NOTSHARP
master brummie
This is the story of my attempt to find out anything, about my paternal grandfather.
Firstly, other than a name, I, and my two older brothers, knew nothing about him. During my childhood, I do not recal him ever being mentioned, let alone talked about.
I remember my own father having a wee cardboard box, containing his own medals from his army service, and before he died, he passed them on to his grandson, my nephew.
When talking to my brother one day, he mentioned that in the box there were also medals belonging to our paternal grandfather. He offered to send them to me, to have a look at, and I was delighted to accept the offer. Imagine my further delight when I did see them, and realised that his army service number was engraved on the rim of the medals. Now, I had something to go on.
Lots of on-line searching revealed such a lot of information, that I spent months delving into it.
The first shock was that my Grandfather had been killed in WW1.
From the date of the above, it can be seen that, although he died on 01/12/1917, he must, along with others, have been buried on the battlefield, and exhumed two and a half years later, for re-burial, at Gouzeaucort New British Cemetary.
I was able to get a copy of his battalion War Diary from the National Archive, and found the account of what they were doing when he was killed.
I also found copies of the trench maps on line, and from the battlefield grave location, was able to find the spot where he had been buried.
It seems that they were pushing the Germans out of Gouzeaucourt. Just outside the village was a Mill ( now a dwelling ), which was an enemy machine gun post. He was, likely, killed about 200 yards from it.
I found, again available on-line, his name in the Memorial Book in the Hall of Remembrance in Birmingham.
I was also very fortunate in being able to get a copy of his Army record. Many records were lost during the blitz in the Second World War, but the Guards Regiments kept theirs in a different location.
They contained his personal description ( I have no photograph of him ), and his signature, together with family details that we had no idea of. There were also copies of letters written by my Grandmother, asking for information, because she had not heard from him.
As an aside, many years ago, I purchased a couple of brass shell casings from an antique shop. They were from WW1, usually made by soldiers, and known as Trench Art. After my WW1 interest being aroused, I looked at them more closely. Another coincidence? I wonder, at times.
They are both crudely decorated with engraving. One was to commemorate the battle of Cambrai, which is where my Grandfather died.
Not only that, but the primer headstamp shows a date of 17/12, the year and month of my Grandfathers death.
I found all of this information six years ago. As far as I know, no family member had visited his grave, so my wife and I planned a trip to do just that. Flights, car hire, hotel etc., all booked, and a week later my wife was told that she had breast cancer, and needed immediate treatment. Needless to say, our trip was cancelled.
Six years on, and we have a another trip planned, and will be visiting Gouzeaucourt in May.
Steve.
Steve.
Firstly, other than a name, I, and my two older brothers, knew nothing about him. During my childhood, I do not recal him ever being mentioned, let alone talked about.
I remember my own father having a wee cardboard box, containing his own medals from his army service, and before he died, he passed them on to his grandson, my nephew.
When talking to my brother one day, he mentioned that in the box there were also medals belonging to our paternal grandfather. He offered to send them to me, to have a look at, and I was delighted to accept the offer. Imagine my further delight when I did see them, and realised that his army service number was engraved on the rim of the medals. Now, I had something to go on.
Lots of on-line searching revealed such a lot of information, that I spent months delving into it.
The first shock was that my Grandfather had been killed in WW1.
From the date of the above, it can be seen that, although he died on 01/12/1917, he must, along with others, have been buried on the battlefield, and exhumed two and a half years later, for re-burial, at Gouzeaucort New British Cemetary.
I was able to get a copy of his battalion War Diary from the National Archive, and found the account of what they were doing when he was killed.
I also found copies of the trench maps on line, and from the battlefield grave location, was able to find the spot where he had been buried.
It seems that they were pushing the Germans out of Gouzeaucourt. Just outside the village was a Mill ( now a dwelling ), which was an enemy machine gun post. He was, likely, killed about 200 yards from it.
I found, again available on-line, his name in the Memorial Book in the Hall of Remembrance in Birmingham.
I was also very fortunate in being able to get a copy of his Army record. Many records were lost during the blitz in the Second World War, but the Guards Regiments kept theirs in a different location.
They contained his personal description ( I have no photograph of him ), and his signature, together with family details that we had no idea of. There were also copies of letters written by my Grandmother, asking for information, because she had not heard from him.
As an aside, many years ago, I purchased a couple of brass shell casings from an antique shop. They were from WW1, usually made by soldiers, and known as Trench Art. After my WW1 interest being aroused, I looked at them more closely. Another coincidence? I wonder, at times.
They are both crudely decorated with engraving. One was to commemorate the battle of Cambrai, which is where my Grandfather died.
Not only that, but the primer headstamp shows a date of 17/12, the year and month of my Grandfathers death.
I found all of this information six years ago. As far as I know, no family member had visited his grave, so my wife and I planned a trip to do just that. Flights, car hire, hotel etc., all booked, and a week later my wife was told that she had breast cancer, and needed immediate treatment. Needless to say, our trip was cancelled.
Six years on, and we have a another trip planned, and will be visiting Gouzeaucourt in May.
Steve.
Steve.
