Military Chat

I have found myself in lock down and decided to go over the family tree to keep the mind active. Strangely I had the same problem with the same people. One of the main characters was born and never died and another one was never born and died, how can that be? Well it was called The First World War!!

In 1878 James Walter Frank GASKIN was born to James Walter Gaskin and Kate Dolding in the Kent village of Marden. By 1901 going by the name of Frank Gaskin he had moved up to London and was working in a pub. In 1911 he was a clerk working or living in the accommodation of the Salvation Army in Spitalfield London.

On the 4th August 1914 war was declared against Germany, Kitchener asked for 100,000 volunteers to make up a New Army (K1) to go and fight. James attested into the army on the 10th August in London and it is also the day he ceased to exist. James went into the recruiting hall as JWF GASKIN aged 36 and came out as Private (G/40) James W.F. GORDON aged 29 Years 209 days of the 11th (Service) Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment.

To be in Kitchener's 1st Army and to serve abroad you had to be between the age of 19 yrs and 30 yrs. I am not going to surmise why the subterfuge other than he was too old on entry. One bit of good news that helped piece this together was that he had put his father as his next of kin on his attestation paper's

James Walter GASKIN The Beeches, Marden. Kent

I do know that his father did question why he the Army were calling him Gordon and that his name was in fact Gaskin and their reply was

He joined as GORDON, he served as GORDON and he left as GORDON!!!

Martha R Weston met and married James while he was recovering from gunshot wounds in the Third Southern General Hospital Oxford. He had been there since October 1917 and they married 9th January 1919

Martha was in fact born in Toungoo, Burma 23rd September 1891 to Private OX/507 George Weston of the Oxfordshire Light Infantry and Eliza Moon. Unfortunately Eliza died in Ferozepore India 28th December 1897 and George returned to Cowley Barracks by 1901. Of his two surviving children, Martha went to stay with an Uncle Jonathan and his family out at Ewelme and Clara was a border at Headington Hall School of Domestic Service.

Of George Weston, he remarried Jane MacIntyre in 1903 and he was indeed a carpenter until he became a coal merchant in1908/9 and they had one son Archibald John.

Hi BarlieGordon

Glad you found the info useful

Don't worry about 'taking over' the thread from Andrea - she obviously isn't interested.

A fascinating and convoluted story, BarlieGordon.

Or are you really BarlieGaskin??

Haha it depends who's after me!! :-)