WW1 Service records search

MajorMax

Hi everyone.
I'm new to this, the reason I'm posting this thread is that I got some information at a family reunion this weekend that I found quite amazing.

I have always known about my mother's Uncle from Wicklow who was in the 1st Battalion Irish Guards Regiment who was killed at 3rd Ypres on 3/8/1917

I just found out that my Father had an Uncle from Monaghan who was in the 7th Battalion Royal Irish Regiment who was killed at 3rd Ypres on 8/8/1917

Both men died within a week of each other in the same sector and both are listed on the Menin gate

I have both of their service numbers, can anyone point me in the right direction online to get more info?

arnhem44

Hi MajorMax,only one third of records still exist after the blitz of WW2.The Irish Guards held separate service records and they may have a record for your relative however to proceed with a search of there archives requires payment whether they find a record or not,you can contact them at the address below.Other service records can be found on Ancestry,here you will be able to access medal index cards,Irish memorial records,service and pension records(if they survived) and so on.The Commonwealth War Graves Commission web site can be searched free of charge and this will give you the soldiers basic details of service number,rank,place of death and maybe a next of kin.Also it's worth looking at the Long Long Trail website below as this will explain where to start when searching for records.If you wish you could post there details here and we can have a look for you.


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

http://www.cwgc.org/

http://www.1914-1918.net/records.html

enfield

From 'The Wicklow War Dead'

KELLY. WILLIAM. Rank: Private. Regiment or Service: Irish Guards. Unit; 1st Bn.
Date of Death: 03-August-1917. Service No: 11446. Born in Kiltegan, Co Wicklow. Enlisted in Naas, Co Kildare while living in Baltinglass, Co Wicklow. Killed in Action. Grave or Memorial Reference: He has no known grave but is listed on Panel 11 and 11 on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial in Belgium.

MajorMax

"From 'The Wicklow War Dead'

KELLY. WILLIAM. Rank: Private. Regiment or Service: Irish Guards. Unit; 1st Bn.
Date of Death: 03-August-1917. Service No: 11446. Born in Kiltegan, Co Wicklow. Enlisted in Naas, Co Kildare while living in Baltinglass, Co Wicklow. Killed in Action. Grave or Memorial Reference: He has no known grave but is listed on Panel 11 and 11 on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial in Belgium"

Hi
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you.

Enfield thanks a million for the information. I knew some of it already but I never knew he enlisted in Naas, I thought he would have gone up to Dublin to enlist in an elite guards regiment. I would expect recruits from Kildare/Wicklow to go to the Leinster Regiment.
Does anyone have any information on when he enlisted? The family always thought that he had enlisted as a young boy of 16 in the British army and served in the 2nd Boer war. There was a story of him being bought out by his Aunt. would there be any way of verifying this?

As for John McKenna. Does anyone have any information on him? I never knew anything about him until this weekend as the family never spoke of him. Misplaced shame I suppose.

On a side note both of these men died in Flanders both of their younger brothers fought in the IRA in the twenties, 1 died 1 was captured & tortured.

It's so strange to me that both of these men lived so far away from each other and their stories are so similar.

I am very proud of these men and I can't imagine the horrors that they endured. Their details are below and I would be grateful for any further information

Private William Kelly
11446
1st Bn., Irish Guards
DoD 3 August 1917
3rd Battle of Ypres

Rifleman JOHN McKENNA
40006
7th Bn., Royal Irish Rifles
DoD 8 August 1917
Son of
Patrick McKenna
Church St
Castleblayney
Co. Monaghan

R.Dub.Fusilier

here is J McKennas medal index card in case you dont have it.

R.Dub.Fusilier

attached Irelands Casualties page

MajorMax

R.Dub.Fusilier wrote: »

here is J McKennas medal index card in case you dont have it.

