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Info on WW1 Grand-Uncle

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  • 29-09-2008 10:31am
    #1
    Dummy
    Registered Users Posts: 984 ✭✭✭


    Hello there,

    I have been trawling through cwgc.org for a long time looking for information about my grand-uncle who was killed in 1918 in France.

    My older relatives remember a telegram & a medal that arrived home and remember it being in the house until my grand-mothers death but no one knows where it is now. This means I do not have a service number to work with.

    The Royal Irish Rifles appear to have drawn men from that part of the country, the border counties, but the 7th BN Royal Irish Fusiliers also appear to have been made up from men from that region too.

    Somebody mentioned an office in Belfast from which I might be able to get more information from. Does anyone know of such an office? And indeed if it has a web site?

    I would be grateful for any information or guidance.


    D


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    #2
    Fratton Fred
    Closed Accounts Posts: 26,567 ✭✭✭✭Fratton Fred


    Have you tried the National Archives? http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/


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    #3
    Lizzykins
    Closed Accounts Posts: 637 ✭✭✭Lizzykins


    I was in much the same situation a few years ago in relation to finding info on the war record of my grandfather. I found a researcher in England called Tom Tulloch Marshall who carried out searches in the National Archives for me. He found my grandfather and sent me a disc with scans of the original enlistment and discharge documents and also a sheet with some backround to the regiment he was in. Now it did cost me about 100 euro but I never would have been able to find out any of that by myself.

    PS. Google Tom Tulloch Marshall and you should find his website.


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    #4
    SpitfireIV
    Registered Users Posts: 4,504 ✭✭✭SpitfireIV


    Dummy wrote: »
    Hello there,

    I have been trawling through cwgc.org for a long time looking for information about my grand-uncle who was killed in 1918 in France.

    My older relatives remember a telegram & a medal that arrived home and remember it being in the house until my grand-mothers death but no one knows where it is now.


    As he died as a result of the Great War then his next of kin would have recieved a 'Death Plaque', also known as a 'dead mans penny', along with a paper scroll from the king in commemoration of the lost life, so that has to be somewhere.

    He would definately have recieved 2 medals, the British War Medal and the Victory medal, those he was guaranteed to recieve. If he signed up in 1914 and seen active duty in France and Belgium then he was have also recieved the 1914 star, had he been involved in the campaigns in late 1914 and 1915 then he would have recieved the 1914/15 star (you could only get one of those stars, depending on which year you seen active duty).

    Have a look through the national archive site that Fratton Fred gave, it served me well a couple of months back, I got a pair of WW1 binoculars off e-bay with the owners name 'Petty Officer Lawson, D Coy, Drake' scratched into them. I was able to get James Lawsons full service record from that site that went into great detail, cost me €4 or so I think to download the file.

    Also, have a look at this forum, plenty of guy over there only happy to help with issues relating to the Great War: http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/


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    #5
    Scoobydoobydoo
    Registered Users Posts: 388 ✭✭Scoobydoobydoo


    Hi,

    If you sign up with Ancestry.co.uk, you can look for his records. I got my great grandfather's records online, and his brother's as well. All the files were scanned in.
    PM me for more info if you like.


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    #6
    spurious
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 27,138 CMod ✭✭✭✭spurious


    I help out the CWGC through the Wargraves Photographic Project. PM me his name and rank and I'll see what I can do.

    Have you tried looking for his medal card?


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    #7
    Dummy
    Registered Users Posts: 984 ✭✭✭Dummy


    Thank you all for the replies.

    Fred, I went to that website & signed up to ancesttry.co.uk site from it and am still trawling to the records. It is a fabulous site.

    CroppyBoy - long time no hear. We know of one medal that was received and that together with the telegram was in my grand-mothers house. I have all of the family and no one knows where they are now. I'll have a look at that website.

    Scoobydoobydo - thank you. I have spent most of this evening going through this site and found men that I knew when I was a young lad. But as I said to Fred, I'm still trawling through it looking for my grand-uncle.

    Spurious - where would I get a medal card? Is this something that would have accompanied the medal or is it downloadable from a website.


    Thanks again everyone.


    D


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    #8
    spurious
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 27,138 CMod ✭✭✭✭spurious


    Dummy wrote: »
    Spurious - where would I get a medal card? Is this something that would have accompanied the medal or is it downloadable from a website.

    You can search here. You have to pay a small fee to view it.

    Have you investigated other surnames he may have used if he was under-age? Mother's or grandmother's maiden names etc.


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