Europe, Middle East & Africa (WW1)
Where might my Irish ancestor have fought in World War 1?
Ireland was of course part of the British Empire for the duration of World War 1 and many young men responded to the call to arms to defend the realm. Sadly of course many of them never returned, and in fact that is exactly how I stumbled into the world of genealogy over a decade ago and started on my quest. So, you can thank my Great Uncle Richard for the fact that you are reading this on my website! Let me tell you a bit about that corner of my family history as it will help explain the range of sources I ended up consulting and so can recommend them to you.
I found his entry on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website. He is remembered on the Menin Gate in Ypres after perishing with no known grave in the horrendous fighting that took place near there in May 1915. His record listed his parents living near Hacketstown in Co. Carlow and I casually wondered where they married (Greenock, Scotland actually) and that was me hooked!
Co. Carlow born Richard fought in Belgium but he was actually a member of a Canadian regiment having joined up after he emigrated there before war broke out. 2 of his brothers also served in other British Army regiments and survived the war. His twin sister, my grandmother, had 2 future brothers-in-law and a sister-in-law who also served in British army and medical regiments in WW1.
Ancestry has several good collections covering WW1 - check their card catalogue for Military Records (Anc=£). Here are a few of the collections I found useful;
If your ancestors or relatives received commendations for bravery then you may find they were "gazetted" i.e. reported in the London Gazette. You will have to have a good play with the search interface to try to narrow down your search results though.
Ireland was of course part of the British Empire for the duration of World War 1 and many young men responded to the call to arms to defend the realm. Sadly of course many of them never returned, and in fact that is exactly how I stumbled into the world of genealogy over a decade ago and started on my quest. So, you can thank my Great Uncle Richard for the fact that you are reading this on my website! Let me tell you a bit about that corner of my family history as it will help explain the range of sources I ended up consulting and so can recommend them to you.
I found his entry on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website. He is remembered on the Menin Gate in Ypres after perishing with no known grave in the horrendous fighting that took place near there in May 1915. His record listed his parents living near Hacketstown in Co. Carlow and I casually wondered where they married (Greenock, Scotland actually) and that was me hooked!
Co. Carlow born Richard fought in Belgium but he was actually a member of a Canadian regiment having joined up after he emigrated there before war broke out. 2 of his brothers also served in other British Army regiments and survived the war. His twin sister, my grandmother, had 2 future brothers-in-law and a sister-in-law who also served in British army and medical regiments in WW1.
Ancestry has several good collections covering WW1 - check their card catalogue for Military Records (Anc=£). Here are a few of the collections I found useful;
- Canada, WW1 CEF Personnel Files, 1914-1918 (Anc=£)
- Canadian Expeditionary Force Commonwealth War Graves Registers, 1914-1919 (Anc=£)
- British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920 (Anc=£)
- British Army WW1 Pension Records, 1914-1920 (Anc=£)
- British Army WW1 Service Records, 1914-1920 (Anc=£)
If your ancestors or relatives received commendations for bravery then you may find they were "gazetted" i.e. reported in the London Gazette. You will have to have a good play with the search interface to try to narrow down your search results though.
(c) Irish Geneaography - 2020
