Family In The Great War

kja1888

My paternal Grandfather was in the RAMC before WW1 - 1909-1913 - and then again from 1914. I dont think conscription was in force then, so either he was a reserve due to just finishing his time or he volunteered. He was from Cheltenham, so I dont know when he met my Grandmother, who was from Roscommon (possibly something to do with the Connaught Rangers?). He must have been in the British Expiditionary Force as he wrote letters from a PoW camp in Germany in 1915. I dont know how he got out of the PoW camp, as they were married in Dublin in 1917. I only have 1 photo of him, and several documents from his service before the war. He died in Dublin in 1937, and he is buried in the British Army cemetary in Blackhorse Avenue.

surly joe

Hi all.My grandfather, James O'Mara from Straffan,was in the Royal Dublin fusiliers and was wounded and lost an arm in the Somme.I recently had a photo restored and will post it up as soon I can along with anything else I can find.I wish I had more info. He lived a long life though,farming and playing the fiddle with a specially made arm! He died in 1984 aged 96. I was 10 when he died so I remember him well.

arnhem44

Thanks surly joe,look forward to seeing the photo

surly joe

pte. James O'Mara. R.D.F.
Discharge,1919.
Postcard,Christmas 1916.

junder

My Great Grandfather was in the 2nd Batt Royal Irish Rifles and died at Mons

arnhem44

Hi junder,do you have any of his details?

smlballjunkie

My Great Uncle enlisted in the Inniskilling Fusiliers while still underage, saw action in France,was returned home after my Grandmother wrote to Lloyd George about him, trained with the IRB and IRA,fought in the War of Independence and Civil War,KIA Tyrellspass Co Meath 8th July 1922,was then the youngest Vice-Commandant in the Free State Army.
Large Headstone dedicated to him in Grey Abbey Cemetary Kildare Town.
Often think about what he endured and saw in those years between 1914 and 1922 when he was killed.

drumaneen

smlballjunkie wrote: »

My Great Uncle enlisted in the Inniskilling Fusiliers while still underage, saw action in France,was returned home after my Grandmother wrote to Lloyd George about him, trained with the IRB and IRA,fought in the War of Independence and Civil War,KIA Tyrellspass Co Meath 8th July 1922,was then the youngest Vice-Commandant in the Free State Army.
Large Headstone dedicated to him in Grey Abbey Cemetary Kildare Town.
Often think about what he endured and saw in those years between 1914 and 1922 when he was killed.

What a bloomin tragedy.

drumaneen

surly joe wrote: »

pte. James O'Mara. R.D.F.
Discharge,1919.
Postcard,Christmas 1916.

Great pics Joe - such trivia and yet so special - well done for keeping them.

drumaneen

jos28 wrote: »

My Grandad and his brother ran away from home in Tralee and joined the Royal Engineers. I don't know if they joined voluntarily or were conscripted as soon as they landed in England. They enlisted on 31/10/1913 and my Grandad was deployed to the Western front as a sapper on 12/6/1915. He fought in the trenches in France and Flanders. He was discharged on 7/8/1917 and declared no longer fit for military service. He was discharged through illness and not inflicted wounds.He was a chronic asthmatic, it eventually killed him at the age of 48 . He was awarded the 1915 Star Medal, the British War Medal and the Victory medal. He was also awarded the Silver War Badge which was given to men sent home without visible injury to distinguish him as a veteran(AFAIK). My Grandad went back to Tralee and his brother eventually settled in Dagenham. I don't have a photo of Grandad or his brother in uniform but I've attached one of his brother William Glover wearing his Royal Engineers Badge. It's one of life's great regrets that I never got to meet my Grandad, he was dead long before I was born. Would love to have met the man although like many others he apparently never spoke about that period of his life.

From one Sappers grandson to another -
Restored but not overly so .. hope u like

We will remember them

Snickers Man

One great grandfather who was a retired regular soldier at the time war broke out, rejoined in his fifties but was not sent to the front. A cavalry man, he spent most of his time looking after horses, only some of it in France.

