WORLD WAR 1 DRAFT REGISTRATION CARDS OF MY FAMILY MEMBERS

Ten years ago I discovered the World War 1 Draft cards for some of my male family
members over at Ancestry.com. I posted what information I learned from them here
on March 2, 2007 . So I thought I'd repost the information  at this time in observance
of the 100th anniversary of the end of World War 1.

The first five are my Mom's maternal  uncles, the McFarland brothers: Tommy, Frank,
Bobby, John and Mike. I don't remember ever meeting the last two brothers but we visited
Uncle Tommy and Uncle Frank many times when I was a kid. Uncle Tommy shared my
love of books and had a set of the Encylopedia Brittanica. Uncle Frank taught me how
to make tomato and mayonnaise sandwiches.  

Here's what I learned about them from the cards.

Tom lists his occupation as a toolmaker at A. A. Crafts at 125 Summer St.in Boston.
For dependents he lists his father and mother who would have been in their late sixties.
His physical description is Medium height, Slender build, with Brown (or Blonde?) hair
and Brown eyes. At the time he filled out the card he was living at 950 Parker St. in Boston.

((By the 1950's he had white hair and he smoked a pipe. For some reason I remember
him wearing a shirt and tie most of the time. He was working in the jewelry business by
the time I came along and he and his wife lived in a nice little white house in Milton He
died in 1977 at the age of 84 .))

Frank was living with his family at 50 Cotton St. in Medford. He lists his occupation
as "bottling" at the Moxie Plant at 69 Haverhill St. in Boston. His eyes were Gray,
his hair Dark Brown; his height and build were given as Medium.
((I remember Frank with grey hair, wire-rimmed glasses and a cane. He stayed with us
at few times at the Capen St.apartment in Dorchester which was where he taught me 
howto make those tomato sandwiches. He lived with his son John in Andover, Ma. and
died in 1986 at age 82.)) 

Robert was living with his family at 121 or 126 Paul Gore St. His occupation was
shoemaker at the Thomas J. Plant(?) Shoe Co. at what looks like the "corner of
Centre and Bickford Streets" in Boston. His height and build are Slender, his eyes
Light Brown and his hair Black.

Mike was living at 946 Parker St in Boston with his wife Mary and he was a shoe
worker at George A. Keith Company at 288 A St.in So. Boston. His height was given
as Tall, his build Medium, his hair Dark and Brown for the eye color. He was the oldest
child in the family and the only one born in Ireland.

John was working as a chauffeur for someone at 409 Columbia Rd in Boston but lived
with his wife and children at 112 Heath St in the Roxbury neighborhood of the city. He's
described as of medium height and weight and having  brown hair and grey eyes.


Then there are the cards for both my grandfathers.

Floyd Earl West gives his occupation as farming in Upton, Me. His height is listed as
Short, his build Medium, his eyes Blue and his hair “D. Brown” He claimed an exemption
from the draft due to an injury to his right arm and shoulder; on the disability line he
adds “right arm weak”. But whatever the injury was it healed because Grandpa West
did get drafted a year later and was inducted(?) on 29 Apr 1918. He reached the rank
of Pvt 1st class in November of 1918 and served as part of Company K, 303 Infantry.
He never made it oversea, though  because he ended at  Camp Devens, Ma. during the
outbreak of the Spanish Influenza where he helped with the patients.. He was honorably
discharged on 12 Mar 1919 after contracting pneumonia.

Finally, my mother’s father, Edward F. White lists his occupation as “helper” on the
“N.Y., N.H., & H. R..R. & Co.” by which I take it to mean the New York,
New Haven, and Hartford Railroad. The business address is given as Union Station
in Harftord. He gives his home address as 41 Philbrick St in Roslindale Ma. and lists
as closest relative his mother “Lena White”. His height is Tall, build Medium. His eyes
were Blue and his hair Dark Brown. This card was a real find for me because it filled
the blanks about that part of the family. Mom never talked about her father and I
never met him.

Grandpa West is the only one out of this group that I've found to have actually
served in the military during World War I. But the McFarland brothers were all in their late
twenties or older and Grandpa White might have been exempted due to his occupation.



All the images in this post are from the "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," database with images, at FamilySearch

WORLD WAR 1 DRAFT REGISTRATION CARDS OF MY FAMILY MEMBERS

Ten years ago I discovered the World War 1 Draft cards for some of my male family
members over at Ancestry.com. I posted what information I learned from them here
on March 2, 2007 . So I thought I'd repost the information  at this time in observance
of the 100th anniversary of our entrance into World War 1.

