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| Uncovering the trenches | Uncovering the trenches |
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| Rob Liddle's grandfather, Tom Reynolds, pictured in late 1914Many of those who suffered the horrors of war in the past century were reluctant to talk about their experiences. Now, as official documents go online, Rob Liddle uncovers a missing link in his family history. | Rob Liddle's grandfather, Tom Reynolds, pictured in late 1914Many of those who suffered the horrors of war in the past century were reluctant to talk about their experiences. Now, as official documents go online, Rob Liddle uncovers a missing link in his family history. |
| I can't deny that I have been lucky in researching my family history. I have traced my line back to the 16th Century with some certainty and uncovered some fascinating characters along the way. | I can't deny that I have been lucky in researching my family history. I have traced my line back to the 16th Century with some certainty and uncovered some fascinating characters along the way. |
| Tom Reynolds volunteered at 15I feel I know quite a lot about these people, through documentary evidence relating to them and contemporary accounts of their times. I can identify the ship my ancestor served on in the Seven Years' War, his father's house on Holy Island and probably the building in central London that my great-great-great-grandfather was working on when he fell to his death. | Tom Reynolds volunteered at 15I feel I know quite a lot about these people, through documentary evidence relating to them and contemporary accounts of their times. I can identify the ship my ancestor served on in the Seven Years' War, his father's house on Holy Island and probably the building in central London that my great-great-great-grandfather was working on when he fell to his death. |
| And yet it is those whose lives overlapped with mine whom I still want to know more about. My grandfather Tom Reynolds, for instance, who fought in both world wars and died a few months after my birth. | And yet it is those whose lives overlapped with mine whom I still want to know more about. My grandfather Tom Reynolds, for instance, who fought in both world wars and died a few months after my birth. |
| My interest in him was awakened early on as I read published tales of great escapes and wartime adventures as a schoolboy. I knew that Tom had been in the trenches in France and had been decorated for gallantry. | My interest in him was awakened early on as I read published tales of great escapes and wartime adventures as a schoolboy. I knew that Tom had been in the trenches in France and had been decorated for gallantry. |
| Buttoned lips | Buttoned lips |
| Between the wars he served in Jamaica, Egypt and India, and in the later conflict he had been a lieutenant in the division covering the retreat to Dunkirk in 1940. But by the time he and his comrades reached the coast there were no boats waiting for them. | Between the wars he served in Jamaica, Egypt and India, and in the later conflict he had been a lieutenant in the division covering the retreat to Dunkirk in 1940. But by the time he and his comrades reached the coast there were no boats waiting for them. |
| Soldiers' records go online He was captured and saw out the rest of the war in a prison camp. It caught my youthful imagination that he was understood to have spent some time in Colditz, where he supposedly met Douglas Bader, before being sent to an oflag in Rotenberg. | Soldiers' records go online He was captured and saw out the rest of the war in a prison camp. It caught my youthful imagination that he was understood to have spent some time in Colditz, where he supposedly met Douglas Bader, before being sent to an oflag in Rotenberg. |
| My interest persisted into adulthood, as the love of adventure was replaced by a desire to know how the experiences of Ypres and the Somme, and of wartime confinement, might shape a person's life. | My interest persisted into adulthood, as the love of adventure was replaced by a desire to know how the experiences of Ypres and the Somme, and of wartime confinement, might shape a person's life. |
| But, like so many that had witnessed the front line of battle, Tom was reluctant to share his experiences - and when people enquired about his award of a military medal he simply said things had become "busy" when he had been part of an advance party at the front. | But, like so many that had witnessed the front line of battle, Tom was reluctant to share his experiences - and when people enquired about his award of a military medal he simply said things had become "busy" when he had been part of an advance party at the front. |
| So I tried to piece together what I could from other sources - some of the most important of which are the World War I service and pension records held by the National Archives, and are now being published online for the first time by the Ancestry website (see Internet links on right). | So I tried to piece together what I could from other sources - some of the most important of which are the World War I service and pension records held by the National Archives, and are now being published online for the first time by the Ancestry website (see Internet links on right). |
| The trenches were indescribable, we were simply treading on the dead Officer at the Somme Most of the service records were destroyed by enemy action in World War II - and Tom's are not there. But I am lucky; another grandfather, who fought at the Somme with the King's Own Scottish Borderers, does appear. So does Tom's father - and among his records are letters to officials, mundane in subject-matter but fascinating to me, written in my great-grandmother's hand. | The trenches were indescribable, we were simply treading on the dead Officer at the Somme Most of the service records were destroyed by enemy action in World War II - and Tom's are not there. But I am lucky; another grandfather, who fought at the Somme with the King's Own Scottish Borderers, does appear. So does Tom's father - and among his records are letters to officials, mundane in subject-matter but fascinating to me, written in my great-grandmother's hand. |
