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Our resident expert Stephen Rigden, pictured below, answers your queries.
From Frances Jones:
‘I wonder if you could tell me how I can find out more about my grandfather? He served in the 11th Battalion, the Borders (Cumberland Pals).
His details are: Frank Kelly, private, born in 1879. He married Margaret E Kelly and died in action on 12 January 1917. Why did he join the Pals and what does it mean?’
Stephen says:
‘Thanks for your question.
The Pals battalions were set up to enable local volunteers to serve together within the same unit, rather than be dispersed among various different corps. The Pals were geographically defined, sometimes with an additional workplace or industrial component to their collective identity, for example, the Hull Sportsmen, who were the 12th Service Battalion of the East Yorkshire Regiment.
The Lonsdale Pals were formed in September 1914 and, in fact, Pte 30167 Frank Kelly was not an original member. His service number indicates that he didn’t join until after September 1916 and, by this time, as conscription had been introduced, he would have had no say in the matter regarding the regiment – let alone the battalion – to which he would have been assigned. It is likely that he was marked for the Lonsdales because they were in need of drafts to replace casualties.
This is confirmed by his Medal Index Card, available on The National Archives’ website, which shows entitlement only to the Victory and British War campaign medals, and neither of the two Stars which indicate service in 1914 and 1914/15. Interestingly, the medals are described as ‘Ret(urne)d’ on the card, citing Kings Regulations (1912) paragraph 1743, which states that ‘Medals which, at the end of 10 years, still remain unclaimed, will be sent to…the deputy director of ordnance stores, Royal Dockyard (Medal Branch), Woolwich…to be broken up.’ Unclaimed medals were usually the result of incorrect addresses making them undeliverable.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission website has a page on the Colincamps cemetery in which your grandfather was buried. This includes photographs and a site plan which enables you to pinpoint the exact position of his grave at plot I, row H, grave 34.
Finally, this website provides a good deal of detail on the 11th Service Battalion of the Border Regiment, including suggestions for further reading.’
If you’d like to send your question to Stephen, please register or opt to receive newsletters in ‘my account’. Stephen only has time to answer a couple of queries each month but if yours wasn’t answered this month, you could be lucky next time!
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Please note: This post has originated from a news feed from an external website.
Family Tree Forum neither endorses nor is responsible for the views of the author or any other content.
From Frances Jones:
‘I wonder if you could tell me how I can find out more about my grandfather? He served in the 11th Battalion, the Borders (Cumberland Pals).
His details are: Frank Kelly, private, born in 1879. He married Margaret E Kelly and died in action on 12 January 1917. Why did he join the Pals and what does it mean?’
Stephen says:
‘Thanks for your question.
The Pals battalions were set up to enable local volunteers to serve together within the same unit, rather than be dispersed among various different corps. The Pals were geographically defined, sometimes with an additional workplace or industrial component to their collective identity, for example, the Hull Sportsmen, who were the 12th Service Battalion of the East Yorkshire Regiment.
The Lonsdale Pals were formed in September 1914 and, in fact, Pte 30167 Frank Kelly was not an original member. His service number indicates that he didn’t join until after September 1916 and, by this time, as conscription had been introduced, he would have had no say in the matter regarding the regiment – let alone the battalion – to which he would have been assigned. It is likely that he was marked for the Lonsdales because they were in need of drafts to replace casualties.
This is confirmed by his Medal Index Card, available on The National Archives’ website, which shows entitlement only to the Victory and British War campaign medals, and neither of the two Stars which indicate service in 1914 and 1914/15. Interestingly, the medals are described as ‘Ret(urne)d’ on the card, citing Kings Regulations (1912) paragraph 1743, which states that ‘Medals which, at the end of 10 years, still remain unclaimed, will be sent to…the deputy director of ordnance stores, Royal Dockyard (Medal Branch), Woolwich…to be broken up.’ Unclaimed medals were usually the result of incorrect addresses making them undeliverable.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission website has a page on the Colincamps cemetery in which your grandfather was buried. This includes photographs and a site plan which enables you to pinpoint the exact position of his grave at plot I, row H, grave 34.
Finally, this website provides a good deal of detail on the 11th Service Battalion of the Border Regiment, including suggestions for further reading.’
If you’d like to send your question to Stephen, please register or opt to receive newsletters in ‘my account’. Stephen only has time to answer a couple of queries each month but if yours wasn’t answered this month, you could be lucky next time!
More...
Please note: This post has originated from a news feed from an external website.
Family Tree Forum neither endorses nor is responsible for the views of the author or any other content.