Information on soldiers in WW1

ancestry has some pension/service info as well as medal rolls

http://www.ancestry.co.uk/

Ancestry costs to subscribe. If you post the details, myself or another ancestry subscriber could check for you.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission site for those who died :

http://www.cwgc.org/

as well as te Irish War Memorials site http://www.irishwarmemorials.ie/

the Long Trail for questions about units, soldiers, battles, equipment etc..

http://www.1914-1918.net/
http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php

attached are the medal cardsfor the 3 men listed. John Green's gives the name and addressof a sister and a contact in Ireland.

Nothing found re service or pension records on Ancestry.

W Cox RDF
http://www.irishwarmemorials.ie/html/showMemorial.php?show=173

Fratton Fred wrote: »

I never cease to be impressed with the care and diligence that the records and memorials are kept.

Just to point out the obvious, Thomas O'Brien and John Green only have a memorial reference, which means they have no known grave. I believe you can get a photo of the Headstone or memorial panel from the CWGC to round things off

Nothing unusual in that. Most fatalities from the First World War have no known graves. Forensic identification methods were not as sophisticated then as they are now. Also, killing technology had advanced at a much faster pace than tactics and so the scale of the casualties, in terms both of numbers killed and the severity of the physical damage inflicted on each soldier was much greater than anticipated.

Usually, the CWGC people have a fair idea who is buried in which cemetery, but they were not able to get down to individual grave identifications. So most cemeteries have a lot of "Unknown soldier" headstones and then a memorial plaque with the names of men believed to be buried there.

Fratton Fred wrote: »

I didn't realise it was most..

The CWGC cemetery pages make it very plain. Compare and contrast the Thiepval Anglo-French cemetery for example, 600 graves of which only 108 are identified with the Thiepval memorial to the missing of the British and Commonwealth forces: 72,000 names of men with no known grave.

This is not to suggest that the Thiepval cemetery is the only graveyard of casualties from the Somme but 72,000 men without a known grave in just that sector is a staggering figure.

So too is the New Menin Gate at Ypres. More than 54,000 names, from just one of the belligerent armies in that sector, of men who have no known grave.

In the Gallipoli region there are more than 20 cemeteries of Commonwealth casualties from that campaign. All told there are about 9,500 identified graves and nearly 11,000 unidentified.

Between the various memorials to the missing like the Helles Memorial there are about 26,000 names of men with no known grave. I am not sure whether that overlaps with the 11,000 unidentified in other cemeteries or not. I suspect it does. But even if it overlaps fully, it still means that less than one in three of the Commonwealth fatalities from that campaign are in individually marked graves.

Fratton Fred wrote: »

would definately recommended a trip to Ypres, it is a very moving area.

Never been there yet. I've been to cemeteries elsewhere. Of all nationalities. In Normandy and elswehere. All are poignant, but the most beautiful military cemetery I have ever seen is in Wicklow. The German war cemetery in Glencree, containing the bodies of sailors and airmen found in and around Ireland in both World Wars is in the most idyllic setting.

A different sensation, perhaps, to what one might feel in Ypres or Normandy, but certainly worth a visit.

the 2 chaps killed in 1915 would have most likely been going into the fray without steel helmets - not generally issued until 1916.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brodie_helmet


for more about the RDF

http://www.greatwar.ie/assoc.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Dublin_Fusiliers

General
http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/eng/index.asp?docID=2517

http://www.eneclann.ie/acatalog/All_Releases_En.html
Eneclann do a CD entitled
Ireland's Memorial Records: World War 1 1914-1918
but it is expensive. I'm sure that there is a printed equivalent in the Pearse St Library in Dublin. There is also a CD with the wills of some WW1 Irish soldiers.

You might want to see if you can get to see their entries in Soldiers Died in the Great War for their respective regiments. This may give a date of birth etc if you don't have this already. You may be able to post a query on the Long Trail forum; one of the guys there may well be able to do a look up for you.

Ponster wrote: »

Have you seen the news from last month that records of millions of WWI soldiers have been discovered (Red Cross records) that identify the 'unknown' graves.

The records should be available by 2014.

That's very interesting. Although it's not clear that it could get down to the level of identifying individual graves. Many cemeteries already have plaques in them with names of soldiers "known or believed to be buried here" without being able to identify each individual grave.

Thanks for that. I'll look forward to learning more.

johnny_doyle wrote: »

W Cox RDF
http://www.irishwarmemorials.ie/html/showMemorial.php?show=173

A little more about William Waring Cox, from "The Widow's Penny", by Patrick J. McNamara (published by the author, 2000): as well as the memorial to the Men of Thomond in the link above, he is commemorated on a memorial tablet in the Limerick Protestant Young Men's Association, O'Connell Street, Limerick, and on the family grave in St. Munchin's C. of I. cemetery, Limerick City.

