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.

Frank Armitage Barnsley	Reginald Leslie Duncan Barnsley	Alonzo Wilson Swallow Barnsley
Joseph Nutley Howden le Wear	Sydney N Veitch Durham	Gabriel Davidson Harle Gateshead
Thomas Croft Barnsley	Walter Larkin Barnsley	George Fidler Langley Park
Priestley Family pt1 Barnsley	Priestley Family pt2 Barnsley	Arthur Gough Sheffield
Henry Cook Westnidge Sheffield	Bernard Dyson Oldroyd Darton, Barnsley	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	Riley Smith (POW) Barnsley	William Lewin Barnsley
John Thomas Johnson Monk Bretton, Barnsley	Thomas Appleyard (POW) Cudworth	Thomas Croft Pt 2
John George Jolly Crook, Durham	William Huddlestone Stairfoot	George Alfred Morley Cudworth
Charles Eric Hemmerde Lewisham	John & James Kenny Worsbro' Common	William Malkin Australia + Barnsley
Henry & Joseph Carter No.7 Barnsley	Tom Guest Rusholme + Barnsley	Alfred Johnson Church St, Barnsley
Walter Swift Barnsley	Matthew Jubilee Atkinson Sheffield	Crossland Barraclough Wallsend + Barnsley
George & Joseph Swift Marquis of Granby, Barnsley	Thomas & John Edward Davies Worsbro' Common	George Lister Greenwood Conscientious Objector
Joseph Noel Walker Carlton Main Colliery	Ernest Vaux Sunderland	John William Kilner Chapeltown
Thomas William Halton Barnsley	Harold Peart Thorpe Hesley + Barnsley	Ben Moorhouse Pinder Oaks Hotel
*	*	*
*	*	*

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]