Hi R.Dub.Fusilier
Thanks so much for the reply. Can you tell me what medal he received? Is it this one?
Victory Medal (United Kingdom)
To qualify for the Victory medal one had to be mobilised in any service and have entered a theatre of war between 5 August 1914 and 11 November 1918. Women qualified for this and the earlier two medals, for service in nursing homes and other auxiliary forces.

Isn't this what they call a "Show up" medal as in everyone got one?

R.Dub.Fusilier

here is William Kellys info in case you dont have it. the card would suggest that both william and john were entitled to the War Medal and victory medal pair.

arnhem44

William Kelly enlisted between the 29th of June and the 16th of September 1916,he was entitled to the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.From his medal index card John McKenna served with the Royal Irish Fusiliers numbered 23942 before serving with the Royal Irish Rifles number then changing to 40006,he too was entitled to both the British War and Victory medal,his father applying for his deceased son's medal on the 29th of December 1923.In most cases the medals would of been posted directly to the next of kin for other rank soldiers without having to apply which is unusual in this case as the medal index card doesn't show reference to the medals ever been returned to the military for any reason such as a name been misspelled or a wrong number for example to start with just that his father had to apply for them.Both medals would of had his rank ,number and regiment details attributed to the Royal Irish Fusiliers impressed on them and not the Royal Irish Rifles.

MajorMax

Arnhem44, and everyone else who helped me. I don't know how to thank you all for this information. I will probably have other questions for you later on but for now I'm a little overwhelmed and I will need to take some time to take all this in

Again Thank you so much

enfield

McKenna, Born in Castleblayney, enlisted in Monaghan. killed in action. Formerly he was with the Royal Irish Fusiliers. Killed in acton.
Cheers.
Tom

MRPRO03

Looking for a Dennis Byrne, that died in August 1917.

enfield

BYRNE, DENIS. Rank: Private. Regiment or Service: Royal Irish Fusiliers.
Unit; listed as 7th/8th and 8th Bn. He was previously with the Royal Dublin Fusiliers where his number was 20387. Date of Death: 10-August-1917. Service No: 22900. Born in Aughrim, Co Wicklow. Enlisted in Bray, Co Wicklow while living in Aughrim. Killed in Action. Grave or Memorial Reference: He has no known grave but is listed on Panel 42 on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial in Belgium.

There were 35 Byrnes from Wicklow died in ww1.

arnhem44

MRPRO03 wrote: »

Looking for a Dennis Byrne, that died in August 1917.

Here is a photo from the findagrave website showing his name on the Menin Gate Memorial in Belgium,also the CWGC link for his death details and his medal index card showing what medals he was entitled to which were the British War and Victory medals which shows that he was possibly in a theatre of war from 1916 at the earliest.There doesn't appear to be any service record surviving I'm afraid.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=byrne&GSfn=denis&GSbyrel=all&GSdy=1917&GSdyrel=in&GScntry=19&GSob=n&GRid=11983885&df=all&

http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=1605500

MajorMax

arnhem44 wrote: »

William Kelly enlisted between the 29th of June and the 16th of September 1916,he was entitled to the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.From his medal index card John McKenna served with the Royal Irish Fusiliers numbered 23942 before serving with the Royal Irish Rifles number then changing to 40006,he too was entitled to both the British War and Victory medal,his father applying for his deceased son's medal on the 29th of December 1923.In most cases the medals would of been posted directly to the next of kin for other rank soldiers without having to apply which is unusual in this case as the medal index card doesn't show reference to the medals ever been returned to the military for any reason such as a name been misspelled or a wrong number for example to start with just that his father had to apply for them.Both medals would of had his rank ,number and regiment details attributed to the Royal Irish Fusiliers impressed on them and not the Royal Irish Rifles.

