Thomas Woodall

[Katrina1959]

Hi
I  would like to know a little more about my great Uncle Private Thomas Woodall Service no 243608 Cheshire Regiment 1/7 Battalion born in 1894 Chesterfield died 14th October 1918 in France and Flanders Is buried in a mass grave at Hooge Grater Ieper, West-Vlaanderen Belgium.
My sister and I are working on our Family Tree along with the military side of our family,  Thomas was the eldest of 2 children whose mother died in 1898 his father was not very good at caring for him or his sister so they went to live with their auntie after both children were put out on the street to fend for themselves aged 7 and 5 years old It was their uncle who found them wondering the streets in an unkept state and hungry. Their father decided to relocate to Dudley after he remarried and made Thomas go with him and his new wife, Thomas returned to his aunty and uncle's a few years later whilst in Dudley he met his Wife Alice Neale the couple moved to Doncaster where his Sister Mary Ann lived in 1915 Thomas attended Mary Ann's wedding in the 1st quarter of that year the 2nd quarter Thomas and Alice married then Thomas enlisted after training he was posted to Gallipoli  he returned home on leave for a brief time before being posted to the front. His wife Alice gave him a son in 1917 and a daughter in 1918 unfortunately his daughter died when she was 13 years old. we do not know if Thomas came home to see his daughter before he was killed in action I and my sister would be very grateful for any information to complete his story . Mysister is planning a trip later this year to Holland and Belgium to the graves of our family members who were killed in action.

[MaxD]

The operation in which he lost his life is covered in detail in the war diary for 1/7 Cheshires.  The diary covering the period is at http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7353902 and can be downloaded for £3.45.  If you have an Ancestry sub, it is on there also.  The diary for their service at Gallipoli is at http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7357880.
I've sent a PM

PS.  Also to be found are his medal records and the entry in the register of Soldiers'
Effects.

[MaxD]

Looking more closely at his service number and his medal record it looks as if, although the 1/7 were at Gallipoli, Thomas didn't in fact join the army until about July 1916 when the battalion were in Egypt, moving to France in May 1918.  The Jul 16 date comes from using his £10 war gratuity to calculate his entry date (acknowledgement Craig, Great War Forum) .  He also does not have the 1914-1915 Star which service at Gallipoli would have entitled him to.  The Jul 1916 date fits well with the birth in Q2 of 1917 of son Stanley

Sorry to give negative info.

maxD
 

[CaroleW]

Follow on post here

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=764644.new;topicseen#new

[MaxD]

Katrina1959

The family information about Thomas is also a little off the mark regarding his final resting place.  He is not in a "mass grave".  He has been laid to rest in his own plot in the Hooge Crater Cemetery near Ypres (Ieper).  The cemetery is described here http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/52700/HOOGE%20CRATER%20CEMETERY.  His grave details are hhttp://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/459692/WOODALL,%20Tere.

You can download a commemoration certificate from the site.  You could also contact Britishwargraves.co.uk and ask if they have a photograph of his headstone.  If they have you will get it for free.

maxD

[Katrina1959]

The information you don't seem to get is yes he has a marker for a grave however that is all as they found his dog tags that was the reason for his grave marker.
I know that because my grandmother talked about her brother and how they could not identify many of the bodies at that time because they were blown up by a grenade. So please do not dismiss my info as I am more inclined to believe that he is in the mass grave and a marker to identify him as a fallen soldier is more appropriate at Hooge Crater when they found the tags naming him . Unlike many that were killed Private Thomas Woodall service no 243608  tags were found he has a grave and that is the completion of this I don't wish to come across as abrupt but this is the end of this discussion.  Because I am beginning to wish that I had not requested the help as seems too many people are not reading posts correctly

[[Ray]]

Hi

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1901 has Thomas with his maternal g-parents. (Peabody)
It is interesting that the Jacksons are also with them/him, long before 1911.
1901 has "Mary" with his (widowed, not yet re-married) father and his parents
No proof that they were put on the streets?

-----
I have read a number of your past posts/threads
and I will repeat/paraphrase here. . . . .

1) You say that you do not accept info for your tree unless there is proof?

2) You said "Unfortunately I do not know as all this was given via a spiritualist so I can not be specific on the info I have been given."

3) You said "However ...................................., please do not think me as a nut case as this has come through spiritually"
-----
I would have thought that it was more important (and better value) to get the proof(birth docs etc) than to spend money on a trip.

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We are more than willing to help but please help us to help you?


Ray

 
 

[Katrina1959]

 Okay you think I have made this up. WELL let me tell you the information I have given has been clarified by my late fathers very much alive brother so do not mistake the info as being fictional.
Yes my grandmother was living with the Woodall grandparents until 1908 when their grandparents passed away Samuel Woodall had relocated to Dudley he took Thomas and Mary Ann with him but his new wife took them back to Staveley where they were left to fend for themselves. so when William Jackson found them they were cold hungary and dirty, I do not know  why you find it hard to accept that the info you have been given is accurrate.
Please don not reply has I am going close the subject right now 

[[Ray]]

Hi

Until proven, it just adds up to "hearsay" "3rd-hand".

People are very forgetful/mis-remembering stories.


That's why "some of us" want the documents, to eliminate problems.


Ray