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General => Armed Forces => World War One => Topic started by: DixieDee on Wednesday 27 December 17 17:00 GMT (UK)
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This is new ground for me trying to find military records, so any help would be appreciated.
The National Archives medal rolls are as far as I have ventured up to now.
If possible I am trying to find the military records for James Straney, for a relative of mine, his grand daughter. Her mother was about 2 years old when James Straney's wife died, around 1909 and their 3 toddlers were separated, assume to relatives, as James Sraney must have been a regular soldier.
J. Straney's marriage certificate on General Records Office Northern Ireland website, his occuptation is recorded as soldier, his address as Mitchell Barracks, Belfast.
Medal rolls have his medals as, 1915 star, war and victory.
Is it possible to find out if his medals were issued and if not, is it possible to apply for them ?.
Information below from C.W.G.C., website.
Pte James Straney, 5096, 2 Bt. Dorsetshire Regt., K.I.A., 1stDecember 1915.
Recorded on the Basra Memorial.
Any guidance would be appreciated and thanks in advance for any help.
Regards,
DixieDee
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His medal records don't have any indication that he (or rather his relatives) didn't get his medals. His entry in the Register of Soldiers' Effects shows that his effects went to his father
James John and the record is quite normal showing that the system was in communication with his family.
Sadly his detailed records seem to have been among the 60-70% or so of WW1 records that were destroyed in WW2 bombing.
In 1914 his battalion were in India and went to the Mespotamia/Iraq theatre on 6 November 1914 as an element of Indian Expeditionary Force "D". I haven't yet been able to track down a war diary covering the period including Dec 1915 when he fell. Others may have more luck.
Longlongtrail has good piece on the campaign http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/battles/the-campaign-in-mesopotamia/. One of his Effects Regiseter entries (there are two) says he fell at Ctesiphon.
The MOD do not issue replacement WW1 medals unfortunately. Not a substitute but replicas can be made by a number of commercial firms. It is also not unknown for medals to turn up on Ebay and the like, they have names engraved so a search on his name around the medals area may strike lucky.
MaxD
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There is an interesting entry on FindMyPast under WW1 records 1914 - 1920 foe a James Straney, Dorset Regiment.
There is a letter dated 1942 concerning a discovered scroll (picture next page) for the above.
They were trying to find its owner but could nt find a man of that name.
Cathy
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Similar to this with name and regiment
https://www.empiremedals.com/products/world-war-1-memorial-scroll?variant=1049108523
No certain proof its your James but possibly?
Cathy
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Further. His service number indicates he joined the army in 1897. In 1911 the 2nd Battalion were in Poona India, he is there in the census, born 1873 Antrim. We can't be sure whether he spent all his pre-war service in the 2nd Battalion. They were in the Boer War but he does not figure in the medal lists.
More here on the 2nd Battalion in Mesopotamia http://www.keepmilitarymuseum.org/history/first+world+war/the+dorsetshire+regiment/the+second+battalion
MaxD
Effects Register on Ancestry.
Well done Cathy - I'd have no doubt that is our man James Straney's Memorial Scroll that went with his Next of Kin Memorial Plaque that somehow didn't get to his family and which is the only (except medal info) record - good find.
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Yes, it does sound like it may have been his scroll, what a shame, it might be long gone but it might possibly have been filed somewhere. A good reproduction available on that website.
Cathy
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Even more! In addition to the scroll, there is a very faint (which is why I didn't see it - perhaps you did) letter from the Exeter Infantry Record Office to the main Infantry Record office at Droitwich dated 26 Nov 1942 explaining that the scroll had been found in the Truro Poor Law Institution and , as they had no record of the name, they were forwarding it to the army. The record office at Exeter asked if a number could be found for the name. That is where the story ends.
So somehow, between (presumably) getting to the family soon after WW1, the scroll found its way to Truro down the back of a metaphorical sofa, and turned up in 1942 in the workhouse! Mind boggling!
Given that there was only one James Straney of the Dorsets died in WW1 then this is for sure the scroll that now belongs to DixieDee. While it is reproduced on FindMyPast, the original must be in the National Archives in the W0 363 series.
Need to pause there for a bit!
MaxD
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There was a marriage in Truro 1908, a David Craze and Rosina Magdaline Straney.
Rosina appears to have died in Truro in 1937, David Craze still alive in 1939 at least.
Rosinas age at death was 52 so born c 1875
Baptism in Truro of a Rosina Magdelina Straney 24th July 1897 ( hmm..this is where my theory might fall down, too late for baptism) gives parents as John and Catherine.
I wonder if Rosina was James' sister as on the war effects record I think James' father was John.
Couple of mentions in local papers for Straneys in Truro.
Perhaps when Rosina died her husband tried to return the scroll to the War Office to try and reunite it with any of James' family.
All supposition really but a Truro link?
Cathy
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Cathy - you are right, James father was John, I mis transcribed it earlier, now edited.
MaxD
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Certainly a good line to follow Cathy. The John/Catherine pair appear with Rosina born 1883 in 1891 and (as Magdalina) born 1884 in 1901, both times in Truro. From the births, the family did move around a bit so James being born in Antrim to Scottish parents is not too off the wall.
MaxD
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Hi, Cathy / MaxD.
My thanks to you both for responding so quickly to my posting, it is very much appreciated.
I only know a few titbits of information that his grand daughter knows, which is not a lot.
Her info is that when James Straney's wife died, their 3 children ended up separated, the grand daughter's mother stayed in Belfast, and the sister and brother were sent to live in England.
I will passed on all the info that you have posted to her.
Once again, thank you for all your help,
Bobby
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I'd suggest it is more likely to find information from the family side rather than the military.
Does she know the names of the wife (presumably yes as she has the cert) and the children.
MaxD