5 replies to this topic

[Susan Price]

There are a number of questions that I am trying to resolve about the role and death of my Grandfather, Herbert Price, in WW1.  Any suggestions on any of the points below would be gratefully received.

1. Coal miners.   Herbert was a coal miner in St Helens, Lancs.  I would appreciate some clarification about the role of coal miners - I've heard that they were specifically sent to the from to dig trenches.  On the other hand, the country needed fuel and they were kept back at home to do their jobs.  

2. Emlistment Herbert has 2 service numbers.  I have copies of a document (Army Form D 2505)  that show he originally enlisted on 4th February 1915 in Warrington in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, with service number  25361.  This form says on it SHORT SERVICE (For the Duration of the War).  However, at the time of his death, Herbert was in the 11th Battalion of the Cheshire Regiment with service number 53315.  This information raises questions for me and in particular, did he originally enlist in some kind of reserve capacity and then go home and wait for the call or did he go off to war at that point?  At what point did he make the change from the Welsh Army to the Cheshire Regiment and why?

3. Medical Records.  According to the story handed down through the family, Herbert was hospitalised at some point in Warrington with emphysema and was unable to continue as a coal miner.  It is said that the army called him up at this point and literally took him from his hospital bed and sent him to the front, leaving behind a wife and 3 young children.  How likely is this story and can it be verified in any way?

4. Postcards from the front.  I have in my possession a postcard (showing Caernarvon Castle) in Herbert's hand writing and addressed to my father, who was no more than 2 years old at the time. In part f the text, Herbert says that he will soon be coming home.   It is incredibly tantalising.  The stamp has bee removed (probably by my father for his stamp collection, which, frustratingly has been destroyed).  Much of the postmark has been removed along with the stamp, but it is possible to read very clearly the letters WAR.  These letters could signify that the card was sent from Warrington when he was in hospital.  BUT - could they possibly mean that it was sent from the War Zone?  

5. Trains  The final part of the family story is that after being taken from his hospital bed, he was killed at or near the front in Flanders on a train, which was bombed in some way. Herbert is remembered on the wall at Tyne Cot.  I had assumed that the train was a troop train, but it seems more likely that it was part of the light railway system that moved men and equipment to the front line.  I would really like to know how and where my Grandfather died.  

Any information, comments or suggestions about any of these things would be most welcome.

Susan

[hywyn]

Susan

Before answering are you aware that he has over 40 images of papers on Ancstry?


Hywyn

[Susan Price]

Hywyn

I am astonsihed by what you say.   I've been a member of Ancestry for many years and ti the best of my knowledge the only papers that relate to my grandfather have been put there by me.  Please can you tell me how to access the papers that you refer to , as my attempts to find them have failed.  I'd dearly love to see any papers relating to Herbert.

[hywyn]

Susan
They are in Service Records under his RWF number 25361. Address of 184 Common Row, Earlstown. A set of 39 images and a set of 3. I haven't read any but there should be some answers there to you queries.

Hywyn

[Susan Price]

Hywyn

Many many thanks for pointing out the papers on Ancestry.  I´m still amazed that they were there, having looked for them already without success.  It just goes to show that you need to know where to look and what you are looking for.  I spent a lot of yesterday like a child in a toy store, going through all the papers and learned a great deal about my Grandfather.  it was very moving.  For example I had absolutely no idea that he had served in Salonika in 1917.  It appears that he was hospitalised twice - once for appendicitis and once for Nephritis and Cardiac Debility, but no mention of the emphysema that my Aunt was convinced about.  

As is the way of these things, the papers have raised as many questions as they have answered, but now I need to organise all the information that I have before coming back with sensible questions.

Susan

[Susan Price]

The Service Records have provided a lot of information and context and I'm on a steep learning curve here, but I still have so many questions.  Not sure if I shouldn't start a new thread? - but I'll stay here for now and see how it goes!

I'm going to start with postcards from the front - or the hospital bed?  As previously stated, I have a postcard from Herbert to his son (my Dad) with a very tantalising postmark that has been partially removed by the removal of the stamp.  It says WAR and as luck would have it Herbert was in hospital in Warrington, so It is is perfectly possible that he sent the card from his hospital bed in.  I would like to know what postmark there would be IF the card was sent from BEF.  The reason I am following this up so closely is that the handwritten text on the card says (among other things) "I hope you have a Merry time over there [my emphasis] and I will soon be coming home... "  The words are so ambiguous - but the "over there" seems more likely to suggest that he was abroad, since the family lived very close to Warrington at that time.

So please does anyone know what the postmark from the front would look like - and would it have the word WAR in it?

Thanks

Susan