Genealogy Chat

My Grandfarthers army records seemed to have either been lost or burnt during war 2. Already a trained professional soldier, he was enlisted into the civil defence in 1914, because of his age. He was stationed at Weston-Super-Mare. Does anyone know if these records still exists and where they may be found? Or does anyone know, what sort of things he would have done at Weston? EMR

Made the tea? In the Eastern half of the country they had their moments - shelling from warships if on the coast, bombs from zepplins as far West as London. There were quite a lot of casualties to both civil defence and civilians. Records? er, uhm, well I have never looked those up so am not much help am I? Clive

have you tried the national archives at kew, www.nationalarchives.gov.uk,,they can help with soldiers whose service ended before 1921, i belive the mormons also hold copes of ww1 service records on micofilm, hope this helps..iris

I would imagaine that if they survive, records would be held at the local records office.

Thanks for your help, will try Kew records. Believe some of the civil defence workers did in fact go to France etc., i.e. Railway workers, and miners for digging tunnels etc., but had not come across any information on England, unless as Clive suggested he made the tea, why not? hope he remembered to warm the pot first. EMR

Oh dear I think you missed the serious side of my answer. I have not looked it up but the coast was vulnerable. There was damage to East cost towns from warship shelling. The dastardly Hun was attacking undefended towns. The UK population needed reassurance the government cared. There were quite a lot of casualties. Civil Defence workers did very well in the areas which were attacked. Clive

Lincolnshire records office has details of WWI civil defence activities - try the records office for Weston Super Mare Clive

I'M sorry Clive..but it made me laugh, reminded me of something my dad said about him. Something like'The old man could have won the war on his b***** own, with couple of gallons of tea and a few pints, waste of time sending me to France up to my neck in mud'. Just by chance, I am due to go and see a friend of mine in a few weeks at Weston, followed by a few days with my cousin who lives near Kew. So I think it may be of help to check out the record offices on line, and see what is available. Interested in any more ideas or suggestions you may have. Thank you again and good wishes with your own research EMR

I'M sorry Clive..but it made me laugh, reminded me of something my dad said about him. Something like'The old man could have won the war on his b***** own, with couple of gallons of tea and a few pints, waste of time sending me to France up to my neck in mud'. Just by chance, I am due to go and see a friend of mine in a few weeks at Weston, followed by a few days with my cousin who lives near Kew. So I think it may be of help to check out the record offices on line, and see what is available. Interested in any more ideas or suggestions you may have. Thank you again and good wishes with your own research EMR