14 replies to this topic

[neutrino]

I've just been to the local library to look up two of my relatives in the Military section of Ancestry.
I understood it contained records for 1914 to 1920.

But no record available.
Is this because they have to have been in their unit for 3 years?

If not why not as I believe I have all the correct info, names birth dates etc.

The library I use is not a main family history library and the staff don't have much idea of what can be expected to be found.

Should I be able to find what I want at my library or am I asking too much??

Thanks for any help.

[Chris_Baker]

About two-thirds of all WW1 army service records were destroyed in a fire in 1940. That may explain why you cannot find them. But there are some types of record that you should be able to find. Perhaps if you let us have the men's details, friends here can help you find them.

[neutrino]

Thanks for that.
I'm going to have one more try at a Family History centre and then if I'll come back here if no luck.

[roughdiamond]

neutrino, on 02 August 2012 - 12:57 PM, said:

I've just been to the local library to look up two of my relatives in the Military section of Ancestry.
I understood it contained records for 1914 to 1920.

But no record available.
Is this because they have to have been in their unit for 3 years?
NO the answer to that is in Chris' post above

If not why not as I believe I have all the correct info, names birth dates etc.
Impossible to tell because we don't know how or whom you're searching

The library I use is not a main family history library and the staff don't have much idea of what can be expected to be found.

Should I be able to find what I want at my library or am I asking too much??
You're asking too much, they're Librarians, not trained historians, the paid experts on Military Records are at the National Archives in Kew, the lay unpaid experts (of whom Chris above is one) maybe found on here, but they're not mind readers and need info to work with.


Thanks for any help.

[CGM]

This is what Ancestry says about the its Service records database:

About British Army WWI Service Records, 1914-1920
Approximately 5 million men served in the British Army in World War One (WWI). This database contains the surviving service records of non-commissioned officers and other ranks who served in WWI and did not re-enlist in the Army prior to World War II.

So, points for you to consider are:

surviving service records (as explained above and by Ancestry, below the above excerpt from the website.)
non-commissioned officers and other ranks (were either of your relatives commissioned officers?)
and did not re-enlist in the Army prior to World War II. (Did either of your relatives re-enlist?)

Did you look at any of the other headings under Military?

Each of them has a brief description of what to expect and you can see if there are any hints there to help your search.
You can see the descriptions to the right of the Service Records summary.

[neutrino]

Well I've spent a few more hours at the Military Section of the Family History Dept of my local library without finding anything about 3 of my ancestors.

If anyone can help with a look up somehow I'd be grateful.

The men invovled are:

Tpr F. E Giddy born 1898 ish

Trevor James Thomas born 1897 ish

William Charles Hutchinson born 1893

They all were born in Glamorgan and lived in Glamorgan and were all involved in the First World War with the first two named being killed in it..

Thanks hoping.

[John Hartley]

I cannot see a likely candidate amongst the War Graves Commission listings for Trooper F E Giddy.

At a guess, he is the man, listed on Ancestry, with the  medal index card for fred Giddy. This man served with the Glamorgan Yeomanry and then the Welsh Regiment, with the rank of private. No indication that he died during his service.

I assume this is Trevor Thomas: http://www.cwgc.org/...OR JAMES HARMAN

[kenf48]

The first place to look on Ancestry is in the medal index cards, which can usually give a start
e.g. one possible is  Fred Giddy Glamorgan Yeomanry;  Welsh R
http://search.ancest...08172&recoff=10

BUT the very first place to look before you even begin is the home site the Long Long Trail
http://www.1914-1918...dad/grandad.htm

I'll let you look for a Thomas from Glamorgan!

Ken

[neutrino]

John Hartley, on 09 August 2012 - 12:55 PM, said:

I cannot see a likely candidate amongst the War Graves Commission listings for Trooper F E Giddy.

