Michael Posted 3 August , 2003 Share Posted 3 August , 2003 With a lot of new members requesting info on their relatives, I thought it would be a good idea to build up a list of locations that we've found our soldiers' names. Maybe it'll give encouragemet to those that "can't find anything..." I'll kick it off with CWGC SDGW (Soldiers Died in the Great War) Local war memorial Business premises war memorial Grave headstone War diaries Local newspaper Medal index card 1914 Star medal roll 1914/15 Star medal roll BWM/VM medal roll SWB roll Service record WO161 (Prisoner of war reports) Over to you... Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will O'Brien Posted 3 August , 2003 Share Posted 3 August , 2003 I always find cross referencing names, ages & places of birth with the on-line 1901 census helpful for verification purposes (although it does throw a spanner in the works sometimes) Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock Bruce Posted 3 August , 2003 Share Posted 3 August , 2003 London Gazette - most useful for tracing officers but also for ORs who were VC, DCM, MM, MiD or granted foreign awards. Also the sections on 'soldiers estates unclaimed' or suchlike might contain something of interest (have to say I've never trawled them). Army List for officers - can be a slog but rewarding Regimental journals - recently culled a lot of useful information from obits of officers and senior NCOs published 1920s-60s in 'Caber Feidh', the Seaforth's journal. Plus officers (reg and TF) tended to have an appreciation publishing in the journal when they retired. Private papers - currently transcribing (for the family) the 1915 diary of a 2/Lt in 5th Seaforth. As a good young officer at the back of the diary he lists the men in his platoon with name, rank, number, home, occupation and military speciality. Jock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ian Bowbrick Posted 3 August , 2003 Share Posted 3 August , 2003 Absent Voters Lists Kelly's Directory (Mick ) Local History Centre Records. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry_Reeves Posted 3 August , 2003 Share Posted 3 August , 2003 To add to Michael's list Works, school and local sporting club magazines. Do not neglect either your local council minute books which can provide a wealth of information about what was going on in your locality. For instance the names of local policemen who enlisted can be mentioned in the minutes of the Watch Committee. In the same vein, the Chief Constable's annual report will mention men who have enlisted, or been killed or injured. Equally local working men's clubs often have memorials and some may also have minutes books going back many years. Out of interest one local WMC in my area is still called the Coventry Howitzers Old Comrades Club, named after long defunct TF unit. It was formed in 1919 by WW1 verterans and over the years moved premises several times. A brand new building was erected in the 1970's, built in the shape of a howitzer and contains a war memorial and a number of friezes in the bar and on the stairway made from beaten copper, depicting WW1 scenes. The point is there is much to be discovered behind closed doors. Terry Reeves Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock Bruce Posted 3 August , 2003 Share Posted 3 August , 2003 Will's posting promts me to add the census for Scotland, plus births to 1901, marraiges to 1926 and deaths to 1952 are also available on-line for Scotland. But beware, although it all much better done than the effort for England & Wales (it didn't involve the transcription being farmed out to the Indian sub-continent by QinetiQ), it is not cheap to use for large numbers of queries. See Scotland's People For England and Wales the free site at FreeBMD sometimes beats the PRO census site Jock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenwoodman Posted 3 August , 2003 Share Posted 3 August , 2003 Battalion histories Divisional histories Regimental histories Books of personal experiences (memoirs, accounts, letters, diairies). Local history publications Parish Magazines One guy I'm researching appears in both "the War the Infantry Knew" and "Old Soldiers Never Die"!! Thanks, langley-baston! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Hesketh Posted 3 August , 2003 Share Posted 3 August , 2003 Worth checking out the local church. Often their records going back to the Great War will be in the County Archives or Diocesan Archives, but not always. One church I looked into had a Roll of Honour (including Regiments), several photographs and a PCC (Parish Church Council) Minute Book which contained a few nuggets of information (especially regarding the loss of the Chairman's son on 9 November 1918 - poor man). Whilst at the Church check out the cemetery - a lot of headstones commemorate loved ones lost or buried overseas. One local one even records the Battle of Guillemont. It's also worth subscribing to the Rootsweb County-based genealogy lists for the county of your interest and sharing your questions and names. In this way I've contacted a dozen or so descendants, some of whom have happily shared photographs, documents and other details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lesley Posted 3 August , 2003 Share Posted 3 August , 2003 court martial records. It can be a slog as there are quite a lot of record books to go through, but interesting if you are researching a regiment rather than just an individual. schools also sometimes keep details of old boys' enlistments and many have memorials. