Genealogy Chat

I have 2 ancestors who I've found died in the Great War - one in 1916 the other in 1917. I suppose their death's would be registered in France. Am I correct? Also does anyone know where I can find their military records. I found them via Ancestry but it only gives limited info = name, where, when and date of death, rank and regiment.

Regards, Lou

Regards, Lou

Have you found them on the Commonwealth War Graves site?

http://www.cwgc.org/

Their records may be on the Ancestry site.
Remember to click foward to see the following pages, if you you do find a military record there.

Gwyn

I think most ww1 records were destroyed in ww2.
There are medal lists, medical records, attestation docs at ancestry too.

Here's a site which may be of interest to you which has photographs of individual war graves from WW1 onwards......

http://twgpp.org/index.php

My Nans eldest brother was killed at the Somme in 1918. Found him on ancestry site in their medal card section. Tried all options of full name, just initials etc. then bingo!
Then messing about on google found a military history site which also had a record of him and where/when he enlisted etc. Cost about £3.50 to get copy of entry. Note - NOT full record.
Long shot, tried Commonwealth war Graves site and again - bingo. Record of him, the cemetary where he is buried and plot number. Also managed to obtain photo of the gravestone.
My cousin visited there in the Winter whilst working in the area and took more photos in the snow

All this was over about 12-14 months so its worth persevereing.

Hi Gwyn,

Thanks a lot. I didn't know about the Commonwealth War Graves site.

Regards, Lou

Hi LakesLass, Frank 06 & Eddie,

Many many thanks for the info. I have tried the sites mentioned and have now found them and have now got a pic of the monument. Also discovered where I can obtain the actual photo of their plaque.

So thanks very much from everyone, for your wonderfull help, it's really is appreciated.

Thanks again,

Lou

Hi Lou.
Just a few tips for the CWGC site.

1 - first click serch record, put as many details as you know. If no luck, just put surname and which war

2 - it should give you a list of possibles. Click on the one that you think is correct.

3 - once the details come up click 'certificate'. You can print this off.

4 - click back to previous one (the one with details, but not the certificate). At the bottom on the list , it will say the cemetery he is buried at (in red). Click on that and it give you a good description. At the bottom of the screen are 4 boxes. Click on them all al it gives photo's plans etc.

5 - If you make a note of the grave reference you can zoom into the cemetery plans and see where you relative is buried. (if you can't zoom in, save it to your pictures and then open it up and you should be able to zoom in)
6 - go onto google earth, putting the nearest village/town etc and scan for the cemetery. It is great to see it from above.

There is a new thing also where you may be able to buy a copy of a photo of the headstone. This is done solely by volunteers so not all cemerties have been photographed yet. I will find the link for photo's and come back to you.

Hope this helps
Cheryl

Edit -- just noticed you added another post. Glad you found them

Hi Cheryl,

Wow thanks a lot, I didn't know it could also do that. I did find the photo of the memorials' but didn't know you could get that much info and plans too.

So many thanks for that brilliant snippit of info, it's very usefull.

Thanks again, Lou

You should be able to find the references for their death certificates on the military section of Findmypast website, although you are unlikely to get any more information from the death certificate than you already have from the Commonwealth War Graves site.

Kath. x

.

Hi Kath,

Thanks, I did wonder where I might find their death's registered.

Thanks again, I've learned so much already.

Regards Lou x

hi there,
Was told that information on a death certificate would only contain things like, died of wounds etc. But i sent of for one of mine and found that on it, it put that he died of the spanish grippe (bad epidemic that killed more people than the war) and that he was a prisoner of war. Well worth sending of for.

Hi Alison,

Thanks for that, I suppose I'd better add it to my wish list.

Regards, Lou

You could try posting on this website

http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?s=78ac775af9c2ef28ce79e6608e413997&act=idx

It is a Great War forum and I have found loads of information on here regarding my ancestor.