Greetings to all present, I joined this list because I am curious, and being somewhat of a military buff I am curious about most military things. I have been doing a lot of reading about the Great War. My grandfather was a survivor of Delville Wood and he never really mentioned it very much. In the course of my genealogy research on my family in the UK I discovered my grandmothers brother possibly lost during WW1. As usual with these things I have very little information to go on so thought I would pose a few questions, that I can mull over and use in my research. Alfred John Morris was born about 1898 at St Olave, Surrey and lived in Southwark. Which means he would have fallen in the zone to serve during WW1. What was the minimum age that the British Army took recruits in, or conscripted them at? I presume it would be 16 or 18. Is there any specific regiment that somebody who lived in that area would have gone to? I have heard about the pals regiments so it is possible he went into one in his area. Unfortunately he was literally the last of that particular line, being the only son (that I know of) so if he was killed during the war then the line ended with him. I have checked with Commonwealth War Graves and there are a number of Alfred John Morris casualties, unfortunately many do not give any details on next of kin which does throw a spanner in the works. Are there any other sources to look at? I believe the army list was destroyed during WW2 and I did consider the medal cards but that could be time consuming and expensive, especially if there is no record of next of kin. Would civil authorities issue a death certificate in the case of a wartime casualty? especially if that death occurred outside of the UK? I havent really considered that maybe he went into the merchant navy or even the air force or Royal Navy. I would appreciate any ideas or possible links to look at, bearing in mind that I do not have access to written text in the UK, being in South Africa. I also understand that I am asking a lot, but maybe somebody out there has taken this path before me and knows teh way. Best Wishes Derek Walker. -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.7/830 - Release Date: 2007/06/03 12:47 PM

On 05/06/07, DRWtoo <drwgen@allatsea.co.za> wrote: > Alfred John Morris was born about 1898 at St Olave, Surrey and lived > in Southwark. Which means he would have fallen in the zone to serve > during WW1. > Is there any specific regiment that somebody who lived in that area > would have gone to? I have heard about the pals regiments so it is > possible he went into one in his area. Not very helpful, but my grandfather also lived in Southwark at the start of WW1 and he joined the Dorsetshire Yeomanry. One of his brothers was in the Royal Field Artillery, another in the Royal Garrison Artillery, a fourth was in the Navy. No such thing as the RAF at the time; anything to do with flying was, at that time, part of the army. Don't know why my granddad joined the yeomanry, unless he had an ambition to ride a horse! But I do know he did his training in Sevenoaks Kent (so nothing to do with Dorset). I've always assumed that there were all sorts of regiments you could join, all types of enlistment places around, especially in the London suburbs, and you picked what you most fancied. No doubt someone will know more. Diane