The 1921 Census

The digitization of the 1921 census has allowed me to unearth some more information about my ancestors, namely: Walter Thomas Price, Frederick Samuel Jones, Alfred William Bevan Hill and Horace Davies.

Most of this is information isn't related to their work during WW1, except perhaps for Horace. I had made the assumption that he worked for Sunbeam Motors, but the census shows that this may not be the case.

Check out their individual entries to see what I've found!

William Clark Roll of Honour Photos

At the request of the photographer, I have removed photos of the Weetangera School Honor Roll, the Roll of Honour at St. Stephen’s Presbyterian Church and the Queanbeyan RSL Wall of Remembrance from the page honouring William Thomas Clark.

If anyone has any photos of these that they would be happy for me to put on this website, or if they would be kind enough to take photos for me, I would be extremely grateful.

Grandad's Wound

Taking advantage of last weekend's free access to FindMyPast, I found an entry in the weekly War Office casualty for January 1919, in which Grandad Walter is listed. This proves that he was indeed wounded, as suspected, probably during the Battle of the Sambre.

It usually took quite a while for such events to appear in the casualty lists, so it's not always easy to pinpoint the actual date of occurrence, but once again Pte. Henry Atcherley, whose records we have already used to help date Grandad's war service, comes to our assistance as he is also listed.

Atcherley's pension and medical records still exist, which show that he was wounded by shrapnel around the 7th or 8th November 1918, during the aforementioned battle. Considering that shrapnel was later found in Grandad's leg, it's reasonable to assume that he was similarly wounded at that time.

I've updated Grandad's entry accordingly.

Roche Noire Photos

While I have yet to visit Salonika and pay my respects to my great-uncle, I was fortunately contacted by Gary Wall, whose great-uncle also died during the taking of the Roche Noire salient.

To mark the centenary, Gary travelled to Greece, visiting the battlefield and the cemetery at Polykastro (aka Karasouli).

He has kindly allowed me to post some of his photos on the blog. Many thanks mate!

The hilltops that were the focus of the assault

Looking across to the Roche Noir, marked a lump of rock on the hilltop.

View from one of the hilltops looking down towards the British line.

Looking down towards the valley bottom where the British line started the assault.

You can still see outline of trenches on the hilltops.

Gary at his great-uncle's grave at Karasouli Cemetery

John's headstone, located in the previous photo at Gary's right shoulder, just to the right.

Thanks once again Gary!

100 Years Ago Today

As regular readers will know, today is the 100th anniversary of the death of my great-uncle John Price. Lest we forget.

More photos of William Clark

I'm very happy to have been contacted by one of William Clark's granddaughters in Australia!

Thanks very much Rhonda for sending me some great photos and documents, which confirm that the previous photo I had found is indeed of Will.

His page has been updated with some of the new photos and information.

Felton & Preston Wynne Memorial Hall

Another update for my great uncle John Lee Price. A while back I discovered an article in the Hereford Times (thanks to Herefordshire History) that details the opening of Felton & Preston Wynne Memorial Hall.

Among the fallen of the two parishes that the hall is dedicated to is one John Price. I believe this to be my great uncle, and as such have noted the dedication on his page. I have also included a photo of the memorial plaque that I managed to take recently.

(Note that on Herefordshire Council's excellent WW1 centenary website, the incorrect John Price is listed for this memorial - in an email to me, the Herefordshire archives team have promised to rectify this mistake when circumstances allow.)

John Lee Price: Hospital Records

I've found some hospital records, transcribed by Forces-War-Records, which show my great-uncle John being admitted during his time in Salonika.

These are interesting in that they could explain why he was transferred from the 9th Gloucestershires to the 2nd Gloucestershires.

For more details click here or select his name from the list on the right hand side of this page.

Is This the Face of Billy Clark?

For ages I've been looking for photos of my Australian great uncle, William Thomas Clark. I was idly searching for photos of his original regiment, the 1st Australian Light Horse on the Australian War Memorial website when I came across two photos of the regiment's second in command, Major Hugh Venables Vernon.
I was amazed to see standing next to him, none other than one Trooper Clark, batman. Now as far as I can ascertain, there was only one batman named Clark in the HQ section of the 1st Australian Light Horse at that time, and that was my great uncle!
So I'm pretty sure that the photos are of him! See below for the photos.

Rosebery, NSW. 1914. Major Hugh Venables Vernon, second in command, 1st Light Horse Regiment (New South Wales Lancers) and Trooper Clark, batman, of the same regiment.

