Military Monday

Another Military post about my Bellew family today. I somehow missed Ancestry's release of the British Army WWI Service Records during November, and just began looking at the records last night. And what do you know? Yet ANOTHER Bellew family member was in the Army! This record is for my Great Grandfather, John Bellew Sr., (b 9/27/1889, Preston, Lancs, England; d 12/15/1958 Maryland USA) who served in the British Army for 4 years. Enlisting in February 1909 and discharged in 1913.

The first page of this record contains info such as the family street address, occupation & employment info of the individual (he was a weaver), and age at the time of enlistment. Other pages following give physical condition of the individual, stating that John was "Well Made", at a height of 5' 3.5", with a girth of 35". The last page lists all training, ranks and discharge information.

This database contains 4-5 pages for each soldier, making up a 'packet' of their time in the British Army. Yet another wonderful find for my family's military history! I've posted here the first page of his report.



Image: Ancestry.com. British Army WWI Service Records, 1914-1920 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2008. Original data:
War Office: Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ (Microfilm Copies); (The National Archives Microfilm Publication WO363); Records created or inherited by the War Office, Armed Forces, Judge Advocate General, and related bodies; The National Archives of the UK (TNA), Kew, Surrey, England.