Research A Soldier

arnhem44

The 1st battalion had been in France since March 1916,Dunkirk was a seaplane base but also a French hospital centre,it's possible that Thomas was injured and was been evacuated from Dunkirk back to England destined to be on board one of the hospital ships that used the port,Dunkirk according to the CWGC estimates that 7,500 shells fell on the town.His medal index card does show that he drowned but no ship seems to have been sunk on this day near there so one would assume that he suffered from enemy action or something accidental happened.Maybe a war diary would be the way to go on this,a RAMC or Naval diary may have some mention for that day.

mattjack

arnhem44 wrote: »

The 1st battalion had been in France since March 1916,Dunkirk was a seaplane base but also a French hospital centre,it's possible that Thomas was injured and was been evacuated from Dunkirk back to England destined to be on board one of the hospital ships that used the port,Dunkirk according to the CWGC estimates that 7,500 shells fell on the town.His medal index card does show that he drowned but no ship seems to have been sunk on this day near there so one would assume that he suffered from enemy action or something accidental happened.Maybe a war diary would be the way to go on this,a RAMC or Naval diary may have some mention for that day.

Once again....
thanks for the replies..Thomas had three children ,my grandfather and two grandaunts..and I can remember seeing their dates of birth and what you say about him being home tallys up with the conceiving and birth of one of the children.I knew about the French military hospital..
If I could trouble you a little more ..how would I see his medal index and get a look at war diaries..?
Thanks for your time.
JD

arnhem44

Here is his medal index card.Regarding the war diaries,these are down-loadable from the National Archives in the UK but you would have to establish who's diary you need,each corps or regiment would be attached to different divisions serving in different areas and not all kept diaries,in truth it's only a slim chance to find something but may possibly yield some info.

War Diary info
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/war-diaries.asp

mattjack

arnhem44 wrote: »

Here is his medal index card.Regarding the war diaries,these are down-loadable from the National Archives in the UK but you would have to establish who's diary you need,each corps or regiment would be attached to different divisions serving in different areas and not all kept diaries,in truth it's only a slim chance to find something but may possibly yield some info.

War Diary info
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/war-diaries.asp

Thanks.....JD

johnny_doyle

mattjack wrote: »

Thanks for the prompt reply Johnny...Brian Burke is my fathers cousin..I have all that info from Brian already.....a name of a ship would be a little bit of extra information.I believe it was most likely some sort of small troop carrier/lighter type of boat that sunk.His headstone shows he is buried with an unidentified sailor, I,ve been told that this may suggest a fire/engine room type explosion where the sailors body was badly damaged.
Once again thanks for your reply.
JD.

generally, the crew of a ship would be known. If one single sailor died in the vicinity of Dunkirk it wouldn't matter if his body was burnt to a crisp, they would know his name as the rest of the crew would be able to answer the roll call. If there were other sailors killed and unidentifiable it would be understandable if unnamed. A single sailor's body washed ashore from further afield than Dunkirk might go unnamed.

Would you be able to upload a photo of the headstone?

mattjack

johnny_doyle wrote: »

generally, the crew of a ship would be known. If one single sailor died in the vicinity of Dunkirk it wouldn't matter if his body was burnt to a crisp, they would know his name as the rest of the crew would be able to answer the roll call. If there were other sailors killed and unidentifiable it would be understandable if unnamed. A single sailor's body washed ashore from further afield than Dunkirk might go unnamed.

Would you be able to upload a photo of the headstone?

its not a great pic.....
Picture 049.jpg

johnny_doyle

might not be a clear picture but there's not doubting what it says. Have you had any conversations with the CWGC re the grave at all? There might be something in their archives.

johnny_doyle

arnhem44 wrote: »

The 1st battalion had been in France since March 1916,Dunkirk was a seaplane base but also a French hospital centre,it's possible that Thomas was injured and was been evacuated from Dunkirk back to England destined to be on board one of the hospital ships that used the port,Dunkirk according to the CWGC estimates that 7,500 shells fell on the town.His medal index card does show that he drowned but no ship seems to have been sunk on this day near there so one would assume that he suffered from enemy action or something accidental happened.Maybe a war diary would be the way to go on this,a RAMC or Naval diary may have some mention for that day.

