Jonathan gave a lavishly illustrated presentation, and crammed an amazing amount of hints, tips, advice, and guidance into the hour. Pictures can be found in volume 60 of our journal, Ag Lab Chronicles.
His aim was for those starting their search with little or no information. Jonathan gave ways of narrowing down your search from the 8.7 million serving in the army, so that you are either looking in the appropriate place or can better identify the records needed.
Often the starting point within a family can be:
- Some photographs
- Some medals
- A story
- A name
- Nothing
It is useful if you have clear photographs and can identify a cap badge. The most common (where most men served) are: Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers and Royal Army Service Corps.
Other photographic hints can be shoulder and sleeve badges. A feature often asked ‘what’s that?’ are wound stripes – sewn perpendicularly on the left sleeve of the jacket the term ‘wounded’ went through several Army orders to clarify who was entitled.
Other ‘unusual’ stripes were the Overseas Service Stripes – British Army overseas service stripes were issued for every year a British soldier served overseas during the Great War 1914-1918. There was a red stripe issued to soldiers serving in the BEF 1914 only and up to 4 other stripes (in blue) were issued for service from 1915-1918 (of course, as most photos are black and white you may not be able to see the difference unless a soldier has all the stripes).
Territorials
Shoulder badges also showed the regiment. If there was a T this indicated a Territorial.
If a territorial agreed to overseas service, they signed the “Imperial Service Obligation” and were issued with a special badge, known as the “Imperial Service Brooch”.
Worn on the right breast; if you have a photo of a soldier wearing this badge, he is definitely a Territorial.
Other sleeve stripes were for Good Conduct, which were awarded to Privates and Lance Corporals and were worn on the left lower sleeve. Once promoted to Corporal they had to be removed.
Biographies
Entries in The National Roll of the Great War were compiled by subscription. Information for the entries was generally submitted by family members or the soldiers themselves, and, as the information provided was not verified it therefore, may or may not be, accurate. Also, the collection does not cover the whole of the country, and even for the areas it does cover, is not comprehensive. Despite the collection’s shortcomings, it does contain valuable information that may be the only place it is recorded. It is also a good starting place for researching Great War soldiers.
De Ruvigny’s Roll is a detailed biography of over 26,000 soldiers of all ranks who died. The records include more than 7,000 photos.
Both are available online via Ancestry and FindMyPast.
Absent Voter’s List
The 1918 Representation of the People Act made special provision so that people engaged on War Service could vote. This included members of the armed forces, the Merchant Navy and those serving with the Red Cross and similar organisations. These can often be found online.
Names on a War Memorial
Whilst Mayor of Wisbech and standing at the War Memorial during Remembrance, the husband of the Deputy Mayor noticed the two names Charles and Frederick Bensley (his Great Uncles) and asked Jonathan to research them.
Sources used included:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) https://www.cwgc.org/
Roll of Honour https://www.roll-of-honour.com/Cambridgeshire/
The Long Long Trail https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/
Once you have a regiment/unit, The Long Long Trail is an invaluable source to find out where people were and what their unit was doing.
Silver War Badge
The Silver War Badge was instituted in 1916 and awarded to men who were honourably discharged under certain regulations. The reverse of the badge had a number that can identify individuals in the WO 329 medal roll.
The distinctive uniform of the discharged wounded was always noted; with its wide white lapels, the hospital blues uniform was worn by those patients had been invalided out of the army.
Jonathan advised his audience that even though British, you may find records in the Commonwealth services records, as many men served with the Australian and Canadian forces, possibly as the pay was higher! Many of these records are available through the genealogy sites, but there is excellent information on the National sites.
Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/
Canada
https://library-archives.canada.ca/eng/collection/research-help/military-heritage/first-world-war/Pages/fww-personnel.aspx
Also, do not forget the women of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) – known as Queen Mary’s Army Auxiliary Corps) from 1917-1920. The National Archives hold service records of some of the women who joined the WAAC between 1917 and 1920 and these are held in series WO 398. However, although approximately 57,000 women served in the WAAC, only 7,000 records survive as a result of a German air raid in September 1940. Therefore, it is possible that the records for the person you are searching for do not exist.