Michael P.

homerhop wrote: »

I am looking to see can I find any information on my Great Grandfather who was in the Conaught Rangers during WW1. The information I have is very limited. His name was Patrick Jennings and my family think he enlisted around 1916. He was shipped out from Ballykindler in NI. His trade was as a farrier and my great grandmother spoke that he spent time in the middle east.
Any information on how to trace this would be greatly appreciated.

Join up to the Great War Forum (http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/) and you will get a lot of help. It's also worth visiting the Connaught Rangers Association at http://www.connaughtrangersassoc.com/
Michael P.

I hope some of these maybe of some help.


www.1914-1918.net ( The Long Long Trail,back ground research to start off)

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/medals.asp#medalsindex (Medal Cards,Pension Records,Discharge Papers,Medal Rolls,Medical Records,etc.)

www.cwgc.org (Casaulty Search,Free of Charge)

www.icrc.org/eng/contact-archives (International Redcross,P.O.W Records,Family only I think)

http://www.redcross.org.uk/standard.asp?id=3423 (Voluntary Aid Detachement, V.A.D,The Redcross keep there own records of there own Personnel)

www.irishwarmemorials.ie (Listing all memorials around Ireland with a full researchable list of names that are on them)

www.ukniwm.org.uk (British Memorials)

www.southafricawargraves.org ( South African War Graves commission)

www.naa.gov.au/collection/explore/defence/conflicts.aspx (Australian National Archives)

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/cef/index-e.html (Canadian National Archives)

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/a.../020152_e.html (Canadian Diary Entries)

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/help/abbreviations-rank.asp (Abbreviations of Rank)

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/help/Abbreviations-unit.asp (Abbreviations of Unit)

http://www.military-genealogy.com/productHome?product=ww1 (Soldiers Died In the Great War,Subscription Based)

http://www.greatwar.ie/ire_batir2.html (Royal Dublin Fusiliers)

http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/ (Great War Forum)

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/firstworldwar/service_records/sr_soldiers.htm (Back ground Information)

http://homepage.eircom.net/~tipperaryfame/twardead.htm (Tipperary Casualty List)

http://www.esatclear.ie/~curragh/casualty.htm (Kildare Casualty List)

http://baseportal.com/cgi-bin/baseportal.pl?htx=/research/WW1&localparams=1 (Dublin Casualty List)

http://www.irishidentity.com/extras/hidden/stories/armistice.htm (Longford Casualty List)

http://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/wardead.php (research Site)

http://www.irishsoldiers.com/index.htm (Military Heritage Trust Of Ireland)

http://www.connaughtrangersassoc.com/ (Connaught Rangers)

http://www.ww1battlefields.co.uk/index.html (Battlefield Back Ground)

http://www.westernfrontassociation.com/ (Western Front Association)

http://www.eneclann.ie/acatalog/ENEC016_-_World_War_1_Irish_Soldiers.html (Irish Casaulty and Wills CD-Rom's)

http://www.connaughtrangers.co.uk/ (Connaught Rangers/UK)

http://www.vaugh.co.uk/sih/ (South Irish Horse)

http://freespace.virgin.net/sh.k/xvidiv.html (16th Irish Division)

http://www.dungarvanmuseum.org/exhibit/web/Display/article/136 (Waterford Museum)

http://www.ww1cemeteries.com/In%20memory/In%20Memory%20Ext/roll%20of%20honour%20dedications/roll_of_honour_dedications.htm (WW1 Cemeteries Roll Of Honour)

http://www.shotatdawncampaignirl.org/ (Shot At Dawn Campaign)

http://royalmunsterfusiliers.net/ (Munster Fusiliers)

http://kildare.ie/hospitality/historyandheritage/athyheritage/ww1.htm (Athy Heritage Including Kildare Casualty List)

http://www.2ndbattalionroyalulsterriflesreenactmentgroup.webeden.co.uk/#/36th-ulster-division/4528915153 (36th Ulster Division)

http://www.movinghere.org.uk/galleries/roots/irish/irishrecordsuk/soldiers.htm# (Back ground Info)

http://republic-of-ireland.britishlegion.org.uk/ (Royal British Legion in Ireland)

http://www.rmfa92.org/Links.htm (Royal Munster Fusiliers Association)

http://www.ww1photos.com/index.html (WW1 Soldiers Photo Archive)

http://www.btinternet.com/~prosearch/tomspage19.html (P.O.W Info)

Cheers for that Ponster,I knew Ancestry had some records but its good to know that these are available online at last,these always required a visit to Kew before.