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New First World War Swansea Pals records published today

Now you can search for your ancestors among records of the men of the Swansea area recruited to the 14th (Service)
Battalion, The Welsh Regiment – known as the Swansea Pals. These men, saw some of the heaviest fighting of the First World War, the Swansea Pals records contain useful details for the military historian and the family historian alike, including:suffering nearly 400 dead and wounded of 700 on the Somme in a single day, seeing service in Ypres where they were accidentally shelled by their own men.

Ask the expert – elusive Royal Navy ancestor

Our resident military expert Paul Nixon, pictured below, offers advice on how to solve your military family history mysteries.

From Graham Browster:

‘My grandfather served in WWI – he was 28893 Dvr E Browster RFA and he won several medals which I have. While trying to trace his date of birth I have learnt that he served on HMS Queen Elizabeth and had been in the Royal Navy for several years.

I have not been able to trace him under the name we know him as but I know he was quite good at boxing and used the name ‘Gunboat’. Can you assist please?’

Paul says:

‘Dear Graham,

You’ve done better than I have in managing to dig up information about his Royal Navy service. I searched the Royal Navy ratings’ service records on The National Archives website but came up with a blank.

No service record appears to survive for his time with the RFA during WWI but he has two campaign medal index cards, one of which notes that he arrived in France on 22 July 1915 and was later awarded the Military Medal. The award was gazetted in the London Gazette of 16 August 1917. The card for his Military Medal notes that he served with B battery, 93rd Brigade.

I note that there was an American boxer by the name of Edward ‘Gunboat’ Smith who served with the US Navy but I’ve not found evidence that this man and your grandfather are one and the same person.’

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Ask the expert – WWI ancestor?

Our resident military expert Paul Nixon, pictured below, offers advice on how to solve your military family history mysteries.

From Alan Theobald:

‘I have been trying to find any records of my paternal grandfather’s army service for several years, without success, and would be grateful for any advice you can offer.

He was James Theobald, born in 1870, died in 1950/1 in Romford, Essex. He lived all his life within a few miles of Romford except for military service. He was unlikely to have been a commissioned officer. This is all I know about him:

• Found on the 1891 census as a civilian
• Not found on the 1901 census, which could suggest that he was overseas at the time
• Described on the 1911 census and on the 1909 birth certificate of one of his sons as an army pensioner. I know that he was partially paralysed as a result of wounds and/or sunstroke
• Not found in Chelsea Pensioners records, which could suggest that he was not a British Army pensioner. Who else would have paid him an army pension?
• Not found in any 2nd Boer War records. Not found by a researcher in WO97
• Reputed to have described the sun as the Bengal blanket
• Granted the lease of a smallholding in Crow Lane, Romford in around 1930, until his death, under a Royal British Legion scheme for disabled ex-servicemen. RBL say that they have no archive material

Hope you can help.’

Paul says:

‘Hello Alan.

Admittedly he’s a bit of a mystery and you’re really struggling without a regiment.

The survival rate of documents in WO97 for men discharged to pension between 1883 and 1913 is very good; in fact Michael and Christopher Watts, in their book My Ancestor was in the British Army (Society of Genealogists 2009) describe finding a document as ‘a near certainty’.

The fact that nothing appears to survive for your grandfather could suggest a) that he was discharged overseas (the survival rate for these men’s papers is low) or b) that he subsequently served during WWI. It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that he could have joined up again in 1914, his papers being moved out of what is now WO97 and into WO363 where they were subsequently destroyed during bombing in WWII.

I’m tempted towards WWI because you mention the Royal British Legion, an organisation formed after WWI to look after WWI veterans and their families. As far as I’m aware they did not concern themselves with veterans of previous conflicts, although it would be worth verifying this with RBL.’

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Ask the expert – absent service record

Our resident military expert Paul Nixon, pictured below, offers advice on how to solve your military family history mysteries.

From Mary Gregg:

‘My father served in the Kings Royal Rifle Corps in WWI. His name and number was Pte George Brunt 44919 – he later joined the 6th London regt. number 348277. I have his card but it gives no details of his actual service and I cannot trace his service records anywhere. I do know he served in France and was mentioned in two despatches as I saw the typed out pages which said he had captured a German trench. I also saw one that said he had captured some Germans single-handedly but these were lost by my family in the move to Australia. I would be most grateful for any information you can discover.’

Paul says:

‘Hello Mary. Thanks for writing to me.

