My great grandfather died on the Somme October 1918 and I have found his grave, however I have been informed by the War Grave Commission that they do not have any other information about him. Does not mean that all of his serivce records will have been lost or destroyed? He was in the 9th Devonshire regiment. I am new to this type of research so any help would be appreciated.

thanks Virginia

If you can supply his name and age (address is good too) I will try to help.

Regards,
Sandie

Hello Sandie
Thanks for such a speedy response.

His name was Ernest Frank Burridge born 1887, died 5 October 1918. Last recorded address that I know of was on 1911 census of his home Dawlish Water Cottages, Dawlish, Devon. However, the War Graves Commission in an email said that he had enlisted in Exeter but had been living in Llanishen in South Wales. That sadly was all they were able to say about him, no record of his family etc. He was a private in the army No. 28881 9th Bn Devonshire Regiment and is buried at Doingt Extension cemetery in France.

I have found him on a couple of census returns (though info is still scant) but its his war service I was interested in because I thought it might reveal more about him.

Thanks a bunch for taking a look.
regards Virginia

Hi Virginia,

Sadly it appears that his service records did not survive the bombing which destroyed 2 out of 3 records in WW2.
I have found his Medal Index Card which has this information:
Private 28881 Ernest F Burridge 9th Devons Regiment
Awarded British War Medal & Victory Medal (Recorded in Roll C/2/102 13/4 Page 234)
Died of Wounds 05.10.1918.
The medals were issued on 18.03.1921 but, and I've never seen this before, the British War Medal was returned by the police on 05.01.1928. I'm guessing it had been stolen at some stage and recovered but the address wasn't known to return it.
His entry in Soldiers Died In Great War has this:
Name: Ernest Frank Burridge
Birth Place: Witheridge, Devon
Residence: Exeter
Death Date: 6 Sep 1916
Enlistment Location: Llanishen, Mon.
Rank: Private
Regiment: Devonshire Regiment
Battalion: 9th (Service) Battalion.
Number: 28881
Type of Casualty: Died of wounds

The date of death on the 2 documents conflict.

I hope you find this information helpful,

Regards,
Sandie

Thanks Sandie your information is fascinating and I am very grateful. A couple of questions though, why were the medals issued in 1921 so many years after the war, was that normal? Secondly, if they tried to return the medals and could not.... do you know what might have happened to them? I also notice that I had it the wrong way round the record says he enlisted in Lanishen but the email from the War Graves said he had enlisted in Exeter. Yes, I did know about the discrepancy in the death dates but I have seen his grave and it states October 1918 so I would think that is most likely to be the correct date, no?

I have to say I am not surprised that I cannot find anything more about him it seems to be pretty much the story with both sets of my immediate family.....they just don't want to be found!!

Once again thanks for your work.

regards Virginia

Hi Virginia,

Campaign Medals were not issued to individual soldiers on their discharge. You can appreciate that it was a huge task to produce thousands upon thousands of medals, the administration alone must have been a massive task.
My understanding is that men had to apply, in writing, for their medals in the early 1920's. Sometimes you see on an index card 'returned' and the date they were returned. I'm unsure of what happened to them then. If WW2 medals were unclaimed you can, in certain circumstances, still claim them. I don't know if this is the case with WW1 medals.
The SOLDIERS DIED IN GREAT WAR information came from Ancestry, infamous for mistakes, I'd believe CWGC every time!

I'm sorry this information isn't very helpful. Good luck with tracing your family's history (frustrating but rewarding)

Regards,
Sandie

Thank you again for taking the time to reply. I am going to London in a few weeks to the National Archives so I may see if anyone there can throw some light on what might have happened to the medals. I hope I can find anything at all about my family as I usually get totally lost at records offices being put off by the amount of information available and not knowing where to start.

You are certianly right about the frustrating!!

regards Virginia

I'm afraid that's not right about the medals. Only officers had to apply. For men of the "other ranks" they were sent automatically, either to the man or, if he had not survived, to his next of kin. If his medal index card does not show that it was undeliverable, you must assume that his NOK received them OK. Quite how they got into police hands a number of years later is anyone's guess.

Many thanks, Chris.
I've always thought it was the other way around.
Regards,
Sandie