Army Enquiry Records

[NOTSHARP]

In my late Fathers' belongings is a photograph album containing pictures taken during his service in the Royal Artillery, on the Northwest Frontier, 1936/37. At that time, it was part on India, but now, Pakistan.

There are a series of photographs of the military funeral of one of his comrades. I recall my father telling me the details of when the soldier was accidentally shot, in 1937.
I have a quest at the moment, to try and find any descendants of the deceased, to see if they would like the photographs, or, at least, copies of them, as I am loathe to remove the originals from the album.

After contacting the Army, I have found that the service record of the man concerned, is held at the National Archive. I have a request in for a copy, and that is being processed. I am hoping that there will be a date, and place of birth, to allow me to start my search. I have his age, so, know the year of birth. Some of the record is available on-line, but I am hoping that a copy from NA may contain more information.

It came to me, that there would, probably, have been an official enquiry into his death, given the circumstances, as I understand them.

Does anyone know if it is possible to obtain details of any such enquiry? If so, what is the procedure?


Any advice would be gratefully received.


Steve.

[Lesley Robertson]

Have you checked his local newspapers?

[NOTSHARP]

Have you checked his local newspapers?

Thank you for your reply, Lesley.


I have no idea what his local newspaper may be. The reason for trying to obtain his record is to, hopefully, find out where he was from.





Steve.

[Neil Wilson]

Have you tried the 1921 census records?
With his name and year of birth you should be able to narrow down the list and find his parents/siblings?

[NOTSHARP]

Have you tried the 1921 census records?
With his name and year of birth you should be able to narrow down the list and find his parents/siblings?

Good call. I had forgotten that was available.

His name was not a common one, so I will explore that route.

Thank you.



Steve,

[Pam Downes]

Good call. I had forgotten that was available.

His name was not a common one, so I will explore that route.

Thank you.
Steve,

All the more reason for you to explore newspapers in general.
The British Newspaper Archive is the main site, but it's also available as part of a subscription on Findmypast.
https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/
It's something worth checking every month as more papers and pages are being added all the time.

Admittedly, it's more likely that something would be reported in a paper local to where he/his wife/parents lived, but it's surprising what events which happened in say, Yorkshire, would also be reported in a Cornish paper, and also what got reported in the main papers.

Assuming you're in England at least (possibly the UK) check to see if your local library has access to online sources such as Times Digital Archive (editions of The Times 1795-2019). To give you an idea here's the list for West Sussex.
https://arena.westsussex.gov.uk/-/a-...tion-resources
Note that some sources are only available on a library computer, not online at home.

[NOTSHARP]

Thank you, Pam.

I have a Findmypast subscription, so will start there on the newspaper search.

I have edited my profile to show my location,





Steve,

[Pam Downes]

Check for all the years of his life. It's amazing what snippets you can find in local papers.
Just need to keep your fingers crossed that local papers for his early years are online.

[Lesley Robertson]

Since you are certain that he’s dead, why not tell us his name? You never know what clues people can find.

[NOTSHARP]

Since you are certain that he’s dead, why not tell us his name? You never know what clues people can find.

He is definitely dead.

I have found some Army documentation on-line.

I have no issue with providing his details. Help is always welcome.

James Henry Paddock
Born 1912 +/-
Joined Royal Artillery 1930
Died 27th, March 1937, age 25
Place Northwest Frontier. Then, in India, now Pakistan
Buried 28th. March 1937 Bannu, Bengal, India.




I have photographs taken at his funeral. I would like to offer them to any of his descendants, if I can trace any.





Steve.