Can anyone tell me if it is possible to track a WW1 soldier from his service number? From his home village, I would have expected him to be Durham Light Infantry. The only photo I have suggests he was a fusilier - the nearest being the Northumberland Fusiliers. His medal card shows him to be Royal Garrison Artillery. The soldier in question is Gunner George Berry - service number 99693. Is there any way to tell which is accurate? He would have been about 19 at the start of the war and came from the Chester-le-Street area of County Durham.
In Australia I tracked my grandfather's service record down through the National Archives. I started at the War Museum website and went from there. They'd scanned in all his official papers and I was able to track his movements from joining up in Perth to getting shot at Messines and invalided out to England, then de-mobbed in 1918 and returned to Oz. I expect the Imperial War Museum in the UK must have something similar.
Thanks Will, I will certainly give it a try; I hope his was not one of the vast numbers of records destroyed by a German bomb in WW2!
Hi I would like to post this to you, please see this link it could well be connected to your family George Berry medal found by a metal detectorist in Co,Durham. Hope it helps its a wild shot but hey it may lead to something. http://www.consett.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=6303&hilit=george berry Best regards Gary.
Hello Gary, This is amazing - it is NOT the same George Berry, but may have been a relation. I know it is not the same man, because he survived the war. However, he may be related and I am in contact with a member of the family, so I will ask. You can contact me on nevillebougourd@gmail.com if anything else turns up. Regards Neville