Military Chat

Hi
I've found three relatives that were killed in action can you tell me how I can find out more information about them please
Thanks
Margaret :-)

Margaret if you give some details we can look for you on war forces...

Please be aware that over 60% of the WW1 records were destroyed in WW2 bombing.

You can make a search for yourself on the National Archive. Any result will forward you to Ancestry where you would have to pay to access the images.

Rather than pay, many people have subs to that and would be willing to look on your behalf.

To help identification, if you could give
Full name
Year & place of birth
Where they were living when they enlisted or where conscripted
The name of their next of kin.
Service number/Battalion or Regiment.

Some of the information can be found on http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead.aspx

The National Archives have recently made some Regiments' War Diaries available on line. If the ones your relatives were in are among them, you could look to see what was recorded for the days they died. The Diaries cost £3.36 to download.

Also, the Cemetery info on the CWGC site sometimes details which battles the soldiers buried there were involved with.

Soldiers were encouraged to make a will before going into action
You can search to see if they left one? if they did you have to pay to see it

see https://www.gov.uk/probate-search

Roy

Porkie Pie

I was so disappointed when I went to the wills when they were first opened. Not a lot on there, and none of mine at all...... :-(

DazedConfused, I found 3 and all 3 gave me more info than i had before so i was quite pleased

it is an ongoing project so worth having another look from time to time

Roy

What 'more' info do you have in mind?

Please elaborate...................

Hi
Thank you so much for helping me
My husbands grandfather Jesse Tooke's brother
Albert Edward Tooke born August 1895
Died 19 April 1917
Palestine
Norfolk Regiment
1/5 the Battalion (TF)
No 240685
Killed in action
Egyptian Theatre

Can you help me find his records
Was he a Herero
Thanks
Margaret

Medal Card on Ancestry


Name: Albert E Tooke

Regiment or Corps: Norfolk Regiment, Norfolk Regiment

Regimental Number: 3130, 240685



Not found any service record using either of the numbers

From the Commonwealth War Graves Commission site

TOOKE, ALBERT EDWARD

Rank:
Private
Service No:240685
Date of Death:19/04/1917
Age: 21
Regiment/Service:Norfolk Regiment
"A" Coy. 1st/5th Bn.
Grave Reference XXIII. G. 3.
Cemetery GAZA WAR CEMETERY
Additional Information:
Son of Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Tooke, of 91, King's Rd., East Dereham, Norfolk.

So far his military records don't appear to be surfacing. They could be amongst those burnt during WW2 bombing.

As GlitterBaby will probably add to her post -

He was awarded the British and Victory medals as well as the Star. These were the standard medals which many servicemen were given.

Was he a hero? How do you define a Hero? If he had something that had drawn the attention of the authorities, it might have been recorded in his service records.

Do you know Peter Tooke?
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=dfl&GRid=56592249


Pte Albert Edward Tooke
Not forgotten. Commemorated in Ely Cathedral, Chichester Cathedral and the Wisbech War Memorial.
- Peter Tooke
Added: Oct. 31, 2013

Found this by Googling his Regiment

Battalions of the Territorial Force
1/4th Battalion
August 1914 : in Norwich. Part of Norfolk and Suffolk Brigade, East Anglian Division.
May 1915 : the formation was retitled as 163rd Brigade, 54th (East Anglian) Division.
29 July 1915 : embarked at Liverpool and moved to Gallipoli via Mudros. Landed at Suvla Bay on 10 August 1915.
19 December 1915 : evacuated from Gallipoli and arrived at Alexandria. Served in Egypt and Palestine thereafter.

1/5th Battalion
August 1914 : in East Dereham. Part of Norfolk and Suffolk Brigade, East Anglian Division.
Record same as 1/4th Battalion.

http://www.1914-1918.net/norfolks.htm

Details of the medals he was awarded, and why

http://www.greatwar.co.uk/medals/ww1-campaign-medals.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_campaign_medals

Enter .... Norfolk Regiment war diaries... into this link to the National Archives and plough through the results to see if a relevant WW1 Diary is available

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

Details of the Royal Norfolk Regimental Museum are here

http://www.rnrm.org.uk/

If the NA doesn't hold the Dairies, they may be able to tell you were they are, or extract the A Company section for the day Albert died

There are two records for the 1st Norfolk Regt with different dates so check before you download.

Here's the GRO entry if you wanted to order his DC. Never having seen one, it may just say 'killed in action' or 'died of wounds'.

GRO WAR DEATHS ARMY OTHER RANKS (1914 to1921)
First Name ALBERT E
Last Name TOOKE
Year 1917
Soldier Number 240685
Rank Private
Unit Or Regiment Norfolk Regiment
Volume S.1
Page 167
Record set British nationals armed forces deaths 1796-2005
Record collection Deaths & burials
Category Births, Marriages & Deaths
Collections from Great Britain
Record Source GRO War Death Army Other Ranks (1914 to 1921)
Transcriptions © brightsolid online publishing ltd

Probably should have added this at the time to my post re the details on the Medal card.

The ‘Star’ is prefixed with the number 15.
The Theatre of War first served in says (2) Balkans.
Date of entry therein – 6 Aug 1915.

So from the entries we have been able to find.

He voluntarily enlisted in the Norfolk Regiment on 6 Aug 1915.
He served in the Balkans for which he was awarded by right the 1914-15 Star.
Because he entered a theatre of war or entered overseas service between 5th August 1914 and 11th November 1918 he was awarded the British War Medal 1914-1918.
Although 5.7 million Victory medals were issued, eligibility for this medal was more restrictive and not everyone who received the British War Medal ('Squeak') also received the Victory Medal ('Wilfred'). However, in general, all recipients of 'Wilfred' also received 'Squeak' and all recipients of 'Pip' also received both 'Squeak' and 'Wilfred'.
We know that he served in Palestine and that he was killed in action there in 1917. He is buried in Gaza.

He was given 2 service numbers from which we can assume that he was reassigned to different companies/battalions from the one he was originally posted to. This was not unusually when Companies or Battalions combined if they had lost great numbers in conflict.

Thank you so much you have found the army hero in my husbands tree your help is greatly appreciated.

As I said at the start I think I have three relatives killed in action can you help please
James Guliver Storey born 1880 Trimdon , apparently my uncle has told me he came home from the First World War and received medals of acclaim can you help me find out more he is my great grandad :-D

As you already have a thread about James Gulliver Storey (Trimdon, Durham), its best to continue on that one.

http://www.genesreunited.com.au/boards/board/military_chat/thread/1335722

The three medals you refer to where probably service medals - read up on them here
http://www.greatwar.co.uk/medals/ww1-campaign-medals.htm

Details of his medal card posted on the original thread

Thank you
How do I get a list of the medals he won? :-)