My grandfather served in WW1,I've tried the free sites, but found nothing,can anybody tell me the regiment?etc

Question

As far as I can find out he was either with hussars,cavalry,in

charge of lead horse of several, pulling the cannon.He also allegedly had the crossed rifles, as a marksman

Answer 1

The National Archives site has WW1 Medal Cards.

Once you have found it, it costs £3.50 to download it, but it does give the name of the regiment.

Answer 2

The success of any search for World War One personnel depends on a lot of factors.  Whether or not he was an officer or an enlisted lower rank man (private, corporal etc), whether or not he died in service, whether or not he drew an army pension after the war and which branch of the services he was in - army, navy or what was to become the air force.

The problem with the Army records is that the building that housed these records was hit by a n**i bomb during the London Blitz of 1940, and a whole heap of personnel records were destroyed.  Many were burnt, while others suffered water damage from the firemans hoses trying to put the flames out.  A h**l of a lot of WW1 service records (and millions of men were mobilised at one point or another) simply don't survive.  The odds of finding a surviving army service record are reckoned to be somewhat less than 40%.  Navy records on the other hand, are pretty complete,

For many years the only option was to go to the National Archives yourself and look through the microfilm series WO/363 and WO/364 (in alphabetical order) and see if your man was one of the lucky ones whose records survived.  If a solider drew an army pension after the war, some files were later reconstructed by the MoD for this purpose, but the odds still aren't good.  Ancestry have started to get most of these records online now, so you can search from the comfort of your computer - just be aware that the odds of success are very slim and there are many men with the same name.

There is one set of WW1 records with a 100% survival rate, and they are known as the "Medal Index Cards" and they are online at the National Archives website for £3.50 a pop.  The information within is minimal.  You'll get a date of entry into the war if you are lucky and place of entry (usually abbreviated to just France & Flanders) and a list of all the medals your man was entitled to.  No personal details, just a name, regiment, rank and service number.  If he was killed in action, the notation "KIA" and a date might appear, but not always.  They were not designed for use by the average man in the street - they are army documents, and like most military records, are heavily abbreviated.

If he did die in the war, then your best bet is to go to the Commonwealth WarGraves site (cwgc.org) and search their vast database for his name, date of death and grave.  This is a wonderful resource and free as well.  If he was an officer then try tracing down a copy of the "Army List" which you can get from some places on CD-ROM these days.  Some large libraries and record offices have copies.  They also usually have a copy of the book form of WW1 deaths, the 'Roll of Honour'.  If he was mentioned in despatches or got a medal for gallantry then you might try searching the newspaper archives of the London Gazette for him.  That website is free as well.

If you had a photo, many military historians can determine a mans regiment from his uniform, insignia and cap badges,which might help you pin down his regiment more precisely.  Many regiments have their own museums and historians, though they won't have personnel records or anything.  If you have no luck searching WO/363 at either Ancestry or in person at Kew, then you'll just have to face the fact that his record is lost for good.

I've had no luck at all with any of my ancestors who served in WW1 - Scottish regiments, Irish ones and English ones, the story is the same - they went up in flames.  Blame Adolf Hitler and Herman Goering.  That's what I do.

Answer 3

you can find out a lot from the c.w.g.c,and you can even find links to other regiments etc,good luckhttp://www.cwgc.org/,  http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/w...

Answer 4

UK answer.

I am almost certain this is the place for you to find the answer to your question, there is a phone contact number on the site and they are really helpful.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/searc...

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/searc...

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

email me the name and places and dates that you have... i an ancestry membership- i'll look it up for you

Answer 6

have you tried the Imperial War Museum in London?