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yes i am! Thank you for that Phil... that would explain why i wasnt able to find it and got the 2nd battalion instead lol!!

Thank you again!

Also, thank you for finding out the information, I dont suppose there is any easier way to getting hold of information held at Kew as i am not able to get down to london to view the records..

All three brothers were involved with the railway tunneling and mining so i can see how Joseph advanced quite easily thoughout the war. As far as i am aware, people who worked in these areas werent forced to join the military were they??

Hi everyone, Im not exactly sure where to start with researching military records but ive given it a go!

I recently found on ancestry that 3 of my great uncles were participants in the first war. Their names are Joseph Mawbey (born 1888 Glamorgan), Walter Mawbey (born 1890 Westmorland) and Arthur Mawbey (born 1893 Totley, Derbyshire).

The records found for Joseph show that he entered the war in Feb-March 1915, with the 18th Battalion i think for middlesex? One of the records shows his advancement through the ranks, but as im not from a military background, i can only pick out the obvious promotions.. I think he went from private through to sergeant then to a ''R2MS''?? (im sorry i have no idea what that might have been). The note below this says that he was a candidate for commision and the next rank he received was a Quartermaster Sergeant. I do know that he received 5 medals through the war and saw through to the end. After that, i am unsure as to what happpened to him, whether he stayed in the army and took part in WW2 or left. 

For Walter, i know very little. Other than he was KIA. He died on the 7th of July, 1915. He has a gravestone in the Kemmel Chateau Military Cemetery, Heuvelland, West Vlaanderen, Belgium. Plot/Row/Section J grave 45.

Arthur... well again, i dont know much about his involvement. The records found for him show he was in the Labour Corps. I think he was originally in the Yorkshire Light Infantry as on his record, it has been crossed out. There is also a note saying 'Malaria Base, not available for a theatre of war where malaria is prevelant. His number for the Yorkshire light infantry was 20983 and for the Labour Corps it was 389197. He also joined in January 1915. There are some other records attached to Arthur, but i am finding it difficult to read them.


My reasoning for posting is i am hoping that someone might be able to point me in the direction where i can actually find out which engagements they took part in, where they went and what exactly happened to Walter. Any help with these three will be greatly appreciated. As i said, im not from a military background so i apologise if i have made any mistakes in my research.

Thanks in advance!!

Hi again Jenb,

Thanks for finding that record for me!!

Going off track a little, I was just wondering how i would be able to connect this record to my william as i do not have any record of his parents anywhere. It isnt even mentioned in the durham transcripts where i got the marriage from..

Would it be possible to check the parish records in South Shields or would they just tell me the same information as the durham transcripts?

Thanks again,

Hi Michael,

I apologise if i havent mentioned the information needed to help me with my problem. I dont know much about the history of Berwick upon Tweed, only that it is on the border between Scotland and England and has had much debate over which country it actually belongs to. I was hoping that the parish records would be in the Durham Bishop Transcripts like other areas of Tynemouth and Durham are. However i have had no luck in finding a section particularly for Berwick.

I am also not informed enough over parishes and their areas so please forgive my confusion of not knowing that Berwick upon Tweed is a parish in its own right.

So William was born in Berwick upon Tweed, wasa married, then had child in Tynemouth area, then had children in Amble/warkworth ( Amble lay within the Parish of Warkworth) then went back to Tynemouth ?

Yes. The census records showed william to be born in Berwick upon Tweed. He married Dorothy Cuthbertson in St. Hilda's in South Shields, 21st feb 1824. There are no comments on the record i have for this marriage as to either participants parents. The witnesses were William Jamerson and John Campbell. As mentioned in my previous post, he then moved to Tynemouth where James was baptised, then to Warkworth, then to Amble, then back to tynemouth and then to North Shields.