Four great uncles (all brothers) served in the Irish Guards and Dublin Fusilers. One killed at First Ypres in 1914. Another on the Somme in 1916. A third died shortly after the war having never fully recovered from his wounds.

The fourth survived and raised a family in England. One of his sons was captured at Dunkirk during WWII and spent five years in a POW camp. I have a transcript of a diary he kept in his first year of captivity. Very interesting

Oh and several distant American cousins (first generation yanks) who also served in WWI. I met one of them when I was a kid. All long dead now, of course.

drumaneen

Snickers Man wrote: »

The fourth survived and raised a family in England. One of his sons was captured at Dunkirk during WWII and spent five years in a POW camp. I have a transcript of a diary he kept in his first year of captivity. Very interesting.

Very interesting indeed .. I'm sure there are folk on http://ww2talk.com/
who would like to hear about this document.

arnhem44

Great posts lads,I wonder could a Mod make this thread a sticky??

arnhem44

For some time it was suspected but not positively known that my Great Grandfather had served during the war,whilst I had taken out a fourteen day free trial with Ancestry I discovered his pension record.He was 4241 Private Joseph Hart,he served with the Connaught Rangers from 1892 to 1904 having served with the 2nd Battalion in Cyprus,Egypt,India and South Africa before being discharged.It states on his record that he done a mounted infantry course at the end of 1895 till the start of 1896 and also gives details of his promotions and demotions throughout this time.In 1908 he went into the 3rd Battalion of the Leinster Reserve number 2314 and and was mobilised at the outbreak of war and was transferred into the 1st Garrison Battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment number 9254 where he went to Gallipoli in 1915 and was sent to Mudros where working parties carried out various tasks.This Battalion in 1916 went to Egypt where they stayed for the duration of the war and this is where he became ill and was invalided back to home and was awarded the silver war badge in the middle of 1918,soon afterwards within a couple of months been home he married my Great Grandmother.

neilthefunkeone

Great thread.. In 6th class when my grandad died i was rooting through his study and found loads of stuff from a great uncle of his, James Hamilton Purdy.

There was pictures of him and his brother(who was in the Navy). MIA medal(somme) and his last letter sent home from whereever he was before the somme, It just said "Our little village".

Did some digging with the help of my history teacher at the time and he was in the Royal Irish Rifles.. Cant remember which section.. and found his grave reference in France too..

Ill dig it out and update with all the info later!

arnhem44

Hi neilthefunkeone,would this be the James Hamilton Purdy in question?

http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=1549772

There are also ten Naval casualties listed under the name Purdy.Did his brother die also do you know?

http://www.cwgc.org/search/SearchResults.aspx?surname=purdy&initials=&war=0&yearfrom=1900&yearto=2000&force=Navy&nationality=&send.x=54&send.y=13

johnny_doyle

from Soldiers Died in the Great War (SDGW) and repeated in Ireland's Memorial Records :

Name: James Hamilton Purdy
Birth Place: Ballymacarrett, Co. Down
Death Date: 1 Jul 1916
Death Location: France & Flanders
Enlistment Location: Belfast
Rank: Rifleman
Regiment: Royal Irish Rifles
Battalion: 14th Battalion
Number: 15790
Type of Casualty: Killed in action

2 Medal Index Cards (MICs) on Ancestry :

1. James H Purdy RIR no 14/15790 British War Medal and Victory Medal
2. James Hamilton Purdy RIR 14/15790 1915 Star. Note Missing Pres Dead. Entered France 5/10/1915


There is a tree in Ancestry for a James Hamilton Purdy but born 1853 in Colones(?) NI.

