Military Chat

My grandfather Owen Galvin served in Salonika in WW1, he left several photos of his life there but as its not a campaign that is ever spoken about when WW1 is discussed, I've not been able to find anything about him.

Also, we were always told that he joined up in the name of his brother James (though according to our research James was younger than him!). We have a war medal (the one given to every soldier) that has James's name on the side (my sister currently has this and so I can't at the moment confirm any other details from the side of the medal. I did try and find James on a couple of sites but can't find anything about him either.

Grandad was born in 1894 and James we think was 1896/7. Its very much a conundrum and I would love to find out more about my grandad's military life before and during Salonika if anyone could help.

Thanks

Could you say where James and Owen were born, and where you have looked for information about them?

Thank-you

Added:
Think it is Tottenham.

just for ref:
Births Sep 1894
Galvin Owen William Edmonton 3a 363

A lookup of James Galvin at:
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/
gets multiple hits. In order to pick your guy out, it would really help to know his service #. This would be engraved on the edge of his medal.

The medal card normally gives "Theatre of War first served in" and "Date of entry therein", as well as the regiment or corps he served with.
One could then look up that units war diaries, or maybe get some info from the official history - for details of the latter, look up "falls macedonia" at amazon.co.uk, say, or check with your local library.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salonika_Front
http://www.balkanalysis.com/blog/2006/01/19/military-operations-macedonia-the-official-british-history-2/

perhaps?
medal card on Ancestry
Name:
Owen Galvin
Regiment or Corps:
32rd Bde RFA
Regimental Number:
70202

1901 census
Household Members
Owen Galvin 47
Mary A Galvin 46
Mary A Galvin 12
Rose H Galvin 10
Owen W Galvin 8
James T Galvin 5
Tom Galvin 2

Jan - The medal says James, and the 32nd bde RFA served on the western front, which doesn't explain the photos in Salonika.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/32nd_Brigade_Royal_Field_Artillery

Salonika - the forgotten part of WW1

There are some great books about this, but many are out of print and are very expensive to buy.

And many of those who survived like my grandfather did not come home until at least September/October 1919

Hence many veterans called it the 14-19 war....

Thank you everyone, my sister has the medal at the moment and I will get it back hopefully over Easter and will look at the edge again.

My grandad (Owen W) was born 17 July 1894 and as far as I know James was born in 1896. My nan always told me that grandad had joined up in James's name but as he was older than James that seems odd. The photos are definitely of my grandad and I think he was in the Royal Horse Artillery as he was with the horses in a lot of the photos.

I did do some research into Salonika and it seems to be one of those campaigns that is shrouded in controversy and it makes me wonder if something happened that has never come out?

If I can find anything else I will let you know and I'm grateful for any help you can give me.

Chris

British forces involved at Salonika
(The British Salonika Force)

10th (Irish) Division (arrived October 1915, left August 1917)
28th Division (arrived October - November 1915
22nd Division (arrived November 1915)
26th Division (arrived November - December 1915)
27th Division (arrived November 1915 - March 1916)
60th (2/2nd London) Division (arrived December 1916, left June 1918)

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

Thank you for the links Kucinta, I'm going to have a look at them over the next few days.

Jansmith - thanks for that note with details of my grandad's army details. I'm wondering if both boys joined up and James joined early and not my grandad and that possibly grandad's medal has gone missing, which is a great shame. Will have a look at the medal over the week end and get the full details off it.

Thank you all so much.

If you have anymore details from the war medal please post to see if we can find more info online for you.

Asked my sister for the medal at the weekend and she's put away somewhere and can't find it! I'm so cross as I thought I was getting somewhere at last. Will keep chasing her, thanks again all for your help.

Perhaps she will do some "spring cleaning" and find it for you :-) :-)