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WW1 service record advice please

P

Paulo76

master brummie
Hi,

I'm trying to research my Great Grandfathers WW1 record but are stuck and need some advice please.

We don't know much about him apart from his full name, year of birth and his parents names. We think we know his place of birth and we think we have an address where he was living in Birmingham in 1912. He's not on the absent voters in Birmingham list for 1918. Mum has asked her few remaining relatives about her grandad and they know nothing about his service. We have no photos or medals.

I went on Ancestry.com and searched the Medals records and there are four records that match his mame and it could be any of them (two are for the same person). No service records matching these came up on Ancestry and I'm aware many were lost in fires in WW2. How can I progress this search?

Thanks all.
​
 
Hi Paulo76,
welcome to the forum, as there are many different areas where information can be found it would help if you can post the details you have, name, dob and possibly address the more details you can supply the better, might help someone find the information you seek


Colin
 
Hi Colin,

Thanks for your reply. My Great Grandfather was named Herbert John Barham and he was born in 1887 in Suffolk, probably in Middleton or Theberton. He became a painter/decorator and we think he lived at 88 Berners St, Nechells in Birmingham in 1912 which might be on his attestation papers.

I've attached the medal roll cards that might be the Herbert I'm interested in, hope these help. One is for an artilleryman, one for a Pte in the Royal Warwicks and two for a Pte in the Suffolk Regt (two records for the same soldier). He could be any or none of these three, the Warwicks because he was probably living in Brum and it would have been local regiment, the RGA for many reasons or the Suffolks because that's his home county. However, the Suffolks mentions Yeomanry first which I think was Territorial, in that case I think it would be unlikely he'd be in a Suffolk TA regt and living in Brum but I may be wrong

Can anyone help please?

Thanks,
Paul.
 
He does not have the 1914 Star or the 1914/15 Star which means he saw active service no earlier than January 1916. The six figure Warwicks number might suggest a Territorial (but there were eight battalions of these). Do not assume local men were more likely to join the Warwicks, particualrly as he could be a particularly late server. Look at the Birmingham Roll of Honour and most of the British Army is represented.
 
Thanks Alan.

My great grandfather survived the war, in fact all we know is he was extremely disturbed by his experiences and suffered shell shock.

The medal roll cards I attached are three different HJ Barhams and the difficulty I'm having is that I don't know which one was my great grandfather. He lived in Birmingham but was originally from Suffolk. I'd need to see his service record to discern which medal roll was his.

Regards,
Paul.
 
Might not be what your after, not something I know much about, but in the Central Library there used to be a book on the top floor, not in the history dept, but in what was then called local studies, entitled spmething like' Birmingham, those who served'

Gave very little information, but did include rank regiment and home address.

Its been about 15 years sinse i went there, but the book might still exist. Could be worth a try.
 
The Veteran's Agency can only help you if he served after 1921.

The item that col h refers to might be the Birmingham volume of the National Roll of Honour.

Neither of these are likely to help you identify which if any of the four men are him. My advice would be to try the 1918 Absent Voters List, which should give his military information.
 
Thanks to Col H and Chris for your replies. Unfortunately I couldn't find my Great Grandfather on the 1918 Absent Voters List for Birmingham, could it be that he'd already been discharged? I'm really stuck!
 
Sadly not all of the records of WW1 servicemen have survived, and some of those which do are badly damaged. Can you find who had his medals after he died? They have his service number on them. Are there any photos of him in uniform, which may identify his regiment? Any clue may help here.
 
If you have not already done it, you could look for the service/pension records of all men of the right name and see if you can by a process of elimination whittle them down from the 4.
 
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