Researching Your Civil War AncestryDo you have a distant relative who fought in the Civil War? Would you like to find out if you do? This is the discussion for you!
I would just like to post the findings of a little research I have done. While not Civil War related, I hope this will encourage readers to look into their Civil War ancestors in more detail.
When I was very young, I lived in a coal mining village in Northumberland, England. Like all towns and villages there was a war memorial with a huge list of those killed in the First World War. The far fewer World War Two names are almost added as an after thought. My Grandma and Great Aunt often pointed out the two names of my Great Uncles (their brothers). As kids, me and my brothers often played with their medals. Just recently I found the medals in a box and did a little research. With names and numbers I used the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website to find out what happened to the two brothers. I should add that they were simply posted as missing, later missing presumed dead. None of their relatives ever knew what happened or where they lay. Here are my findings:
Great Uncle Jack served in the Northumberland Fusiliers, a local regiment. Armed with his name, rank (private) and number, I discovered that he was killed on the 24th May 1915. His name is engraved on the Menin Gate. This is a memorial to the tens of thousands killed around Ypres who have no known grave. A little reading, shows that on the day he was killed, his regiment were fighting in the Second Battle of Ypres. This was the first battle in which the Germans used gas. Uncle Jack was probably not gassed. The gas was used in the Germans initial attack. Jacks regiment were involved in the British counter-attack.
Great Uncle Toms place of death was a little harder to pin down. Toms medals show he was in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve. Again, using the information shown on his medals, I found he was Killed on the 9th September 1915. His name appears on the Chatham Naval Memorial in Kent. This is a memorial to sailors lost at sea who have no grave. I found a website listing all British shipping lost during the war. The only ship lost on the day of his death was a collier. But all hands were saved. I re-read the information on the War Graves site and disovered that Tom was serving in the Hawke Battalion of the Royal Navy Division. Because the RN was so huge, many sailors were formed into infantry battalions. The sailors kept naval rank, grew beards and were paid more than the army. At the time of his death, Tom was an Able Seaman infantryman serving in Gallipoli. He has no known grave. Sadly, Tom was only 18. Too young for the army, but old enough for the navy.
I hope this will give encouragement to those considering research into Civil War ancestors. I have no idea just what is available to Civil War researchers, but give it a try.
One thing I have discovered about researching military ancestors, is that if they survived the war, their history is actually harder to trace. The two brothers who were killed, had a third brother, Ted. All I know about Ted is that he served in the Royal Army Medical Corps. I have one picture of Ted with his mates taken in France or Belgium. They are wearing battledress and look shell shocked, so I guess they were stretcher bearers. But that is all I have to go on. Troops returning after the war rarely spoke about their experiences.
If they survived the war, your best source would be to look for pension records. Of course they would probably also have to surivive to a late age, but that is pretty much the best avenue you have.
I have found a little more information on Ted. He married a Belgian girl, which probably means he served in the Ypres sector. Apparently she always called him Tommy. For those who don't know, Belgians, French and even Germans refered to the British as Tommies. She was still calling him Tommy when he was 70!
Thanks for sharing that bit of family history Blockaderunner.
BTW, inasmuch as Brits were (and sometimes still are) called Tommies, their German counterparts are called Jerry. We even had a cartoon featuring a cat and a mouse called Tom and Jerry. Naturally, the mouse whupped the cat all the time. I never made the connection with their names until I reached adulthood (and no, I don't catch it on the Telly either).
Just a mention of a little more research. Over Christmas, I was talking to one of my uncles about my findings. My uncle flew as an RAF ******** operator/air gunner during World War Two. He gave me two names from the village in which he lived. Both were RAF aircrew, and both were killed. I discovered one was lost on a bombing operation over Germany in 1942, he has no known grave. The other was lost over the Mediteranian while transporting gliders to north Africa. This was in 1943, so presumably they were to be used in the invasion of Sicily. He also has no known grave, but his name is carved on a memorial in Malta dedicated to aircrew lost in the Med theatre.
What is thought provoking, is that my uncle and the two men killed came from a village of about 1500 people. They were the only men from the village who served as aircrew. A survival rate of 1 in 3. My uncle could easily have made the figure 0 in 3. His Lancaster was shot down over Holland, but thanks to the resistance he escaped to Spain and returned to England.
That is really cool that you found all that out. It's amazing when people can come up with such a real link to history. WWI is not my usual area of interest, but I have heard enough about it to recognize the names Ypres and Galipoli. So tragic.
In addition to my Civil War ancestor I want to start working on my great-grandfather's service in WWI soon too. My aunt emailed me some photos of him in uniform with his compatriots and she remembers a story too. I'm hoping to be able to check it out for her.
She said he was a guard in a camp for German POW's (I have no idea where this was) and that he actually became friends with one of the prisoners. They corresponded for years. After the German passed away (he made it through WWI, but not WWII) my g-grandfather sponsored his teenaged son to come to this country from Communist Germany (early-mid 1950's). At the time you needed a sponsor in this country before you were allowed to come.
I think it would be really cool to find this man. He would be in his late 60's or early 70's if he's still alive. Maybe he would have more information or pictures. It would just really bring the history to life.
Just a little more information which I find so staggering that I have to share it. I said earlier that from my Uncles village there were three members of RAF aircrew and he was the only survivor. Well he phoned me earlier this evening asking me to research another. There were in fact five airmen, with four being killed.
The airman he asked me to research tonight puts a human face on cold casualty figures. He was called Ray, and was a school classmate of my Uncle. He described Ray as being a quiet scholarly type, not much interested in sports or any other physical activities. In a coal mining village, where football, boxing, running and cricket were top of any schoolboys agenda, then Ray would be something of a rarity. When war broke out, Rays academic abilities were put to use as a navigator in Bomber Command. Ray was clearly good at his job, as he was transfered to a pathfinder squadron. The pathfinders were the elite. They flew ahead of the main bomber stream, and marked the target with flares. In January 1944, Ray was killed over Berlin. He lies in the 1939-1945 Berlin War Cemetery.
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