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Royal Artillery - Long Shot

NOTSHARP

master brummie
This may well be the proverbial "Forlorn Hope", but let's see.:)

My father was in the RA in the 1930's, and served in the NW frontier 1935/37'ish. I have a album of his, with photographs taken during his time there. Amongst them are eight, of a funeral service for one of his comrades. I only have the surname and rank of the deceased. No service number, nor first name.
The grave is in a cemetery It is not a field burial. At the time it was in India, but would now be Northern Pakistan, or possibly Afghanistan.

I remember my father saying that the deceased was the driver of a lorry that my father was in, when someone in the the back, accidentally (negligently) discharged their rifle, killing the driver.

I have it in my mind to see if I can trace any of his family members, and offer the photographs to them, if of interest.

What are the chances of finding any information? Any suggestions would be appreciated.


Steve.
 
There should be records of the incident - the soldier who died and the soldier who was responsible.

I'm sure it would be possible to find out more but as the records are not publicly available it might be a slow and expensive process.

Might also depend on how common the surname is.
 
This may well be the proverbial "Forlorn Hope", but let's see.:)

My father was in the RA in the 1930's, and served in the NW frontier 1935/37'ish. I have a album of his, with photographs taken during his time there. Amongst them are eight, of a funeral service for one of his comrades. I only have the surname and rank of the deceased. No service number, nor first name.
The grave is in a cemetery It is not a field burial. At the time it was in India, but would now be Northern Pakistan, or possibly Afghanistan.

I remember my father saying that the deceased was the driver of a lorry that my father was in, when someone in the the back, accidentally (negligently) discharged their rifle, killing the driver.

I have it in my mind to see if I can trace any of his family members, and offer the photographs to them, if of interest.

What are the chances of finding any information? Any suggestions would be appreciated.


Steve.
I found my relation, killed in and buried in Rangoon. I put only the surname and regiment into CWGC I got a full list of 450 with that surname but managed to find him. Maybe you can find a clue?
 

James Henry Paddock​


Event Type:Burial
Event Date:28 Mar 1937
Event Place:Bengal, India
Event Place (Original):Bannu, Bengal, India
Name:James Henry Paddock
Sex:Male
Age:25
Death Date:27 Mar 1937
Birth Year (Estimated):1912
Marital Status:Unknown

I also found this on military campaign medals
Name:J H Paddock
Service Date:1936-1937
Service Place:India
Campaign or Service:India - NW Frontier
Regiment or Unit Name:66th Battery Royal Field Artillery
Regimental Number:802617
 

James Henry Paddock​


Event Type:Burial
Event Date:28 Mar 1937
Event Place:Bengal, India
Event Place (Original):Bannu, Bengal, India
Name:James Henry Paddock
Sex:Male
Age:25
Death Date:27 Mar 1937
Birth Year (Estimated):1912
Marital Status:Unknown

I also found this on military campaign medals
Name:J H Paddock
Service Date:1936-1937
Service Place:India
Campaign or Service:India - NW Frontier
Regiment or Unit Name:66th Battery Royal Field Artillery
Regimental Number:802617


That does look promising. Thank you so much.

I will look through the photograph album again, and see if the Regiment/Unit is named.

May I ask how/where you found that information?

Yet another rabbit hole to dive into.:)


Steve.
 
I found my relation, killed in and buried in Rangoon. I put only the surname and regiment into CWGC I got a full list of 450 with that surname but managed to find him. Maybe you can find a clue?

Thank you.

I did try there, but War dead only.

Steve.
 
I searched on https://www.familysearch.org/search/ (free but you need to register - covers all over the world although does not have everything obviously. Run by Mormons who give free access as a condition of being able to put online records. The main problem is there are usually only transcripts not originals). I started by asking for possible burials with surname Paddock in Pakistan with a death date 1935 to 1937. This drew a blank so I changed the place to India and got several records with that one being the most likely in terms of age. I then swapped to Ancestry (I have a subscription) and searched the military section. This gave me two possible recipients of NW Frontier medals. One matched for initials. I posted the details you saw in post #7.
Happy to help if I can. Over to you now.
 
I searched on https://www.familysearch.org/search/ (free but you need to register - covers all over the world although does not have everything obviously. Run by Mormons who give free access as a condition of being able to put online records. The main problem is there are usually only transcripts not originals). I started by asking for possible burials with surname Paddock in Pakistan with a death date 1935 to 1937. This drew a blank so I changed the place to India and got several records with that one being the most likely in terms of age. I then swapped to Ancestry (I have a subscription) and searched the military section. This gave me two possible recipients of NW Frontier medals. One matched for initials. I posted the details you saw in post #7.
Happy to help if I can. Over to you now.

Thank you, Janice.

I have a sub to familysearch, and should have tried there, of course, but thought that the "Army Route"may have been the best shot.

A close look through the photograph album, has come up positive for the 66th Battery.



Also, a quick picture of one of the pages showing the funeral.




Thank you again, for your help. It is appreciated.


Steve.
 
I searched on https://www.familysearch.org/search/ (free but you need to register - covers all over the world although does not have everything obviously. Run by Mormons who give free access as a condition of being able to put online records. The main problem is there are usually only transcripts not originals). I started by asking for possible burials with surname Paddock in Pakistan with a death date 1935 to 1937. This drew a blank so I changed the place to India and got several records with that one being the most likely in terms of age. I then swapped to Ancestry (I have a subscription) and searched the military section. This gave me two possible recipients of NW Frontier medals. One matched for initials. I posted the details you saw in post #7.
Happy to help if I can. Over to you now.
Janice,
An excellent piece of research.
David
 
I have found an image of his campaign award record. Interestingly, his rank is Gunner, not Driver, as per the note on the burial photographs.



I have not found any other likely candidates, so I have sent off a request for his service record.



Steve.
 
I applied for a Death Certificate from the GRO, but, alas, no joy there.

"Dear Madam Or Sir,

Thank you for your order as detailed below.

Death Certificate: JAMES PADDOCK

We have been unable to process your application, please refer to the paragraph below.

We do not hold records for the certificate you have applied for. We suggest that you contact The Foreign Embassy of the country concerned who may hold the records."


The above would be difficult. At the time, 1937, the death occurred in India, but that is now Pakistan. I do know that the separation of India was a huge upheaval. Would records have survived? Maybe.

I will wait on my request for his army records, with fingers crossed.


Steve.
 
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