Howya lads
Can anyone please tell me approximatley when John McKenna enlisted in the Royal Irish Fusiliers and when he was transferred to the Royal Irish Rifles
Cheers

arnhem44

The dates shown for William Kelly come from a web site covering WW1 enlistment dates,these are based on existing service records that survived the blitz and the service numbers and enlistment details found within them taken from records from 1881 till 1918.With the help of the service numbers and the many enlistment details in these records a small database has been created to show as close as possible a persons enlistment date but the site doesn't cover everything,the dates covering the Royal Irish Fusiliers only cover regular enlistment up to 1914.Unless you have a service record for John Mckenna then the likelihood is the exact dates will never become known.On a very long shot it may be worth to have a look through any local papers archives if accessible to see if he was mentioned,papers often carried articles relating to soldiers enlisting,being home on leave,letters sent home that were printed in the papers,being wounded and of course there death notice which may or may not have a photograph.

http://armyservicenumbers.blogspot.com/

Morpheus

Sorry for digging this one up but looking for help tracing some family

Christopher McComb
and
William McComb
both from
Balbriggan
Ireland

They served in WW1 and I know that one of them, probably William, was sent home injured from, France in WW1, Flanders I think?

They served in the irish regiments
no idea where to start, great grandfather/uncle and my mother remembers very little about them.

Anyone who can provide any help or pointers, its much appreciated.


managed to find this about one of my relatives who died aboard HMS Monmouth in Battle of the Coronel

Shipwright 2nd Class
Service No:
346003
Date of Death:
01/11/1914
Age:
35
Regiment/Service:
Royal Navy

H.M.S. "Monmouth."
Panel Reference
4.
Memorial
PLYMOUTH NAVAL MEMORIAL
Additional Information:
Son of John and Elizabeth Dowling, of Drogheda St., Balbriggan, Co. Dublin.



Morph

johnny_doyle

had a quick look at Ancestry.

Only medal index card for a Christopher McComb gives him as ASC, with 1914 Star, Victory Medal and British War Medal. Ranked as Driver and then Acting Sgt, number T/25016. No indication of where he was from.

12 medal index cards for William McCombs. Several Royal Irish Rifles, 1 Royal Inniskillings (later RAF). Nothing to indicate a link to Balbriggan I'm afraid.

Any chance that someone in the family might have their WW1 campaign medals?

Fozzy84

Hello everybody

Im looking for information on two soliders who served during the first world war a Private Thomas Gavaghan, Reg number: 43159 who served with the Royal Irish Fusiliers and a Private Walter Morley, Reg number: 205470 who served with York Regiment. These are distant relations and im finding it very hard to get information on them. Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

enfield

GAVAGHAN, THOMAS

Rank:
Private
Service No:
43159
Date of Death:
05/09/1916
Regiment/Service:
Royal Irish Fusiliers

7th Bn.
Panel Reference
Pier and Face 15 A.
Memorial
THIEPVAL MEMORIAL
Additional Information:
Thomas GAVAGHAN
Memorial Scroll

Purchase scroll



Rank: PRIVATE

Initials: T

Birthplace: Swinford, Co. Mayo

Residence: Swinford

Enlisted: West Hartlepool, Co. Durham

Regiment, Corps etc.: Princess Victoria's (Royal Irish Fusiliers)

Battalion etc.: 7th Battalion.

Number: 43159

Date died: 5 September 1916

How died: Killed in action

Theatre of war: France & Flanders

Supplementary Notes: FORMERLY 5966, CONNAUGHT RANGERS.
Where was Morley from?

Fozzy84

Thanks enfield this information on Thomas Gavaghan is great and will help alot.

The only information i have concerning Walter Morley is from his British war medal which has his reg number: 205470 serving with the yorkshire regement and also information from the censis records of 1911 which gives his age at 21 and his address at Derryronan, Swineford, Co. Mayo

enfield

Sorry Fozzy that's all I have.
Cheers.
Tom.

