First World
War soldiers' records - the 'Burnt Documents'
Until a few years ago anybody applying to
the Ministry of Defence for papers relating to
soldiers who fought in the First World War
received a standard reply: "unfortunately
because of enemy action during the blitz the non-commissioned
soldiers' records which survived were so damaged
by fire and water that they cannot be produced as
originals". For most of us that meant that
records of our fathers and grandfathers were lost
forever.
Bat a pilot project to film 1,000 of the 33,000
boxes of documents that did survive was carried
out in 1997. It was so successful that the Public
Record Office applied for a lottery grant to film
the whole collection. It has been estimated that
the surviving documents contain the records of
two million men. They represent about 40% of the
servicemen who joined the army, but the
information they contain opens up an unparalleled
history of the ordinary soldier. Not all the
records have been filmed yet, the target date for
completion is June 2002. Surnames beginning with
I, J, K, L and M will be available in 2001, and G
and H next yeas.
This is the story of two researchers who
have gone through the records attempting to
discover the part their ancestors played in the
Great War.
Joyce Stamp writes:
About four years ago I tried to obtain the
army records of my father, William Sydney
Burchell, who was born in December 1896.
Unfortunately I knew very little about his time
as a soldier in the First World War. He had
joined the Rifle Brigade at the age of about 17,
giving his age as 18. I have his cap badge, but
not his regimental number. He was sent to France
and was gassed twice, the second time he was
brought back to England unconscious. It is
possible he spent some time at the Sutherland War
Hospital, Christchurch Road, Reading. By 1919 he
appeared to have recovered sufficiently to be fit
enough to continue his army career in India.
While there it soon became apparent that his
health had suffered as a result of the gas. He
was then brought back to the United Kingdom and
spent some time in hospital, before he was
medically discharged with a pension. When he died
in 1946 my mother was unable to claim a war
widow's pension as his discharge was arranged
whilst he was still in hospital, so it would have
been impossible for them to get married while he
was still in uniform.
When I arrived at the Public Record Office I
went to the help desk and was shown the film and
fiche room. I found this quite intimidating,
probably because of the different records held
there. I had been told to look for a large guide
to the 'burnt records' W0363, which was full of
names in alphabetical order. I knew already that
B's were available; I searched for the name
Burchell with a number of spelling variants. I
noted the numbers of the films I needed to search.
The quality was poor, but not impossible. At one
point I thought I had found the right one, but it
was for a William Samuel, not Sydney. As he spent
some time in India he may not have been included
in these records so I was shown W0364 which
covered those discharged after the war and given
pensions. I looked through these records, but
drew another blank.
It occurred to me that there might be medical
records which would throw light on his military
career. I was told to look in a file PIN 26, MH106.
I certainly had no idea what to expect. I flicked
through the pages and happened to see 'Gas
Poisoning'. I was given the reference number and
after ordering the records at the computer
terminal and using my swipe card I had to wait 20
to 30 minutes for the pager to bleep indicating
that my records were ready to view. I had thought
the film room was big, but the area I was now
entering was much larger. I was asked if I wanted
the boxed records first or the folders. Inside
the box I found A4 flimsy single sheet records.
Each piece of paper represents a British soldier
who had been gassed. This mass of papers
compacted would measure about three inches in
thickness and they accounted for just a few. The
sheets were not in alphabetical order and it was
difficult to look at the names without looking at
the records themselves. It was a deeply upsetting
experience but I now know what to expect if and
when I find my father's record.
My brothers are helpful in filling in part of
the history of my father, but I was greatly
surprised when one of them found a photograph of
him taken with his comrades: No. 1 Platoon Army
Corps, 4th Battalion, Rifle Brigade. It was taken
at Ramillies Barracks, Aldershot, in August 1919.
This was probably before he went to India as he
looked so well.
No. 1 Platoon 4th Bn The Rifle
Brigade taken at Ramillies Barracks, August, 1919
Julia Varey writes:
I went to the PRO looking for Percy Athol
Barrett, my grandfather. To my amazement I found
his Short Service (For the Duration of the War)
Attestation Papers. He had joined at Oxford and
gave his age as 36 years 4 months. He lied - his
birth certificate gives his date of birth as 24
November, 1876. There was a separate page for his
medical history that revealed he had a very
slight hammer-toe in his right foot. He gave his
wife's name, Emily Barrett, and the names and
ages of his ten children.
He was in the 132nd Oxfordshire (Heavy)
Battery of the Royal Garrison Artillery and was
posted to Woolwich in 1916. As he was about to
attend the 9am parade on March 8 he suddenly fell
forward on the verandah overlooking the parade
ground and 'immediately expired'. The Medical
Officer of Troops was called and after
examination of the body pronounced life extinct.
The Coroner of the Borough of Woolwich held an
inquest and it was discovered that Percy died
after suffering from a heart attack and that he
also had chronic pneumonia. The officer in charge
of records asked to see a newspaper account of
the death but nothing further is known if there
was a report of the inquest.
His widow and ten children received a pension
Of 37 shillings a week. My next project is to
find the newspaper account of his death, either
in the local newspapers in Woolwich or in Oxford
where his widow lived at that time. I would also
like to find the war diaries of his battalion to
find out where he was stationed and what action
he saw in the 'war to end all wars'.