The first five are my Mom's maternal  uncles, the McFarland brothers: Tommy, Frank,
Bobby, John and Mike. I don't remember ever meeting the last two brothers but we visited
Uncle Tommy and Uncle Frank many times when I was a kid. Uncle Tommy shared my
love of books and had a set of the Encylopedia Brittanica. Uncle Frank taught me how
to make tomato and mayonnaise sandwiches.  

Here's what I learned about them from the cards.

Tom lists his occupation as a toolmaker at A. A. Crafts at 125 Summer St.in Boston.
For dependents he lists his father and mother who would have been in their late sixties.
His physical description is Medium height, Slender build, with Brown (or Blonde?) hair
and Brown eyes. At the time he filled out the card he was living at 950 Parker St. in Boston.

((By the 1950's he had white hair and he smoked a pipe. For some reason I remember
him wearing a shirt and tie most of the time. He was working in the jewelry business by
the time I came along and he and  his wife lived in a nice little white house in Milton He
diedin 1977 at the age of 84 .))

Frank was living with his family at 50 Cotton St. in Medford. He lists his occupation
as "bottiling" at the Moxie Plant at 69 Haverhill St. in Boston. His eyes were Gray,
his hair Dark Brown; his height and build were given as Medium.
((I remember Frank with grey hai, wire-rimmed glasses and a cane. He stayed with us
at few times at the Capen St.apartment in Dorchester which was where he taught me 
howto make those tomato sandwiches. He lived with his son John in Andover, Ma. and
died in 1986 at age 82.)) 

Robert was living with his family at 121 or 126 Paul Gore St. His occupation was
shoemaker at the Thomas J. Plant(?) Shoe Co. at what looks like the "corner of
Centre and Bickford Streets" in Boston. His height and build are Slender, his eyes
Light Brown and his hair Black.

Mike was living at 946 Parker St in Boston with his wife Mary and he was a shoe
worker at George A. Keith Company at 288 A St.in So. Boston. His height was given
as Tall, his build Medium, his hair Dark and Brown for the eye color. He was the oldest
child in the family and the only one born in Ireland.

John was working as a chaffeur for someone at 409 Columbia Rd in Boston but lived
with his wife and children at 112 Heath St in the Roxbury neighborhood of the city. He's
described as of medium height and weight and having  brown hair and grey eyes.


Then there are the cards for both my grandfathers.

Floyd Earl West gives his occupation as farming in Upton, Me. His height is listed as
Short, his build Medium, his eyes Blue and his hair “D. Brown” He claimed an exemption
from the draft due to an injury to his right arm and shoulder; on the disability line he
adds “right arm weak”. But whatever the injury was it healed because Grandpa West
did get drafted a year later and was inducted(?) on 29 Apr 1918. He reached the rank
of Pvt 1st class in November of 1918 and served as part of Company K, 303 Infantry.
He never made it oversea, though  because he ended at  Camp Devens, Ma. during the
outbreak of the Spanish Influenza where he helped with the patients.. He was honorably
discharged on 12 Mar 1919 after contracting pneumonia.

Finally, my mother’s father, Edward F. White lists his occupationas “helper” on the
“N.Y., N.H., & H. R..R. & Co.” by which I take it to mean the New York,
New Haven, and Hartford Railroad. The business address is given as Union Station
in Harftord. He gives his home address as 41 Philbrick St in Roslindale Ma. and lists
as closest relative his mother “Lena White”. His height is Tall, build Medium. His eyes
were Blue and his hair Dark Brown. This card was a real find for me because it filled
the blanks about that part of the family. Mom never talked about her father and I
never met him.

Grandpa West is the only one out of this group that I've found to have actually
served in the military during World War I. But the McFarland brothers were all in their late
twenties or older and Grandpa White might have been exempted due to his occupation.



