James Kelly 1895-1927

[jesika jae]

I still do not know which James Kelly was my granddad: his date and place of birth, and his mother's name remain elusive.
I now have his medal card which doesn't give a lot of information, but may be a step forward.
He entered the "Theatre of War" 5 May 1915 as a private in the Notts & Derby Regiment, married 5 Jan 1916 still a private, but became a sergeant in the Machine gun Corps some time after marriage.
Gas had been used as a weapon of war during this period, I have to wonder if this contributed to his death from TB in 1927. Opinions are divided among researchers about this.
jj

[jesika jae]

I now know he was in western Europe, France/Belgium when he entered the theatre of war in May 1915. It doesn't really help me decide which of so many men of the same name is MY James Kelly, but every clue is valuable
j

[larkspur]

Found this one...
James Kelly
Birth Place:
Worksop, Notts
Residence:
Kensington, Liverpool
Death Date:
4 May 1915
Death Location:
France & Flanders
Enlistment Location:
Liverpool
Rank:
Private

His Army records do exist, his effects were sent to his father James Davenport Kelly 74 Saxony Rd Liverpool. This is the Worksop James, so rules him out of the possibles. He died of a head wound.
Regiment:
King's (Liverpool Regiment)
Battalion:
10th Battalion
Number:
3330
Type of Casualty:
Died of wounds
Theatre of War:
Western European Theatre

[jesika jae]

Thank you for this. A huge sorrow for his family, but I am here so he was definitely not MY James Kelly. I suppose this is detective work, finding clues and eliminating as I/we go along. His secret will be revealed one day. I don't want to know about his dreadful experiences, where he was, just WHO he was, James Kelly MY James Kelly.
Many thanks,
j

[millymcb]

I have asked for this thread to be moved to Armed Forces WW1 to see if anyone there can add anything to the great work already done here.

Milly (Armed Forces Moderator)

[jesika jae]

Thank you very much, Millymcb, for moving my search for granddad to the WW1 board.
My thanks also to those who have helped before, especially Larkspur (Nottinghamshire) and Cashew on this board.

I know about his marriage, his death, his children, his father, but not his mother and date/place of birth.
There are strong links with Nottinghamshire (where he lived and married), Derbyshire (where grandmother was born and his regiment, Notts & Derby) and Yorkshire (where he died & 2 children were born).
Any clue which would help in my search for this missing information will be received with grateful thanks.
I don't want to know where he went, what he saw, what horrors he faced, I just want to be able to say, "Happy birthday, granddad."
j

[jesika jae]

I have contacted the Sherwood Foresters' museum in Nottingham and although I still don't know my granddad's date of birth, I do know more about him

He was in the 1st Battalion, Notts & Derby Regiment, and landed in France 3 May 1915
He returned to England 26 September 1915 in 3rd Battalion. Was he wounded? No evidence so far. Was it for training purposes? He appears to have remained in England for several months, at least until his marriage in January 1916.
He was in the Machine Gun Corps 21 February 1916 and promoted to sergeant. Was he then  sent back to France/Belgium? I doubt he would have been promoted only to stay at home.

I am waiting for possible clues about my great granddad from the KOYLI museum in Doncaster. I have only his name, home address in January 1916, rank and regiment, but his age could well help them find him - assuming he didn't deduct a few years! If there is information about him and his wife was next of kin, the mystery of my granddad might finally be solved.

Both men were miners, I think a protected occupation, perhaps they volunteered to join the army, but I don't understand why Great Granddad was in KOYLI and not Notts & Derby unless casualties were so great and he was simply sent where needed.

[alan o]

As he was in France before 31 Dec 1915 then he would have been entitled to the 1914/15 Star.

[jesika jae]

Thank you. We have his "Pip, Squeak & Wilfred" medals. We thought the search would be so easy when we saw the medals and the numbers. How wrong we were...
Many thanks
j