Brendan,

just wanted to follow up on your tag line re DD Sheehan. The more I keep reading about this man and his family the more I'm compelled to find out more.

Johnny

arnhem44

Hi Johnny,this should be interesting and useful then.The Southern Star newspaper archives,put D D Sheehan in the search box and it will bring up countless results.The man led a colourful life and things from his early days right through are covered here. http://www.irishnewsarchive.com/Default/Skins/SST/Client.asp?Skin=SST&enter=true&AppName=2&AW=1310119861696

enfield

I just received the Silver War Badge rolls for all Officers, Guards, Tank Corps, Nursing, Royal Flying Corps, Army Cyclists and other small Corps and Machine Gun Corps.
Anyone looking for a look-up just post the numbers here.
Cheers.
Tom.

johnny_doyle

thanks for that.

I have a thread on the go at the moment on GWF re one of his sons

http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=165905&st=0&p=1614089&hl=sheehan&fromsearch=1&#entry1614089

arnhem44

johnny_doyle wrote: »

thanks for that.

I have a thread on the go at the moment on GWF re one of his sons

http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=165905&st=0&p=1614089&hl=sheehan&fromsearch=1&#entry1614089

I'll have to keep an eye on that one.

Conchir

Hey,

I'm trying to research my great-grandfather. His name was Frank (or Francis) O'Neill, and he was a Private in the Irish Guards during WWI, regiment number 7274. I'm basically wondering where I could find, or anyone here could find, when he joined up, where he fought, etc. It is as much for me as it is my Grandfather, his son. Also, are there any Army records which would show his DOB and other info, as no one in my family knows that either.

Any help will be greatly appreciated, by me and my Grandfather.

Thanks in advance.

R.Dub.Fusilier

Conchir wrote: »

Hey,

I'm trying to research my great-grandfather. His name was Frank (or Francis) O'Neill, and he was a Private in the Irish Guards during WWI, regiment number 7274. I'm basically wondering where I could find, or anyone here could find, when he joined up, where he fought, etc. It is as much for me as it is my Grandfather, his son. Also, are there any Army records which would show his DOB and other info, as no one in my family knows that either.

Any help will be greatly appreciated, by me and my Grandfather.

Thanks in advance.

I have attached your g. grandfathers medal index card he landed in France 17-8-1915 and was discharged on 14-3-1916 and was entitled to the 1915 Trio of medals and the SWB for wounds received. he was later in the Liverpool regiment.

can you tell us where he came from as there was a lot of frank o'neills in the british army

Conchir

Thank you very much for the quick reply! I'll be sure to pass on this information to my Grandfather the next time I see him.

My great grandfather was from Dublin, the city centre somewhere. Thanks again for your help

arnhem44

Conchir wrote: »

Thank you very much for the quick reply! I'll be sure to pass on this information to my Grandfather the next time I see him.

My great grandfather was from Dublin, the city centre somewhere. Thanks again for your help

Hi Conchir,if you contact the address below then they may have his record.The Guards regiments keep there own records and these escaped the bombing of London during WW2 when two thirds of records were destroyed.There is a price that would have to be paid for the search and this applies whether they find something or not so bear that in mind.

The Regimental Archivist of the Irish Guards
Wellington Barracks
Birdcage Walk
London
SW1E 6HQ.

