RootsChat.Com

Hi everyone.

I paid a visit to Oakfield (St John) Church, Ryde, Isle of Wight yesterday.  Have to say that it's in a sorry state.  Overgrown and unkempt.  The reason I went was to find a grave for a relative of my wife.  Luckily I found it amongst all the ivy and weeds.  In addition to the grave I sought, there were several commonwealth war graves there.  So before they fall into a further state of disrepair, I have photographed them.  Should any of them be a relative of yours, I would be more than happy to let you have a copy of the photograph.

They were:
330838 Rifleman W.G. Redstone, 8th Btn Hampshire Regt. died 6th Oct 1917, age 19
W.J. Sutton, 16th Hampshire Regt, died Lucknaw Hospital Tidworth, 3 May 1919, age 21
P.O. Stoker G.H. Orchard, R.N., killed in action on HMS Broke 21 Apr 1917, age 32
PO14071 Pte A.C. Tully, Portsmouth Bttn RND, died 26 Feb 1916, age 28
66682 Pte P.J. Frampton Royal Defence Corps, died 21 Nov 1918, age 41
J65591 Seaman B. Sheath RN, HMS Dreadnought, died 2 July 1918, age 19
22328 Pte W. Richards, Dorset Regt, died 27 Oct 1919, age 39
266939 Spr F.J. Attrill, Royal Engineers, 9 Nov 1918, age 34

I have notified the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and also complained to Ryde Council.

Regards,
Thudders

Hi everyone.
Firstly, apologies for not being on Rootschat so much lately.  Work is hectic and I've been working hard on a personal project.

However - on to more important matters...

I was mooching about a reclamation yard the other day when I was stunned to find an old WW1 memorial tucked away in the corner of a building.  I was worried that it might have been sold on or even melted down as scrap, so contacted the UK National Index of War memorials (UKNIWM) to see if they could help.  They replied really quickly and put me in touch with the War Memorials Trust.  Emails were exchanged.

I returned to the reclamation yard and spoke to the proprietor who very kindly said that they would be willing to let me have the memorial for free if I could find a proper home for it.  I would really like to get it back to where it was originally dedicated and that's why I am appealing for your help.

A copy of the memorial can be found here:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v149/Dogpo/Memorial.jpg

I have managed to identify 18 of the 20 names and am struggling to positively identify Horace Harding and Percy White.

The UKNIWM and Memorials Trust are also researching their records.

If anyone can give me a pointer as to where this may have originally come from, I will do the rest and get it back to where it belongs.  If I can't locate anywhere specific and, since the majority of the fallen come from the Reading/Berks area, and the majority appear to have served in the Royal Berks Regt, I will contact either the Reading museum or the Royal Berks Regimental museum to see if they would like it.

The main thing is that it has been saved and will be restored somewhere - but let's try to get it as close to home as possible.

Thanks, in advance for your help.
Thudders

Hi,
I have currently downloaded the latest batch of updates for Windows XP (75 updates according to the install window).

Every time I try to install them, they fail and the download starts all over again.  Is it just me, or is anyone else having a problem.

I use Windows XP, Outlook Express for e-mail and Firefox for internet browsing.  Full virus check (using F-Prot) reveals no problems.

I'm fairly confident when it comes to sorting things out, but this has me stumped.

Grateful for any assistence from the big brains out there.

Cheers,
Thudders

Hi folks,
would anyone with experience of Kew (National Archives) be able to tell me whether or not they would have the Regimental Diaries for my Grandfather's old Regiment?

He was in the Royal Artillery from 1940-1959 and was deemed to have been enlisted at Liverpool into the Royal Artillery embodied Territorial Army as a Gunner and posted to 323 Battery 103 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment in September 1940.

In Nov 1940 he was posted to 337 Battery 107 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment.

I'm particularly interested in finding out where he went, who was in his gun crew (as I have several photos) and whether or not he shot any aircraft down ( I recall him making a claim on shooting 4 aircraft down, but would love to see some official records to that effect, to complete my records for him).

Would Kew keep such records, or would I need to go to the Artillery museum at Woolwich?

Thanks, in advance, for any guidance.
Thudders