Limited info in his FindAGrave record

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Purdy&GSfn=James&GSbyrel=in&GSdyrel=in&GScntry=7&GSob=n&GRid=12560340&

jos28

drumaneen wrote: »

From one Sappers grandson to another -
Restored but not overly so .. hope u like

We will remember them

Drumaneen, just sent you a PM to say thanks for the restoration work. It's an amazing difference, thanks a million:)

John Mason

my great grand father served. unfortunately, i do not know where or what regiment but i know he went on to became a sargent in the irish army.

i am in the process of trying to find this information out. i know at one point there was a medal and his records in my grans but these have probably been sold for drugs at this stage :eek::mad::(:mad::mad::mad:

Happy Monday

My Grand Uncle served and died in WW1.
We didn't know this until yesterday.
A Galway man who served in the Muster Fusiliers.
He died on the first day of the Somme offensive.
Does anyone know where the 1st Batt served on the Somme.
Was it with the Canadians at Beaumont Hamal?

<Link deleted at poster's request>

arnhem44

Happy Monday wrote: »

My Grand Uncle served and died in WW1.
We didn't know this until yesterday.
A Galway man who served in the Muster Fusiliers.
He died on the first day of the Somme offensive.
Does anyone know where the 1st Batt served on the Somme.
Was it with the Canadians at Beaumont Hamal?
http://www.cwgc.org/search/certificate.aspx?casualty=63363

According to Wiki they were in and around the area of Loos

The 1RMF were in the front lines again on 23 April at the Somme sector, slowly building up strength to 26 officers and 476 men. On 29 May it was assigned to the 48th Brigade of the 16th (Irish) Division at Béthune and were reinforced by members from the disbanded 9th RMF, bringing the Battalion up to full strength. They remained in the area of the Loos salient into August with some intermittent casualties. The 16th Irish Division was ordered south of the Somme battlefield, the 1RMF entering the line facing the strategic town of Ginchy on 5 September having suffered 200 previous casualties by gas-shelling on the way. It took part in the ensuing attack and triumphant capture of Ginchy by the 16th Division but at a high cost for its battalions, the 1RMF reduced to 5 officers and 305 other ranks. A London newspaper headlined How the Irish took Ginchy - Spendid daring of the Irish troops[4]
The battalion was then moved northwards to the South of Ypres in Belgium and absorbed the 8th RMF on 23 November to bring it up to a strength of 48 officers and 1,069 men by 1 December. Christmas 1916 was spent in the trenches, but as the New Year arrived, an official report relates "as if by mutual consent both sides ceased fire a minute or two before the close of the old year. On the stroke of midnight the pipers tuned up and gave us The Old Year out and the New Year in , A Nation Once Again ,God Save Ireland , and a few more songs of the old country, N.C.O.s and men joining lustily in the choruses".

drumaneen

Happy Monday wrote: »

My Grand Uncle served and died in WW1.
We didn't know this until yesterday.
A Galway man who served in the Muster Fusiliers.
He died on the first day of the Somme offensive.
Does anyone know where the 1st Batt served on the Somme.
Was it with the Canadians at Beaumont Hamal?
http://www.cwgc.org/search/certificate.aspx?casualty=63363

Couldn't find any personal record for him on Ancestry.com but did find a medal card.

Does a Frank Hynes of Headford Galway mean anyting to you? big file survives for him - he was a Connaught Ranger

drumaneen

neilthefunkeone wrote: »

Ill dig it out and update with all the info later!

Look forward to seeing them

Morpheus

Cheers lads,

found my great grand uncle:

Name: DOWLING, PATRICK
Initials: P
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Shipwright 2nd Class
Regiment/Service: Royal Navy
Unit Text: H.M.S. "Monmouth."
Age: 35
Date of Death: 01/11/1914
Service No: 346003

Additional information:
Son of John and Elizabeth Dowling, of Drogheda St., Balbriggan, Co. Dublin.

