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Our military expert Paul Nixon, pictured below, answers your queries.
From Doreen Caparn in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand:
‘I am looking for a military death record and hope you can help. Here are the details:
Name: Ernest Groves
Born: ? 1879 in Preston, Dorset
Married: 1900 Devizes, Wiltshire
Spouse: Ellen (nee Tucker)
Children: Reginald Ernest Groves, born 1902 and Gladys Groves, born 1901
Ernest was known to have served in the army during World War I. He was very ill when he returned from France and was diagnosed to be suffering from Type 1 Diabetes. This eventually killed him - I don’t know the date but presumably it was before the discovery of insulin.
I am unable to find any record in civilian deaths of his demise. His widow successfully claimed his death was due to the effects of trench warfare and was awarded a pension. Would his death, therefore, be recorded in military records? If so, where would I start looking?’
Paul says:
‘If you know the regiment he served with during WWI, that will help narrow down your search results. His record may survive in the WO363 burn documents series at The National Archives but almost certainly not in WO364 which is the series for soldiers discharged to pension (but it’s still worth checking).
His record could also be in PIN 82 at TNA. This is a very small series of pension records - 183 in total - which records details of widows who received a pension in respect of their late husbands’ WWI service. Your first port of call, however, should be to determine his regiment. This will tell you his army number which should make life easier for you when it comes to tracking him down. If he died before 1921, you may find that he also has a Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone.’
If you’d like to send your question to our experts, please register or opt to receive newsletters in My Account. Unfortunately our experts only have time to answer a few queries each month. If yours wasn’t answered this time, you could be lucky next month!
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From Doreen Caparn in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand:
‘I am looking for a military death record and hope you can help. Here are the details:
Name: Ernest Groves
Born: ? 1879 in Preston, Dorset
Married: 1900 Devizes, Wiltshire
Spouse: Ellen (nee Tucker)
Children: Reginald Ernest Groves, born 1902 and Gladys Groves, born 1901
Ernest was known to have served in the army during World War I. He was very ill when he returned from France and was diagnosed to be suffering from Type 1 Diabetes. This eventually killed him - I don’t know the date but presumably it was before the discovery of insulin.
I am unable to find any record in civilian deaths of his demise. His widow successfully claimed his death was due to the effects of trench warfare and was awarded a pension. Would his death, therefore, be recorded in military records? If so, where would I start looking?’
Paul says:
‘If you know the regiment he served with during WWI, that will help narrow down your search results. His record may survive in the WO363 burn documents series at The National Archives but almost certainly not in WO364 which is the series for soldiers discharged to pension (but it’s still worth checking).
His record could also be in PIN 82 at TNA. This is a very small series of pension records - 183 in total - which records details of widows who received a pension in respect of their late husbands’ WWI service. Your first port of call, however, should be to determine his regiment. This will tell you his army number which should make life easier for you when it comes to tracking him down. If he died before 1921, you may find that he also has a Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone.’
If you’d like to send your question to our experts, please register or opt to receive newsletters in My Account. Unfortunately our experts only have time to answer a few queries each month. If yours wasn’t answered this time, you could be lucky next month!
More...