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[Rods2]

Lord Opti & STEMO can rest easy, not OOF ones, but past relatives.

I never met either of my grandads as one died at 59 from a hemorrhaged aneurysm but I've learn't a fair amount about him including finding his WWI military record.

My other grandad was a Petty Officer in the RN, fought in the Battle of Jutland and suffered from PTSD which got progressively worse along with his violence in the 1920s. He volunteered to go in a mental hospital where he spent the rest of his life where like so many in that era it was a case of out of sight and forgotten. Many RN records were destroyed in the Blitz and so I know nothing about his military record, as it was blank result when I searched, until today. I was discussing on Twitter PTSD with some veterans, when somebody associated with a Battle of Jutland Crew Association asked for his name & has come back with a record and detail which certainly looks a likely fit from the details which I will now check and try to verify. If it is then he served on the light cruiser HMS Caroline during the Battle of Jutland and it is the only surviving ship from the battle and now a floating museum in Belfast. If it all adds up then I will have to pay a visit to the ship and walk on the decks and what must have been a familiar work & living place for him.

[Varche]

Good for you finding out family history.

I am appalled at the big holes in our family history. Plenty of photos with no names or dates on.

Mrs V’s uncle passed away recently. He was a veteran of the fierce w2 fighting on the Western Fronts. Irish guards tank division. We talked to him at length about his experiences. He must have had PTSD and villagers shunned him for being odd. Her other uncle had an easy war repairing locos behind the front.

My dad said only recently  one of my uncles had Pstd and he was sent to Norway after the war to pick bilberries to get over it.

My dad has his dad’s pip , squeak and wilfred medals , which he proudly wears each armed forces day. Cant be many in he country still doing that. When he dies , I hope one of his grandchildren takes all his  medals on board rather than selling them.

The relevant military museums are a great source of info and a sobering day out

[ronnyd]

Good for you finding out family history.

I am appalled at the big holes in our family history. Plenty of photos with no names or dates on.

Mrs V’s uncle passed away recently. He was a veteran of the fierce w2 fighting on the Western Fronts. Irish guards tank division. We talked to him at length about his experiences. He must have had PTSD and villagers shunned him for being odd. Her other uncle had an easy war repairing locos behind the front.

My dad said only recently  one of my uncles had Pstd and he was sent to Norway after the war to pick bilberries to get over it.

My dad has his dad’s pip , squeak and wilfred medals , which he proudly wears each armed forces day. Cant be many in he country still doing that. When he dies , I hope one of his grandchildren takes all his  medals on board rather than selling them.

The relevant military museums are a great source of info and a sobering day out

Mum, brother and me decided to have Dad buried wearing his medals.

[Rods2]

I've got my grandad's wilfred medal.

[Varche]

I've got my grandad's wilfred medal.

I know it is a long time away but what are you planning to do with it on your demise? 


My plan is to suss out the grandchildren and pass stuff on with the understanding that they are to do the same. the only thing my grandmother brought with her when she fled Canada with my 2 year old Mum was a very ordinary cheap shaker clock churned out in their hundreds of thousands. You can buy them on Ebay for £50. These and photos and war memorabilia I would like to "pass on". Not sure how photos would fare in a post hard copy era (i.e. mobile phone)

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

I only met one grandparent. My Maternal grandmother. She was a fickin horrible old witch. 
Mrs Mig has done a hell of a lot of work looking into her own and my family history. The fact that I am not remotely interested in any of it annoys her somewhat.

[ronnyd]

I only met one grandparent. My Maternal grandmother. She was a fickin horrible old witch. 
Mrs Mig has done a hell of a lot of work looking into her own and my family history. The fact that I am not remotely interested in any of it annoys her somewhat.

My brother, bless him, is into that sort of thing and family reunions. Doesn,t worry me much at all as i try to avoid most of my reletives.

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

Same here.They are al nuts. 

[Lizzie Zoom]

It is with continuing great regret that although I knew one of my grandfathers in childhood, I never got to be able to ask him of his experiences when also serving in the RN and being on HMS Lion at the Battle of Jutland.  My RN father also belatedly regretted never asking him about the same experiences and the general ones of serving in the Service at that time.

My Other grandad I never knew as he was killed by a Luftwaffe bomb on 12th September 1940 when a Junkers 88 dropped it's load on Tunbridge Wells whilst being chased by RAF fighters, who eventually brought the aircraft down killing all the crew.

Thank God though I had my Great Aunt Kit who gave me a lot of family history covering the late 19th and well into the 20th century.

Ancestry is so important to us historians, and I believe many other folk,  but all of us fail to find out family history before it is all too late and dies with our relatives.

Gald Rod you found out what you wanted to know.  A great result!

[BazaJT]

I never knew my maternal grandparents as they'd both passed away before I was born,only thing mum ever mentioned about her dad was that he used to take bets while sat on the back doorstep of their home My paternal grandfather served in the army during WW1 other than that he was a businessman who whilst he lived next door to us required my dad to make an appointment to see him in the evening or weekends Dad was on minesweepers during WW2[mum worked in a munitions factory] one of my sisters has all things relating to our parents as she's the family "historian".I do however have two large portraits[oil painting] one of a man and the other a woman-these were painted in 1870 and 1872 respectively-who are a couple of my forebears and my sister refers to them as "The Boat People"so presumably in the dim and distant past my paternal side of the family had something to do with barges.

[Varche]

That is interesting to have oil paintings of relatives from that period. I would have thought only wealthy folk like the aristocracy, could have afforded to commission a portrait. Might have been an artist returning a favour? Be interesting to know what your sister knows about them.

[BazaJT]

I have tried researching the artist[William Mackey] to find out if he was just a local chap or not,but I'm no good at computer stuff so never really got off the ground with that idea.

[78bex]

One source of cross reference for a veteran is to search for british military campaign & service medals.
It might confirm the indiduals rank & hopefully tie up with the service number you`ve been given

Quote :-

4.2 First World War, 1914-1918
All servicemen, some women, and some civilians, were eligible for one or more campaign medals if they served abroad. These records are the nearest we have to a full ‘roll-call’ for the First World War. The medal rolls are variously arranged and accessed for each service. Details of what each medal was awarded for can be found in Appendix 1 below.

 go here  :-
 
    http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/british-military-campaign-and-service-medals/#4-how-to-find-records-of-campaign-medals

[BazaJT]

Been cleaning the glass and frame of the portraits today and found my memory[from last time I looked really closely at them]was slightly false the artist was William Mackie-not Mackey-and the male portrait was painted 1865 with the female portrait being dated 1867 so slightly earlier than I'd thought.

[Lizzie Zoom]

Been cleaning the glass and frame of the portraits today and found my memory[from last time I looked really closely at them]was slightly false the artist was William Mackie-not Mackey-and the male portrait was painted 1865 with the female portrait being dated 1867 so slightly earlier than I'd thought.

Ah, so now you have the all important factual evidence so your true historical hunt can commence Baza