Frank was attached to the 2nd battalion of the Irish Guards

http://www.1914-1918.net/irisguards.htm

2nd Battalion
18 July 1915: formed at Warley Barracks in Essex.
17 August 1915 : attached to 2nd Guards Brigade, Guards Division.
8 February 1918: transferred to 4th Guards Brigade, 31st Division.
20 May 1918 : transferred to GHQ Reserve

Using the WW1 Army Service Numbers web site shows Franks number fitting into the date of enlistment as between March and April of 1915,maybe a reservist pre war

http://armyservicenumbers.blogspot.com/search/label/Irish%20Guards

Conchir

Thanks for your help arnhem. If I contacted that address, what type of information would I be able to find?

Thanks also for the information on his battalion, greatly appreciated.

arnhem44

If they do have his record,it may have information such as age,birth parish,date of enlistment,his signature,height,hair colour,eye colour,chest size,distinguishing marks,next of kin,wife's name,children's names,marriage witnesses,medal information,hospital information,his career movements,details of his wounds,pension details and so on etc etc.Since you have his service number I would contact them,they in turn should contact you to tell you if they have the record or not and then explain the cost side of things.Every record varies from soldier to soldier,some have as little as one page of info,other's can have up to fifty so results are very varied if records exist.

Conchir

Wow, if they had even one or two of those on record it would be great. I'll contact them so, thanks for the help.

enfield

Enlisted 27-March-1915, discharged with wounds, aged 23 on 14-Marhc-1916, Served overseas. Number on the SWB was 339350.
Regards.
Tom.

johnny_doyle

going on the info from Tom, he appears to have been born 1893. Was his full name Francis Bernard O'Neill, born 5th May 1893. Rotunda, Dublin; died 13th Sept 1979?

Conchir

I'm not sure of his full name. However I found him and his family on the census, only because he was the only Francis O'Neill living in Dublin who was the right age, and his father's name was Bernard, so it looks like you found the right one. Does this mean you have some more information on him?

Conchir

Oh, his date of death sounds right too.

johnny_doyle

there is a tree on Ancestry. Father Bernard mother Mary Champion.

2 brothers killed in 1915 :

http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=1622842
from medal index card : 1914 Star, Victory Medal and British War Medal

http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=1622832
from medal index card : 1915 Star, Victory Medal and British War Medal

Ties in with the 1911 census record
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Dublin/North_City/Mary_St_/39612/

Conchir

I just asked my Dad, and he told me Francis actually died in 1950. I haven't seen the tree, does this change some of the information?

johnny_doyle

if your Francis died in 1950 then it's unlikely that it's the same Francis. The Francis in the Ancestry tree was married to a Mary/Mollie McFarlane (1898-1991).

Conchir

No, that's not right unfortunately. Seems like I found the wrong Francis on the census. I'll have to check with my grandad to see if he had any brothers or sisters and find him on the census after that. Thanks anyway.

johnny_doyle

have you got a copy of his death cert or marriage cert?

Any medals in the family that might give hints to brothers?

enfield

The will be a show in Camden Fort on Saturday week and Sunday week. One of the display tables will have War Dead Databases.Lookups will be free, mainly covering the Great War. All the reference material you know regarding ww1 and more.
Cheers.
Tom.

tyview

Hi All,

I've just today found out my gt grandmothers brother Michael Case died in the war and found his details on the CWGC website:

I'm just wondering what the "C" Coy means? I've read as much as I can in the last few hours and from what I can make out, the 1st bn was demobilised in 1918. Would this be right? If so I'm wondering why his DOD states 1921. Any help appreciated! Sorry if this duplicates another post, still trying to get through all the thread
Casualty Details

Name:CASEY, MICHAELInitials:MNationality:United KingdomRank:PrivateRegiment/Service:Connaught RangersUnit Text:"C" Coy., 1st Bn.Age:33Date of Death:18/04/1921Service No:7143146Additional information:Son of Maurice and Julia Casey, of 48, Beresford St., Dublin.Casualty Type:Commonwealth War DeadGrave/Memorial Reference:3. C. 1.Cemetery:RAWALPINDI WAR CEMETERY