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christine liava'a Posted 3 August , 2003 Share Posted 3 August , 2003 National Roll of the Great War Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broznitsky Posted 3 August , 2003 Share Posted 3 August , 2003 As a proud colonial, I must mention the National Archives of Canada. The CEF database is terrifically useful, especially as many British and American men enlisted in Canada. http://www.archives.ca/02/02010602_e.html Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ciaran Byrne Posted 3 August , 2003 Share Posted 3 August , 2003 My girldfeind does regular family tree research and has noticed the trend of the first names never matching up...even in her own family. It seems that many men were christened with a name and were called and known to everyone else as something completely different. There is no logical link either...I am not talking about e.g. William being shortened to Bill, I am talking about a e.g. someone being christened Ernest and being known as Terry! Most confusining....has anyone else come across this? This was especially prevelant at the tunr of the century. One explanation is if there were several men (and in some cases women) in the family with the same name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted 3 August , 2003 Author Share Posted 3 August , 2003 This is turning into a nice thread. We'd all make great detectives ! De Ruvigny's MM / DCM Index cards PIN 26 1837online.co.uk (births, deaths and marriages) Marriage bans Baptism registers (lists father's occupation) Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Underwood Posted 4 August , 2003 Share Posted 4 August , 2003 As a proud colonial, I must mention the National Archives of Canada. The Australian War Memorial is a fantastic resource as well, for Britons as well as Australians, given that many AIF men had Britsh relatives or where British by birth. Both Commemorative and nominal rolls for WW1 (and other conflicts) are available online. As are Red Cross records of wounded and lists of honours and awards. Aust War Memorial Also, sometimes a journey into researching a relative in the war can start with their surviving medals. In which case a very handy list of abreviations of regiments and organisations can be found on the medals.com site. Medal Abreviations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Posted 4 August , 2003 Share Posted 4 August , 2003 School log books - the daily record kept by the Headmaster (usually). May mention Old Boys, esp. those who distinguish themselves The DSO (Creagh and Humphries) and volume on the VC Bond of Sacrifice (for officers) Cross of Sacrifice Our Heroes (think that's right) - slim biography on men died while serving with Irish regiments 1914-16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock Bruce Posted 4 August , 2003 Share Posted 4 August , 2003 Lots of Rolls of Honour/Service/Sacrifice published post war - I've used those for various Scottish clans, universities and The Muster Roll of the Manse. I know there were ones for some of the Scottish banks. But very few of those I've looked at contain much detail. As an example of a county roll see under 1/5 Seaforth in the 'War Diaries' thread for a description of how the Morayshire Roll of Honour was compiled. Jock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Simon Bull Posted 5 August , 2003 Share Posted 5 August , 2003 Amongst the sources referred to has been Regimental Magazines. Could those who are aware of the existence and titles of the relevant magazines let us know what they were called. I am interested in obtaining a title whcih can be used to search relevant library catalaogues. I am particualry interested in the Northamptonshire Regiment. Does anyone know if it had a magazine, and, if so, wht it was called? Thanks Simon Bull Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted 6 May , 2004 Author Share Posted 6 May , 2004 This is an old thread but I thought I'd bring it back to the top because we've had so many new Pals since it started. There are some avenues of research that you maybe hadn't thought of. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandsonMichael Posted 6 May , 2004 Share Posted 6 May , 2004 Good thinking Namesake, A suggestion: combine 1901 census with history of regiment whenever possible. I found my Grandfather and his Dad had gone A.W.O.L. when I looked them up in the 1901 census...it took a while till I realised regiments were country hopping around the world. Knowing when he died I could work out in which year he was born. His regiment was in Malta at the time so I googled British army Malta and to my amazement and joy I found him straight away. What I had not reckoned with is that I also found out a well kept family secret: one year before a little sister was born and died very soon after... It really shook me up for a bit. