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General => Armed Forces => World War One => Topic started by: Asmiththoms on Wednesday 19 September 18 21:26 BST (UK)
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I need your help, urgently please, is there anyone who can help me trace a private from the south staffs regiment who served and survived ww1, and family legend that he received the military medal. My brilliant daughter has been chosen to go to the ww1 battlefields to complete a project to take to primary schools, but unfortunately there are no relatives to give us the information that we need. We need this by the 30th September... I know short notice !!
The only information we have at the moment is
John W Kendall also known as Jack, born 1/11/1894
Possibly born in walsall
Died 1955 walsall
He married Mabel Susannah 11/10/1893 died 1980 Walsall
Address was 31 Checkett Street walsall.
We believe he was in the south staffs regiment in WW1, he received the military cross for taking a machine gun post and that he was gassed. It would be great to make my daughters trip personnal, so any help is greatly appreciated.
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Greetings, and a warm welcome to Rootschat.
If you give us the information you have we will do our best.
Name, date and place of birth, and parents' names would be good. Battalion and service number (if known) would be very useful. If there is more, post everything - every little helps.
Philip
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Got him I think. Military Medal (not Cross) published in the London Gazette 12 March 1918 to L Cpl (Acting Cpl) JW Kendall (from Walsall) Machine Gun Corps.
Back in a mo.
MaxD
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5121 John W Kendall. First served in the South Staffs with service number 12990, transferred to the Machine Gun Corps. Final rank Acting Sergeant. Discharged March 1919.
His service record appears to be one of the 60% or so lost to bombing in the second war so further detail would be difficult if not impossible to find. Check the local newspapers for possible write up of the award in the latter half of 1917.
Bit more digging may find his date of transfer to the MGC, first indications are that his four digit number indicates one of the first transfers which were men already trained as machine gunners. We may not find his date of joining the S Staffs but his medal record shows he didn't go to France until after 1915.
More in due course.
Max
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Looking at records that do survive for MGC men with numbers near to him, I find no pattern so far that would give us an idea of when he transferred. Similarly I find no pattern to his first S Staffs number. That means that I can't find the battalions he served in with any certainty. There will be no citation to be found for the MM, if we knew his MGC battalion there might have been a mention in the war diary.
That said, others may have more luck?
Background reading though should include the pieces on the South Staffs and perhaps with more emphasis the MGC both in :
https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/
MaxD
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I can't see any mention of him in the Walsall Observer covering just before and after the award.
It was up to relatives to inform the paper so either he didn't let people know or they didn't put his name forward.
I used to have a friend in Chekkett St and I used to go to play there. It was after John W Kendall had died but she may have known him.
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1939 he is an Iron Moulder - Heavy Work
Married in 1919 Mabel S BOUCHER
3 children inferred from 1939 register
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Wow, thank you so much for all of your reply's and hard work, I wouldn't of known where to start, my daughter will be so excited to have this information and hopefully gather more.
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Don't hesitate to come back if the info so far prompts further queries.
Campaign medal reading (he has British War and Victory Medals (Mutt and Jeff) as well as the Military Medal)
http://www.greatwar.co.uk/medals/ww1-campaign-medals.htm
MaxD
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MaxD you are a research wizard !! Could you tell me how to search on the London Gazette, it would be nice to see his name in writing.
Medpat
According to family story's he didn't speak to his family so maybe that's why there isn't anything in the local papers.
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DIY - On the London Gazette home page. Search box J W Kendall. On the resulting results (!!) page limit the date of publication to between 01/01/1918 and 01/01/1919. Scroll down. He comes up in a long list on a page 3237, click on that to go back to page 3223 see the full listing. There a few pages of bars to MMs, the MM list starts on page 3226. (I did it a longer way round at first not knowing dates etc but the Walsall note was the give-away)
Or:
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/30573/supplement/3237
As you see, his entry is for him in the MGC. It had to be checked against the medal card to find that he started in the S Staffs. The service numbers cross checked.
MaxD
PS Forgot - his medal card can be downloaded from the National Archives for £3.50 at:http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D3217361
There is another with his MM on but it simply cross refers to the Gazette.
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Got it.... thank you !!
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Wonder if he used the Orange Tree, might have met my dad ;D
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Mckha489, thanks for John's wife's maiden name, it looks like he used the names William/Jack/John, so we are tracing the family tree.
Medpat, if he was anything like his great great grandson... Yes, trying to find living relatives to give us more information, my husband's family is from Johns sister Doris, married name Thomson, Walsall through and through!
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If you want help tracking his possible grandchildren as children were born 1921,22 and 25 let me know
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medpat
Yes please, that would be great. We know the family from his daughter Doris and I had the pleasure of knowing Evelyn who was the youngest.
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If I have this right I knew Evelyn too.
Marilyn her daughter was my sister's friend. Marilyn went to Wolverhampton Rd Primary School in the same class as my sister. She went to Edward Street Methodist Chapel Sunday school which we attended and we all went to the brownies there. Marylyn joined me at Edward Shelley High School (I am 2 years older).
I know Marilyn died in the mid 70s and my sister collected a lot of forms to become kidney donors after she died. My sister insisted we all sign :).
I know where she lived - in Jessel Rd near the corner with Raleigh St.
We lived in Neale St, off Hollyhedge Lane.
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Yes, you did, Aunt Molly (Evelyn ) passed away 2011 she was a lovely lady and sadly missed, she came to my father in laws for boxing day every year.
What a lovely thing for your sister to do, she never got over loosing her daughter, but she thought the world of her great and great great nieces and nephews.
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I'm not getting a marriage for Alfred D Kendall born summer of 1922 registered July - Sept quarter.
There is a death registered Dennis Alfred Kendall DOB 8 August 1922 Walsall 1997.
He is the right age for WW2 or National Service so may have married anywhere in the world.