The numbers date to quite late on in the war. 44919 for the King’s Royal Rifle Corps dates to March 1918 (almost certainly the first half of the month) and 348277 for the 6th London Regiment is a month or two after that. It’s possible that he was transferred from the KRRC to the 6th London Regiment under Army Order 204/1916, which dealt with compulsory transfers.

In the absence of a service record (which could have been destroyed as a result of enemy bombing during WWII) you could at least obtain a copy of the 6th London Regiment’s war diary from April 1918. This would give you an idea of what the battalion was up to at this time. The diaries are held at The National Archives in Kew but you could ask a researcher to obtain copies for you. As far as I know, this particular war diary is not available via documents online at TNA, although many are.’

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Ask the expert – missing military information

Our resident military expert Paul Nixon, pictured below, offers advice on how to solve your military family history mysteries.

From Grahame Reed:

‘I am trying to trace the military history of my great-great-grandfather but have only been partially successful.

His name is Charles Reed, born in 1808 and died on 27 October 1884 in Harpenden, St Albans, Hertfordshire.

Charles married his second wife Eliza Moorcroft on 10 July 1850 – the certificate shows his profession as ‘Colour Sgt 60th Rifles’. From the information given below in the 1851 census, Charles probably previously served in Ireland. The details of his first wife are not known.

The 1851 census shows Charles Reed, his wife Eliza, daughter Adelaide (born 1836 in Ireland), son Charles (born 1840 in Ireland) and daughter Caroline (born 1841 in Windsor, Berkshire) – these three children are by his first wife.

The birth certificates of his sons born to Eliza show the following:

• Arthur (born 21 April 51) shows Charles as a labourer – this is my great-grandfather.
• Walter (born 2 August 1852) shows Charles as an Army pensioner.
• Certificates for Edward (born 19 April 1856), Joseph (born 25 May 1861) and Frederick (born 26 March 1863) indicate that Charles was a Staff Sgt in the 2nd Royal Middlesex Rifles living at No 7 Militia Storehouse, Barnet, South Mimms.

Other census documents show Charles as a Chelsea out-pensioner in 1852.

We have been unable to trace any military or pension records or any details of his first wife or the record of Caroline’s birth at Windsor in 1841.

Your help would be appreciated in pointing out the path we should take to fill in the gaps detailed above.’

Paul says:

‘Thanks for your email.

Do bear in mind that there is a wealth of military information that has not been published online. In the absence of a pension record in the WO97 Chelsea Pensioners’ Service Records, you need to look at WO12 (general muster books and pay lists) and also WO25/266-688 (regimental description books 1756-1878). First of all, find Charles Reed in WO12 and then work backwards until you get to the description (on enlistment) in WO25.

If he was born in 1808 he could well have joined up around 1826, or even earlier if he enlisted as a boy. The description books give a physical description of the soldier and are generally arranged by initial letter of the soldier’s name in the various regimental volumes. You’ll get physical characteristics plus age, where born, former trade, former service etc.

A further offline source is WO23/26-65 which are the admission registers of Chelsea out-pensioners between 1820 and 1875. These are arranged by regiment, each volume containing a number of regiments. All of these WO (War Office) series can be requested at The National Archives in Kew, London. You can do that yourself or hire a researcher to do it for you.

Unfortunately, no personnel records survive for the Volunteer Force (the precursor to the Territorial Force) so you’ll be unlikely to find anything specific about his time in the 2nd Royal Middlesex Rifles, although you could of course gen up on this battalion and also the 60th Foot (King’s Royal Rifle Corps) to plot his likely career path. Good luck!’

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Search new Royal Artillery records

Search for your ancestors in two fantastic new sets of Royal Artillery records on findmypast.co.uk: Royal Artillery Military Medals 1916-1993 and Royal Artillery Honours & Awards 1939-1946.

Royal Artillery Military Medals 1916-1993

Search a nominal roll of more than 16,500 military medals, which were awarded to members of the Royal Regiment of Artillery from WWI to the Falklands War.

These records could provide you with fascinating information about your ancestors’ military service, including the unit they served in, the type of service and details of the award itself.

Search Royal Artillery military medals now

Royal Artillery Honours & Awards 1939-1946

Search 21,400 Royal Artillery honours and awards for the period 1939-1946. The awards were given to officers and men of the Royal Regiment of Artillery for their gallantry and dedication during WWII. These records are a nominal roll of those awards.