| I have been helped by the campaign medal records, held at the National Archives for all servicemen and now online, which told me Tom's unit was the 3rd (City of London) Battalion The London Regiment. The information led me to discover that he had volunteered in 1914 at the age of 15, when the minimum enlistment age was supposed to be 19. | I have been helped by the campaign medal records, held at the National Archives for all servicemen and now online, which told me Tom's unit was the 3rd (City of London) Battalion The London Regiment. The information led me to discover that he had volunteered in 1914 at the age of 15, when the minimum enlistment age was supposed to be 19. |
| Life in the raw | Life in the raw |
| Then there is his battalion's war diary - a day-by-day record of its activities. This begins in conversational tone, the officer writing the diary remarking that on arrival in Marseilles, the men were "determined to do the thing properly", making "a point of singing Tipperary and the Marseillaise as a compliment to our allies", who showered them with gifts of chocolate and oranges. | Then there is his battalion's war diary - a day-by-day record of its activities. This begins in conversational tone, the officer writing the diary remarking that on arrival in Marseilles, the men were "determined to do the thing properly", making "a point of singing Tipperary and the Marseillaise as a compliment to our allies", who showered them with gifts of chocolate and oranges. |
| The Battle of the Somme claimed nearly 200,000 British livesBut in the midst of battle, the drama is often reflected very matter-of-factly. The entry for the hellish first day of the Somme, for example, after a geographical account of targets attained or missed, ends simply: "Approximate casualties for the day - three officers and 120 other ranks." | The Battle of the Somme claimed nearly 200,000 British livesBut in the midst of battle, the drama is often reflected very matter-of-factly. The entry for the hellish first day of the Somme, for example, after a geographical account of targets attained or missed, ends simply: "Approximate casualties for the day - three officers and 120 other ranks." |
| I now know when Tom won his military medal, in March 1918, as the Germans were launching a major offensive on the allied line, pushing it back, but ultimately failing to break through. What drama lay behind the words of the war diary, which read: "Battalion fighting at Chauny... casualties from March 21st to 25th 18 officers, 341 OR [other ranks]"? | I now know when Tom won his military medal, in March 1918, as the Germans were launching a major offensive on the allied line, pushing it back, but ultimately failing to break through. What drama lay behind the words of the war diary, which read: "Battalion fighting at Chauny... casualties from March 21st to 25th 18 officers, 341 OR [other ranks]"? |
| Frustratingly uninformative though these records may seem, they provide the raw materials for a further understanding, because, of course, there were those who gave voice to their thoughts, and whose experiences were recorded for posterity. | Frustratingly uninformative though these records may seem, they provide the raw materials for a further understanding, because, of course, there were those who gave voice to their thoughts, and whose experiences were recorded for posterity. |
| And an officer in Tom's battalion, quoted in Lynne Macdonald's Somme, reflects on the first day of the battle: "So many gone and we'd never even got past our own front-line trench... The trenches were indescribable. We were simply treading on the dead." | And an officer in Tom's battalion, quoted in Lynne Macdonald's Somme, reflects on the first day of the battle: "So many gone and we'd never even got past our own front-line trench... The trenches were indescribable. We were simply treading on the dead." |
| This tells me more than any service record could. | This tells me more than any service record could. |
Add your comments on this story, using the form below. | Add your comments on this story, using the form below. |
| I don't think we truly realise how lucky we are. My grandfather was a mess when he came back from service. He drank to numb the pain and this is what caused him trouble in later life and ultimately cut short his life. He would never talk about what he had seen but he would scream during the night in his sleep.Bobby Deaves Jr, Liverpool | I don't think we truly realise how lucky we are. My grandfather was a mess when he came back from service. He drank to numb the pain and this is what caused him trouble in later life and ultimately cut short his life. He would never talk about what he had seen but he would scream during the night in his sleep.Bobby Deaves Jr, Liverpool |
| I never had a chance to know my Grandad. He fought in WWI and although he did not die during it he died only a few years after from lung complications caused by gasing. Even my dad didn't really get to know him as he was only four when he died. Would that I could find out more about Grandad but I can't, no records of him survive. So to all of you who can find details I say, treasure them and pass them around so that we can all share and learn.Debs Lewis, Monmouth, Wales | |
| I am only 30, and I cannot watch WWI documentaries; with talking heads without weeping. My daughter is only 13 months old and I went to my neighbours house to talk to her about the War, whilst she didnt fight in it, I wanted my daughter to have a first-hand experience passed to her. On a lighter note, my great-grandfather and his two brothers fought in the trenches; all three returned at the end of the war.Max Allen, West Bridgford | I am only 30, and I cannot watch WWI documentaries; with talking heads without weeping. My daughter is only 13 months old and I went to my neighbours house to talk to her about the War, whilst she didnt fight in it, I wanted my daughter to have a first-hand experience passed to her. On a lighter note, my great-grandfather and his two brothers fought in the trenches; all three returned at the end of the war.Max Allen, West Bridgford |