Pte Sam Andrews - MGC. Did he have a wife?

[sandymae]

Hello,

We have been putting information together on my husbands uncle: Pte Samuel Andrews (140564), killed in action on 28 May 1918. He was in the Machine Gun Corp when he died, but originally in the Warwickshire Regiment. He served 3yrs 9months.

We know when he was killed, and where his grave is - Chambrecy.

What we would like to find out is whether he was married - is there anywhere that has army records which would give this information?

We have a newspaper cutting giving brief details of when he was killed and that his mother resided in Castle Bromwich. It makes no reference to his father who was alive - nor indeed do either of the other 2 deceased servicemen pictured have details, only referring to their parents/mothers.

Was this normal, or would wives have been mentioned if they had been married?

Regards, Sandymae

[delta]

Hi Sandymae and welcome to the Forum - this is an area I know little about - but someone will.

I suggest that, to allow other Pals to pick upon the topic, that you go back to your post, click on the edit button and change the title to something like - PTE SAMUEL ANDREWS MGC - DID HE HAVE A WIFE?

Stephen

[welshdoc]

Your unlucky as often CWGC lists have next of kin details

http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_detail...casualty=611113

A local paper of the time would no doubt have details of next of kin. Also you can obtain his death certificate which would I expect have it. There

[Guest KevinEndon]

[kevinrowlinson]

I would be surprised if he was married. One would have thought your husband would have heard some whispers while growing up. To further your research you should try to see whether his service papers survived. These are held at the National Archives at Kew. Some kind soul may offer to find them when they go there if you ask on "I'm going to the Natioanal Archives", or you can hire someone to do it, or you can ask online at https://secure.nationalarchives.gov.uk/reco...spx?narcwicbc=1 . You need code WO 363/A 208 .

Some likely marriages though;

View Record Samuel Andrews 1913 Oct-Nov-Dec Berry Aston Warwickshire

View Record Samuel Andrews 1913 Oct-Nov-Dec Jenner Canterbury Kent

View Record Samuel Andrews 1915 Jan-Feb-Mar Jupp Epsom Surrey

View Record Samuel Andrews 1915 Jul-Aug-Sep Body West Derby Lancashire

View Record Samuel Andrews 1915 Oct-Nov-Dec Massey Dudley (1913 Onw) Staffordshire, Worcestershire

View Record Samuel Andrews 1915 Oct-Nov-Dec Pearson Gateshead Durham, Tyne and Wear

Kevin

[sandymae]

Thank you all for your input, really appreciated.

I have tried to find my way around the National Archive website - but find it a bit overwhelming! Will persevere tho'.......

Kevrow, my husband never heard whispers about Sam being married, we had a letter some years ago from an elderly spinster cousin who wrote ' I remember Aunt Maria crying, and saying ...what will become of poor little Sammy'. Nothing was ever spoken about it.

My husband was born much later than his brother and cousins, his brother joined the RAF in 1938 when m hubby was 5yrs old, so he really grew up as an only child, he hardly had any recollection of any other family members, there were only rare vists. His parents rarely communicated, it was a quiet house.

His father went through WWI and never spoke of his experiences even to the day he died in 1972. In fact 3 Andrews' brothers fought in the War, 2 came home - Sam lies at rest in Chambrecy.

Hubby, remembers his father going off every year for the Armistice service at Penkridge Church, and watching him walk down the lane from the farm cottage the mile to church.

We have his fathers diary and medals. He served in the Warks Regt.

Thank you all for replies,

Sandra

[David_Blanchard]

Hi Sandra,

Have you looked at the thread on the Aisne Battle 27th May to 6th June 1918. There is some information about the 8th MGC and other information about this area of the Western Front in general.

Click Here

Regards

David

[sandymae]

David,

Thank you for that link, I have just spent ages reading the accounts - almost to much to absorb.

What brave men they all were, I feel emotionally drained.

Can you imagine what the BBC coverage would be if they were reporting on WWI now? Our eldest son was in the first wave of the 2003 Iraq invasion, we nearly lost him in an anti tank mine incident. For 6 months I never switched off News 24.

Reading all the reports/diaries of the divisions at Aisne makes one feel very humble.

Thanks for the link.

Sandra

[kevinrowlinson]

Sandra,

I do not know whether you have done any more research on Samuel, but interestingly there was a birth for a Samuel and mother (Berry) in the district of Aston

Samuel K J Andrews

Year of Registration: 1914

Quarter of Registration: Jul-Aug-Sep

Mother's Maiden Name: Berry

District: Aston

County: Warwickshire

Volume: 6d

Page: 1226 (click to see others on page)

This was the Samuel who married in Oct/Dec 1913.

Regards Kevin

[sandymae]

Kevin,

How kind of you to give these details - Luois just pipped you to the post, he replied on the Worcs Regt website, and YES it is what we were looking for.

I sent for Samuel K J's birth certificate, and it arrived with all the details that we were hoping for, right father - married to Sarah Beatrice Berry (she dropped her first name) at end of 1913, and baby Sam arrived at end of August 1914. Mother registered his birth.

They named the baby Samuel Kitchener James, Samuel after his father, Kitchener - perhaps his dad was a fan! and James after his paternal grandfather (also my husbands grandfather).

Thank you so much for taking the trouble to put the info up.

Regards Sandra (Andrews)