Gunner Charles Mansfield

[Frajohn]

Hi

I am trying to locate where my maternal Grandfather served in the war. I only have his MIC which gives his Regt. No. as L/33732.

I am told that he was wounded in the arm (bullet?) and that he was gassed

Is there any way to find out further information, please

Many thanks

John

[Paul Johnson]

John,

You will find details like this in his Service Papers, if they have survived. 60% of WW1 Service Papers for Other Ranks were destroyed in bombing during WW2. The remainder have only fairly recently been made available on microfilm at the National Archives (Public Record Office) in Kew.

There are two series of documents. WO363, these are known as the "Burnt Records", contain a majority of the records that survived the bombing. The second series, WO364, contain copies of Service Records kept by the Ministry of Pensions and tend to relate, in the main, to those men who survived WW1 and were receiving a pension.

The details on his MIC will relate to the Medal Rolls and you may be able to ascertain his Unit via these. Once you have established his Unit you may be able to find his Unit War Diary in series WO95. This contains information on the units location and what was happening on a daily basis. They very rarely contain the names of Other Ranks but will give you a good insight into what your man was doing at the time. Once you have established which unit he was serving with it may also be possible to find a Divisional, Regimental or Unit history which can provide further details but, again, is unlikely to mention him by name.

If you cannot get to the NA yourself you would be wise to invest in the services of a professional researcher to undertake the work for you. Advice on this can be found elsewhere on this forum or via the NA.

Hope this helps (and my apologies if you were aware of any of this).

Regards

PAUL JOHNSON

[Frajohn]

Dear Paul

Many thanks for your reply.

I had previously looked under WO 363, but had not looked under WO364. Neither had I looked under the medal rolls. My one and only visit to PRO was rather overwhelming.

I am trying to get there this Saturday and will take your advice with my search.

Kind regards

John