Pte Shelton Attley 14685855 4th Wilts casualty

Discussion in 'War Cemeteries & War Memorial Research' started by Owen, Aug 28, 2010.

  1. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

  2. 4jonboy

    4jonboy Daughter of a 56 Recce

    Good job Owen and to CWGC:)
     
  3. Peter Kock

    Peter Kock New Member

    I must say that last ni8ght this tread brought a little solace to a conversation I was having with Private Attleys niece Dora. She was talking about how her dad had lost his brother in Normandy after only having been in theater for 2 days,I will be on a battlefield tour hgis November and told Dora if iIwas close i would go visit her uncle......I googled his name and the graveyard and found my self here....She is so thankful for the work that has been done and her daughter will soon be sharing the long awaited photo as well as the letter the family received (death notification) ...Just to let you know how far thing have come,we are in and around the Montreal area of Canada. Good work to all those involved,If ever you wondered it does make a difference...and believe me it was awesome reading and watching the developments....
     
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  4. Josie P

    Josie P New Member

    Hello everyone! Sheldon Attley was my great uncle. Thanks to Peter's expert search skills we have found this thread. I cannot begin to express my gratitude for the work you have done in honoring him. We were sure he was forgotten about, but it seems it was just the opposite. Sheldon's niece (my mom) cannot stop talking about how unexpected this all is. Your hard work and dedication in ensuring that all his documents and tombstone were correct is amazing and we simply cannot thank you enough. Please find attached a photo of Sheldon along with the death notification. Thank you again for all your hard work!
     

    Attached Files:

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  5. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    Thank you for getting in touch.
    I'm chuffed to bits that Sheldon's relatives have found this thread.
    May I suggest sending copies of those photos the Regimental Museum & they can keep it with the copies of the service records I sent them.
    Home - The Wardrobe housing The Rifles Berkshire and Wiltshire Museum
     
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  6. KevinBattle

    KevinBattle Senior Member

    Share your pleasure that all your hard work has been recognised by his relatives.
    Apart from being killed just 9 days after his 19th birthday (and just 2 days after arriving in France) couldn't help notice that Peter mentioned Attley's niece is named Dora, as was his mother....

    Can't find Dora or him in 1939 Register, had they gone to Canada by then?
     
  7. Dear Owen, I wish to express my own gratitude to the work you have done. We had always assumed my Uncle would be forgotten, as so many soldiers have been. So it has come as great solace to us that there are people such yourself that work diligently to ensure these men and women are not forgotten and that there are good men and women who truly believe in the words 'Never Forget'. To answer the above questions, my Grandfather (Thomas Attley) was an American who joined the French Army during the First World War. (As a Afro American he was not permitted to fight in the White only American Army). In 1919, after the war, he had no interest in returning to the States under Jim Crow Laws and instead settled in Wales, where his skills were in urgent demand. He married a Wesh woman (my Grandmother) and they had four children. Uncle Sheldon was actually the youngest of the four and born in 1927 (My father was born in 1926). Due to being home births in a small mining town, their births were not registered until much later (In short, when the time came, Uncle Sheldon lied to the authorities about his age, he was 17 when he joined not 18). Unfortunately, just as other Welsh miners had done, my Grandfather succumbed and eventually died of Black Lung. After his death my Grandmother, took the family to London. My Father (Robert Verdun Attley) joined the Merchant Navy at the age of 12 and served on many many cross Atlantic convoys (As you can imagine he lost a lot of friends, crew mates and compadres - something he carried with him for the rest of his life). He served on supply runs to Korea, during the Korean War and to Vietnam. As too why the family is not on the National Registry, I imagined that it wasn't a priority to a family whose meals for the day consisted of only half a fried egg or a mother who was barely literate). Anyway, that's the story of my family, I don't believe its that different from many others of that time. Again, thank you Owen, for everything you have done. My Uncle will be remembered. With kindest Regards and deepest of gratitude. Dora Attley-Pullan.
     
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  8. KevinBattle

    KevinBattle Senior Member

    With grandfather Thomas serving in the French Army makes an obvious reason for Robert to also have Verdun in his name, as practically every French unit went through the meat grinder that was the battle over the forts around Verdun in WW1.

    EDIT: There is at least one Family Tree showing that Thomas died in 1926. Dorothy lived in till 1987.
     
    Last edited: Aug 13, 2018
  9. Good Morning :) My Grandmother did indeed pass away in 1987, However my Grandfather passed away in 1929 (He is buried in Caerau Cemetry in Caerau Wales). You might also notice that my Uncles Commeration Certificate has his name wrong. It has Private J.S Attley as his name (It should be Private S.I. Attley).
     
