Worcestershire Regiment

Hello to all,
I have just learned that my grandad ,Pte Thomas W Jarratt 52474(Worc) & Then 50706(Glouc), served with the 4th Bt worcester regiment and then the Gloucester regiment (all dates unknown),

He survived the war and died well before i was born, my dad (also deceased) never talked about him, so i am now having difficulty in looking into his war time experiences.

I have his M.I.C. but that just states he was entitled to two medals and does not contain much information other than that and his regiment numbers.

I was wondering if anyone had any information, war diaries, photos etc...
about the 4th battalion and is it possible to trace my grandads ww1 life or am 'i flogging a dead horse'(as they say), as i have such little information?

I thank you in advance for any time and effort put into answering my questions.

John Jarratt

HiYa John,

Generally once I have looked up my relative or Soldier Im researching on the Birth, Deaths and Marraiges registers and got any certificates and then tried the 1901, 1891 census's etc and put flesh on the bones I contact the regiment, then look for military papers.

His Medal Index Card doesn't always tell you much more than you know, especially as he survived, you do need it to get copies of his entry on any medal rolls which can tell you a little more but you will have to go to London and search for them yourself.

I tend to pay a researcher to do this for me, I have used a gentlemen called John Collins over a number of occasions, spread over the last 20 years. If you look at his site, ERROR://militaryresearchon.com/
He does a package for Soldiers that survived the war, for your money he will get you copies of the medal roll entries and search for a Soldiers Record but to be honest lots were destroyed in the 2nd World War and sometimes you pay your money and take a chance but if they have survived they really are a great source of information and interest. To be honest unless you know the exact dates he served in a certain battalion and regiment you could be looking up other mens histories, I have some medals, to a gentlemen from the 2nd Worcesters, I bought on the chance he charged at Gheluvelt and until I had his service record I didn't know he came home before the battle.

To pay a professional is usually cheaper than searching yourself but there is more chance the service record has been destroyed than it has survived. If you do find the relavant dates I will be more than happy to send you extracts from Captain Staackes History of the Worcesters in the Great War for any periods of his service.

I Hope this is helpful

Barrie

Thank you for your reply Barrie,

As you say, I now have 2 choices, do it myself or pay someone to do the searching for me.

I'll Keep you posted.

Cheers John.