At a guess, he is the man, listed on Ancestry, with the  medal index card for fred Giddy. This man served with the Glamorgan Yeomanry and then the Welsh Regiment, with the rank of private. No indication that he died during his service.

I assume this is Trevor Thomas: http://www.cwgc.org/...OR JAMES HARMAN

Excellent, thanks very much.
That Trevor Thomas is my Grand uncle.

FE Giddy is Frederic Edward Giddy so more than likely the correct guy.
His name and the Tpr prefix are to be found on a local War Memorial.  Doesn't that mean he died during WW1?
He was my Great Grand fathers brother in law's son.

[John Hartley]

There is an F E Giddy on the Overseas Deaths list, serving with the Welsh Regiment with a service number of 320879.

This is the man's listing on the War Graves Commission website:
http://www.cwgc.org/...476324/GIDDY, F

Presumably, he served with the 1/1st Glamorgan Yeomanry until February 1917, when it merged with the Pembroke Yeomanry and became 24th battalion, Welsh Regiment.

[roughdiamond]

His MIC on Ancestry http://www.nationala...1&resultcount=1 shows he served first as 2242 Pte Fred Giddy Glamorgan Yeomanry, which ties in exactly with John's post above. NOK details on the CWGC entry should be the clincher.

As for William Charles Hutchinson, there's no Medal card with that name nor one for William C, W C or any combination with the surname Hutchison (in the case of mis-spelling). There is one for a William C G Hutchinson http://www.nationala...1&resultcount=1 other than that there's 326 MIC's for William Hutchinson and 98 for William Hutchison, have you any idea at all of his Regiment?

[neutrino]

Wow this is smashing information.
I do recall that FE Giddy was killed in Egypt so again that man is correct.

As for William Charles Hutchinson my aunty thinks he was in the FA.  But no more info than that and she also thought Trevor Thomas was in the FA so that info is circumspect.

The thing I don't understand is that although spending nearly 4 hours on the ancestry site at my local library I didn't find any of this information.

[KevinBattle]

Quote

The thing I don't understand is that although spending nearly 4 hours on the ancestry site at my local library I didn't find any of this information.

As you used the library, you obviously don't subscribe to Ancestry and therefore you may be unfamiliar with how to get the best results
.... which is why you asked on here - and got the answers.

Ancestry (like many other things) will only give back what you put in, the more information the more likely the answer will be accurate.
Did you plunge straight in to the Military section, or did you input FULL Names, parents, Date of Birth (+/- x years) and location into the main Search All Records section?
For instance, you didn't give the full name initially on here, nor any rank, nor that he died in Egypt, so Pals probably spent rather more than 4 hours helping you as they needed to establish which one might be your man.
You don't get to find that there are 326 MIC's without a fair bit of work.

That's not a criticism of you, more of an explanation why you didn't get this info.
Familiarity only comes with a lot of practice and these guys are good!
The better the info, the quicker it can be!

[neutrino]

It wasn't my intention to not give all the info.
I only remembered about Egypt after seeing the results.
I really hope I haven't wasted anybody's time unduly as the results I've been given here are just what I was looking for.
I didn't give FE Giddy's full name because he is listed as FE Giddy on the local War Memorial.
I didn't give the extra name of Harman for Trevor James Thomas because it's a name he hadn't used in any census record I've seen for him.

Once again thanks for all the work that has been done for me and apologies if I unintentionally made the look up more difficult.

Just out of interest I have taken photos of graves for two people who requested help so it hasn't all been one way.

[roughdiamond]

I find it easier to start a search for a man with the National Archives free search for WW1 Medal cards here http://www.nationala...y=*&queryType=1 I find it far more user friendly than the search criterea on Ancestry. From it, I can find in a second the info on my post #11.

It's then easier to search Ancestry, I always search seperately for Service Records, Pension Records and Medal Cards (the latter always first) using the "advanced" search option which allows you to enter a Service Number, I never enter anything in the "Event" section.

Sam