Genealogy Chat

Hi people Im just wondering if there is any way to comfirm that the medal card i found on the kew web site is the 1 im wanting.My g-grandad was in ww1 but im not sure what regament hewas in.Does a medal card give any personal info etc d.o.b which would enable me to be sure it's the card im after. All i have is a name not much togo on. Any advice will be gratefully recieved. Regards simon

Medal cards give you precious little info by themselves. If the soldier's documents survive - 40% chance - these are much more useful as they provide addresses, age, physical description, next of kin and occasionally much, much more. I think, but you need one of the military buffs on this, that the cards can lead you onto other sources, which can give potted biographies, post war addresses etc. If you are able to, go to Kew (where you can see the cards for free) to look for the soldiers' records, or post on the Record Office board for a look up.

I nudged a military research tips thread for you. :-) Joy

thanks for the replies i took a look at a few of those web sites. God i hate hate doing this some times dont u.? ThE ONLY CHANCE I GOT IS A TRIP TO KEW I THINK. Thanks for the replys simon

Simon, I can confirm that the medal card does not show d.o.b or any other identifying information. I downloaded one yesterday for my husband's grandad. Luckily for me there was only one person with his name. The card shows first name and middle initial(s), rank, regiment, regimental service number(s), which of the three available campaign medals they were awarded and the number & page of the roll at Kew where more details are presumably recorded. If your ancestor died in service the card also shows brief details. The best site i know for this sort of thing is 1914-1918 net, it has lots of great advice for those searching for military ancestors. For instance, have you got a photo of your relative in uniform? One of the buffs on the board should be able to help identify the regiment if you have a photo of the regimental badge. Good luck, Teresa

thanks teresa yeh i tryed that site. Your right some great tips.Unfortunatly i havent any pics to go on only a name.There r 4 possibles on the medal index. If anyone knows if i visit kew will i be able to look at each individual service record to verify place and date of birth that would ne great and my next step A trip to kew. regards simon

As Abbess said at the start, not all WW1 service records survived - I thought the figure was a bit higher than 40%, but I'm sure she is right and I am wrong. This surviving data is called ''The burnt records'' - the other 60% was destroyed in WW2. Anyway, if the record has survived then yes it would contain more info, inc personal data, that should enable you to work out if you are looking at the right record or not. Apart from the chances of your rellies record being one of the 60% or so thay were destroyed during WW2, there are a couple of other reasons your rellies record might not appear. (these may not apply to yours, but may help others reading this) 1) If rellie was an officer, the records are in a different catagory, but still at Kew. 2) if your rellie also served in WW2 (some were gluttons for punishment, like my granddad!) then the records are still with the MOD. When you buy a medal card from TNA, you actually get more than one for your £3.50. That's because several are on the one page together......I don't know how many you do get (3 or 4??) as I have never bought one, but at least it increases the chances of getting the right record, even if you don't know which is ''the one'' straight away! Merry

IN the WW1 site that is given in the military research tips thread, sometimes kind people in that offer lookups when they go to Kew. :-) Joy

Hello, I have my father's service history from WW1 and I can tell you that (if the records survived) they will tell you quite a bit about your ancestor. I found out what my father's occupation was before joining up and who his employer was. I also found out the degree of disablement he suffered after sustaining gunshot wounds. If your ancestor was injured and received an army pension, that generates even more paperwork. I paid a researcher to dig out my father's records and to interpret it all for me because I haven't a clue about military stuff. For my money, I got photocopies of his records and a typewritten report interpreting those records for me. If you are tempted to do this, there is a list of researchers on the TNA website. Thye will usually give you an estimate of costs before they begin the work. I'm glad I got my father's records, I feel I know him much better.

As Merry says, and I forgot to mention, there are up to six different medal card images on each page. When you do the initial look-up for your ancestors name it shows the image reference number. If the image reference numbers are the same on all the ones you're interested in then they are all on the one card. Teresa