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Desmond6 Posted 7 May , 2004 Share Posted 7 May , 2004 And where you don't expect to get information ... but do! Local history publications - especially when the history of a 'Mill' or the town's premier employer is concerned. Ballymena's Braidwater Mill was the town's big employer throughout the late 19th century and up to 1950s. Recently a history of the Mill was published in which loads of old pictures of the 'characters' and 'work shifts' were featured. A quick cross reference with the old newspaper files reveals where men worked. Back you go to the 'Mill' history and you can find lots of the mens' pictures albeit in working clothes. But that can be handy when you can't get a military picture. It also helps a 'home town researcher' like myself put these people into a social context. Also I have seen several pictures where men have quite obviously suffered a disfigurement - i.e. a dark shadow or the like to one side of the face? I checked back on one man and found he had been reported as 'slightly wounded in the face' by the 1914-18 local newspaper! And pre-war pictures of local football teams. For e.g. I now have a picture of the man below when he was 'but young lad' playing for a Ballymena junior football team! John Houston of Ballymena, the Irish International Association football player, has joined the 4th Btn. Royal Irish Rifles, stationed at Carrickgfergus, retaining the rank of Sergeant which he previously held in the 2nd Btn. Sergt. Houston formerly played for South End Olympic and Linfield and for the past three seasons he has been attached to Everton. He is a brother of Private Leslie Houston who was killed in action. Also worth checking your local reference library for souvenir programmes of 'memorial opening ceremonies' - these usually were completed in mid-20s and by that stage the 'missing' had been add to the final rolls. I find it just as interesting to see/read about these men in their pre-war and post-war environment. After all, in the vast majority of cases they were citizen soldiers moulded by the times. I also think it's good to have old pictures of the streets/neighbourhoods they came from to show people just how much things have changed down through the years. Just a few thoughts - good info on this thread - Des Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Posted 7 May , 2004 Share Posted 7 May , 2004 Doing Crieff Memorial for a talk, I used not only the CWGC, SDITGW, Canadian and Australian records but the ABMC for the one US soldier on it ( this only lists the dead who are buried overseas and not any returned to USA). There is also ' The Golden Book ' kept in St John's Kirk in Perth for the whole of Perthshire and of course The Scottish National War Memorial in Edinburgh Castle. I also found the War Diaries helpful but I must mention the 17th Sherwood Forresters which contained 4 foolscap pages of casualties for 31st July 1917 with name, number, rank, company and kia or wounded or gassed. The Local History Group also had some details of local soldiers including an index of local cemeteries. I also check the list in Oram and Putkowski's book ' Death Sentences passed by military courts of the British Army' which lists more than 3000 sentenced with their fate - just in case. Aye Malcolm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted 4 March , 2005 Author Share Posted 4 March , 2005 I'm bumping this topic up again as it may help some of our newer members Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest deepathart Posted 4 March , 2005 Share Posted 4 March , 2005 Michael, Will help you bump it up to the top - great info - but how much of this is available on line for us 'WOT DON'T LIVE THERE". I managed to find a lot of info on the family tree side of things from the London Gazette and also a site called http://www.historicaldirectories.org has all the directories i.e Kelly's etc. I would love to get into other papers but don't know what is avail online. Dee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest deepathart Posted 5 March , 2005 Share Posted 5 March , 2005 Back to the top Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted 5 March , 2005 Author Share Posted 5 March , 2005 There is an increasing amount of info being made available online. The MIC's are online as are a number of war diaries at the NA site. The medal rolls are not online and I haven't heard of any plans in the short term for them to be digitised. Our own index to WO161 has been added to the melting pot and I'm sure it is a welcome addition to the researcher's toolkit. Local records are a bit hit and miss. There are a few absent voters lists appearing and people are publishing their research on their websites. Every few months I do searches on key words for my own research and quite often a new AVL or soldier's research will appear. BUT as with any website you have to be aware that what you're reading is not necessarily accurate. The London Gazette is a fantastic resource but I find the search engine a bit restrictive. It's OK if you want to find an MC citation for someone like Charles Meredith Bouverie Chapman but if you're looking for the MM date for Pte Thomas Brown of the Royal Fusiliers, you'll be there for ages. There is a facility to search the Times newspaper. However, the subscription cost is prohibitive for most people. I believe that the facility is available online at some libraries. As you say, Kelly's is available but this isn't a comprehensive list of volumes - I still have to go to the library for my local one. Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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