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Found my grandad's medal from world war 1.

144 replies

charlietangoteakettlebarbeque · 14/08/2014 21:43

Hello

we found his medal from world war 1. It says the following:

4870
Pte d white
R. Muns. Fusi

he was from Ireland. I know that Fusi is short for fusilier (I think)

I've Googled everything that's on the medal but nothing is coming up

I told my irish family I would investigate, find out what it was he did in the war etc. He did survive, albeit less one eye, but that's all I know.

I'm at a loss as to where to go from here!

Can anyone shed any light or help at all? Here are pics

Found my grandad's medal from world war 1.
Found my grandad's medal from world war 1.
OP posts:
RedToothBrush · 15/08/2014 15:59

Its a good thing, if we are coming up with the same stuff! Always good to have someone double check/cross reference things and come to the same conclusion.

SurelyYoureJokingMrFeynman · 15/08/2014 16:08

Yes indeedy!

Charlie, the private Ancestry tree Red has found the note:

TITLE: Carolan/White Headstone Inscription
ATTACHED TO: Denis/Donat White (1885-1967)

I think the owner of this tree may well be able to answer your question about where your grandfather's buried.

You can send them a message through Ancestry if you get the free trial, and in other good news, their last log in date is today, so they're active on Ancestry and should get your message quickly.

SaskiaRembrandtWasFramed · 15/08/2014 16:11

What an interesting thread! I've just started to research my FIL's father's WW1 career, so thanks for all the useful links :)

charlietangoteakettlebarbeque · 15/08/2014 16:33

Carolan was my grandmother's maiden name!!!!!!!

How utterly interesting I am going to go an ancestry now and track this person down...so exciting!

OP posts:
charlietangoteakettlebarbeque · 15/08/2014 16:40

No, Carolan was my great aunt's surname (my grandmother's sister) - I am getting confused.

Her name was Margaret Carolan

OP posts:
charlietangoteakettlebarbeque · 15/08/2014 16:41

how do I find that private tree? Can you link it here please?

I only have half an hour to get a message to this person...I'd like to do it before I leave work xx

OP posts:
SurelyYoureJokingMrFeynman · 15/08/2014 16:47

trees.ancestry.co.uk/pt/RequestTreeAccess.aspx?tid=2070803&pid=

But if you want to see the initial info I'm talking about, do a Search for Winifred Sheedy b 1887 Clare, Ireland.

And you'll get the result set we're looking at.

charlietangoteakettlebarbeque · 15/08/2014 16:50

I found it! And messaged the person.

My god, I am excited.

OP posts:
charlietangoteakettlebarbeque · 15/08/2014 16:51

thank you thank you thank you

OP posts:
RedToothBrush · 15/08/2014 16:56

Saskia, WWI research can be a little on the frustrating side at times. You can have a decent amount of information and still get nowhere unfortunately. It really is pot luck.

I've found little things of interest which can be helpful/interesting.

For example: A lot of men, enlisted but never went anywhere near the front which again makes them difficult to track. Instead they were assigned to Labour Companies who were tasked with jobs such as digging trenches, maintaining the railways and supply lines etc. Very very few records relating to the Labour Coys were ever made. They were often older men who were of a 'lesser' quality (eg over 35). There was also a lot of prejudice towards Irishmen who enlisted to English units and they were often assigned to these tasks too (to put it bluntly, they weren't trusted with a gun). Despite not going over the top, these men were still in danger and were often killed (accidents, shells, gas for example).

Miners are also an interesting case. They were regarded as key workers because of their civilian trade. Many were kept in reserve even when they enlisted and continued to work to supply the war machine. Or they were assigned to Labour Coys for specialist digging skills and never carried a gun.

So any little details you might think are unimportant or not relevant can help you understand someone's war, even if you can't find more detailed records for them.

Photos are generally pretty hard to come by - they seem to be more easily found for men who enlisted earlier in the war or through private collections rather than being publicly available. Regimental HQ may have some, but from experience what exists tends to be of officers, large group shots without names and there is little recorded for individual soliders unless they are someone of note. You usually have to visit them personally often at a fee - getting someone else to do it can be an option but this costs extra and the chances are more likely that you will only find general information rather than something that names your relative.

The National Archives is still in the process of uploading war diaries. A lot are now up, but its not due to be completed until later this year. If you are looking for a diary and can't find it, it may be there in a couple of months.

I also find trying to google for personal accounts from other men in the same battalion a useful exercise. It can be a waste of time, but sometimes you get lucky.

Below are a couple of resources which may also be able to help you with this:

www.europeana1914-1918.eu/en Are trying to collect stories of individual men to preserve for the future. Imo its not as good currently as its promise, but there may be things of interest on there.

