Copies of War Diaries from TNA

[Keith Sherwood]

Minor panic over,
When I transferred the message to another file, I managed to get into TNA site, and it's over 100 sheets at 45p per A3 sheet, and it's going to cost £55-80p plus about £6 postage.  Will consult my Bank Manager now and decide whether to give things the green light.  (Think I really ought to, though, just to see his handwriting, don't you?)
keith

[manmack]

Hi all,
I received a newsletter last week from the National Archives saying that they had copies of war diaries online.
I looked for the one for the 5th Manchester Regiment in Gallipoli for July 1915. For £3.50 I downloaded the pages for July and looked for the day of the 12th. There were few casualties that day, 2 killed, 5 wounded and my grandad was one of the two killed.
Now, I'm wondering why, if there were so few casualties, what happened to my grandad as he has no known grave. This means I suppose that there wasn't a body found to bury.
The notes in the diary are very short and to the point as is to be expected.
Regards,
Pat

pte 2115 john jones and CQMS 261 alexander sanderson could have been hit directly by a shell,CQMS dont go in the front line,they organise the supply lines,the turks lobbed high explosive shells into the transport lines all the time because they knew that there were men and supplys there,so they are sure of hitting something,maybe your grandfather was helping CQMS sanderson with distribution of supplies when he was killed,or he was killed and his grave was lost,CQMS sanderson is also missing,mack

[Scarletwoman]

Keith

I've just read this thread through, and may have missed something relevant, but the reference you give for your documents [WO339/7844] isn't a diary of any sort, but his service record.  So it won't be any sort of account written by him, and much will relate to the 'boring' bits of his service - official slips and documentation, but within 100 pages there would hopefully be something worth having.
It might work out cheaper to use a professional researcher to have a look at it, and pick out anything worthwhile and photograph it or copy it for you.

Sue

[Keith Sherwood]

Sue,
Thanks very much for that cautionary advice.  Will have second thoughts on it all now...
Very best wishes,
keith

[bernard_lewis]

For FrenchDressing: I echo Manmack's comments - your relative may have been buried in a temporary grave which was later lost due to inadequate marking. It doesn't necessarily follow that lots of people were simply 'vaporised' by explosions.

Bernard

[Keith Sherwood]

Hi Everyone,
Just an update here to tell you that I went with Monsstar doing the work for me for a fraction of what TNA wanted to charge me for duplicating the relevant details of my gt-uncle.  I now have over 400 images on my computer, the majority of which are indeed the War Diary he wrote for his battalion - over 30 of these booklets, which covered at least a month each.  A fascinating read, and possibly as he had been a teacher before the war his script is legible and the content is not at all abbreviated.
A virtual family history treasure, but cannot help imagining in what terrible and trying circumstances those words were scribbled down...
keith

[liverpool annie]

That's terrific Keith !! themonstar is a good man ! 

And to have it in your Great Uncles handwriting too ............ how wonderful !!

Gives me shivers though ........... it's so humbling reading about all the awful stuff that went on and the conditions they all went through ........ makes you wonder how they could possibly come home and act normally ... those that did of course !!

Congratulations !

Annie 

[Wendi]

Thanks for the update Keith, made all the more personal by the fact that your Great Uncle wrote it.

Good stuff all round!

Wendi

[Keith Sherwood]

Hi again, Annie (our paths haven't crossed on the same thread for a while!)
Yes, it is extremely good to be able to look at these 90-year-old records and imagine the scenario.
And of course most of the people involved in this particular conflict - those lucky enough to actually survive it - were deeply affected by the whole experience.  My gt-uncle appears as one of twelve people, who had either prose or poetry published, in a book by Hugh Cecil pub. in 1995 entitled:"The Flower of Battle"; the whole point of the book being to show how this dreadful conflict did involve a heavy price being paid by those concerned in later years...
Nice to know that you're still very much about on here...
Very best wishes,
keith
...and Wendi, thanks very much for those comments (didn't spot your post till after I'd laboriously tapped out mine).  Just think how useful laptops would have been, thinking about it, though the batteries would soon have run out, no doubt...