Following a brief exchange on here in January on the subject of family history that peaked my curiosity, I finally got my arse in gear and requested a copy of my late father’s service records from the MoD. Not difficult, if you have a copy of the death certificate and it’s free. I had what I thought was my father’s service number and a regiment but I think you only need a date and place of birth and an idea of when they enlisted. Two or three weeks ago, I received a reply with an Adobe Acrobat attachment containing a number of scanned, hand written documents, redacted in places. Not easy to read and not a great deal of information for a period covering 7 years of a man’s military career but enough jigsaw pieces to start building a picture and enough for me to start asking informed questions of the various keepers of the records like the National Archive, the IWM and several other independent organisations who maintain historical records I didn’t know existed. This is going to take time but I think it’s going to be time well spent and it might just help me understand the man who tried to make me the man I am today, a little better. Andy
If you know what Regiment or Corps he was in you could also reach out to the Regimental museum, most units should have one
Many regiments maintain an online database into which you can input a surname and/or service number and it will return details such as date and place of enlistment and date of discharge or death. I have one of my great grandfather’s WW1 service medals (1914-15 “Mons” Star) which is stamped with his name, service number and regiment (“RIR”, ie: Royal Irish Rifles, which, IIRC, were folded into the Royal Irish Regiment in the 1990s), so I already had some info to work with. FWIW, he survived the Great War on account of having his leg blown off by a shell.
I was driving home from Europe last week and since I’d made great progress I had a slack day and a half in northern France, so I booked into Albert for two nights. I had my bicycle in the van so visited the Memorial de Thiepval and several (of the far too many) cemeteries dotted around the area. What a moving experience. If anyone gets chance to go, they really should. I’m planning a return trip with a some guidance. I’ve read quite a lot on WW1. I’ve always found it fascinating and tragic in equal measure.
Tragic waste of life. I’d likely be moved to tears. Nice Boardman by the way - you can't beat em for value for money.
Ha, yeah that bike’s had some hammer lately. Notice the sneaky iPhone dock. Very handy for navigation when you haven’t a clue where you are