The old BBC remembrance wall is also useful. Its an utter pain to search via google as its been superseded by more recent WWI resources, but the personal accounts by regiment can be a useful incite. www.bbc.co.uk/remembrance/wall/

SurelyYoureJokingMrFeynman · 15/08/2014 17:02

Red that BBC Remembrance Wall is awesome!

I only knew about Every Man Remembered, which currently needs to be populated but links directly to the CWGC site, so is a good place to deposit info (if rather constrained in format).

RedToothBrush · 15/08/2014 17:11

I think its bad they have hidden it away tbh, but I guess there are lots of more up to date similar sites now - but the information on there may be lost in time now.

Helgathehairy · 15/08/2014 20:33

This is all absolutely fascinating but also just a bit tragic that peoples stories weren't passed down.

mimishimmi · 15/08/2014 23:52

I started crying recently when I found out my great-grandfather (also a man I never met) served in the Australian forces at Ypres during WW1. He was only 17 when he joined up. Like his son-in-law who served in SE Asia during the war, dad said he never talked about the war. Apparently he was given some extra medals for taking out a German machine gun position but they were hidden away as soon as he got back and none of my relatives who served ever marched in the parades .... so many broken dreams and the PTSD goes down the generations :(

PausingFlatly · 16/08/2014 00:01

Yes, lots of not talking about it.

To us, this is fascinating history; to the people who lived it...

charlietangoteakettlebarbeque · 16/08/2014 10:14

hello everyone

well, what a journey. And is all thanks to you guys. A special thank you to Red and Surely:)

I am now in touch with someone who is related to me. I didn't know she existed before yesterday. Her cousin married my mum's cousin. She lives down the road from me!! Its all so crazy.

I opened the diary archives earlier. After spending 2 hours trawling through them yesterday looking for Donat White, I happened upon his name 2 seconds after opening it today! I FOUND HIM!!

On page 16:

4th February 1916 " B.Coy On the morning of the 20th 4870 PTE WHITE. D. was wounded AT 4.48AM"

I am ecstatic about all of this.

I will keep you updated about this new relative I have found.

Over the moon!!

thank you all for your kind help Thanks

OP posts:
SurelyYoureJokingMrFeynman · 16/08/2014 10:23

How wonderful!

That's bonkers that she lives down the road. Grin

RedToothBrush · 16/08/2014 10:39

WOw thats quite a result!

I'm very please for you. Brings a tear to my eye.

charlietangoteakettlebarbeque · 16/08/2014 11:59

It's really mad

She's added a new branch to her family tree now!

She doesn't know much about my great grandfather, wasn't aware he fought in the war, so I'm updating her on all of that.

But she knows about my great aunt and her husband, and my mum's cousins. We're emailing each other at the moment, it's wonderful

And all thanks to you lot. Love ya xx

OP posts:
Frikadellen · 16/08/2014 12:03

Isnt MN fab when you see posts like this?

charlietangoteakettlebarbeque · 16/08/2014 12:08

I love mn

I mean really love it

Sometimes you can see bull shit on here and I generally try and avoid it (unless I'm in a bad mood and want to have a bit of a go at an arse hole poster) but I am constantly astounded at people's kindness and wisdom. The fact people take time out of their lives to read and post really restores my faith in humanity

Mumsnet has helped me so much in the past year or so, since I first started posting. What would I do without it!?

OP posts:
knittedslippersx2 · 16/08/2014 12:17

Wow, what a fantastic thread! Keep us posted if you find out anything else. The people who have helped on this thread have helped restore my faith in human kindness.

charlietangoteakettlebarbeque · 16/08/2014 12:19

Knitted, I just said the exact same thing on my other thread (mumsnet changed my life)

My faith has certainly been restored

OP posts:
charlietangoteakettlebarbeque · 16/08/2014 14:48

The lady I'm in contact with through ancestry website seems like such a lovely woman! We've been emailing all day. Her children went to my local school, as did she. But they are all older than me so I would not know them. She is going to contact her relatives in clare and try and get a photo of my great grandad.

She's me a load of family info and I've read through it, but it's such a lot to digest. I'll have to go over it again when ds is in bed tonight, and reply.

I am also going to compile the whole story with some attachments. The national archive, the medal card, wiki pages of the star metal and the battalion. Hopefully I can add a picture of him to that too!

Amazing what has come of this. I have a whole new branch of family I never knew existed before!

She also said that donat is a sort of nickname for denis, so that makes sense too

OP posts:
SaskiaRembrandtWasFramed · 16/08/2014 15:12

RedToothBrushThank you for the info! That's really helpful. GFIL was a miner, but he initially served in the Durham Light Infantry. However, looking at his medal card it seems he also had a stint in the Labour Corp, which makes sense now.