Combover Posted 13 April , 2010 Share Posted 13 April , 2010 Hello all, A bit of a long shot I know, but I wonder if anyone has anymore info on my great grandfather? Thomas Henry Whittaker Born 1899 in Liverpool Taken prisoner in about 1915 (can't be certain) and was sent to Freiburg PoW camp. No idea what regiment he was in or what actions (if any) he took part in. Can anyone help? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peridot Posted 13 April , 2010 Share Posted 13 April , 2010 If you check the Medal Index Cards via Ancestry then this will give you details of his regiment or Corps and the Battalion is usually given on the Medal Rolls at the Public Record Office at Kew. Ancestry have a 14 day free trial offer on at the moment or there may be a free link via your local library. You can also check via Ancestry as to whether his service record has survived and if so this will tell you all you want to know. If it has not then once you have details of the Unit there will be a War Diary also at the PRO which will give details of the day to day movements. In this event the Medal Index Cards will also give you the Theatre of War he served in and also the date of entry thereto and so far as his time as a PoW is concerned, the International Red Cross will have details although obtaining their assistance is both time consuming and expensive. The medal entitlement will give you an approximate date of enlistment and entry into overseas service. Good Luck Peridot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pighills Posted 13 April , 2010 Share Posted 13 April , 2010 Checking the medal index cards on Ancestry will not tell Combover which of the gentlemen listed is his great granddad because there is nothing on them to distinguish them from each other, apart from their regimental numbers and the regiments themselves. He needs to find these two details in order to identify the correct MIC. Combover needs to look on Ancestry and see if there are any records left which could identify his great granddad by his place of birth, date of birth and possibly his address (if known) this will then narrow down the search for the MIC. As it happens there are only two Thomas Henry Whittaker's listed, 14 Thomas H Whittakers and two Thomas Henry Whitakers - take your pick! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roughdiamond Posted 13 April , 2010 Share Posted 13 April , 2010 Combover The info you've given is a bit sparse, I had a look at the National Archives POW interviews, but he isn't mentioned. As Kim pointed out, in military records "Whittaker" could have been mis-spelt, "Henry" may simply be listed as "H" and there's also the chance, which anyone on here will tell you, that his middle name wasn't used at all on his service records, it happened more regularly than you may think. Add to that if you are unaware, that 70% of service records do not survive. Firstly as Peridot suggested, use Ancestry to check the service records of those quoted in Kim's post, if you have no luck with them then check the "Thomas Whittaker and Whitakers", if you still can't get a match then check the Medal Cards on Ancestry of all the variations of name, you maybe lucky and find POW marked on one or even his address, it's worth a try. It might also be worth checking with family members including distant ones to see if they have any more info, you may get lucky and someone may have his medals. If you've still came up blank, you could check old editions of the local newspaper to see if he's mentioned as being captured. It's a matter of luck sometimes, you may get him almost immediately in Ancestry or you might find nothing. Good hunting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Combover Posted 13 April , 2010 Author Share Posted 13 April , 2010 Thank you all for the replies. I'll nip over to Ancestry and see what's what. Unfortunately, my Nan is an only child and none of her children (my mum and auties etc) can remember what he did in the war. My nan is also getting on quite a bit and she gets worse with details as the days go by. As luck would have it, I do have his medals somewhere but i'm not sure if they're his WW1 or WW2 medals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_Baker Posted 13 April , 2010 Share Posted 13 April , 2010 If he was born in 1899, the chances are he was conscripted in 1917 and taken POW in 1918. You can almost certainly reject any men who show entitlement to the 1914 or 1914-15 Star. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Combover Posted 13 April , 2010 Author Share Posted 13 April , 2010 Both the census and my nan have confirmed he was born in 1899 and everyone in the family I have asked assures me that he was a prisoner for nearly 4 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinBattle Posted 13 April , 2010 Share Posted 13 April , 2010 combover: Can you dig out your g g'fathers medals and see what is inscribed either on the back or edge? It may give his Name as the Army recorded it, his Service Number and Reg't, at least some further clues for the expert Pals to help you... They can only work with what you give them. Do you have any Census info for 1901 and 1911 you can pass on to us? Or any addresses you think he may have been living at? Names of his parents? Obviously I think you understand from the info passed to you so far that him being a PoW for 4 years is probably unlikely. He would only have been 15 or so when War broke out in 1914 so he'd have had to have been "in the bag" almost from the start. Even men who enlisted on Day 1 took almost a year to get to the front line. 4 MONTHS might be more likely, easy to get confused in almost 100 years. Anyway, I'm sure you'll get as much help as possible from what you provide. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roughdiamond Posted 13 April , 2010 Share Posted 13 April , 2010 Both the census and my nan have confirmed he was born in 1899 and everyone in the family I have asked assures me that he was a prisoner for nearly 4 years. Very unlikely he was a POW for 4 years in WW1 because of his age, you say he has WW2 medals? if he was a POW for 4 years, it's more likely to have been then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBrockway Posted 13 April , 2010 Share Posted 13 April , 2010 Was he definitely a POW rather than imprisoned in a British military prison for an offence against military law? Cheers, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Combover Posted 13 April , 2010 Author Share Posted 13 April , 2010 He was a prisoner of war in Feiburg, of that i'm sure as there was a huge family falling out when my autie brought a German exchange student home and she lived in....yep, Freiburg! Before we go any further, i'll question the relatives again and try to dig out his medals and the only photo I have of him in his WW1 uniform. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milner Posted 13 April , 2010 Share Posted 13 April , 2010 This is the only Thomas Henry born Liverpool around the 1899, so if its him, then a bit earlier than the date stated. Births Sep 1898 (>99%) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WHITTAKER Thomas Henry Liverpool 8b 104 regards Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grantowi Posted 13 April , 2010 Share Posted 13 April , 2010 Theres 2 listed in the 1911 as born in Liverpool in 1899: WHITTAKER, Thomas 1899 12 living at 12 Oswald st, Liverpool Lancashire WHITTAKER, Thomas 1899 12 living at 1 House in 14 Court Great Homer Street. Liverpool, Lancashire No listing for a Thomas Henry Grant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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