Rosebery, NSW. 1914. Three members of the 1st Light Horse Regiment (New South Wales Lancers) with their horses. Left to right: Trooper Clark (batman), Trooper Murphy (groom), Major Hugh Venables Vernon (second in command).

Grandad's KSLI connection borne out

I'm extremely lucky to have been given an original list of members of the Home Guard for Withington (which I hope to transcribe and put online).

Grandad is listed in this book, which gives his previous military experience as 'KSLI, Great War' (although the year of his birth is incorrect).

This provides us with more proof that Grandad was with the KSLI at some point in WW1, and I have updated his page accordingly.

Horace Davies

I've added a page for my maternal great-grandfather, Horace Davies; a long-overdue representation of my mum's side of the family!
Click here, or on the link on the right, to lean about Horace's possible contribution to the war effort.

Updates to Frederick Jones and Walter Price

Some long overdue updates!

I have discovered Great-Uncle Fred listed in the 1919 editions of the Absent Voters Lists. The entries not only give his regiment and service number, but also the date of his demobilisation.

However, far from making things clearer, this actually muddies the waters, for, while this has led me to find a medal card for an FS Jones with the same service number, the regiment is completely different.

I'm only partially certain that this is 'our' Fred Jones, as the AVLs could be quite inaccurate, and it could also be a huge coincidence, so as of yet proof is not conclusive. The information is presented on his page.

Regarding my Grandad, I have found a nice sketch of the lock at Landrecies, that the 9th Devonshires had to get past during the battle of the Sambre.

Grandad - major questions answered!

A visit to the Herefordshire Archives and Records Centre has yielded some fantastic results in the shape of the Absent Voters Lists!

The lists for 1918-1919 confirm that Grandad was indeed conscripted into the 3rd KSLI, that he was posted to the Devonshires at the end of October 1918, and that he was subsequently posted to the 1/5th DCLI after the Armistice - demobbing November 1919.

Grandad's page has been updated as a result.

(Note that, while this latest update answers a lot of questions, I have still detailed the research I carried out beforehand in the hope that it will be of use to other amateur researchers!)

William Thomas Clark Update

I'm indebted to the volunteers at the Hall School Museum and Heritage Centre, ACT, for providing me with not only a nice photo of Duntroon Military Academy, but also the three honour rolls that William is listed in, plus some of his final resting place. A selection of these have now been put onto his page.

Grandad - Starred.

Another trawl of the Herefordshire History website has revealed that Grandad was originally in a 'starred' occupation - basically, as a skilled agricultural worker (a wagoner in his case), he was initially exempt from being called-up.

This was to change with the introduction of conscription in 1916, and the removal of his 'starred' status in April 1916.

John Lee's Final Effects

Ancestry have now digitised the Register of British Soldiers' Final Effects (held at the National Army Museum) and I have found my Great-Uncle John's entry. His page has been updated accordingly.

Frederick Samuel Jones

I have posted up a new page today - that of my great-uncle Frederick Samuel Jones (my father's 'Uncle Fred')

I have very little information regarding Fred's military service, save a rather fine photo of him in uniform, but have managed to glean some biographical information from censuses, letters and migration documents.

I live in hope that one of his descendants will get in touch!

Cross referencing

Of the approximately 150 men who I believe to have transferred to the 9th Devonshire Regiment, only one service record survives. However it is still possible to view their entries on the medal rolls, and the smattering of Silver War Badge entries. Additionally, one among their number subsequently joined the RAF, and has some service details also available to view online.

Cross referencing this gives us a little more information, but also throws into question my assumption that Grandad was initially in the KSLI before being transferred to the Devonshires. I have factored all this into his entry.

Grandad - More Information Comes to Light!

Thanks to the newly launched Herefordshire History website, I have found some important information on my Grandad's military service which confirms the fact that he was conscripted no earlier than 1st September 1917.

I have also discovered where he was working at the time, and what his job was, and have edited his page (see the right hand panel) accordingly!

John Lee Price - his page updated

I have updated the page dedicated to my great uncle John Lee Price.

Thanks to the Government Probate office's website, I have obtained a copy of his will, which gives us more information on which regiment he was serving in during 1918.





I have also found mention of him in a newspaper article from 1924, which reveals that his wooden grave marker was among 90 that were brought to England and erected at Cheltenham Cemetery for the dedication ceremony of the Cross of Sacrifice.

In a way then, John finally returned home.