National archives help please?

[Gill D]

Hi

I have always found the National Archives a bit of a mystery and would appreciate help/advice on a search I would like to make,

I am searching the following reference WO95/3066 for records relating to Thomas Poole in the war diary of 2/5 Glos in France between 1916 - 1918. I have tried searching under the reference but not sure how to search that particular set of records to find the detailed information. Can anyone help please?

Thank you

[PeteW1959]

That record has not been digitised and cannot be viewed online, you either have to order a copy to be scanned and emailed to you (can be quite expensive) or go to Kew to view it.

See this page:-

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/Details?uri=C4556217

[AntonyM]

The diary you want (WO 95/3066/1) hasn't yet been made available for download, although I believe they are planning to have all the war diaries available online this year. So you would need to go to Kew and view the actual papers. If you know the exact dates you are interested in, then you could order copies of the relevant pages to be made by the Archives and sent to you. But the whole dairy for the period could be a very long document, possibly with maps and appendices attached.

Was Thomas Poole an officer ? If not, it is unlikely that he will be mentioned by name in the diary.

[Gill D]

Hi. Thomas Poole was not an officer but I believe a lance corporal acting. It was suggested to me that details of his injuries and 'rescued' from the trenches following being shot and gassed. Perhaps my understanding is not correct

Thank you for your help

[AntonyM]

It may still be worth looking at the diary - they are very interesting, and should allow you to see where Thomas Poole was serving, and what action he may have been involved in. If you know the date he was injured (approximately) you might find reference to the incident in the diary. "Other ranks" do occasionally get a mention so it is remotely possible he is named, if the incident was noteworthy enough.