Genealogy Forum UK

I am trying to find out if my Great Grandfather Joseph Edward Higgins fought in WWI or if he didn't why. He was born 12 Apr 1893 in 99 Tat Bank Road, Oldbury, Worcestershire, England and was a Blacksmith. I have found the following possibilities but none of them have addresses

British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920 about Joseph E Higgins

Name: Joseph E Higgins
Regiment or Corps: Royal Garrison Artillery, Royal Engineers
Regimental Number: 297368, 245632

Name: Joseph E Higgins
Regiment or Corps: Royal Welsh Fusiliers
Regimental Number: 52227

Name: Joseph E Higgins
Regiment or Corps: Army Service Corps
Regimental Number: M2/019546

Name: Joseph E A Higgins
Regiment or Corps: Gloucestershire Regiment, Machine Gun Corps
Regimental Number: 2216, 23941

I do know that he was a blacksmith. He and his wife Ethel Edith Wood married in 1915 at Christ Church, Oldbury, Worcestershire, England and they had two children during the war Ethel Edith Higgins in January 1916 and Joseph Edward Higgins in August 1918.

Where can I go from here?

I cant see anything.

But other than on the likes of ancestry.co.uk where can I look?

It could be that being a Black smith he might not not have been called up, but not all records survived.

you could try the electrol registers for the address on birth cert that would tell you if he was present every year ?

is there anything that lists the jobs that made you exempt for enlistment

There is no set rule.

A blacksmith, if enlisted, would probably end up in the Army Service Corp or Engineers.

Chauffers ended up in the Motorised Divisions or driving ambulances.

Miners ended up as tunnelers.

If you had a trade you may still be drafted or be able to enlist, but they would use you skills rather than give you a rifle.

My grandfather was a Groom so they immediately made him a driver in the Royal Artillery. If you knew which end of the horse the hay went in and which end it came out you were made a driver!

There is this,
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/reco ... ectors.htm

Can't see anybody mentioning that a lot of WW1 records were destroyed by a bomb during WW2, so even if someone did serve there may be no evidence of this.
I have found few of my ancestors who served. One that has proved elusive is my gr grandfather. There is an aweful lot of oral family history surrounding his sevice, stating that he served in Mesopotamia in the Royal Engineers where he contracted malaria - on his return my grandmother didn't recognise him and his return meant that she was kicked out of her mother's bed to share with her two older sisters. The only record's I've tracked down refer to the same soldier who served in the Engineers. One record is the medal card which gives the impression that he was in the Waterways and Railways section, the other record has the same military number and is from the West Bromwich Book of Honours. It is possible that this is my relative, but I have no definate proof.
With the loss of so many records, I will never know for sure who served and who didn't - I'm convinced there are more than I'm able to find, although a lot of them worked in the various metal industries of the Black Country, so some may have had jobs that were exempt from service.

If you have their service number and division then it is easy enough to substantiate family rumours via the Divisional War Diaries.

Sometimes you have to figure out their Division from the Nominal Roll on the medal card.

A Division Diary states where and when a given division is for each day of the war and a brief outline of activity.

So if he was supposed to be is Mesopotamia then the war diary will let you know if that medal card is his.

There are often service medals awarded beyond the standard 14/15 Star, War and Victory medals.

Sometimes these medal are awarded for seeing action or being in danger in a particular theatre of war.

MarkCDodd wrote:If you have their service number and division then it is easy enough to substantiate family rumours via the Divisional War Diaries.

Sometimes you have to figure out their Division from the Nominal Roll on the medal card.

I have a few medical cards that could be him with no addresses on is there any way I could eliminate them if i don't have any family stories about his service?

For each medal card see if there is a surviving service and/or pension record and/or casualty report.

If you read a record and its not him, then you have narrowed down the medal cards by one.

Whatever is left, look for a local county regiment first. That is the most likely match.

Things like the Royal Field Artillery or Army Service Corp are not county specific.

Lets me see if I can narrow down the four you listed..

Not this one. He died in India.

Name: Joseph E Higgins
Regiment or Corps: Royal Welsh Fusiliers
Regimental Number: 52227

Name: Joseph Edward Higgins
Birth Place: Dumdum, India
Residence: Oldham
Death Date: 18 Dec 1917
Death Location: France & Flanders
Enlistment Location: Chadderton
Rank: Private
Regiment: Royal Welsh Fusiliers
Battalion: 9th Battalion
Number: 52227
Type of Casualty: Killed in action
Theatre of War: Western European Theatre

I think this fellow died in 1996

Name: Joseph E A Higgins
Regiment or Corps: Gloucestershire Regiment, Machine Gun Corps
Regimental Number: 2216, 23941

Civil Registration event: Death
Name: HIGGINS, Joseph Edwin A
Registration District: Help Cheltenham
County: Gloucestershire
Year of Registration: 1976
Quarter of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar
Date of Birth: 13 January 1894
Volume No: 22
Page No: 188

I know that Joseph Edward Higgins died in 1971 in Sandwell Hospital