New Ancestry files - updates

Discussion in 'Research Material' started by -tmm-, Aug 27, 2009.

  1. amberdog45

    amberdog45 Senior Member

    New Ancestry collection covering surnames A-P. The rest to be added later.

    About UK, WWII Royal Artillery Tracer Cards, 1939-1948


    Historical Context

    Since its inception in 1716, the Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as 'The Gunners', has served as the artillery arm of the British Army, supplying it's firepower. At its peak during the Second World War, there were over one million men serving in 960 gunner regiments and at the end of the War, the RA was larger than the Royal Navy.

    This Collection

    This collection comprises cards created to track the movements of soldiers between units within the Royal Artillery during WWII. The role of the Tracer card was to answer the question 'where is that man right now?', saving the burden of administration and searching through many files. Only 'Other Ranks', or in other words those who were not commissioned officers, are included.

    The following information can be found, where available:

    • Name
    • Date of birth
    • Place and Date of death
    • Place and date of Enlistment
    • Date of discharge
    • Gender
    • Regiment and unit
    • Service rank
    • Service number
    Please Note:In this first release, we have included all records for servicemen with surnames starting A-P. We will be adding all remaining cards in a future update.
     
    researchingreg, bofors, dbf and 4 others like this.
  2. AB64

    AB64 Senior Member

    That's great news, I got a couple of these from firepower years ago but they told me they had gone to findmypast to digitise (I guess that was a mistake or they did a deal) so I have been waiting impatiently since then. I have a lot of RA paybooks but absolutely no idea of which unit so that's my afternoon sorted
     
    amberdog45 likes this.
  3. researchingreg

    researchingreg Well-Known Member


    Thanks for this information, but I could not find Bombardier Frederick Richard Hinslea 1467422, or Gunner Fred Hensley (born Ashbourne 1 Aug 1918) 143 Field Regiment, Royal Artillery 386 Battery (Kent Yeomanry) on the tracer Cards, so some men must be left off
     
    amberdog45 likes this.
  4. AB64

    AB64 Senior Member

    A researcher I spoke to a while ago told me the set was incomplete, he mentioned a couple of letters and also those killed or commissioned (the last is confirmed above) - I'm hoping he was wrong on the missing ones. At the moment I cant even get Ancestry to open
     
    amberdog45 likes this.
  5. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    Thanks for the heads-up. Potentially very useful.

    Can I access this with their 'free trial'?

    It's been two years since I used a 'free weekend' with Ancestry and I've completely forgotten how it works.

    Hoping to check Gunner Newman's post-war card.
     
  6. amberdog45

    amberdog45 Senior Member

    Charley, you could try the trial if you have a different email address? Otherwise they'd likely trace you back to previous subscription.

    Having said that, I bet there will be a free weekend around Remembrance Sunday weekend.

    UK, WWII Royal Artillery Tracer Cards, 1939-1948

    Remember and use the Soundex option on surname searches. Ancestry are renowned for their transcription errors.

     
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  7. AB64

    AB64 Senior Member

    I'm sure someone will help Charley out - if they haven't already :)

    I notice its only on the premium/worldwide subscription, I've had to upgrade - I'm still having real troubles getting logged on though
     
    Charley Fortnum likes this.
  8. Guy Hudson

    Guy Hudson Looker-upper

    I searched for 119 service numbers and found only 26 tracer cards.
     
    CL1 likes this.
  9. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    1 for 1 here.

    Thank you, AB64
     
  10. AB64

    AB64 Senior Member

    First 10 I've tried and no hits (well first 10 for myself) and these are guys who are in the RA number bands so should be there. Do the cards only cover RA enlistment or does it also include those who transferred in? How about GS Corps and Yeomanry etc units that became RA
     
    dbf likes this.
  11. AB64

    AB64 Senior Member

    Better than me, 23 from 142 (all RA service numbers and in the A-P range) and nothing at all in the A-G range at all which is 71 searches, how did you get on with that group?

