Genealogists Beware! Official Records Can Be Wrong Too!!

Many seasoned Military Genealogists will know that trying to source a First World War service record can be a rather 'hit and miss' affair.  Following the end of the Great War, the majority of personnel records were stored in the War Office repository, in Arnside Street, London.  This building suffered severe damage during a Luftwaffe bombing raid in September 1940, and the subsequent fire destroyed over half of the records stored there.  A great pity to all would-be researchers that this particular German bomb proved to be a hit rather than a miss!

Generally, one has more chance of locating an individuals medal card, than a service or pension record.  The Medal Card Index (MCI) is a simple card which usually lists an individual's name, rank, regiment and medal entitlement.  Some records do contain more information such as an address where the medals were sent, the date the individual joined their regiment and even the date they were discharged.  Identifying the correct individual from the MCI can be tricky however, as common names can throw up literally hundreds of entries.  In order to successfully identify the correct soldier, one would really need to know what regiment he served in or what his regimental number was.  Unfortunately, this information is usually contained within the individual's service record, so without this information, the MCI can prove a bewildering and unwieldy source.

Due to the survivability of these records, one basically has more chance of sourcing and individual's medal card than their service record.  Interestingly, the opposite proved true in the case of one of my great grandfathers.

My mother's paternal grandfather, Joseph Charles Nixon, served in the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) from October 1915 until the end of the war.  Prior to searching for his service record and medal card, my grandfather had told me that he served in Egypt, Palestine and the Western Front throughout his military career, being wounded and gassed several times during the conflict.  My grandfather did not have any detailed information about the exact battles or campaigns in which he fought, as his father, Joseph (like many war veterans) did not like to speak openly about their experiences.  My grandfather told me that the war had severely affected his father both physically and psychologically, and that much of his war experience was a mystery to the family.

I set about trying to find out more information for my grandfather and started with (what I thought!) would be the easiest source, the MCI.  I was surprised to find that no details appeared when I search for a Joseph Charles Nixon, serving in the Scottish Rifles.  I then widened my search to simply Joseph Nixon, dropping the middle-name, and finally to Charles Nixon, hoping that an army typo may be the cause of absent record.  No results presented themselves, so in desperation, I widened the search even more to a simple search for all NIXONs serving with the Scottish Rifles.  I was presented with several individuals, but as no biographical details are included in the MCI, I was no further forward.  I began to suspect that my grandfather had possibly been mistaken about the name of his regiment or that some other administrative error had occurred when the records were compiled.  Unfortunately for the genealogist, both issues regularly arise!  It turns out, that I should have had more faith in my Granda! 

On one of my regular research trips to the National Archives in Kew (this was prior to records being digitised), http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ I attempted to locate his service record.  I was very excited to find that, against the odds, his service record had survived the Arnside fire!  I knew immediately that it was him as his address and age matched exactly with my grandfather's information and data held in the census records.

I uncovered over 17 pages worth of information detailing his entire military career from his attestation on 7 October 1915 right through to the end of the war.  I learned that he had indeed served in the Scottish Rifles, and moved battalions throughout his career.  As my grandfather advised, he had indeed served in Egypt, Palestine and finally transferred to the Western Front in the Spring of 1918.  The service record revealed that he had been gassed in May 1918 during the final German Offensive, popularly known as the 'Kaiserschlacht' (Kaiser's Battle).  He had also been shot through the left wrist during the final Allied Offensive in September 1918.  For his wounds, he was granted a pension and a Silver War Badge, signifying that he had been wounded in combat.

I checked his regimental number, or service number, and found that he was given two during his career.  I knew that this usually signified a change of battalion or unit, but the two numbers given were 2948 and 266093.

I returned to the MCI and again searched for all NIXONs present and quickly discovered that an administrative error had indeed taken place.  One of the records in the MCI referred to a Scottish Rifles soldier by the name of John C. Nixon who had received the Silver War Badge.  A quick glance at the top of the record revealed the two service number 2948 and 266093.  This was my great grandfather!

So, a seemingly 'lost' record was quickly located when used in conjunction with the main service record.  Of course as we have seen, I was very fortunate to locate Joseph's service record in the first place.  Without this and by not knowing his service number, details of his military career could have been potentially lost forever.  And all of this caused by the careless recording of a War Office clerk!  It just proves that not matter how 'official' and trustworthy records appear to be...they can always be misleading or completely wrong!  Check, check and double-check!  