All the images in this post are from the "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," database with images, at FamilySearch

THE GENEABLOGGERS' FIRST WORLD WAR CHALLENGE :THE BLOGPOSTS PT2

Welcome to Part2! Several contributors submitted lists of blogposts they'd
done on World War One which necessitated my splitting the roundup into
two parts. I wish I could write an intro for each one of these posts but
time doesn't permit it. I urge you to visit them because there are some incredible
stories in them:



Schalene Dagutis of Tangled Roots and Trees put together a page for her
World War One blogposts: 

Living in War-torn Europe  

Odessa to Vancouver the Long Way via Vladivostok 

A Soldier Boy's Creed 

Wordless Wednesday: Twelve Tree Copse Cemetery, Turkey

52 Ancestors #26: "Not Likely to Become an Efficient Soldier"

52 Ancestors #29 -- He Died on a Flanders Field

52 Ancestors #30: Disabled in World War I

 

Paul Milner has done posts dealing with the war records for British soldiers and then used them to do case studies of his relatives who served in the War on his Paul Milner
Genealogy blog:

WWI Soldiers – Online Records – pt1 Introduction

WWI Soldiers – Online Records – pt 2 case study Albert William Alfred Milner

WWI Soldiers – Online records – pt3 case study William Henry Milner

WWI – Finding the Dead – Commonwealth War Graves Commission part 1

WWI – Finding the Dead – Commonwealth War Graves Commission part 2

WWI – Finding the Dead – Commonwealth War Grave Commission part 3

Scottish Military Wills – Tips for Searching, Using the Results and Workarounds

 

Kathleen Scarlett O'Hara Naylor of You Are Where You Came From did a
series about the service records of her four great grandfathers:

John Joseph O'Hara's WWI Service Record and a Plea for Help

Joseph E. Mulcahy's WWI Service Records

Domenico Gatto's WWI Service Records

Carmine "Charlie" Lanzillotto's WWI Service Record

Lorine McGinnis Schulze sends us seven links. The first four are from her
Olive Tree Genealogy blog:

 Displaying Family Heirlooms - WW1 Medals and Photo

The Value of Military Records

Military Records: Looking Under a Stone, not just peeking behind it...

Remembering WW1 Soldier W. J. P. Bullock

The other three are profiles from the Canadian Military Heritage Project:   
PHILIP EDGAR PEER

Jack Chapman

David Russell Hearns 

 

Blogger irisheyesjennifer has chosen seven of her blogposts on World War 1and her family. You can see the list in 'The big guns are coughing...': Commemorating the Losses of World War One at 'On a flesh and bone foundation': An Irish History:

 `On a celtic cross, a young man in a photograph':World War One

It all began with a bronze plaque: Remembering William Dunne 1880-1914 


A portrait trimmed in black crepe: William Francis Pell: 1891-1915

William Dunne & William Pell: Following the road of my two Williams 

 `Too many names upon these walls': World War One Commemoration 

Sepia Saturday #187: A very special journey with a remarkable book of poetry 


Commemoration in the landscape: The Irish National War Memorial Gardens

 

Finally, I did a series of posts here on my grandfather Floyd E West Sr :

ENLISTMENT RECORD OF FLOYD E. WEST SR.

FURLOUGH FOR MY GRANDFATHER, PART1

FURLOUGH FOR MY GRANDFATHER, PART2

THE HONORABLE DISCHARGE OF FLOYD E. WEST

FLOYD E. WEST SR. AT CAMP DEVENS, SEPT,1918

And that concludes the Geneabloggers' First World War Challenge.
I want to thank all those who participated with such a great collection
of stories. I hope that those reading this post roundup will remember to
leave a comment of appreciation on these blogposts when you read them!

THE GENEABLOGGERS' FIRST WORLD WAR CHALLENGE :THE BLOGPOSTS PT1

Welcome to the Geneablogger's First World War Challenge blogposts
roundup! I received a number of posts for the Challenge, so many in
fact that it's going to take two posts here to share them with you all.
It's a wonderful collection of posts, with submissions from Australia,
New Zealand, Ireland, Canada, and the United States. Some are new,
some are old; some are from familiar blogs, and some from blogs new
to me. They are all fascinating.

So let's get started with Part One!



When Jill Ball researched about her grandmother's first husband for an
ANZAC Day challenge, she discovered a story that started in England,
moved to Australia, and ended on a battlefield in France. Her post on
GeniAus is entitled ANZAC Day Blog Challenge @Kintalk
   
Alona Tester shares with us a wonderful picture of her great grandfather
Otto Rafael Winter a Finnish born immigrant who was proud of his
new country and joined the army when the War came. See it in the
post Anzac Day Blog Challenge: He Was Proud to be Australian on the 
lonetester HQ blog.



Irish support for the Allied side in the War was complicated by the issues
of Irish independence and British rule. I'm Irish-American on my Mom's side
so I was fascinated when I read Dora's recounting of the predicament of
her relative Frank McGrane in Conscription Into The Great War- An 
Irishman's Story at her Black Raven Genealogy blog. 

