I asked my mum and some of her brothers about my Granddad's World War One service. He had volunteered in 1914 at the beginning of the war, and was not in long owing to being exposed to gas and getting sick.
He had talked a little about his time in the war, telling how he rode a bicycle in the signals. He was a despatch rider carrying messages before the phones were set up for communication.
He had told how he jumped into a shell hole for protection and was affected by the gas lying in the bottom of it.
Knowing this, I set out to find any documents relating to his service.
I used the subscription website Ancestry.co.uk for my searches. I started with the Medal index cards as they are the most comprehensive set of records. They are held at TNA (The National Archives) in Kew, England. I searched for the name William Crosby with a keyword of Northumberland, as he lived in Newcastle upon Tyne.
There were 4 records, with service numbers 23/624; 18/890; 10470; 12449. With a bit more searching I also found a record for William Crosbie 5019. These all served with the Northumberland Fusiliers.
I then searched the service and pension records using name search and then service number search for all 5 soldiers found on the medal rolls cards. Only about 40% of these records remain, as many were destroyed in a fire in WW2, and I did not find any for William Crosby.
Looking more closely at the records I had found, I realized I could eliminate two of them, 18/890 and 23/1624, which had a “Z” on them, as this indicated that they served until the end of the war, so they definitely were not my Grandad.
I then turned to the records for the Silver War Badge. This was awarded to those who became ill or wounded. Wearing it would indicate to people that they had done their service.
The record for 5016 showed that the soldier had not served overseas, and that for 10470 he was discharged because of GSW (gun shot wound) and was 28 years old, so neither of these was the one I was looking for.
Private William Crosby enlisted on 28th September 1914 and arrived in France on 26th January 1915.
From the War Unit Diary for 1st Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers,(available at TNA), I found that he is listed as sick on 14th April 1915. The unit was in Belgium in the Ypres area.
He was discharged later in the year on 16th August 1915.
