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Sunk twice but lived!!!

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  • Sunk twice but lived!!!

    Trying to find my great uncle 'William French b1888' who was sunk twice in WW1 but survived to emigrate to the USA.

    Can anyone suggest how best to get crew/survivor lists for sunk naval vessels?

    One action was definately in the Dardanelles. Many thanks, Nigel

  • #2
    I would imagine his service records would list the ships he was on.
    ~ with love from Little Nell~
    Chowns, Dunt, Emms, Mealing, Purvey & Smoothy

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    • #3
      Little Nell give me just a little more. Where do I find these?

      i guess you're going to tell me I've missed something obvious but that's me :D

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      • #4
        The National Archives at Kew.
        ~ with love from Little Nell~
        Chowns, Dunt, Emms, Mealing, Purvey & Smoothy

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        • #5
          Have a look at this:

          The National Archives | Getting started | Military History | Navy
          ~ with love from Little Nell~
          Chowns, Dunt, Emms, Mealing, Purvey & Smoothy

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          • #6
            Where was William French born?

            Danny
            http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=528974734

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            • #7
              How do you know he was sunk twice if you have not got his service records?

              Janet

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              • #8
                Tx guys

                William was born in London/Middlesex near Paddington. He was sent to Devon for a bit of correction to the Devonshire family. His mother died 1903 so he didn't return but joined the navy. It is said he made petty Officer.

                The family tell of his heroics. He recalled how they dropped troops on the beaches at the Dadarnelles and watched them mowed down like sheep. Due to some petty rift only my grandmother stayed intouch after he arrived in the US. Sadly she is not with us now.

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                • #9
                  Hm Lesson number one for people new to Family Research:

                  Always treat family stories with a certain amount of healthy scepticism until proven!!

                  Get his birth cert if you have not got it, then get his records to see what ships he was on then you can go to the third step which is to find out if the stories you were told were true! His Marriage Cert will show you his occupation, and any children's birth certs will show you the progress of his naval career. I have 4 sibling certs showing progression through the ranks from Sick Berth attendant through to Chief Petty Officer with a service number thrown in on one of the certs to help me with obtaining service records.

                  All those doing FH have many "stories" passed down and most are very exaggerated if not downright untrue. We had one ancestor who was supposed to have gone down on the Lusitania. Name George Sullivan coming from US to visit relatives in Hampshire, and yes a George Sullivan did go down on the Lusitania, another George Sullivan also returning from the US only to relatives in Liverpool, wrong George!

                  I presume you realise that Devon and Navy most probably equals Plymouth/Devonport, but you will need the service records to find that out for definite.

                  Janet
                  Last edited by Janet; 21-03-09, 17:32.

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                  • #10
                    I think that they sent wayward lads to "correctional" facilities including training ships so maybe that's where he was in Devon.
                    ~ with love from Little Nell~
                    Chowns, Dunt, Emms, Mealing, Purvey & Smoothy

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                    • #11
                      Janet now that's what I call identity theft :D Hope the real George wouldn't have been oddended.

                      Know what you mean about stories but William was in contact with my grandmother within my mother's lifetime and William when returning from war was very serious and deeply affected. I think that's why he went to the US.

                      Little Nell William was sent to his uncle and from the fotos of his uncles and aunts I think that was a fate far worse than the navy. He was there for some years before his mother died. When that happened the devon family came to London and made it clear "the young maids (Williams sisters) must go to a convent". I guess William now isolated ran to the navy :D

                      Well I'm still not sure how to get the details but you've given me some ideas and I'll do some reading and get there in the end.

                      little Nell i still can't get my links to connect with Norfolk but Halstead and suffolk are leading me in the right direction - who knows

                      sorry should have sauid 'Dunt'
                      Last edited by nigele2; 21-03-09, 20:07.

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                      • #12
                        Lol! I can't get a definite line on Kezia Seals, my gt x 3 grandmother, who married John Dunt. I have her burial and the banns called for her marriage and her children's baptisms, but no idea where she was born.

                        Don't think her surname is right either and maddeningly the village where she married has Scarls, Searles and Sales in it, who might all be the same family name mangled up or 3 different families or no relation of hers at all!
                        ~ with love from Little Nell~
                        Chowns, Dunt, Emms, Mealing, Purvey & Smoothy

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