Genealogy Chat

Just wondering if anyone has had any luck obtaining their relatives WW1 service records and if so what information did you get? I have come to a brick wall with my great Grandad (James Jones) i have his marriage certificate, so i know his fathers name and i know his rough birth date and that supposedly he moved from Mold, Wales when he was a few months old to Spennymoor, Durham. There are so many James Jones and i dont have his mothers name or siblings so it is near impossible to search the census for the right one. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel, I dont know how i got hold of it- my Great Gran perhaps, wrote his WW1 service no down on the back of an old piece of paper, and the day he was discharged. I am hoping to use this info, to search the Records, and hopefully get more clues

christopher, have you tried the cwgc site? the address is:www(.)cwgc(.)org remove brackets. you might find something on there,i found my great uncle on there who was killed in 1916. goodluck in your search. chris.

I've had mixed fortunes at Kew with WW1 records. I've looked for nearly 30 relatives and not one record survived - I think the Somerset and Gloucester lot were right under the bombs! I've had luck though with some searches undertaken for friends and members of this site. If records are in good state there is soo much - next of kin, address, age on joining, physical descriptions, postings, injuries, poor behavour!! Medals and the address the soldier was at when the medals were awarded etc etc They are marvellous docs if you are lucky to find anything at all. It is the one part of Kew that is so easy to search but with common names from big cities you do need a regiment and preferably a service number - the address of the recruit and important personal details can sometimes be difficult to read. Be aware that your search can be over in minutes and although they also have the medal cards they really say very little - virtually all soldiers received the two later medals - and that's all they tell you. jan

I agree with all of the above. Loads of info if the record is there. Apparently there is only a 40% chance of finding details. Perhaps I was lucky in the fact I looked for 3 records and found 2. My Grandad's records were interesting if a little illegible. I photocopied them on their machines..... they are antiquated and you very often end up with 3 copies which of course you are charged for. However piecing together at home it provided interesting reading, inc. promotion, discipline and where he had been and his wounds. I even found he was fighting in Italy, a little known theatre in WW1. I say go for it bu be prepared to not find.

thanks all for your help, i have two G grandparents to look for so hopefully i may be lucky. I am going on Sat i will let you all know how i got on. Christine - i have looked at the CWWG site but the Jones side did not die during the war so he would not be on there, but i did use it for the otherside and found the information it gave invaluable

oh and if anyone needs a look up, email me the details and i will be happy to do one for you.