If you have a military genealogy query or you've hit a 'brick wall' in your own research, I can help. 

Please feel free to email me at scotiaroots@btinternet .com and I will provide you with a free quotation.

Three Birds with One Stone in Military Genealogy

I have always had a keen interest in Military History.  This began as a young boy listening to the exploits of my ancestors who fought for the British Army between the 18th and 20th centuries.  One particular problem plagued my grandfather for years though, and he only had brief details of his own father's service during the First World War.

Private S/1619 John McLeish
8th Battalion Gordon Highlanders

John McLeish, my great-grandfather, joined the Gordon Highlanders 10 days after the outbreak of the First World War, at a recruiting station in Glasgow.  My grandfather knew that he had been wounded during an action and returned home by 1916, when he married my great-grandmother.  He also knew that his father had received some medals (though he did not know which).  This was the limit of his knowledge and he was not able to tell me what action my great-grandfather was wounded in, or the exact battalion in which he served.

As many of you Military Genealogists will know, it is far easier to trace a man in combat if his battalion and service number are known!  With the scant details provided, I set about trying to determine more about the enigmatic years of my great-grandfather's life from 1914-1916.

I began by searching for his service or pension records, but as is usually the case, they had not survived.  During the Second World War, a Luftwaffe raid destroyed the building in which these records were kept.  They have therefore been lost forever.  A great pity!! 

I then moved on to his medal card, which I happily traced.  My joy was short-lived however, as the information provided merely confirmed what we already knew about him.  It showed that he had indeed served in the Gordon Highlanders and that he was awarded the 1915 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.  As he had indeed been wounded in action, he was also awarded the Silver War Badge, which ensured that he was not a victim of the white-feather brigade, which sought to embarrass and harass any male of fighting age who roamed the streets during the War.  A small note included on the Medal Card however, stated that he was discharged from the Army on 28 January 1916.  This narrowed the field in terms of the actions he could have taken part in, but crucially, this vital information was not present.  The source did not reveal which Battalion he had fought in either.  So, we were very much back to square one.

This is where the trail ended and remained so for over five years, until a fateful trip to the Mitchell Library in Glasgow changed everything!

It was during an orientation visit to the Mitchell that I discovered a source which detailed soldiers who had been killed or wounded in combat, and who also had a Glasgow connection.  This was the Evening Times Newspaper entries submitted by the family of serving soldiers.  Casually glancing down the list, I was amazed to find an entry on 16 October 1915 for a John McLeish, who also served in the Gordon Highlanders!  I rushed to secure the microfilm reel and set-about trawling through the records.  I eventually reached my goal and was ecstatic to see that I had found my great-grandfather!

The record detailed the following:

Mrs J McLeish, 7 Delburn Street, Parkhead, has been officially informed that her son, Private J McLeish, 8 Gordon Highlanders sustained a severe gunshot wound in the right arm in France on 22 September.  Private McLeish enlisted at the outbreak of the war, prior to which he was employed in Springfield Steel Company, Parkhead.  His father is serving with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, while another brother is at present in France with the 2nd Battalion Scottish Rifles.

This was more information than I could possibly hope for!  Not only did this source, consisting of just five lines of text, reveal which Battalion of the Gordon Highlanders my great-grandfather had served with, it also stated that his father and brother were also serving their country in two other proud Scottish Regiments!

I happily revealed the details to my grandfather, who was extremely pleased that the mystery had finally been solved.

From that point onwards I was able (with the help of the War Diaries of the 8th Gordon Highlanders) to discover that my great-grandfather had been wounded, along with many of his comrades, during their brave charge towards the Hohenzollern Redoubt, during the Battle of Loos.  I have since looked into the precise details of this action and learnt a great deal about the horrific experiences that my great-grandfather would have faced during this dramatic battle in September 1915.

So, much of the vital information about my great-grandfather's military service was not found in a military source, but a civilian one!  Of course, I do have one other person to thank...my great great-grandmother, Isabella, who proudly shared the news of her son's wounds with the Glasgow newspaper. 

It just goes to prove that even though one may think that their genealogy trail is at an end...a chance encounter with another source, many years on, can change everything.  So...DON'T GIVE UP!!