World War One ushered in the age of modern warfare with trench warfare
and gas attacks.Christine Blythe of Empty Nest Genealogy writes about two
granduncles whose bodies were never recovered while serving in France
in WWI War Stories.

Brenda Dougall Merriman's father was a pilot for the Royal Flying Corps and
kept a diary of his experiences. I think they'd make a great movie! See for
yourself in "Fell about a thousand feet" at Brenda's blog.


Some of us had relatives in several countries who fought in the War.Schalene 
Dagutis had one from the U.S. and another from New Zealand, and honors
them in a Memorial Day post, Honoring those Who Died in the Service of 
Their Countries at her Tangled Roots and Trees blog.

When Kathryn Creeden ordered the service record of her great grandfather's
brother from the NARA, she discovered a fascinating story of a man who
joined the U.S. Army shortly after deserting from the Marines. Eventually 
he ended up fighting in the War in the Canadian army. Kathryn details his
journey on her blog Kathryn's Quest in the post Military Monday - Deserter 
Becomes WWI Hero

Amanda Pape's blog is the wonderfully named ABT UNK. Her contribution
to the Challenge is a picture of her grandfather and his two brothers, all of
whom served in WWI. You can see it at her post Wordless Wednesday: "3
service stars in the window."

In Guy W. House,  "Dorene from Ohio" of  the Graveyard Rabbit of Sandusky
Ohio blog salutes the service of a cousin who died before she was born.


Donna Mierzejewski-McManus likes to research the people whose headstones
she's photographed in a Toledo cemetery and in her post Toledo’s World War I Veterans’ Experiences she tells the stories of two Polish-American soldiers.
The name of her blog is Toledo's Kuschwantz.

Shelley Bishop gives us the story of her granduncle who served in a heavy
artillery unit and survived the Battle of Argonne Forest over at her blog
A Sense of Family in Roy D. Eberhard, World War I Soldier: 52 Ancestors

Because of the infamous records fire of 1973, Jenny Lanctot had to resort to
other sources to find out about her great grandfather's WWI. Her persistence
paid off and she shows us what she found in Harold John Crowe – Indiana 
National Guard (WWI) at Are My Roots Showing? 

While actually hostilities broke out on 28Jul 1914, most cite the assassination
of Archduke Franz Ferdinand at Sarajevo a month earlier as the start of the War. 
John Newmark of the TransylvanianDutch blog tells us where his ancestors
were on that fateful day, June 28, 1914.

North Dakotan Adolph Myren's story is typical of many American soldiers 
in both World Wars. It's recounted by Mary P Nelson at Celebrating Family
Stories (Another great blog title!) in Military Monday: Adolph Myren.

Like Jenny Lanctot, Cheri Hudson Passey's research into her relative Frank
E. Sullivan Sr.'s World War 1 service was complicated by the 1973 NARA
records fire. She was able to find some information, though, in other
documents and she describes what she found in Military Monday - Clues 
From WWI Discharge Certificates at Carolina Girl Genealogy.

Carol A. Bowen Stevens over at Reflections from the Fence had the same
problem as Jenny and Cheri as she researched her WW1 veteran relative:
a lack of records. She turned to the newspaper collections at Ancestry.com 
and through them shows us how a small Iowa town dealt with the draft
registration and enlistment of their young men. It's in World War I Soldier ::
Roscoe Clyde Lashbrook.

 At her Heritage Zen blog, Cynthia Shennette's grandfather was a mechanic
in the fledgling U.S.Army Air Service. She uses pictures, postcards, and 
records to construct a timeline of his military service in Over There!: My 
Grandfather and World War I  

Not many Americans know about a badly managed British expedition to Russia
during the War that included some American troops. Miriam Robbins' great
grandfather was one of the soldiers and she tells his story of that campaign
in A Polar Bear in North Russia at AnceStories: The Stories of  My Ancestors.

Sara Campbell has a real treasure: the letters her grandfather sent home from
boot camp and then the front in France. They were sent to his sister and to
his future wife and give us a look at what a young soldier saw and thought
about in wartime. They're at Sara's post WWI Chronicles of Pvt. Will Coleman 
on her Remembering Those Who Came Before Us blog. 

Some soldiers lost their lives in battle, some from illness, and some died 
from their injuries after they'd returned home. Wendy Grant Walter tells us
of one such cast on her blog From A to Zophar in her post Howard Mellor
Grant-Veteran of World War 1.