Casualty Type:
Commonwealth War Dead

Grave/Memorial Reference: 4
Memorial: PLYMOUTH NAVAL MEMORIAL

He died in the battle of the coronel - pretty much the opening shots of the naval battles of WW1

His history lay buried by grandparents at home until I did some digging to find out who the uncle was that my gran talks about being lost at sea.

http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_coronel.html

dubtom

I've posted before about my Great Grandfather in WW1. Still little or no info on him, except an uncle of mine claims he was in artillery and rode a horse, possibly pulling the guns or some such. Can anyone tell me, and I'm assuming he was in an Irish/Dublin regiment, did all regiments have their own artillery or were they completely separate. I'm trying to whittle down the regiments he may have belonged to in the hope that a regiments records would have more details than say ancestry.

arnhem44

Each division for example the 10th Irish Division would of had Artillery Brigades attached to them,these however would be replaced as time went on say due to troop movement or the brigades would be absorbed into other brigades even.If you have your relatives medal card it may tell you what brigade he was attached to.With this information it's possible to trace that brigades movements and who they were attached to.

dubtom

I don't have his medal cards,don't even know what his service number was
I was hoping if Irish regiments had stand alone artillery it would be easier to find him,cheers arnhemm44

neilthefunkeone

arnhem44 wrote: »

Hi neilthefunkeone,would this be the James Hamilton Purdy in question?

http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=1549772

There are also ten Naval casualties listed under the name Purdy.Did his brother die also do you know?

http://www.cwgc.org/search/SearchResults.aspx?surname=purdy&initials=&war=0&yearfrom=1900&yearto=2000&force=Navy&nationality=&send.x=54&send.y=13

johnny_doyle wrote: »

from Soldiers Died in the Great War (SDGW) and repeated in Ireland's Memorial Records :

Name: James Hamilton Purdy
Birth Place: Ballymacarrett, Co. Down
Death Date: 1 Jul 1916
Death Location: France & Flanders
Enlistment Location: Belfast
Rank: Rifleman
Regiment: Royal Irish Rifles
Battalion: 14th Battalion
Number: 15790
Type of Casualty: Killed in action

2 Medal Index Cards (MICs) on Ancestry :

1. James H Purdy RIR no 14/15790 British War Medal and Victory Medal
2. James Hamilton Purdy RIR 14/15790 1915 Star. Note Missing Pres Dead. Entered France 5/10/1915


There is a tree in Ancestry for a James Hamilton Purdy but born 1853 in Colones(?) NI.

Limited info in his FindAGrave record

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Purdy&GSfn=James&GSbyrel=in&GSdyrel=in&GScntry=7&GSob=n&GRid=12560340&

drumaneen wrote: »

Look forward to seeing them

Lads sorry i completely forgot to check back on this thread..

Right ive look around tonight.. I have a folder with one pic of the brother who was in the Navy.. As far as i know he made it home ok.. i know i put the last letter and the MIA medal somewhere safe a few years ago!!! Obv too safe.. real digging starts tomorrow..

Junco Partner

does anyone know a good site for looking up irish soldiers in the bef in ww1. any site i go on and type in my great grandads name it says how many search results their is but wont let me view the records.

he died in the 40s when my grandad was a baby so he only has a bare knowledge
his name was james keating

he served in an artillery regiment or company what way artillery was organised
he was wounded

he was from tipperary
if anyone could point me in the right direction.

johnny_doyle

Ancestry is the best place to go IMHO. They normally have a free 14 day trial which would give you access to Medal Index Cards, Service Record and Pension records (Service Records and pension records may not have survived). Service records for Guards regiments (Irish, Welsh, Scots, Coldstream and Grenadier are held separately and are not online).

Medal cards don't record place of birth, date of birth or any info like that so where you have a common name but no service/pension record it can be frustrating.

Generally, it's easier to find info about someone who died than it is to find info about someone who survived.


For medal awards and commissions/officers promotions the London Gazette has a free archive.

Most WW1 soldiers/sailors who served abroad would have the basic Victory Medal and British War Medal; if these are in the family they should have a name, regiment number and unit which gives a good starting point.


In the medal indexes on Ancestry there are 6 James Keatings with Artillery references (Royal Garrison Artillery, Royal Field Artillery).

2 service/pension records exist for James Keetings from Tipp and in Artillery. One from Fethard b1877/78 enlisted 1902 and the other from Knockloft(?) b1888 enlisted 1916. This was a quick look so there could be others. There are James Keatings from Tipp in other units.