BillyH Posted 21 March , 2015 Share Posted 21 March , 2015 Apologies if anyone has already posted this elsewhere on the Forum, but I enjoyed reading this little piece from the BBC News website : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-31967883 BillyH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 21 March , 2015 Share Posted 21 March , 2015 Somme mothers do 'ave 'em. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyH Posted 21 March , 2015 Author Share Posted 21 March , 2015 BillyH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnMcD Posted 21 March , 2015 Share Posted 21 March , 2015 So sad. It would be interesting to know the stories behind the naming of the fourteen other babies named "Somme" in England and Wales between 1916 and 1918. (see freebmd.org.uk). For some other research I was carrying out I looked at the numbers of children named Ypres, Loos, etc. If you run the names of other battles through the website you'll see significant numbers for many of them . Each naming will have a story to tell I'm sure. Ann Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 21 March , 2015 Share Posted 21 March , 2015 Mrs B showed me this earlier. Fascinating - thanks for sharing. In the 70's I spent 6 amazingly boring months working in Cambridgeshire County Council's Superannuation department (The Horror!), and never ceased to be amazed at the names of some of the people. Boer war births commonly had "Pretoria", "Ladysmith", etc (even a "Modder"!); GW people were - as above - "Somme", "Haig", "Arras"; and then we came to the "Winston", "Montgomery" generation. On a personal level, shortly before that I worked with a chap who could never understand why his grand-father was called "Bobs", rather than "Bob", and my brother, born in 1941, had a school chum with the initials "RAF". So sad about Tiny's mother, though. Must have been awful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 21 March , 2015 Share Posted 21 March , 2015 Mods - can the (currently two) threads on this be merged? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle George Posted 21 March , 2015 Share Posted 21 March , 2015 Mrs B showed me this earlier. Fascinating - thanks for sharing. In the 70's I spent 6 amazingly boring months working in Cambridgeshire County Council's Superannuation department (The Horror!), and never ceased to be amazed at the names of some of the people. Boer war births commonly had "Pretoria", "Ladysmith", etc (even a "Modder"!); GW people were - as above - "Somme", "Haig", "Arras"; and then we came to the "Winston", "Montgomery" generation. On a personal level, shortly before that I worked with a chap who could never understand why his grand-father was called "Bobs", rather than "Bob", and my brother, born in 1941, had a school chum with the initials "RAF". So sad about Tiny's mother, though. Must have been awful. Ten years or so ago I worked for Plymouth Social Services and one of the clients was a chap born in 1916 with the Christian name 'Verdun' - emphasis on the first syllable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghazala Posted 21 March , 2015 Share Posted 21 March , 2015 Ten years or so ago I worked for Plymouth Social Services. Is that when you had Swilly in your bailiwick? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle George Posted 21 March , 2015 Share Posted 21 March , 2015 Is that when you had Swilly in your bailiwick? Yes indeed. Swilly, now more properly 'North Prospect'. Also, Mount Batten. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T8HANTS Posted 21 March , 2015 Share Posted 21 March , 2015 My late Father in Law's middle name was Peace as he was born Dec 1918. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daggerphil Posted 21 March , 2015 Share Posted 21 March , 2015 I met an (English) lady called Verdun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dai Bach y Sowldiwr Posted 21 March , 2015 Share Posted 21 March , 2015 My grandmother's half-sister's husband, was born on November 11th 1921 His middle name is Armistice. (That makes him my half-great aunt's husband. In Wales, that's close family.) I came across a Ypres, and a Verdun-both men, and several Louvains-all women. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 21 March , 2015 Share Posted 21 March , 2015 Someone has a tree on Ancestry with Douglas Haig Allen, born April 1916 Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theletterwriter Posted 21 March , 2015 Share Posted 21 March , 2015 In a completely random choice, Scotlands People records forenames of births between 1914-1922 as : - Haig 636 Somme 177 Kitchener 74 Verdun 73 Peace 64 Mons 49 Jellicoe 43 Loos 42 Arras 40 Ypres 26 Joffre 24 Aisne 25 Victory 23 Marne 21 Foch 15 Armistice 10 Gallipoli 1 Not a very scientific analysis I know. Douglas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asanewt Posted 21 March , 2015 Share Posted 21 March , 2015 My favourite among many is "Cal" our one time storekeeper. Always thought he was Carl Jones 'till one day after some years I lightheartedly called him Carlos. He quickly corrected me saying his name was actually Calais due to his fatherr having sent a postcard to his mother from there soon after he was born. Very interesting says I. Oh yes says he but lucky for me his next card was from Gallipoli. Never really knew if that was his joke or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 21 March , 2015 Share Posted 21 March , 2015 Mods - can the (currently two) threads on this be merged? Ta - Not a very scientific analysis I know. Douglas Good enough for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Scorer Posted 23 March , 2015 Share Posted 23 March , 2015 I often walk around my local cemetery, and there's a grave there of someone called Verdun. The odd thing about it is that he was born in 1936 .... there's obviously a story there, but I don't know what it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nelto Posted 23 March , 2015 Share Posted 23 March , 2015 My father in law was born on 1st July 1929. One of his middle names is Somme after the battle and the date. Might be a more common occurance than previously thought? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kildaremark Posted 26 March , 2015 Share Posted 26 March , 2015 Also Rosary Anne Le Cateau Ketteridge was born at Kildare in December 1914. Her father Bombardier James Ketteridge (11th Bty, 15th Bde RFA) was killed on 21 August 1914 at le Cateau by the French. He was stationed at Kildare when the war broke out. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulgranger Posted 26 March , 2015 Share Posted 26 March , 2015 Killed by the French, at Le Cateau before Mons had been fought. What's the story there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coldstreamer Posted 26 March , 2015 Share Posted 26 March , 2015 My sons middle name is MONS - for my interest in ww1 and my GFs middle name was also MONS - as that was where family legend said my GGF was when GF was born - he wasnt either !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelS Posted 18 February , 2016 Share Posted 18 February , 2016 From the latest TNA (18th Feb 2016) newsletter 'Battle Babies' NigelS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle George Posted 11 November , 2016 Share Posted 11 November , 2016 (edited) Here's a clip (broadcast yesterday) of 100 year-old Verdun Hayes. He, a veteran of D-Day, is being presented with the Legion D'honneur: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-37935401 Edited 11 November , 2016 by Uncle George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BereniceUK Posted 11 November , 2016 Share Posted 11 November , 2016 I spotted an Aisne recently; I wonder who his father was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kath Posted 12 November , 2016 Share Posted 12 November , 2016 I've found at least three 'Royal Edward' babies whose family suffered loss at the sinking. Kath. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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