Help/Advice appreciated!

[BonJoviGirl]

Hello to everyone on the board! I'm a new member and I was wondering if anyone could help me in finding information, (and hopefully photographs,) of my Grandad James William Wilson (1895-1957) with regard to World War 1?

I don't know his roll number or regiment, but I'm guessing that he would have been in the King's Liverpool Regiment because he was born and raised in Birkenhead, Merseyside and lived and worked on Merseyside all his life after the war. (Whether that makes my guess accurate, I don't know!) He was awarded medals, but I don't know which ones as they, and any other personal items of his, were gotten rid of by his widow's 2nd husband.

What makes it harder to trace him is that, not only is the name Wilson a very common one in WW1 regiments, but that he was always called "Bill" after his middle name of William, whether he would have had to officially register under his first name or not, I just don't know. The following is all I know of him;

Born in 42 Watson Street, Birkenhead 03/10/1895 his parents were Mary and William. He was living in 146 Beckwith Street, Birkenhead by 1901. 2 older sisters and one younger brother John (born 1899) He also lived in 385 New Chester Road, Birkenhead and later lived in 8 Coulthard Road, Birkenhead (last address before death.) First wife was Margaret Love Watson. Married his second wife (my Nan,) Margaret (Rita) Garrett on 18/06/1949. Died 07/11/1957.

My Mum remembers that he was posted somewhere like Egypt(?) and that he became fluent in Arabic.

I would dearly love to track down a photograph of him. He died before I was born so I've never known what he looked like, and my Mum, (who's now nearly 60,) hasn't seen seen his face since she lost him aged 11. Any advice/information that could lead me to his regiment/roll number or photographs, would be greatly appreciated.

Thank-you for reading this very long post!

Warm regards,

Ingrid.

[BeppoSapone]

Ingrid

No doubt some of the more learned members will be able to help you with your search for details of your grandfather.

In the meanwhile, although it is possible that he was with the Kings, Liverpool, that was not the correct Regiment for Birkenhead.

Birkenhead was the other side of the Mersey to Liverpool, and so in Cheshire. My great uncle was born and raised in Birkenhead. His last address was 251 Brook Street. He was in the Cheshire Regiment.

Hope this helps.

Joe Bull, 1st/4th Cheshires, kia 14th October 1918, Belgium

[Stebie9173]

Egypt and Palestine is certainly a possibility from the Cheshire point of view as the 159th (Cheshire) Brigade of 53rd (Welsh) Division were nearly all Cheshire Regiment territorials.

I don't think any of the battalions of the Kings Liverpool Regiment were in Egypt/Palestine until WW2.

That said, there is no reason why he couldn't have been in ANY Regiment or Corps.

Steve.

[HERITAGE PLUS]

The Medal Index Cards list 5 men with the name James William Wilson.

See: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documen...=1&mediaarray=*

Dave

[Ken Lees]

The Medal Index Cards list 5 men with the name James William Wilson.

See: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documen...=1&mediaarray=*

Dave

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

And if you're lucky they will all be on a £3.50 download. If not, they should all be on for £7.00. (They were photocopied six cards to the page and you get the full page when you pay for one)

Then you can have fun deciding which one is yours. If you decide to download them, post the results here and we may be able to help eliminate one or two of the possible canidates from the information supplied.

Don't forget that as well as the infantry, he may have served in the artillery, engineers, service corps, medical corps etc. They all recruited from all areas.

Regards,

Ken

[John_Hartley]

Ingrid

Firstly, welcome to the Forum.

Speculating a bit further - assuming he was in the Cheshire Regiment AND served in Egypt, then he will probably have been in the 1/4th Battalion. Case strengthened a bit as this was Birkenhead's Territirial Battalion

John

[BonJoviGirl]

Thank you so much to those that replied, and thanks for the warm welcome! Well, your comments, thoughts and ideas have certainly given me a lot to think about!

I started researching my family tree about a year ago now, purely to try to "get to know" my Grandfather. In my naivete, I thought there'd be a website I could go to, type in his name and up would come a sepia photograph of him in his uniform!

How soon I woke up!

Thankfully, there have been no shortage of friendly people on the 'Net to point me in the right direction!

I know that some young lads lied about their age in order to enlist but weren't they obliged to give their their full name (IE: middle name included?) Would I be searching for "James William" or just "James"? If only I had his roll number, it wouldn't be like a needle in a haystack then!

I was wondering if, (instead of blundering around,) I should just pay for him to be researched? I know this site offers such a service and it looks to be a very thorough search. Would they look for photo's of him, do you think? Did all soldiers have them taken?

How lucky you are BeppoSapone, to have a photo of your ancestor in his uniform. Do you know, I know more about my G/G/G Grandfather (born in 1800!) than I do about my Mum's Dad?!

Ingrid

[BeppoSapone]

How lucky you are BeppoSapone, to have a photo of your ancestor in his uniform.  Do you know, I know more about my G/G/G Grandfather (born in 1800!) than I do about my Mum's Dad?!   

Ingrid

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi again Ingrid

You are right, I am really lucky to have that photo. I grew up with it. My grandmother, Joe's younger sister, had it in a frame next to her bed for the rest of her life.

Have you tried the Birkenhead local papers for your grandfather's photo? Of course, not every soldier had his photo in the local rag, but enough did to make it well worthwhile looking. You will also get a 'feel' for Birkenhead in WW1, from the other stories.

[John_Hartley]

I was wondering if, (instead of blundering around,) I should just pay for him to be researched?  I know this site offers such a service and it looks to be a very thorough search.  Would they look for photo's of him, do you think?  Did all soldiers have them taken?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ingrid

I know Chris rarely uses the Forum's pages to extoll the benefits of his commercial enterprise (Great War Family Research), but I'm happy to do it for him. He extensively researched a relative of a work colleague - I read the report and "comprehensive" would be a good description. It might be a cost effective investment for you.

There are probably fairly low odds on finding a photo (much better if the man was a casualty). The local newspapers would be worth trying - particularly if there was a weekly paper very local to the area where he lived. Assuming it turns out that he was a Cheshire, it might be worth contacting the Regimental Museum @ Chester to see what photos they hold in the archive (if any).

And I'm afraid you may end up have to search just on "James", but make a start with "James William"

John

[BonJoviGirl]

Hi Folks!

Having been advised to try the "1918 Absent Voters List" at my local library (Birkenhead, Merseyside,) in looking for more information about my Grandfather (in terms of WW1,) I found, (in the "East Division" index,) a one and only entry of a James William Wilson! It listed the following details;

REF No/ 515 - James William Wilson - ADDRESS: 86 Dacre Street, B/Head (polling district No/1)

And the really exciting bit! 112564 GNR 31st A.A. Co. R.G.A.

Now then, how do I proceed from here?

I've looked up the abbreviations and found GNR means "Gunner" and R.G.A. means "Royal Garrison Artillery" (bit different from "The Cheshires" and "The King's Own" innit?! ) but I'm confused as to what A.A. Co. means and am I right in thinking the 31st was also known as the "4th Division"?

Was there ever a photo of this "31st" regiment? Could this army number be enough to find photographs or a medal roll number? And if I found a medal number, could I get replacements for my Grandfather's medals engraved with his name?

Feel free to offer answers, advice and slaps across the back of my head!

Meanwhile I'm going for a little lie down...

Ingrid