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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

One for the Non-Brits


John_Hartley

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Pals

Frederick William Bann is another man commemorated on a war memorial in the Stockport area. Neither I, not a previous researcher (in 1998), have been able to track down his military service.

He was born in 1899 , the son of Fred and Margaret. The last reference I have to the family is in 1910 and there's a report that the family "went abroad" shortly after.

Notification for his name to be included on the memorial came late. It was not on the list published in JUly 1923, but it was on the memorial when it was unveiled on 11 November.

My guess would be that this was a post-discharge death somewhere in the world. I've looked at on-line Australian and Canadian service records with no success. Anyone got any advice how I might take this further or is he a "no trace"?

John

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John

Unlikely to be your man, but the name is quite unusual.

I have just found a Northumberland Fusilier on my trawl through the MICs.

Pte. ALFRED BANN 268148 (6 figure post April 1917 number). This is the only information I have about him.

My thinking - FRED could be short for Alfred not Frederick.

Kate

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No BANNs in NZ!

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Hi John,

Have checked our (New Zealand) roll of honour which extends out to 1923 ( as opposed to CWGC 1921 cut off) No luck thier, checked for mispellings as well, eg BAIN and BENN. I am in the Library next week for another Forum PAL, I can look up embarkation details of the entire NZ army to see if your man was among our reinforcements drafts to the NZEF. Sorry I cant check this for you any quicker.

Kindest regards Aaron.

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Looks like Christine beat me to it..........again !!! :D

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Only 5 Bann's are listed as going away with the AIF, none of them called Frederick.

Of the two who died in WW1, both have English backgrounds.

Arthur Bann was a native of Lancashire & Thomas Bann was from London

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Hi John

It appears Frederick must have emigrated to the US and was living in the town of Aurora NY. He enlisted in the US army 108th infantry regiment.

He is listed at the following cemetery site with these details:

Bann, Frederick W. - Pvt. Co. L, 108 Inf. K.A., Sept. 29, 1918, Hindenburg Line

http://members.tripod.com/~wnyroots/index-aurora-vet-ww.html

In addition a scanned photograph of Pvt Bann from the book:

A Short History and Illustrated Roster of the 108th Infantry United States Army

can be found at this URL

http://www.rootsweb.com/~nycayuga/veteran/...an/page100.html

I hope this information will enable you to update your memorial website.

Ian

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Ian,

Great work. He probably would have been quite at home during his short time in the A.E.F., given that many of the 27th Division were Irish-Americans. High casualties on 29 September for the Division, almost 60 per cent casualties for one of the Regiments (107th Infantry).

Chris Henschke

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BINGO!!!!!!!

That's got to be him. It's otherwise almost too much a co-incidence (having already discounted Australia, Canada & NZ). I guess this demonstrates the power of the internet. The 1998 researcher had drawn a specific blank with US records.

Many thanks, Ian. Your help's been much appreciated.

John

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Update.....update......update

Since this morning, another Pal has found the family entry on the 1920 US Census still living in Aurora, so I've got identity confirmed. I've also found a good account of the action in which he was killed (published for the Regiment's first reunion). And I've written to the local Aurora newspaper - you never know if there may be descendents.

And, amazingly, when I searched to find where this little town is, I realise that I've almost certainly passed through it - we had family living not too far away until they returned to the UK (and my niece is now back near there attending college).

Pretty good result, eh? Doncha just love this place?

John

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Hi John

Congratulations in getting confirmation that he is definately your man named on the war memorial . Thats pretty fast work. It would be great if you can eventually establish contact with any surviving relatives.

Ian

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Just to "sign this one off", with some public thanks to Bottsgreys. Chris not only found the census entries but sent off to the New York State archives for his summary service card for me.

Thanks again, mate. Our turn to buy dinner next time we're over. :)

John

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Update.....update......update

Since this morning, another Pal has found the family entry on the 1920 US Census still living in Aurora, so I've got identity confirmed. I've also found a good account of the action in which he was killed (published for the Regiment's first reunion). And I've written to the local Aurora newspaper - you never know if there may be descendents.

And, amazingly, when I searched to find where this little town is, I realise that I've almost certainly passed through it - we had family living not too far away until they returned to the UK (and my niece is now back near there attending college).

Pretty good result, eh? Doncha just love this place?

John

sounds like johns a happy fella,thats a great bit of detective work by all of you on this thread,bernard
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