Dirk1001

Hi All
I've been looking for my Grandads war records for sometime now & i am not
getting very far, dont want to get sucked in by all these pay sites that pop up everywhere.
Joseph Gormley
He was from monaghan & was born around 1890. joined the scottish rifles im led to believe, fought in WW1. And received some medals.
Survived the war & left the army in dec 1917
He also received an injury where he got shot through one leg & the bullet lodged in his other leg.
I believe my Mam in Ireland has a serpia picture which I will get scanned as soon as I can & post it here & hopefully someone might recognise something on his uniform.

Thanks in advance for any help

johnny_doyle

I see a medal index card for a Joseph Gormley, Scottish Rifles but nothing about the early discharge (would expect a Silver War Badge record and possibly a pension file) so no guarantees it is your man. Number is 28396, rank is Sergeant. Awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

There are only 6 Joseph Gormley's in the medal rolls. 2 can be discounted based on other info (1 killed in action 1916, 1 with a service record showing he wasn't from Ireland).

Does anyone in the family have access to his WW1 medals? They would have his number and unit inscribed.

Dirk1001

Hi Johnny
Thank you for the help. I've since found out a little more info off my Mam,
Im afraid im not sure which regiment he was in , Ive since received a picture of my
grandad which I will attach to this message.
Ive tried to make out the cap badge & searched for ww1 cap badges on the net but cant match it up with any.
If we could make it out it would prob make it a little easier ?
My Mam has mentioned Norfolk Regiment, North Cumberland Fusiliers & The Royal Engineers.
I think she's going through the whole army :-)
He died 14 jan 1947 at the ripe age of 57


Dirk

kabakuyu

Dirk1001 wrote: »

Hi Johnny
Thank you for the help. I've since found out a little more info off my Mam,
Im afraid im not sure which regiment he was in , Ive since received a picture of my
grandad which I will attach to this message.
Ive tried to make out the cap badge & searched for ww1 cap badges on the net but cant match it up with any.
If we could make it out it would prob make it a little easier ?
My Mam has mentioned Norfolk Regiment, North Cumberland Fusiliers & The Royal Engineers.
I think she's going through the whole army :-)
He died 14 jan 1947 at the ripe age of 57


Dirk

Looks like a norfolk badge alright http://www.northeastmedals.co.uk/british_regiment/norfolk_regiment.htm

He wears a typical WW1 service tunic with the 2 seams at the collar.Your Mam is right he was in all three, his numbers were Norfolk 24038,northumberland Fusiliers 53084, and Royal engineers 259074,and Wr/553548
The "WR" prefix indicates waterways and railways.

Dirk1001

Thank you very much guys, Ive been trying for ages to find out any info on him.
Where would the best place to find more info on him from these numbers ?
What I would like to do is try build a type of scrap book as a pressie for my Mam,
so anything I find out can go into it.
Ill keep trying the usual online sources & see if I can build a picture of his time in the army.

Again thank you for your help

Dirk

johnny_doyle

without the service record it becomes a bit of a problem filling in details e.g. why the move from the Norfolks to the Northumberlands to the RE (and indeed why the Norfolk Regt in the first place). Wounds or sickness would be a potential reason for moves between infantry regiments.

The lack of a Silver War Badge reference suggests that he wasn't discharged in 1917 (or the paperwork wasn't completed correctly). There is no SWB entry or pension file for your chap.

As a rough guide, 24014 Harold Corston enlisted in the Norfolk Regt 23/11/1915; 24077 George Burgess enlisted Norfolk Regt 10/02/1916 although the paperwork started 2nd December 1915.

kabakuyu

There are approx 2 very poor quality discharge papers for a J.Gormley no.553548 on ancestry, if you pm an email address I will get them to you, but I must warm you they are very poor quality.

Dirk1001

Hi Kabakuyu
I pm you my email addy for the discharge papers & appreciate your help.
I have found another nice piece of history regarding my grandad. see attached

Regards Dirk1001

johnny_doyle

that's a nice bit of paperwork to have.

Confirms he was still in the army in 1919.