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  1. #1
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    Default AUSTRALIAN IMPERIAL FORCE

    My great uncle James Duncan was born in Scotland to Irish immigrants. He was a member of the Australian Imperial Force along with 22 others recorded in the book Coatbridge and the Great War.
    He is buried at Brookwood Military Cemetery in Surrey, having died in London on 21 May 1917.
    Can anyone help me to understand why a Scotsman would have signed up to the Australian Imperial Force?

    Many thanks

  2. #2
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    I can only assume that he emigrated to Australia at some time.
    Have you found him in the 1911 census in Scotland? (Or at least some part of the UK?)

    The CWGC site gave me these details
    https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/fi...05/1917&Page=1

    which enabled me to locate
    https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/Sear...3526232&isAv=N
    If you click on 'view digital copy' in the top right-hand corner you get a link to his service record. There's 48 pages of it. Haven't read it all but there's his wife's name, address in Australia, description of him, where he died, and cause of death, details of funeral at Brookwood, plus loads more.

    Pam
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    Umph. I needed to check something so clicked the Australian government link only to find that it didn't work as I was allegedly timed out.
    So start here
    https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/Sear...ameSearch.aspx
    From the dropdown category select WW1 personnel records.
    Then add service number 5583 when prompted.
    Vulcan XH558 - “Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.”

  4. #4
    Famous for offering help & advice simmo1's Avatar
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    Hi

    As Pam said, must have migrated to Australia at some time with his wife.
    Picture of him here - https://www.awm.gov.au/advanced-sear...ype=Photograph
    Also notes his occupation.
    More here - https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws....nt/5629564.PDF
    Click on the links for more information on him - https://www.awm.gov.au/advanced-sear...83&people=true

    regards

    Robert
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    My Father 1819170 Lance Bombardier Robert Simpson 39/14 L.A.A. R.A.

  5. #5
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    Wow! Thank you so much for all the help and information. What a discovery! I will now try to discover when James and Elizabeth emigrated to Australia

    Many thanks

    Marion

  6. #6
    Super Moderator christanel's Avatar
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    Marion do you have James Duncan's records from his time in service in the UK eg the one in the UK, Royal Hospital Chelsea Pensioner Soldier Service Records, 1760-1920
    On another thread it was pointed out that men may have joined up in the country to which they had emigrated to get a free passage back to their home country.
    Do you know whether his wife was back in the UK at his death or later?
    Christina
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  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by christanel View Post
    Marion do you have James Duncan's records from his time in service in the UK eg the one in the UK, Royal Hospital Chelsea Pensioner Soldier Service Records, 1760-1920
    On another thread it was pointed out that men may have joined up in the country to which they had emigrated to get a free passage back to their home country.
    Do you know whether his wife was back in the UK at his death or later?
    Christina
    Elizabeth returned to Scotland at some time. See page 20 of James' service record, and then one or two pages further on where there's a letter from Elizabeth giving her address in Coatbridge. The way I read that letter was that Elizabeth was Scottish.
    From what I can read on page 20, Elizabeth later remarried, and her second husband was also a Duncan.At the bottom of the page is an address in Whifflet, Coatbridge, and a date that looks like 1924.
    A search on Scotland's People for a marriage of an Elizabeth Duncan in Coatbridge district between 1917 and 1930 found only one - to a William Duncan in 1924. Certificate available to buy for some credits.

    I then thought to check for a marriage in Coatbridge district for a James Duncan to an Elizabeth betweeen 1900 and 1916. One result - James Duncaan and Elizabeth McCulloch in 1909. One of Elizabeth's addresses was c/o Mrs McCulloch, so she possibly went back to her mother. Again, certificate available to buy for a few credits.

    Pam
    Vulcan XH558 - “Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.”

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    Thank you Pam. It appears that Elizabeth and James emigrated after their wedding in 1909 but before the 1911 census. From the link to the information you gave me, Elizabeth had written from Australia to the army about her husband's pay and personal effects. She travelled back to Coatbridge. The address given is my great grandmother's home. From the later marriage certificate I can see that see that she married her former brother in law.

  9. #9
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    Hi Christina. I have not checked the Royal Hospital records. Elizabeth returned to the UK after her husband's death and remarried

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