibly still a schoolboy, and his WW1 Army Service record, now posted on Ancestry.com.

Before the War

Thomas, born in 1892, was the youngest child of Charles Frederick Clay, bootmaker (later, newsagent and stationer) of Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, and his second wife Ann; his first wife had died shortly after giving birth to their second child, a daughter; the daughter, sadly, also died at a very early age.

The oil paintings remained, unidentified and unadmired, in a cupboard, together with the only known photograph, after being handed down to my Dad many years ago. Here is one of them, painted when Thomas was 14:

TAClay-Image1.jpg

The photo, found after Dad's death, was initially a real puzzle, as he didn't look remotely like any of the Clay family that we knew. However, he did show facial similarities with someone identified as probably Grandad's step-mother - Thomas's mother. See if you agree:

TAClay-Image4.jpgTAClay-Image5.jpg

I'm guessing the young man was in his mid-to-late teens when the picture was taken.

This sums up what was known of Thomas before the discovery that his WW1 Service Record had survived, and was amongst the early postings on Ancestry.com

More to follow.

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Thanks, Kim and Marina. Your comments are appreciated. Part 2 (hurrah!) will be along shortly ... honest! :D

Jim

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