Finding out about grandad

[Tom mac]

Hi everyone does anyone know about the 128th heavy battery royal garrison artillery in France in 1914 to 1918  my grandad was killed on 25 th March 1918  his name is  JOHN MCKENNA 5870 Ive only just join this Great War forum so not sure how it works many thanks tom

 

 

 

[busterfield]

Hello, from an earlier posting.

War diaries mentioned can be downloaded from National Archives

[rksimpson]

Hi

 

Do you have this - https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/1584854/JOHN McKENNA/

His medal index card - https://www.ancestry.com.au/imageviewer/collections/1262/images/30850_A001012-01880?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&queryId=9a5e5f0c79e036193e3ef1f33114596f&usePUB=true&_phsrc=ewD1704&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=148708

Best to read here first - http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldiers/how-to-research-a-soldier/

and have a poke around that site, it will give you some information on the battery and how to research it.

You should be able to download the war diary for free from NA UK.

 

regards

 

Robert

[charlie962]

He was first reported missing on 25/3/18 and enquiries were made of the Red Cross but no luck. Here is his card on the IRCC  prisoners site:

[Tom mac]

HI MANY THANKS FOR YOUR HELPFUL ,I AM NEW TO THIS RESEARCH GAME BUT IT CAN MAKE A PERSON GOOD AND UPSET ‘ BUT IT HAS TO BE DONE  I AM VERY VERY GRATEFUL TO YOU FOR YOUR HARD WORK ‘I WILL BE TRYING TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT HIM’ I WILL TRY TO HELP OTHER MEMBERS ASWELL IVE GOT A FURST WORLD WAR MEDAL AND OTHERS BITS WHICH WOULD MAKE A FAMILY VERY HAPPY AS I WOULD BE IF I COULD GET MY GRANDADS MEDAL MANY THANKS CHARLIE962 

[Matlock1418]

On 18/11/2020 at 23:48, Tom mac said:

Ive only just join this Great War forum so not sure how it works

Hi Tom,

A very warm welcome to GWF.

How it works = You try to give us as much as you can - facts and sources looked at [helps us and helps us avoid potentially unnecessary duplication of work - and potentially cross-check for you.] - and then we cumulatively set off to try and help you find more!  We hope to find you much more!! :-)

It's not a genealogy site so mainly military stuff will help - but some personal family details like DoB, parents, spouse, address  etc. often helps too and helps make sure we end up with/tracking the right man/woman

And then along the way you can often find personal stuff tooI

It appears the assistance is already pouring in for you - as is commonly/usually the way. :-)

A top tip for researching is to look at the tab in top left for the Long, Long Trail - as suggested above = plenty of good guidance on how to look for yourself [always good to self-educate too :-)]

Also there is a "Search" function in top right of screen - sometimes tricky, but can often help!

There's a Private Messaging [PM] option if you end up really wanting to share very personal communications.

Always generally better if comms are in the open most of the time - so we can all see and help, but PM can come later if necessary.

And now back to that personal stuff I mentioned - here's a small snippet coming from the pension card records of the Western Front Association/Fold3:

Widow: Jane b.18.3.1877 [there is no evidence there that she remarried - but if she did that would change her pension situation - if it happened]]

Child: John Lee b.18.9.12 [normally paid until 16yo, a special educational situation might extend - but no evidence of that]

Address: 7 Linfield St., Dungannon, C Tyrone.

Pension: 21/8 pw from 25.11.1918 plus a 50F payment [Correction: I've since learnt more - apparently the "50F"on the card was a form and the date must relate to its administration] and a £5 death gratuity/grant.

Good luck with your other search(es)

:-) M

Edited 26 January , 2021 by Matlock1418
punctuation and later correction