Genealogy Chat

Hi Horatia My great uncle Bret Lawrence was a trooper in the 1st Life Guards. He died on 19th May 1918 aged 27. The War Diary for that day reads : - Air raid over Etaples and district commencing about 10.30pm lasting until 10am on 20th. Shortly before 12MN 2 bombs fell on the camp causing the following casualties Killed 42 named Wounded 83 Cheers Clare

I have a copy of a war diary specifically for the day my great grandfather died. He was a private and he was named. I have since heard that this is very rare as usually only officers were named. I think it was because he was the only person killed in that particular maneouvre and also because two officers risked their lives to bring back his body. It is very sad to read about how he died. My mother and I shed tears. I also looked for the officers names on the CWGC site and sadly they died later that same year. Susan

Hi Clare, Was your relative an officer? I had been given to understand only officers were mentioned by name in the war diaries. Must have been sad seeing his name but good that his name lives forever in that document. Cheers, Horatia

Hi Some of the war diaries do mention the victims by name I went to Kew last year and found my great uncle listed among the dead on the day he died. It was very emotional to see it in black and white I found out the regiment first and then searched on National Archives to find out what was available. I ordered them online ready for my visit and they were ready waiting for me when I got there Cheers Clare

Thanks Horatica i will have a mooch round see what i can fine dont think i shall ever get to kew but i expect they would do a look up for me if i paid! Thank you louise

Not all the records have been loaded onto the Ancestry site as yet. My father's records were found in the Burnt Records and exceedingly helpful they were to me. It's not impossible to find info in the Burnt Records folks! If your relative was wounded it sometimes gives the date they were wounded. If so and if the war diaries still exist for that regiment, you can look up the regimental war diaries for the day they were wounded (at Kew but some are downloadable) and see what their regiment were up to on this day. I did this with my father and Robert Lindsay did it on the WDYTYA programme. War Diaries won't mention your relatives by name; but you can see what he and his comrades were up to on certain days. Wounding usually took place during famous battles. For example, I found out through war diaries that my father was wounded at the Second Battle of Gaza during WW1 with the Norfolk Regiment. Cheers, Horatia

Thank you Shirley for your help

very unlikely you will find his army records cos the WW1 records got burnt in an airaid in 1940 The remaining ones .known as the burnt records!!< are held at Kew but if they havent come up on the search on that site then they probably dont exist. The only thing you can hope for is some kind soul going to Kew might do a look up for you Shirley

I have downloaded the image of my gt grandfathers medal card found him on Ancestry pensions, so i am wondering now if there is anything else i should be looking for regarding his army career im ww1 Is there anything i can apply for from the national archives please point me in the right direction thank you louise