Trying to trace relative who died at the Somme 1916

maniac101

I'm trying to find out more about my granduncle who, according to his family, died at the battle of the Somme in 1916. His name does not appear on the commonwealth war graves lists. I'd like to find out a bit about his service record and where he died. Does anyone know what other information sources I should try? Also, does anyone have any information on British Army recruitment drives in County Clare during WW1?

SpitfireIV

Hi maniac101,

Have a look at the thread below, it was posted in the 'History and Heritage' forum about a month back, also dealing with a board member trying to trace info on his/her grandfather who served in the great war:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055102481

If you look back thread the thread in the military forum, the same thread should be there with similar info.

Good luck in your search and let us know if you come up with anything

maniac101

Thanks CroppyBoy, I'll have a look there. My mother has his medals (two I think - although you show 3 in your photo). They had been painted over with "Silvo" the last time I saw them. Do you know if the medals would have any unique identifiers on them that I could use to trace him, such as his service number? I've a hunch that he may have been recorded in official records under a different christian name. Thanks.

SpitfireIV

Do you know when he joined the army maniac? Or if he had fought in any battles before 1916? If he had fought in any of the conflicts of 1914 then he was entitled to the 'Mons Star' (i.e the 1914 star). If he fought in any of the conflicts of late 1914/15 then he was entitled to the '1914/1915 star'.

If the Somme was he first conflict and he died there, then he was entitled to the 'War Medal' and the 'Victory Medal' as well as a bronze death plaque bearing his name (aka 'dead mans penny') in its waxed envolope containing a letter of thanks from the king for his service. Fortunately British and Commonwealth medals of WW1 are printed with the soldiers number, rank and name. One of the medals I have is stamped as follows along the rim:

'S-24917 PTE. J. RAE GORDONS'

Another one has the following:
'10837 PTE . R. LOCKYER . S.GDS.'

So if can get the medals its a start with his service number. As they have been coated in silvo, then the name, rank, number may have been filled in with silvo, its pretty small text, the medals are only approx. 3mm thick.

Either way he should definately have two medals, that was standard issue.

maniac101

CroppyBoy1798 wrote:

Do you know when he joined the army maniac?

Unfortunately I don't know. In fact my mother knows almost nothing about him other than his name, and even his first name according to my initial research of the Clare census appears not to be his given name. It's this lack of information that intrigues me. It's like his memory was wiped from a generation's consciousness. I wonder if that was deliberate.

I'll definitely start with the medals if I can get them. Might need a bottle of paintstripper though!

SpitfireIV

maniac101 wrote:

Unfortunately I don't know. In fact my mother knows almost nothing about him other than his name, and even his first name according to my initial research of the Clare census appears not to be his given name. It's this lack of information that intrigues me. It's like his memory was wiped from a generation's consciousness. I wonder if that was deliberate.

I'll definitely start with the medals if I can get them. Might need a bottle of paintstripper though!

Well, goodluck again on your quest, sounds interesting alright, wish I had some interesting family history like that :rolleyes:

Paintstrippers and 0000 wire wool should do the job (the method was recommended to me by experts to clean paint off a 200 year old sword, so you should be safe enough).

DublinWriter

Try here...

FiSe

maniac101 wrote:

Unfortunately I don't know. In fact my mother knows almost nothing about him other than his name, and even his first name according to my initial research of the Clare census appears not to be his given name. It's this lack of information that intrigues me. It's like his memory was wiped from a generation's consciousness. I wonder if that was deliberate.

I'll definitely start with the medals if I can get them. Might need a bottle of paintstripper though!

Death and service in the name of British Empire wasn't always cool in this part of the world.
So could this be the reason for that?

Fratton Fred

Have you tried contacting the Commonwealth Wargraves Commision? I used to know several people who worked there (I played for their football team!) and some of the researchers would love a challenge like this.

Contact details are on www.cwgc.org

drumaneen

There have been some very useful advice here ... but I am surprised that you have not provided any info re your g-uncle here. What actually was his name (s), where was he from in Clare (address). Have you a mothers/fathers name.
You should have a look at the 1911 census for Clare to see what name was being used. The real key though is his Army No. which will very likely be on his medals. Knowing his regiment too will help (Munsters perhaps?) and the Regimental association or the Royal British Legion in Ireland might be able to help (and given your links you might consider joining http://republic-of-ireland.britishlegion.org.uk/).

Suggest you post all of this on here and you never know somebody may take up the challenge for you. You might also consider discussing this with the very knowledgable WW1 'heads' who inhabit the many internet sites on the subject e.g. http://ww1talk.co.uk/. If you get his records they will be in military shorthand and thses are the guys to help you.