Gaskin Brothers

[Rockdoc]

Pals have confirmed from SDGW that 8468 L/Corp Sidney Gaskin was a first cousin of my Grandfather. Sidney died in September 1916 and is interred at Baghdad North Gate Cemetery. Looking at the Soldiers of Oxford website and, via that, the Oxfordshire Heritage website I found that Sidney died a POW so I'm guessing he was probably taken by the Turks at Kut.

His brother, William Campbell Gaskin, is shown on the same search of the Oxfordshire heritage website with a very similar service number - 8455 - but I can't find him on the CWGC website and he does not appear on the war memorial at Cottesford, where Sidney is shown. Are there any Ox & Bucks experts amongst the Pals who can help me in the right direction to shed light on these two chaps?

Keith

[grantowi]

The fact that he's not on CWGC nor the memorial, is it possable that he survived ?

Have you check his MIC - http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documen...p;resultcount=1

From 1901 census:

GASKIN, Thomas Head Married M 73 1828 Farm Labourer Mixbury Oxfordshire

GASKIN, Sarah Wife Married F 66 1835 Evenley Northamptonshire

GASKIN, Joseph Son Widower M 38 1863 Farm Labourer Mixbury Oxfordshire

GASKIN, William Grand Son M 13 1888 Farm Labourer Juniper Oxfordshire

GASKIN, Sidney Grand Son M 12 1889 Scholar Juniper Oxfordshire

Living at Cottisford, Juniper, Oxford

Grant

[Kevin Tobin]

Keith

Will check the SOFO records when I am next in.

Kevin

[Rockdoc]

Thanks, both.

It does look like William survived WW1, Grant, but I can't find any trace of him at FreeBMD and I wonder whether he re-enlisted or emigrated. I've got the Cottesford parish records and there's no trace of him being buried there.

I have no idea what might have survived in the O&B archives that might give a clue. As Sidney was in the 1st Btn and William's number is similar, I guess they were regulars who's enlisted around 1910 or a bit before. I do know that farming was in a real mess around that time and men were leaving the land in droves because work just wasn't there. My Great grandfather was a successful tenant-farmer but my Grandfather worked as a booking clerk on the railway and as a coal-miner a long way from home before enlisting because even mining was only offering an odd day's work a week in 1909.

Keith

[grantowi]

Could this be him ?

Name: William GASKIN

Date of departure: 11 September 1940

Port of departure: Liverpool

Passenger destination port: Halifax, Canada

Passenger destination: Halifax, Canada

Date of Birth:

Age: Adult

Marital status:

Sex: Male

Occupation: Lg Sto

The booking sheets states they are all Naval ratings ex Chatham.

Not sure what "Lg sto" is, I assume its some sort of boss stoker, as there are "Sto 1", Sto 2" and "A/Lg sto" listed

Grant

[Rockdoc]

It could be but I don't know for sure. I've since discovered he married a distant cousin, Olive Gertrude Parrish, at Battersea in 1919. He re-enlisted in the OBLI but was discharged in Ireland in 1922 as unfit. He had three children between 1920 and 1926, all registered in the Battersea area where his wife was born.

Keith

[johntanner]

1st OBLI History shows Sidney as having served in P Coy. and records his place of death as Adana 27 September 1916.

Hit send before turning the page - William is recorded as a possible survivor from S Company.

[Rockdoc]

Thanks. KevinT sent me some info from SOFO that helped a lot. William definitely survived, married and had three children but I lose him after that. Thinking about it again, I can't see that he'd be the one Grant suggested, emigrating as a Leading Stoker in 1940, as he'd be almost sixty by then. Hopefully, he'll turn up one of these days, probably when I'm not looking directly for him. That seems to be the way of genealogy in my experience!

Keith