This concludes Part One. Some of the participants submitted lists of posts 
they've written on the War, and those will be covered in Part Two. 

FLOYD E. WEST SR. AT CAMP DEVENS, SEPT,1918

((First posted in January 2008. I've done a little editing of the 
original))

When journalists talk about a possible “bird flu” epidemic, the
historical event they draw parallels to is the Great Influenza
outbreak of 1918. It first appeared near Fort Riley Kansas in
January and by March had reached New York. Soldiers in crowded
barracks fell victim to it easily and troop movements helped spread
it quickly.

And in the midst of this my grandfather enlisted in the Army in April,
1918.


Then on 8 Sept. 1918 the first case of a new, more virulent strain was
reported at Camp Devens in Ayer, Massachusetts. By the end of the month
there were 14,000 cases of the illness and over 700 deaths attributed to it.
Camp Devens was placed under quarantine but the whole state of Massachusetts
was already swept by the disease as the figures on this site  show. My
grandfather was one the troops assigned to a medical detachment working
at the Camp Hospital.



Camp Devens’ hospital surely was not meant to deal with such a
catastrophic event and the accounts I’ve read while horrific must
pale in comparison to what my grandfather must have seen and
experienced. I wonder what he must have thought as he went
about his duties at the hospital? Growing up he must have heard
about the diptheria outbreak that had caused the deaths of six
relatives forty years before. Now he was in the midst of
something much worse where hundreds could die in a single night.
Did he wonder when he himself might begin to show symptoms
and end up a patient himself?

But he survived and was given a furlough at the end of November.
From what I’ve read, the epidemic began and expanded quickly
but subsided within a month and a half. By the end of October it
was over for the most part and by November the authorities must
have felt it was safe enough to allow Private West a furlough to
visit home in early December.


I can’t imagine they would have allowed it if he’d been stricken
with pneumonia during the height of the epidemic, so my guess is
that he came down with it sometime after he returned to
Camp Devens. The Army doctors must have felt the damage to his
lungs was sufficient to keep him from his duty as a hospital
orderly and so my grandfather was given an honorable discharge
on 12Mar 1919, less than a year after he'd enlisted.

Some soldiers in World War 1 saw hell on a battlefield.

Others, such as my grandfather, saw another sort of hell in
hospital wards full of comrades racked with the Spanish Influenza.

I used a variety of sources researching this post. One of them is
“Fever of War: The Influenza Epidemic in the U.S. Army During
World War I” by Carol R. Byerly, (NYU Press, 2005) which you
can preview at GoogleBooks.

THE HONORABLE DISCHARGE OF FLOYD E. WEST

(First posted in December 2007) 
 

An earlier post was on the Enlistment document of my

grandfather Floyd Earl West Sr. Thanks to my Aunt Dot I have

a copy of it and also of his Discharge. The second line with his rank

is smudged here but by holding the paper up before a light I could

make out most of the writing. Also, I’m not sure if the

commandant’s last name is correct but it is the best guess I

could come up with in trying to read it.

I’m grateful my to Aunt Dot for giving me these copies and for

all the other items she’s sent along! I don’t know how difficult it
might be to obtain these elsewhere, but the information on them
is invaluable to someone researching their family history and
genealogy.

“Honorable Discharge from the United States Army
TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
This is to certify that Floyd E. West
Private First Class Hospital Detachment
THE UNITED STATES ARMY, is hereby HONORABLY
DISCHARGED from the military service of the United States by
reason of Pursuant to W. D. Cir.I77 A.G. O. Nov.21/1918.

Said Floyd E. West was born in South Paris, in the State of

Maine. When enlisted he was 25 years of age and by occupation

a Farmer. He had Blue eyes, Brown hair, Medium complexion,

and was 5 feet 5 1/2 inches in height.

Given under my hand at Camp Devens Mass. this twelfth day of
March, one thousand nine hundred and nineteen.
A. O. Davis(?)
Lt. Col. M.C. U.S.A.commanding.”

FURLOUGH FOR MY GRANDFATHER, PART2

Continuing with posts about my grandfather Floyd E West's WW1 service:

There's not much more information on these images but it does tell me that
Pop was back on base on December 6, 1918.  The form is signed by
Capt. John E Tracy who was commanding the soldiers of the medical
detachment.

FURLOUGH FOR MY GRANDFATHER, PART1

I first blogged about my grandfather's WW1 furlough papers back in 2007 but didn't discuss their content. So in commemoration of the start of WW1,I'm doing so now.

