My great-grand father Alfred Sell joined the army in 1899 and fought in the Boar War and later served in China and Ceylon. I have found his attestation papers which shows his army career between 1899 and 1908 but I can't find any official records from after that.
He became a reserve in 1908 and in 1913 worked at the Royal Artillery Barracks at Woolwich. This involved his family moving to Pumstead where they lived for 3 years but they moved back to Camden in London where they had previoulsy lived. My grandmother told me that he was required to work in Belgium after the war heping clean up the battle fields at Ypres and Poperinge, but inbetween she told me he was doing what she called secret reseasrch work in Foulness Island.
I had forgottent his until I recently traced my mothers family, some of whom by coincidence came from Foulness which reminded me of what she said.
There don't seem to be any books available on the history of Foulness and I have done a bit of research on line but can't find out much except that the area was used from 1917 onwards for military research puposes when the army built a new road for easy acccess to the island and later it was used in relation to nuclear weapon research. I was hoping to find out exatly what my great-grandfather may have done between 1917 and 1919. He was only a private in the army with no special skills although gained a few medals which sadly are now lost.
Does anyone one know anything about the early research carried out at Foulness and about its connection to Woolwich and what work my great-grandfather might have done there?
