Genealogy Chat

I have jusy shed a bucket of tears......I have looked on the Ancestry WW1 site and found my grandfathers cousins information.

He died from his wounds just weeks before the end of the war and the papers include.......hospital report and the document signed by his widow for the receipt of his effects. She was granted a pension of 22/11 a week for herself and two children.

Life was a s.....

Kathlyn

Kathlyn, I know what you mean. I found my gt uncle he survived the war, fought in France, wounded, recovered and then died of the flu that devastated Europe. His complete medical records are there for his last few days and as you say his effects signed for by his mother.

I also have 3 brothers in one family all dying. How did their mother cope with that.

Jennifer
with thoughts for all those still dying in world wide conflicts

One of my relatives was one day away from coming home to his wife and two children when he was kicked by a horse in the lines. He died the next day from ruptured intestines.

As you say there are all his personal effects signed for by his wife.

This is the 2nd world war not the 1st but the story's the same..........
there is a lovely man along my street who was living in London's East End. He went out one afternoon, a bomb fell and when he returned had lost five members of his family in one day. He was 21 at the time. He said he had to grow up very fast.

He celebrates his 90th birthday this December.

Sue

I too have great uncle killed in Flanders August 1918. My GrGrans eldest son. We have photo of gravestone in Albert, France and copy of medal record but nothing else of his.
You talk about personal effects being signed for. Would this apply in his case and would we be able to obtain copy of WW1 army record. If so how do we go about this please?

I now have a cousin waiting to deploy to Afghanistan. NOT happy times.

We Will Remember Them.

lakes lass,

his Army record may be on Ancestry. I found my uncle's today - I never thought of looking for it as I knew he had died. I too have a photo of his grave, taken a few years ago when we visited the cemetary in France.

There is no record of effects in his record, but there is a complete list of the family written by his mother.

My Great uncle Edwin received shrapnel wounds to the leg.
Although treatable, he passed out and died on the way to the field hospital - probably of shock, on 25 February 1945, aged 29.
He's buried in the Reichswald Forest war cemetery.
Three months later, his wife, Gladys, gave birth to their first child - a stillborn girl. She announced their daughter's birth in the local newspaper.

Gladys herself died of TB a few years later.

The sad thing regarding the death of my granddads cousin was........

His was a young widow with two children of 5 and 2 when he met and married a lady called Frances. They had a daughter in 1914, he was called up in 1916, he died in 1917.

I must try and find out what happened to those left behind.

Kathlyn

Thanks Potty
I'll take a look at ancestry.Didn't think of that as he had died.