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WW1 service records question?

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Dawn

Dawn Report 23 Dec 2012 09:25

My great grandfather fought in WW1 but i cant find his service records anywhere. His name was John Thorburn Heatlie born in 1899 in scotland but fought he in the british war. His index card is on ancestry which states he was in the RASC (royal army service corps) and this adds up with what his daughter has told me. Is there any reason why they wouldnt be available?
Thanks in advance
Dawn

brummiejan

brummiejan Report 23 Dec 2012 10:25

Dawn, sadly about 70% of WW1 records were lost in the WW2 - a bombing raid I think. It may well be his were among them.
Jan

Researching:
Myatt, Hanks, Eccleston, Powell, Clungunford, Birmingham

DazedConfused

DazedConfused Report 23 Dec 2012 13:07

And the sad thing about those lost files known as the 'burnt records' is that there is no rhyme or reason to those which survived.

Not alphabetical or regional, just a real mix of names that survived and of those that did survive it is pot luck as to what is there.

Some will find truly amazing things in the files such as photos, letters etc., and others will find just some very basic records.

Researching:
We are all of us in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars, Oscar Wilde New avatar, my dad age about 3/4 months, could have been worse, it could have been the awful nude on a rug!!

Dawn

Dawn Report 23 Dec 2012 13:37

oh dear what a shame thanks for helping anyway x

ErikaH

ErikaH Report 23 Dec 2012 23:01

This comes up so regularly...................

CuriousFish

CuriousFish Report 28 Dec 2012 11:59

There is no trace of my grandfather's record either.
To try to form a picture of what his life as a soldier would have been I contacted his regimental museum, and have also looked at the regimental diary at National Archives
There is an excellent site about WWI, well worth a look if you are interested in finding out what life for the average soldier was.
The Long, Long Trail
The British Army in the Great War of 1914-1918