attestation papers?

[Guest KELLYBROD]

OK this is probably a silly question , but what are attestation papers and what sort of information did they contain.

Thanks

Kelly

[BottsGreys]

They were essentially enlistment papers which asked the prospective soldier personal/family information. Here is an example of the front page. Rear page had physical description/medical examination results.

Chris

[Guest KELLYBROD]

Mnay thanks for clearing that one up for me Chris. I appreciate it.

Cheers

Kelly

[Horace Bachelor]

To expand this subject a bit, can anyone confirm if you were supposed to be a Canadian citizen to serve with the CEF. On my great uncle's attestation papers, it states his place of birth as Brandon, Manitoba when in actual fact he was born in Whittlesea, Cambridgeshire. Also on the CWGC site he is described as a Canadian citizen. Presumably only rudimentary checks were carried out. I guess they were only to pleased to have you.

Cheers

Rich.

[paul guthrie]

To expand this subject a bit, can anyone confirm if you were supposed to be a Canadian citizen to serve with the CEF

No, at least 35000 & probably 50000 US served & 60% or so of initial attestations were born in UK.

[Horace Bachelor]

Thanks Paul,

I just wondered why Henry lied about his place of birth.

Cheers

Rich.

[Terry Denham]

Also on the CWGC site he is described as a Canadian citizen

Horace

The nationality given on the CWGC site does NOT refer to the nationality of the person but to that of the unit involved.

Therefore, an Australian serving in the Canadian Army would be described as Canadian, a Canadian serving in the Australian Army as an Australian and a British officer in the Indian Army is described as Indian.

[paul guthrie]

Terry he's talking about where he said he was born in Canada but was not; he did however list previous military experience as a territorial in England, the place of birth could be a mistake but I admit hard to see how he would miss that.

he could have thought he had to be born Canadian but that's hard to figure too since so many were UK born.

[Terry Denham]

Paul

I think you misunterstand me.

The quote from Horace's posting is that the CWGC site lists him as 'Canadian'. My point was that this designation does not refer to the man but to the military unit.

You cannot tell a man's nationality from the CWGC site unless there is any further information given in the 'Additional Information' section.

[paul guthrie]

Terry you are right and this is something I know, nationality for that purpose is that of the unit and not the man, I missed what you were replying to. Sorry for the error.

It is a bit incongrous that the man said he was born in Canada when he was not but said he had experience as a territorial in England.

[Terry Denham]

Paul

Yes, you are right - it does look odd. However, who knows!

Perhaps he thought that, if he admitted to being Brit-born, he would be posted to a UK regiment. Perhaps the typist misunderstood and entered the Canadian town twice in error. Is Horace certain that he was born in the UK?

There are many possibilities but few certainties!

[Horace Bachelor]

Paul and Terry,

Sorry about my tardiness in replying.

Terry, thanks for pointing out the nationality question on the CWGC site. I wasn't aware of that fact.

Henry was definitely born in Whittlesey (sorry about the mis-spelling in my original post) and emigrated to Canada as a young man. He was one of seven children, four of whom I had the privilege to know. Here's a photo of the Barrett family taken 1914-16. Henry is front right and Charles, my Grandfather, is the one in uniform.

I can only assume he gave his place of birth as Brandon to improve his chances of getting in or perhaps, like you said Terry, maybe he thought he would be posted to a UK regiment although I think that is probably unlikely. If he wanted that, would he not have come home to enlist? We'll never know and there's nobody left to ask.

Cheers

Rich.

[Terry Denham]

Rich

Thanks for the extra info.

My comment about him thinking he might go to a UK regt was meant to suggest that he did NOT want to go to one. Perhaps he claimed a Canadian birth location to ensure he stayed in a Canadian unit - one from his adopted country.

However, who knows what his thinking was - or it could just be a paperwork screw up!

[Horace Bachelor]

That image on my previous post was awful.

Let's try again.

[paul guthrie]

Canadian records spoil you , so much better than US UK OZ NZ all of which I have worked with. Complete, legible and pay & medical included, those are real helpful, in writing about the man below for ST! and US WFA I could document he has 22 separate wounds 18 11 16, his very high fever well after that day, fact he was still " dangerously ill" much later, all the hospitals he was in etc.

By the way, he was visited by the King! I kid you not, King was told there was an American in the hospital and spoke to him. It was reported in our local paper King gave him his DCM but untrue, got that after he returned.

Get his book, a good one!