  10. Due to the presence of so many 'clerical errors' it highlights the amazing job Owen did in finding my Uncles records. My Grandfathers records and medals are lost to history (as I'm sure most records of Afro Americans fighting in France have been). For these reasons, I have kept everything I could from my own fathers service during the second world war (discharge books, medals, etc). Sadly, being your own record keeper and not reliant on bureaucratic records is the safest option.
     
  11. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    1911 Wales Census
    Name Thomas Attley
    Age in 1911 30
    Estimated Birth Year abt 1881
    Relation to Head Head
    Gender Male
    Birth Place Baltimore, United States of America
    Civil parish Llangeinor
    Search Photos Llangeinor, Glamorgan, Wales
    County/Island Glamorgan
    Country Wales
    Street Address 88 Ffaldan Cott Pontycymmer
    Marital Status Married
    Occupation Colliery Stoker
    Registration district Bridgend
    Registration District Number 591
    Sub-registration district Ogmore
    ED, institution, or vessel 04
    Household schedule number 279
    Piece 32544
    Household Members
    Name Age
    Thomas Attley 30
    Elizabeth Ann Attley 24 (1887 - 1912)

    This was his first wife and they had a child
    Catherine Maud Attley 1909 - 1909

    He married again after WW1
    Dorothy Dora Cooper
    1898–1987
    BIRTH 5 OCT 1898 • Southampton, Hampshire, England
    DEATH SEPT 1987 • London UK

    and they had 5 children
    William 1917
    Pauline 1918
    Robert Verdun 1922
    Ilfrey Sheldon 1925
    A N Other daughter (not detailed)

    There are several family trees on Ancestry

    TD
     
  12. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    1939 England and Wales Register
    Name: Dora Attley
    [Dorothy Attley]
    Gender: Female
    Marital Status: Widowed
    Birth Date: 5 Oct 1899
    Residence Year: 1939
    Address: 52 Golding St
    Residence Place: Stepney, London, England
    Occupation: Bedmaker
    Schedule Number: 37
    Sub Schedule Number: 1
    Enumeration District: AVUD
    Registration district: 18/4
    Household Members:
    Name
    Dora Attley
    Hilda Attley

    and her daughter in law
    Name: Hilda Attley
    [Hilda Hicks]
    Gender: Female
    Marital Status: Single
    Birth Date: 12 Jul 1920
    Residence Year: 1939
    Address: 52 Golding St
    Residence Place: Stepney, London, England
    Occupation: Box Maker Cardboard Fancy
    Schedule Number: 37
    Sub Schedule Number: 2
    Enumeration District: AVUD
    Registration district: 18/4
    Household Members:
    Name
    Dora Attley
    Hilda Attley

    TD
     
  13. Oh my God!! I don't know what to say.
     
  14. On a side issue, does anyone know where I could get French service records for the first world war? I don't know where to start and this thread has raised more questions then answers.
     
  15. KevinBattle

    KevinBattle Senior Member

    I'm not fluent in French but this seems a place to start
    Mémoire des Hommes – Mémoire des Hommes intends to provide the public with digitised documents and data from the archives and collections held by the Ministry of Defence. Available collections: World War I, World War II, Indochina War, Korean War, Algerian War, battles in Morocco and Tunisia, War graves, etc. Accueil - Mémoire des hommes

    Obviously with Thomas not being a French national, there may be some problems, but if you don't make a start then you'll not get anywhere! :)

    With William being born in 1917 and Pauline in 1918 we have to assume that perhaps he was wounded at Verdun (Feb to Dec 1916) and was recuperating in England (although I don't know enough to guess whether that would have been unusual, rather than remain in a hospital in France). It looks as if he may not have returned to France, depends on severity of wounds perhaps. When Robert was born in 1922 I guess that Thomas was remembering his close encounter with death at Verdun....?

    Sorry, we're not intending to raise more questions than answers, but when you pull a thread in a Family Tree, who knows where it leads! :D

    There is a Great War Forum where you may get further help on WW1 issues. Good Luck!
    - and all this because Owen twigged the date of Sheldon's death may have been wrong.......
     
  16. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    The only Thomas Attley I can find that died in the 1920's in Wales is

    England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007
    Name: Thomas Attley
    Death Age: 43
    Birth Date: abt 1883
    Registration Date: Sep 1926
    Registration district: Bridgend
    Inferred County: Glamorganshire
    Volume: 11a
    Page: 618

    TD
     

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