GREATWAR-L Archives

Archiver > GREATWAR > 2001-10 > 1002599506


From: Iain Kerr <>
Subject: Re: [WW1] New to the list.
Date: Tue, 09 Oct 2001 04:51:46 +0100
In-Reply-To: <004e01c14fd6$0bf229e0$23b97ad5@tinypc>


At 09:47 08/10/01 +0100, Kate Mort wrote:
>Hello,
>I have just been given the details of this list in the hope that someone
>might be able to advise me on how to obtain information. I am trying to find
>the WW1 War Record of my Grandfather Harry Seddon. He survived the war and
>several years later my mother was born. Is it possible to get information
>about soldiers who survived the war? I have recently found his number (7142)
>and also in which regiment he served. He was a private in the 1st East
>Lancashire Regiment. To whom do I write or where do I have to go? I do not
>live anywhere near Lancashire or London!
>Thank you for any advice which you may be able to offer. Kate (in Cornwall)

Kate,

You do not make it clear as to whether your Grandfather continued to serve
after the end of the Great War - say after 1922. There are therefore two
answers to your question.

World War I Records

The British armed services personnel records for those serving in 1914 up
to 1921 are currently being released from the Ministry of Defence to the
Public Record Office, Ruskin Avenue, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 4DU, United
Kingdom; (Telephone: General Enquiries, ++44 (0) 208 876 3444; Records
Information, ++44 (0) 208 392 5200; Fax: ++44 (020) 8878 8905). There they
are being microfilmed to occupy a number of new archives. This is a major
project that is forecast to take a number of years to complete from the
start of the work in 1997. The original documents cannot be viewed due to
their fragile condition. It will be some years before all surviving
information from these documents will be available remotely due to the
complexity of the information and volume. The records are available in the
PRO microfilm reading room as follows:

British Army Other Ranks, whose service ended in 1920 or before, may be in
the so-called "burnt" records. Those for surnames beginning with A to F
and L to Z are available now in WO 363 - First World War Soldiers'
Documents. Those starting with K will be available in Nov 2001, I and J
will be released in Jan 2002, H in May 2002 and G in Jul 2002. The
programme concludes in Aug 200w with the mis-sorts.

You should note that there is some risk that the official archives of more
recent British Army personnel records are incomplete. It is reported that
up to half of the original pre-World War II British Army soldier's personal
records were badly damaged by fire and water following a 1940 German
bombing raid on the Hayes Record Office during World War II. Those that
survived are often incomplete and in a poor condition.

These records are open for personal search by the enquirer or a nominated
agent. Details of the PRO can be found at their web site URL:
http://www.pro.gov.uk/ The PRO do not have an on-line searchable archive,
but they do now have searchable indexes to the main archives. The PRO do
not usually undertake any research for personal or postal
enquirers. However they now offer a copying service and the PRO maintain
a list of independent researchers, with a useful search facility. The
address is URL: http://www.pro.gov.uk/readers/irlist/default.htm

British Army records - after 1922

The surviving records of all officers and soldiers who joined the British
Army and who were discharged after 1922 are stored in the Ministry of
Defence Record Office CS(R)2b at Bourne Avenue, Hayes, Middlesex. This
includes territorial, volunteer, militia and home-defence forces, the
women's corps and some colonial forces. The MOD Record Office also held the
WWI records that have been progressively released to the Public Record
Office over the past six years.

And note the same caveat applies regarding the damage done to these
archives in 1940.

Information on the service records of an individual serviceman or woman may
be obtained by application to: Ministry of Defence Records Office CS(R)2,
Bourne Avenue, Hayes, Middlesex UB3 1RF, United Kingdom. {Telephone ++44
(0) 208 573 3831}. They will send you an application form that will
require a search fee of £25 per person being enquired after. Payment of the
search fee does not guarantee a successful result. The MOD now requires
applicants to certify that they are the individual concerned or their next
of kin, together with a copy of the death certificate, as appropriate. The
form asks for details of the other kin between the enquirer and the
subject. This recent preoccupation seems to have arisen out of concerns
caused by the Data Protection Act 1999, required by European Union
legislation. There is reportedly a long delay in getting the response, the
result will now be a statement of service and not copies of the original
documents.
Yours aye,

Iain Kerr in Windsor, Berkshire, United Kingdom
Web Page at: http://home.clara.net/iainkerr/index.htm
RootsWeb Sponsor and Listowner for the WORLDWAR2 Mailing List.

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