Nothing on FindMyPast Philip.
I think we should have explained that there really is no type of service record that would have a detailed description of the type of incident, the details of which have been handed down (and parts of which you have already found aren't quite right). So it isn't really a needle in a haystack, there is no needle to be searched for.
Philip's thought that there might have been a newspaper report is a good one but I find nothing in the archive on Findmypast. If you are local to Bethnal Green you might like to visit the local library to see local newspapers of the time.
Jim's explanation of FP No 1 perhaps illustrates how one incident can be conflated with another as the story passes down the generations. Interesting that brother Herbert was sentenced to such a punishment in 1916 and again in 1917!! He was also a POW.
MaxD
I’m missing something, what punishment was Herbert sentenced to?
Got to be honest I didn’t think there would be a ‘detailed account’ of what actually happened anywhere, I know that even in War Diaries it’s unlikely to find anyone other than Officers mentioned by name, I was more hoping that given that they thought he wouldn’t survive that maybe there would be some medical record somewhere, maybe something to do with his medical discharge, I didn’t know if it would make the papers or if it was the kind of thing they were told not to report in the press - I’m not local to Bethnal Green but will make a point of going there one day to check the local papers. Rather than an official detailed account say on his service record I’m looking for clues, I thought if I could find his regiment then I could track where they were, check the war diaries, maybe narrow down where he was and when this might of happened and you never know I might have stumbled across a mention of something, I’m not expecting to find his name in bold type with all the gory details but something would be good. I was also wondering as Elizabeth travelled out to (I’m guessing) France to see him and again I’m guessing this would’ve been on a military ship would her name appear anywhere? The ship was torpedoed but didn’t sink (that I know of, I don’t know how badly damaged it was) is there any way of tracking the story from this?
Are there records of ships torpedoed between England and France from late 1914 and early 1915? and if there are are we talking a list of hundreds? Again showing my lack of knowledge here and yes I realise I’m clutching at straws.