I am trying to ascertain if a couple of young men served in WW1. Neither of them were in the army prior to WW1 or after from what I can see elsewhere. One was unmarried at the outbreak of war, the other was married but had returned from Canada when war broke out, so its likely he had done that in order to join up. Nothing showing in local newspapers so far (sometimes there were lists of men who had joined up that week etc). Having trawled the service records and pension records available I haven't found them. Looking at medal cards, I have a selection for the names of each man for which there are no surving service/pension records, but they do have service numbers and regiments noted. Nothing showing in local newspapers so far (sometimes there were lists of men who had joined up that week etc). Can anyone tell me if there is an alternative way to find out 'anything' further? Would regimental records hold some sort of record of men who joined, maybe a birth date (or year) and perhaps other identifying info such as town they came from or pevious occupation? Before I give up on the search I'd like to think I'd tried all avenues. Thanks -- Tickettyboo

Hi The Regiments would not have any details of men who served with them, enlistment records were not kept by the Regiments, these are now in the National Archives. As you cannot find any service records then they were lost in WW2 due to German bombs. They would have received a pension only if their length of service entitled them to one, short war service would not, or they were invalided out due to wounds. As it appears they survived the war then the medal cards are mostly likely the only information surviving. Unfortunately another infamous WW1 survivor was responsible for the loss of a large amount of soldiers WW1 records in WW2. Good hunting Gordon "Tickettyboo" wrote in message news:[email protected] I am trying to ascertain if a couple of young men served in WW1. Neither of them were in the army prior to WW1 or after from what I can see elsewhere. One was unmarried at the outbreak of war, the other was married but had returned from Canada when war broke out, so its likely he had done that in order to join up. Nothing showing in local newspapers so far (sometimes there were lists of men who had joined up that week etc). Having trawled the service records and pension records available I haven't found them. Looking at medal cards, I have a selection for the names of each man for which there are no surving service/pension records, but they do have service numbers and regiments noted. Nothing showing in local newspapers so far (sometimes there were lists of men who had joined up that week etc). Can anyone tell me if there is an alternative way to find out 'anything' further? Would regimental records hold some sort of record of men who joined, maybe a birth date (or year) and perhaps other identifying info such as town they came from or pevious occupation? Before I give up on the search I'd like to think I'd tried all avenues. Thanks -- Tickettyboo

On 01/12/2014 15:29, Gordon wrote: > Hi > > The Regiments would not have any details of men who served with them, > enlistment records were not kept by the Regiments, these are now in the > National Archives. As you cannot find any service records then they were > lost in WW2 due to German bombs. They would have received a pension only > if their length of service entitled them to one, short war service would > not, or they were invalided out due to wounds. > > As it appears they survived the war then the medal cards are mostly > likely the only information surviving. > > Unfortunately another infamous WW1 survivor was responsible for the loss > of a large amount of soldiers WW1 records in WW2. > > Good hunting > > Gordon > > "Tickettyboo" wrote in message news:[email protected] > > I am trying to ascertain if a couple of young men served in WW1. > Neither of them were in the army prior to WW1 or after from what I can > see elsewhere. One was unmarried at the outbreak of war, the other was > married but had returned from Canada when war broke out, so its likely > he had done that in order to join up. Nothing showing in local > newspapers so far (sometimes there were lists of men who had joined up > that week etc). > Having trawled the service records and pension records available I > haven't found them. > Looking at medal cards, I have a selection for the names of each man > for which there are no surving service/pension records, but they do > have service numbers and regiments noted. > > Nothing showing in local newspapers so far (sometimes there were lists > of men who had joined up that week etc). > > Can anyone tell me if there is an alternative way to find out > 'anything' further? Would regimental records hold some sort of record > of men who joined, maybe a birth date (or year) and perhaps other > identifying info such as town they came from or pevious occupation? > > Before I give up on the search I'd like to think I'd tried all avenues. > > Thanks Don't the Guards regiments have their own records? There is no harm in asking though, it depends on the particular regimental museum but it always possible they have some records of their own.

On Mon, 1 Dec 2014 14:34:35 +0000, Tickettyboo <[email protected]> wrote: >I am trying to ascertain if a couple of young men served in WW1. >Neither of them were in the army prior to WW1 or after from what I can >see elsewhere. One was unmarried at the outbreak of war, the other was >married but had returned from Canada when war broke out, so its likely >he had done that in order to join up. Nothing showing in local >newspapers so far (sometimes there were lists of men who had joined up >that week etc). >Having trawled the service records and pension records available I >haven't found them. >Looking at medal cards, I have a selection for the names of each man >for which there are no surving service/pension records, but they do >have service numbers and regiments noted. > >Nothing showing in local newspapers so far (sometimes there were lists >of men who had joined up that week etc). > >Can anyone tell me if there is an alternative way to find out >'anything' further? Would regimental records hold some sort of record >of men who joined, maybe a birth date (or year) and perhaps other >identifying info such as town they came from or pevious occupation? > >Before I give up on the search I'd like to think I'd tried all avenues. > Muster rolls ? That will probably involve a visit to Kew but might turn up a leave period giving the reason for leave. Scottish or Irish records ? If you don't yet know where he was then absence from indexes should cut down the number of countries where any marriage might have occurred.

On 01/12/14 14:34, Tickettyboo wrote: > Can anyone tell me if there is an alternative way to find out 'anything' > further? Would regimental records hold some sort of record of men who > joined, maybe a birth date (or year) and perhaps other identifying info > such as town they came from or pevious occupation? Maybe a long shot, but might the local branch of the British Legion have any records of their old members? -- Ian The Hotmail address is my spam-bin. Real mail address is iang at austonley org uk

Tickettyboo wrote: > I am trying to ascertain if a couple of young men served in WW1. Neither of them were in the army prior to WW1 > or after from what I can see elsewhere. One was unmarried at the outbreak of war, the other was married but > had returned from Canada when war broke out, so its likely he had done that in order to join up. Nothing > showing in local newspapers so far (sometimes there were lists of men who had joined up that week etc). > Having trawled the service records and pension records available I haven't found them. > Looking at medal cards, I have a selection for the names of each man for which there are no surving > service/pension records, but they do have service numbers and regiments noted. > > Nothing showing in local newspapers so far (sometimes there were lists of men who had joined up that week etc). > > Can anyone tell me if there is an alternative way to find out 'anything' further? Would regimental records > hold some sort of record of men who joined, maybe a birth date (or year) and perhaps other identifying info > such as town they came from or pevious occupation? > > Before I give up on the search I'd like to think I'd tried all avenues. > > Thanks Did the unmarried man marry during the war ? If so, his rank and regiment may have been shown on the marriage certificate. -- Anne Chambers South Australia anne dot chambers at bigpond dot com