Soldier WW1 with fake name.. how to find out what it was?????

[Nat40]

yes he served. Apparently he was offered a pension but declined it. There were medals but they were lost many years ago. None of his sons know what name he used only that he did.  His early life is fairly enigmatic. Apparently his parents sent him away from them as they couldn't afford to feed all the kids.  

[sparrett]

The search facility at our National Archives website where ww1 digitised records are located, allows search under almost any keyword.

You could try the name of his most likely Next of Kin.


Often these men would use the accurate details of an older relative. Experiment with a few of them.

Just to press a point here , apart from the word of the sons, have youanyting at all to confirm the enlistment?

Sue

[deeiluka]

If he had a married sister, that would be a good next of kin for him to have chosen, as her married name wouldn't give away his correct surname.

My cousin did something like that.....he used an aunt's name.


Dee   

[sparrett]

 Apparently he was offered a pension but declined it.

I am not sure how you could be offered a pension and decline it. Especially under a false name, address and all that entailed.

It is possible he was eligible for pension and chose not to apply .

Sue

[Nat40]

perhaps.. I was only told this by my father the other day. He said it wasn't worth getting or something. I get what you mean though. If they didn't know his name or where he lived 40 years later how would they offer it. I will have to question him further.

[HughC]

I've just come across this web page:

www.aif.adfa.edu.au/aliases.html

which lists all the known aliases of those who served in the 1st AIF
(one alphabetic list by false name, one by true name).

You can also search on a person by name or by the place of domicile that he gave on enlisting.

Didn't solve my problem, unfortunately!

[deeiluka]

Obviously there are still more names to be added though.....so maybe in the future you'll have better luck.

My cousin isn't listed yet.


Dee   

[Nat40]

Thanks mate for the link.. neither is mine.

[jorose]

If he was b. 1895/6 he wouldn't have been underage, though. There could have been other reasons for using a different name.

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,530887.msg3853789.html
 - here is a list of his siblings.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/18041183
 - here, at the death of Joseph Vincent McBeath, one of the relatives is "Archie Gilbert" - his marriage to Cecilia is listed as Archibald Gilbert to Cecelia A. A. McBeth or Macbeth in 1920,
 There's also a son Harold mentioned who was registered under "McBeth/MacBeth"

I cannot find WWI records for any of the boys. Also tried searching under their first names.
Is father James the one who died in 1909?