Would love to find out more about my Great Great Grandfather

[woods12]

Hi

I have been researching my ancestry for a while now and I have a Great Great Grandfather who was called Henry James Wood born 1884 in Greenwich, London. Died 1st of July 1916. Was married to a Mary A Steads. 

I have come across some information that links him to the first world war and that he died in action. But I can't really find out much more about his death or where he died. obviously it's all very vague. If anyone could point me in the right direction or maybe even help me out I would be very grateful. The only website I currently use is Ancestry and there seems to be only two bits of information on his death on there. I would love to find out what happened to his regiment on that particular day or how it all came about. That may not be possible but I feel it was worth an ask.

I have uploaded a screenshot of a record I have of him.

Moderator comment: transcription of some information in the image (removed since it from a subscription site)

From the Army Registers of Soldiers Effects:
Record No 315376 Henry James Wood, 7/Bn E Kent Regt, Pte G /1957 died 1 July 1916 France or Belgium

Thank you

[MaxD]

To start with what you have.
The Register of Soldier's Effects is telling us he died on 1 July 1916 (the first day of the Battle of the Somme) while serving with 7th Battalion the Buffs (East Kent Regiment).  His will said that he wished his effects to go to his widow and legatee (Wi and leg) Mary.  These consisted of his war gratuity of £8.  The gratuity together with his date of death tells us he volunteered in October of 1914.  His service number was G/1957 (found elsewhere) and if you find your way to the Medal Rolls Index Cards on Ancestry you can find his card (under H J Wood East Kent R) which shows he went to France on 28 July 1915 and his entitlement was to the 1914/1915 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
Ancestry also refers to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission site, his entry is here:
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1555378/wood,-henry-james/  Like thousands of others that day, he has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing.

More soon.

MaxD

[woods12]

To start with what you have.
The Register of Soldier's Effects is telling us he died on 1 July 1916 (the first day of the Battle of the Somme) while serving with 7th Battalion the Buffs (East Kent Regiment).  His will said that he wished his effects to go to his widow and legatee (Wi and leg) Mary.  These consisted of his war gratuity of £8.  The gratuity together with his date of death tells us he volunteered in October of 1914.  His service number was G/1957 (found elsewhere) and if you find your way to the Medal Rolls Index Cards on Ancestry you can find his card (under H J Wood East Kent R) which shows he went to France on 28 July 1915 and his entitlement was to the 1914/1915 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
Ancestry also refers to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission site, his entry is here:
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1555378/wood,-henry-james/  Like thousands of others that day, he has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing.

More soon.

MaxD

Thank you so much MaxD for breaking it down for me in that way. I was struggling to understand it all, so that has helped me greatly....

Also another question, when I Google the 7th Battalion Buffs (East Kent Regiment) there's a lot of photographs that come up in Google images. Would it be safe to say that he may well have been in one of these photographs?

I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to the Army but I would love to learn more about it and obviously Henry James Wood.

Thanks.

[MaxD]

About the photos - I would only trust those that were definitely identified as 7th Battalion Buffs look for the cap badge which comes up also).  That said there would have been about 1000 men in the battalion to start the war, numbers that fluctuated obviously so finding one that names him is needle/haystack 

For homework, you might like to read the war diary of the battalion.  Find your way via the card catalogue to the WW1 War diaries France/Germany/Belgium and in the search box put 2049 in the keyword, nothing else.  That will bring up the diary, ignore the dates and click on the first one and scroll though. Their action on 1 July 1916 is described in considerable detail.

The area in which he was fighting can be found on Google Earth or Maps by searching on Guillemont France.  The battle became known later as the Battle of Montauban (one of the phases of the Somme battle).  Outline here:
http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/battles/battles-of-the-western-front-in-france-and-flanders/the-battles-of-the-somme-1916/the-capture-and-defence-of-montauban-1-13-july-1916/
which mentions the Buffs and the 18th Eastern Division of which the Buffs were part.  You should be able to find many of the places named in the diary if you play around with the zoom!

I'll send you my email by PM if you need more.  Read "The Somme" by Peter Hart and weep!

MaxD