These are furlough papers for my grandfather Floyd E West, issued while he was serving at Camp Devens, Ma. during World War 1. It was granted on Nov. 29 1918 and on the
front side gives his rank as "Private 1st C Det Med Dep Base Hospital. The date he
was expected to report back is smudged and unreadable.

On the back side, there is a section on Pay and Rations I don't really understand, but
looking at the two dates in December I think he was supposed to be back from his
visit to Upton, Maine by December 10, 1918.

Lastly is the physical description, which says he is 25 years old, 5ft 5 1/2 inches tall
with "medium" complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. One of the things I was struck
by was that his signature was very much like that of my Dad, Floyd E West, Jr! 

ENLISTMENT RECORD OF FLOYD E. WEST SR.

In observance of the start of World War 1, this week I'll be reposting a series I did back in 2007 on my grandfather Floyd E West Sr's World War 1 service. This was posted on 17Dec 2007.

I mentioned back in July that Aunt Dot and I exchanged some
family research at my nephew Paul’s wedding. One of the items
she gave me was her childhood memories of my Dad. Another
item was a photocopy of my Grandfather West’s WW1 discharge
and his enlistment record as shown above.



I think the two papers were folded together which would explain
the dark lines across the pages. In the transcription below, I’ve
put a question mark after any entry I’m not certain about. I’ve
also italicized the handwritten information.

I received an email from my cousin Diana tonight as I was typing
this and in it she passed along information from Aunt Dot that
Pop was an orderly at the Camp Devens base hospital, that he
was only in for a short period before contracting double
pneumonia and that he was shipped home after his recovery.


I’ll have more to say on that after I’ve posted the transcription
of his discharge form.


In my reply to Diana, I remarked that today I realized that
between the service records and the memoir that Aunt Dot
gave me earlier this year I have learned more about Pop than
I ever knew before, and much more than I know about my
other grandfather!




ENLISTMENT RECORD
Name: West, Floyd E. #2722093 Grade: Private First Class

Enlisted, or Inducted, Apr.29, 1918 , at So. Paris, Me.

Serving in First enlistment period at date of discharge.

Prior service:* none

Noncommissioned officer: none(?)

Marksmanship, gunner qualification or rating: not armed

Horsemanship: not mounted(?)

Battles, engagements, skirmishes, expeditions: (left blank)

Knowledge of any vocation: Farmer

Wounds received in service: none

Physical condition when discharged: Good

Typhoid prophylaxis completed: ---------------

Paratyphoid prophylaxis completed: June 27/18

Married or single : Single

Character: Excellent

Remarks: No A.W.O.L. or absences under G.O. 45/1914.
This soldier entitled to travel pay.



Signature of soldier: Floyd E. West


John Burnette (?)1st St. M.C. U.S.A.Commanding Detachment

REMINDER FOR THE GENEABLOGGER WORLD WAR ONE CHALLENGE

There's about two weeks left until the submissions deadline for the first
Geneablogger's First World War Challenge. You can submit links to older
posts if you've already written about it. But if you haven't, here's some ideas
that might help:

Where your ancestors were in 1914, and what effect the war would have
on their families?

Did any of them see military action? Were any family members killed? Do you have any
photographs of them in uniform?

Did the War force your ancestors to leave their homes? Was it the reason they emigrated to another country? Where did they go?

Write a blogpost on any of the above, or something else about  World War 1 and your family. When it's posted, send me the link. If you have already written a blogpost that you'd like to use, then send me the link to that post.
 The deadline for submissions will be July29th, 2014. I'll publish the list of links here a week later on August 5th.

THE GENEABLOGGER WORLD WAR ONE CHALLENGE

One hundred years ago, on June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was
assassinated in the Serbian city of Sarajevo. One month later, on July 29th World War 1
began. It was the first "global conflict" and it affected many families in Europe and the
Americas. So to commemorate the start of World War 1 I thought I'd ask my fellow
geneabloggers:

Where your ancestors were in 1914, and what effect the war would have
on their families?

Did any of them see military action? Were any family members killed? Do you have any
photographs of them in uniform?

Did the War force your ancestors to leave their homes? Was it the reason they emigrated
to another country? Where did they go?

Write a blogpost on any of the above, or something else about  World War 1 and your family. When it's posted, send me the link. If you have already written a blogpost that you'd like to use, then send me the link to that post. 

 The deadline for submissions will be July29th, 2014. I'll publish the list of links here a week later on August 5th.