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General => Armed Forces => World War One => Topic started by: stevemars89 on Saturday 20 August 11 14:19 BST (UK)
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First time i have used this site so here goes.
Can anybody help me find out any information about my great great uncle? I have hit abit of a brick wall.
He served in the 8th Bn Somerset Light Infantry from 1917 to 1918 when he was killed in action. He first served as a private though in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment from 1915. Im trying to find out how and why he was commisiond into the SLI? where his unit was when he was killed and obviously anything else. Any help would be greatly appriciated.
Thank you
Steve.
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Welcome to RootsChat Steve.Can we have his name and date/place of birth if you know it.
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Hi,
His name was 2nd Lt Harold Arthur Drakeford born in 1892, I only know his year of birth. He went into France on 21 Nov 1915 as a Private in the R WAR R, Reg num 160. He was then commisioned on the 30 Oct 1917 into the SLI and unfortunetly killed 5 Apr 1918. I know all this from his medal index card which i found online. He was from Coleshill in Warwickshire.
Thank you
Steve.
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I presume you know his parents,Charles and Mary Ann Drakeford.Harold like his father was born in Coleshill.Mother in Essex.Elder brothers Thomas and Charles C in Malmsbury and Sudbury.Younger siblings Cecil and Beatrice in Coleshill.Harold seems to have no known grave but his name is recorded on the Arras Memorial in France.
George.
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There are medal cards for his brothers too.Charles was with the Royal Field Artillery,Thomas with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment and Cecil with the Royal Army Medical Corps.
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Ive seen the other cards as well, Charles was also awarded the meritorious service medal, I was told he also served in India no idea when though. I find Harold very interesting though as he was commisioned from being a Private. My Grandmother told me that she heard he was shot by a German sniper because he refused to remove his shiny rain coat! how much truth there is in that i dont know but I would like to find out where he was killed. any ideas?
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The service record for Harold Arthur Drakeford is held at Kew in WO 339/110978.
http://www.rootschat.com/links/0epa/
There is also a Lt H Drakeford with a file in WO 374/20687, but I can't find out who he is. He's not in WO 338.
The war diary for 8th Battalion SLI, for the period you are looking at, is available to download. It is in WO 95/2529.
http://www.rootschat.com/links/0epb/
Phil
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Thank you very much for those links. i will definetly be following them up!
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From this London Gazette entry, it looks like he was one of a batch transferred from the Devonshire Regiment:
http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/30513/supplements/1792
By the way, the other H Drakeford is A/Capt Herbert Drakeford MC, 7th Battalion King's (Liverpool Regiment).
Phil
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It says on his medal index card Com 30.10.1917 Devon Reg. so i guess he was Comissioned into the Devon Regiment then transferred over to the SLI. I have a picture of him in his uniform and he is wearing a SLI capbadge. So in actual fact he served in 3 different regiments. Id love to know why he was commissioned!. Thank you for that info.
Steve.
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hi steve,harolds sister beatrice was my dads mother,my dad is roger dainty,i have a photo of harold and a letter from the army saying he had died,i also believe his name is on a memorial outside coleshill church,please feel free to get in touch.
cheers
dave dainty
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Hello Dave, thanks for the reply, anything you have to do with Harold would be very interesting to me. Your dad is my great uncle I'm margerat drakefords grandson. I'm a colur sergeant in the Parachute Regiment and I have a massive interest in Harold especially as he was an officer and I'm posted to the military acadamy sandhurst to train officers next year. Look forward to hearing from you. Steve.
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hi steve, how is auntie margeret keeping and your family? i will try and find them out, i know my uncle john your nans brother has a large ceremonial sword i believe to be harolds,i remember it being on your great grans wall at her house.
my dad ,roger is in hospital at moment ,had part of his bowel removed but touch wood all is going well and is on road to recovery.
cheers
dave
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Hi Dave,
Gran is doing well i saw her not so long ago glad uncle Roger is getting better. Ive been meaning to go and see uncle John so i could see Harolds medals as i would love to take some pictures of them, i am intending on buying some replica medals and having them mounted with a picture of him. Would be possible for you to scan that letter you said you have and email it to me? if not dont worry. Do you have an email? mine is (*).
Do you know anything about how Harold went from being a Private in The Royal Warwickshire Regiment to a 2nd LT in the Somerset Light Infantry??. Im really chuffed that we have made contact on here.
Take care
Steve.
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hi steve, my email is (*) .i will try and find letter and scan it. glad to hear auntie margeret is ok,my dads coming on fine at moment,so hoping he keeps improving ,non stop jokes with nurses(some are bad!lol!) but they are looking after him well.
hows life at sandhurst?
all the best
dave
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Please use the Personal Message (PM) system for exchanging personal data.
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