    I have to say its a very disappointing upload
     
  12. Guy Hudson

    Guy Hudson Looker-upper

    The cards do include transfers in and G.S. Corps, I'm just a little disappointed at how few cards I found.

    How did F.M.P. miss out on the tracer cards when they hold the attestation records and casaulty cards?
     
    AB64 likes this.
  13. AB64

    AB64 Senior Member

    Ah well, I better get checking all the lads who didn't directly join the RA - I might leave that until tomorrow - for now I'll look at the few cards I got and try work out what they mean - its not always clear
     
  14. Guy Hudson

    Guy Hudson Looker-upper

    A - HiLL 59 searches 2 Results
    HILLS - PARSONS 37 searches 24 Results
    96 searches 26 cards found

    ( My original count included names in the Pi - Z range, not available yet. Searches included R.A., transfers in and G.S.Corps service numbers)
     
  15. AB64

    AB64 Senior Member

    I was midway through the H's before I hit anything - it looks like the first bit of the alphabet has been culled at some point and for some reason
     
  16. amberdog45

    amberdog45 Senior Member

    Some new American records added (worldwide subscription probably needed)

    US WW2 Hospital Admission Cards 1942-54

    US Navy & Marine Awards & Decorations 1942-1994

    US Veteran Administration Masted Index 1917-1940.

    As well as the British Military records free this weekend on Ancestry.co.uk, some Electoral Registers and Probate records are accessible.

    Edit. Forgot to say Find My Past have added some Burma Star Association records according to the blog this morning.
     
    Tricky Dicky likes this.
  17. amberdog45

    amberdog45 Senior Member

    Today's addition on FMP include British WW1 Medical Records (I could be wrong, but I thought Ancestry had a similar collection?)

    From WW2
    United States, Massachusetts: Index Of Casualties, World War II
    Find out if your Massachusetts ancestors died in service during World War II. Explore this collection of more than 9,000 records compiled by the Adjutant General of the Commonwealth and held by the Massachusetts Archives. Transcripts include rank, death date, death place, additional notes and a link to an image of the original document.

    An accompanying printed booklet with the title: World War II Honor list of dead and missing-- the State of Massachusetts contains corresponding data, although the information in the booklet is arranged by county, and is confined to the name, serial number, rank, and circumstances of the death of each soldier
     
    Tricky Dicky likes this.
  18. amberdog45

    amberdog45 Senior Member

    Maybe of use to those searching soldiers from the Dundee area. Not subscribed, but from a few basic searches this archive seems to be in a bit of a guddle.

    I tried searching the name Alexander Goodman with spelling variations on both names in the Electoral register that goes up to 1939, FMP returned the name, A There A G694!!

    Over 6 million new Scottish records available to search
     
  19. amberdog45

    amberdog45 Senior Member

    Added to Ancestry recently

    UK Officer Service Records 1764-1932

    Scotland, Ireland & Wales Militia Attestation Papers 1800-1915

    Web: Japanese American Veterans Association Personnel

    Remember Ancestry's transcriptions are usually riddled with errors. If you can't find by name, use the Soundex option, use the * symbol to replace a letter in the surname option. Sometimes you find the person that way, because of all of Ancestry's spelling errors.
     
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  20. amberdog45

    amberdog45 Senior Member

    About U.S. WWII Hospital Admission Card Files, 1942-1954
    The files contain records pertaining to some 5.3 million patients, mostly U.S. Army personnel wounded in battle during World War II and the Korean War. The World War II records include only Army personnel treated at Army facilities, but the Korean War records include a few records (approximately 5 percent) for non-Army personnel and non-Army treatment facilities (approximately 4 percent). The records contain various medical treatment information about each patient including diagnoses, operations, and dates and places of hospitalization. The original records do not contain the name of the hospital patient, but list military service number, age, race, sex, place of birth, rank and unit. The names of some patients were identified and added to the record by comparing the service number to other military record collections available on Ancestry.
     
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