horsa
11-10-06, 08:23 AM
Anyone tried this ?
Basically the idea is that, instead of trying to understand WW1 through standard history books, you trace your own family members, who were of military age at the time, and check what their involvement might have been. It’s a sobering experience that makes you realise what an impact WW1 had on everyday society.
In my own case I was quite surprised to find the following.
Killed 3
Wounded 2 ( 1 gassed slightly, 1 discharged to home garrison duty)
Survived 3
Reserved Occupation 1
Other than my own grandparents relatively uneventful war ( hence the reason I’m here) I was totally unaware of their experiences …. And, bear in mind, this is only two generations on.
None of them were cited for gallantry medals and nobody gained even a lance corporal’s stripe . In other words they were just there, Jo Ordinary, doing a job and hoping to get through it. What I’ve found here could well be par for the course for hundreds of thousands of other families.
Transpose these statistics to your present day family and you begin to appreciate the tag “lost generation” and why society as a whole was so traumatised.
When I first started on this I didn’t think it was a unique idea but I did think it might be relatively novel. However I discovered from this site that there appear to be thousands of other people doing the same
http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/ (http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/)
It has prompted me to track their experiences in more detail so that I can paint a picture of what they might have been doing and where, and I have to say it has radically brought the Great War alive in a way I could never have anticipated.
For anyone whose family roots are in the UK/Commonwealth these online free searchable databases might get you started.
http://www.cwgc.org/ (http://www.cwgc.org/) database of all recorded Commonwealth service war dead.
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/browse-refine.asp?CatID=10&searchType=browserefine&pagenumber=1&query=*&queryType=1 (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/browse-refine.asp?CatID=10&searchType=browserefine&pagenumber=1&query=*&queryType=1) medal record of all serviceman ( National Archives) . Allows you to find some basic info of all war personnel.
http://www.1914-1918.net/ good for background information.
Basically the idea is that, instead of trying to understand WW1 through standard history books, you trace your own family members, who were of military age at the time, and check what their involvement might have been. It’s a sobering experience that makes you realise what an impact WW1 had on everyday society.
In my own case I was quite surprised to find the following.
Killed 3
Wounded 2 ( 1 gassed slightly, 1 discharged to home garrison duty)
Survived 3
Reserved Occupation 1
Other than my own grandparents relatively uneventful war ( hence the reason I’m here) I was totally unaware of their experiences …. And, bear in mind, this is only two generations on.
None of them were cited for gallantry medals and nobody gained even a lance corporal’s stripe . In other words they were just there, Jo Ordinary, doing a job and hoping to get through it. What I’ve found here could well be par for the course for hundreds of thousands of other families.
Transpose these statistics to your present day family and you begin to appreciate the tag “lost generation” and why society as a whole was so traumatised.
When I first started on this I didn’t think it was a unique idea but I did think it might be relatively novel. However I discovered from this site that there appear to be thousands of other people doing the same
http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/ (http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/)
It has prompted me to track their experiences in more detail so that I can paint a picture of what they might have been doing and where, and I have to say it has radically brought the Great War alive in a way I could never have anticipated.
For anyone whose family roots are in the UK/Commonwealth these online free searchable databases might get you started.
http://www.cwgc.org/ (http://www.cwgc.org/) database of all recorded Commonwealth service war dead.
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/browse-refine.asp?CatID=10&searchType=browserefine&pagenumber=1&query=*&queryType=1 (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/browse-refine.asp?CatID=10&searchType=browserefine&pagenumber=1&query=*&queryType=1) medal record of all serviceman ( National Archives) . Allows you to find some basic info of all war personnel.
http://www.1914-1918.net/ good for background information.