Discover crucial details about your military ancestors and the honours and awards they received while in service.

Search Royal Artillery honours and awards now

Napoleonic War Records 1775-1817 published

Search more than 133,000 new Napoleonic War Records for the period 1775-1817 on findmypast.co.uk

These records will be a real bonus to those trying to trace their military ancestors.

The records are split into three types:

• Army of Reserve 1803: 26,314 records of soldiers who were part of the 1803 England and Wales Army of Reserve



• Regimental indexes 1806: 97,463 regimental records of Napoleonic era soldiers from 1806
• Foot Guards attestation papers 1775-1817: 9,309 records of soldiers’ attestations to the 1st Foot Guard between 1775 and 1817

Barbara Chambers provided findmypast.co.uk with these records.

Find out more and search these records now

Ask the Expert – elusive war records

Our resident military expert Paul Nixon, pictured below, answers your queries.

From Lin Moorman:

‘My grandfather Thomas Pilsbury, born on 18 February 1877, volunteered or was called up quite late in WWI. He never recovered from the experience. I tried to find his war records some time ago but no luck. Have you any advice?’

Paul says:

‘The medal index cards for WWI list two men with the name Thomas Pilsbury. The first man went out to France as a private with the Shropshire Light Infantry in September 1915 and so this is probably not your grandfather as you say he was called up quite late in WWI. The other Thomas Pilsbury served with the Royal Dublin Fusiliers (RDF) and later the Royal Irish Regiment (RIR). There is a service record in WO364 which will show you that he was a brass locksmith by trade and that he enlisted on 13 April 1918 aged 41 years and two months.

Thomas was posted to the 3rd Bn RDF on 15 April 1918 and sailed for France as a draft for the 6th Bn on 27 August. Two days later he was transferred to the RIR and appears to have joined the battalion in the line on 3 September. It looks as though he spent three weeks in the line before being admitted to a casualty clearing station with haemorrhoids.

He was discharged from the 2nd Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment on 12 March 1919 giving his address as 58 Victoria Road, Bradmore, Wolverhampton. He applied for a pension but this was rejected in 1919 as he had ‘no disability’ (although he had suffered from scabies and haemorrhoids and been hospitalised at various times in Camiers, Trouville and Etaples).

The scabies was possibly as a result of lice, although this is not stated on his pension record. Thomas was a married man (married to Edith Ann Sarah on 13 November 1904), and they had five children: Winifred (7 December 1905), Edith (5 September 1907), Thomas (31 August 1909), Lucy (19 May 1912) and Muriel (22 January 1915). It’s not much I’m afraid but I hope it helps.’

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Ask the Expert – Boer War brick wall

Our resident military expert Paul Nixon, pictured below, answers your queries.

From Keith Griffiths:

‘I’m trying to trace any record of my grandfather Howell Lewis Griffiths. He was born on 11 April 1878 in Carmarthen, Wales and is said to have fought in the 2nd Boer War in South Africa. I have not been able to trace a record as I do not have a regiment to which he may have been attached. Any help would be appreciated.’

Paul says:

‘You’re going to struggle with this as the medal rolls for the 2nd South African War often only list initials rather than first names. There is one H L Griffiths listed who served with the Commander in Chief’s bodyguard (number 22647) but you’d need more evidence to positively identify this man as your relative.

Why not try the local papers for the time and see if he is named either as going out to fight, or returning home? brightsolid online publishing and the British Library have just launched the British Newspaper Archive, where you’ll be able to search 4 million newspaper pages, rising to 40 million over the next 10 years. Read more about this and register here: www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk‘

If you’d like to send your question to our experts, please register or opt to receive newsletters in My Account. Unfortunately our experts only have time to answer a few queries each month. If yours wasn’t answered this time, you could be lucky next month!

WWII Escapers & Evaders records published

You can now search 10,529 records of WWII Escapers & Evaders on findmypast.co.uk

These records are individual reports for allied service personnel about their experiences of escaping from prisoner of war camps or evading capture in Central Europe throughout WWII.

Each entry will tell you the following key information about your ancestor: name, rank, number, corps and reference to the original paper file at The National Archives in Kew.

You may also be able to learn details of your ancestor’s decorations, date of capture, the camp in which they were held and/or the date of escape.

These records will be especially useful if you have previously been unable to find your WWII ancestors.

Search WWII Escapers & Evaders now