World War One Soldiers' Stories

In March 2013 I presented a public talk to the Friends of Barnsley Archives.  The topic was "Barnsley Soldiers in the First World War" and it was based on the stories of three of the OH's relatives who served and died between 1914 and 1918.  You can download a leaflet about my talks here and read more about them on my History Talks tab.
WW1 soldiers going through the wire (from Life in the Trenches and Leger Battlefield Tours)
Since then several people have asked if I've written the stories of the soldiers that I talked about.  I hadn't, the presentation notes were as far as it went for Frank, Reg and Alonzo, so this page is the introduction to their collected stories and the WW1 stories about all the other men in both the OH's and my family trees.

The names below are just a few of the men whose records I have found who have connections with our families.  I've also been researching Barnsley men who were taken Prisoners of War in World War One and some of them have great stories too, but are not related.  Recently I started a Pinterest board for my WW1 stories, this is a preview of some of my most recent posts. 


I wrote a short post back in October 2012 about my thoughts on war and the men who fight for their country.  Lest we forget.

As I write and post each story I will link them here and highlight the names in blue.  Below the names there's a list of the main sources I've used researching the posts, some are used quite regularly, like the Commonwealth War Graves Commission site, some just for one blog post and of course I have found a lot of information about the Barnsley soldiers in particular from the newspapers in the Barnsley Archives.  

May 2015: I have now found some WW1 Womens Stories, so I'm going to start a new tab for them.  These are so much rarer than the soldier stories, a woman had to stand out to get mentioned in official documents or the newspapers at the beginning of the century.

It might take me some time to get around to writing up all the stories - so if you've got a request for anyone in particular, please get in touch!  Similarly if you have any information on any of my soldiers please contact me.

Alonzo Wilson Swallow
Barnsley
Sydney N Veitch
Durham
Gabriel Davidson Harle
Gateshead
Walter Larkin
Barnsley
George Fidler
Langley Park
Arthur Gough
Sheffield
Henry Cook Westnidge
Sheffield
Samuel Macey
Barnsley
John Peter Dunbar
Sheffield
John Wildgoose
Sheffield
Herman Jobling
Barnsley
Gad Leather
Barnsley
Henry Makinson
Bishop Auckland
Thomas Elstob
Eastbourne
Thomas William Duncan
Barnsley
Wilfred Bullough
Castleford
Arthur Beevers
Barnsley
George F Jaques
Barnsley
Alfred W Holgate
Barnsley
Loveland Family
Barnsley
John Benson
Carlton, Barnsley
William Lewin
Barnsley
John George Jolly
Crook, Durham
George Alfred Morley
Cudworth
William Malkin
Australia + Barnsley
Alfred Johnson
Church St, Barnsley
Crossland Barraclough
Wallsend + Barnsley
George Lister Greenwood
Conscientious Objector
John William Kilner
Chapeltown
Ben Moorhouse
Pinder Oaks Hotel
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Bibliography (items listed in the order consulted):

Cooksey, J. (1996) Barnsley Pals, Barnsley, Pen & Sword

Ancestry (2013) 'British Army WW1 Service Records', [online], Available at http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=1219 (subscription required), [Accessed frequently 2010-2013]

Commonwealth War Graves Commission (2013) 'Find War Dead', [online], Available at http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead.aspx, [Accessed frequently]

The Long, Long Trail (2013) 'The York and Lancaster Regiment', [online], Available at: http://www.1914-1918.net/yorkslancs.htm, [Accessed 14 April 2013]

The Bedfordshire Regiment in the Great War (2013) 'The assault against the Schwaben Redoubt - 28th and 29th September 1916', [online], Available at: http://www.bedfordregiment.org.uk/7thbn/tomadlamvc.html, [Accessed 17 April 2013]

Wiseacres (2013) 'Attack on the Schwaben Redoubt', [online], Available at: http://www.wiseacres.org.uk/ww1/1-5-sep16.htm, [Accessed 17 April 2013]

Holmes, R. (2002) Redcoat, London, HarperCollins

The Great War Forum (2009) 'Sappers and Pioneers', [online], Available at: http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=122960, [Accessed 25 April 2013]

The British and Commonwealth Military Badge Forum (2008) 'Good Conduct Badge', [online], Available at: http://www.britishbadgeforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5780, [Accessed 25 April 2013]

Jackson, A. (nd) 'War Diary of the 1st Barnsley Pals, 1st-3rd July 1916', [online], Available at: http://www.pals.org.uk/barnsley/barnsley1.htm, [Accessed 30 April 2013]

Horsfall, J. and Cave, N. (1996) Somme: Serre, Barnsley, Pen & Sword

National Archives (nd) 'Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Records 1903-1922', [online], Available at: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/royal-naval-volunteer-reserve-service-records.htm, [Accessed 3 May 2013]

Hammerton, Sir John (1934) World War One, London, Amalgamated Press Ltd

Wielinga, M. (nd) 'The English Camp at Groningen, 1914 -1918', [online], Available at: http://www.wereldoorlog1418.nl/englishcamp/index.html, [Accessed 3 May 2013]

National Archives (nd) 'British Army medal index cards 1914-1920', [online], Available at: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/medal-index-cards-ww1.htm, [Accessed 5 May 2013]

The Long, Long Trail (2013) 'The Northumberland Fusiliers', [online], Available at: http://www.1914-1918.net/northfus.htm, [Accessed 5 May 2013]

Find My Past (2013) 'British Newspapers 1710-1963', [online], Available at: http://www.findmypast.co.uk/search/newspapers (subscription required), [Accessed 5 May 2013]

North East War Memorials Project (2006) 'Processional Cross Nutley 1915', [online], Available at: http://www.newmp.org.uk/detail.php?contentId=7541, [Accessed 5 May 2013]

The Long, Long Trail (2013) 'The British campaign in Salonika', [online], Available at: http://www.1914-1918.net/salonika.htm, [Accessed 17 June 2013]

The Great War Forum (2013), 'Escape from Bulgarian POW Camp', [online], Available at: http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=128838, [Accessed 17 June 2013]

The Long, Long Trail (2013) 'The King's Own (Yorkshire Light Infantry)', [online], Available at: http://www.1914-1918.net/koyli.htm, [Accessed 22 July 2013]

Lawther, R. (ed) (2010) 'Letters from the Front Line - 1915', Memories of Barnsley, Issue 15, Autumn 2010, Barnsley, Wharncliffe Publishing, p.13
 
PBS (2004) 'World War 1 Casualty and Death Tables', from The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century, [online], Available at:  http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/resources/casdeath_pop.html, [Accessed 2 Aug 2013]

Wikipedia (2013) 'World War 1 Casualties', [online], Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I_casualties, [Accessed 2 Aug 2013]




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