Family Military History

[Loyalist]

Do you have any ancestors or relatives who have served in any armed conflict? Please feel free to elaborate on any such individual in as much detail as you wish.

I'll get us started, beginning with the most recent.

World War II

Great-grandfather: Served with the British Army, and in the same unit as his brother (my great-great uncle). At first stationed in England, he later saw combat in Italy, the Netherlands, and was eventually posted to occupation duty in Germany. He survived unscathed, but his brother was shot during the Anzio campaign and left permanently disabled.

Two great-uncles also fought in the European theatre, including one who, as a medic, was forced to pull corpses out of the English Channel following the failed raid on Dieppe.

World War I

Great-great grandather: Served with the British Army (Grenadier Guards) on the Western Front, and was present at the Battle of Passchendaele (aka Third Ypres), among others.

Great-grandfather: Served with the British Army on the Western Front, although with which regiment is unclear.

War of 1812

Great-great-great-great grandfather served with the British Army (4th Lincoln Regiment) and was killed at the Battle of Queenston Heights.

On a wider level, I'm descended from a number of individuals who served with Loyalist militias during the Revolutionary War, as well as combatants of the Seven Years' War (maternal ancestor served in the Prussian Army), the English Civil War, and the Wars of the Roses.

[Treffie]

Good thread Loyalist!

Maternal grandfather.
He served in WWII, was sent to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Burma and was captured by the Japanese and imprisoned in a POW camp.

Paternal grandfather
Served in WWI, and was involved in the Battle of Jutland (Denmark).

Father
Served in WWII. Joined the army at 17 and was sent to Palestine as a peace keeper.

[Barreldriver]

William Reeder(my gggggrandfather):

Regiment: 41 Tennessee Infantry
Side: Confederate
Company: E
Soldiers Rank In: Private
Soldiers Rank Out: Private
Alternate name: William Reader
Film Number: M231 Roll 36




Andrew Burgess(my gggggrandfather):

Regiment:12 Tennessee Cavalry
Side: Union
Company: G
Soldiers Rank In: Private
Soldiers Rank Out: Private
Alternate name: Adrew J. Burgess



Starling Neal(my ggggreat grandfather)

Regiment: 25 Tennessee Infantry
Side: Confederacy
Company: H
Soldiers Rank In: Private
Soldiers Rank Out: Private
Alternate Name: Starling/Neel
Film Number: M231 Roll 32


Gen. John Adolphus Horne, born July 1598 in Sweden. taken at 5 years of age into Kings household and raised. Made Commander in Chief of the army. Moved to England and settled there in 1642 with a retinue of 500 men and joined Oliver Cromwell. Married Mary McDonald in 1643. Built "The Oaks" in Chestershire.


Then my grandfather Reeder's uncles served in WWII, I have a few relations that served in Desert Storm and the current Middle East disputes, can't remember if it was Afghanistan or Iraq. I don't know much about the last one, never met the feller's or knew about them until I heard my grandfather discussing the War in Iraq and some names came up.


I don't want to get into the Revolutionary War, I've got quite a few that fought in it, I'll post those tomorrow, have to dig through my Legacy files.

[Psychonaut]

I'll start with what I can recount from memory:

My father served in the Navy (retired E-8) and was deployed during both Vietnam and the first Gulf War. Much of his time was spent as an airborne MI operative.

My maternal grandfather also served in the Navy (and also retired as an E-8). He served during the entirety of WWII in the Pacific. Since he was a native French speaker, much of his tenure was spent as a translator.

My great uncle Wiltz (retired as an O-7) had an extremely lengthy career as a combat pilot, flying 102 combat missions during WWII. During that time, he "destroyed one Japanese bomber and five fighter aircraft, and was credited with damaging three more. He was shot down twice by ground fire but each time parachuted to safety and successfully evaded enemy capture behind the lines."

Lewis Moore (1760-1831) served in the War of 1812.

Adolphe LaBauve (1828-1908) fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War.

That's all I can think of off hand. I know that I had a few fight during the French-Indian War, the Hundred Years War, the Crusades, the Norman Conquest of England and countless Frankish wars, but due to ancestry.com's poor search functions, I'm unable to pull up specific names just now.

[Electronic God-Man]

WWII

Grandfather fought in the 8th armored division. The "Thundering Herd" if I remember correctly. He was a sergeant and worked in reconnaissance. He fought in Belgium, Netherlands, France, and Germany. Also, he fought in the Battle of the Bulge through the Ardennes. It was apparently pretty intense.

His buddies and him were actually in a jeep accident and they all ended up with dental damage. Well, they thought they were smart and decided to let one of their German POWs who had been a dentist try to fix their teeth. The German dentist apparently fixed whatever problems they had but with the shot of novocaine he gave them there was also some sort of poison. On the jeep ride back to wherever they were staying most of the guys fell over dead. Seeing that something was obviously wrong my grandfather and the other guy still living shot the German and threw him out of the jeep. Grandpa was in the hospital then for quite some time. I still don't know what kind of poison it was (I could probably contact someone) but it fucked up their hearts.

He received various medals including three bronze stars and two purple hearts.

Civil War

Union: Four of them for NY and PA.

Confederacy: One. Fought at the Battle of Gettysburg. Apparently when he saw that they were beaten and it was basically over for the Rebels he ran off and moved north.


Mexican War

John Carpenter: He later fought in the Civil War too. He was honorably discharged in the newly captured Mexico City. A lot of these guys that fought got really sick from the diseases down there. He weighed only 105 pounds when he got back but he was about 6 feet tall.

He received the following disabilities: right inguinal hernia rupture and chronic diarrhea due to bloody dysentery.

He must have gotten better because, like I said, he fought in the Civil War then too.

Revolutionary War

I was trying to see if I could remember all of their names, but I can't right now. There were more than ten. I do remember some of the battles they fought in though. Here are those I can remember:

- Battle of Brandywine
- Battle of Monmouth
- Battle of Paulus Hook
- Battle of Cowpens
- Battle of Guilford Courthouse
- Battle of Hobkirk's Hill
- Battle of White Plains
- One of my ancestors was with George Washington at Valley Forge

One family I am descended from escaped from what is called the Wyoming Valley Massacre

Before that I have ancestors that fought in the Pequot War, King Philip's War, and the French and Indian War.

[Barreldriver]

I've got some more family military history:

John Adolfus Horne, Gen. John Adolphus Horne, born July 1598 in Sweden. taken at 5 years of age into Kings household and raised. Made Commander in Chief of the army. Moved to England and settled there in 1642 with a retinue of 500 men and joined Oliver Cromwell. Married Mary McDonald in 1643. Built "The Oaks" in Chestershire.

Seigneur Reginald Courtenay, Crusader 1147; held barony of Oakhampton.

MISC: According to Ancestral Roots:

1150 - Witness in Rouen, Normandy of charter of Henry, Duke of Normandy (later Henry II of England).

1160 - received grant of the Manor of Sutton, Berkshire from the king; from that date in cons tant attendance on the king, perhaps a royal secretary.

1171 - accompanied the king in his campaign in Ireland.

1175-1176 - appears holding land in Devonshire for the first time. [Could this possibly relat e to his late (1172) marriage to Maud Fitz Edith or to the son Reginald's marriage to Hawis e de Courcy, Heiress of Okehampton?]

1175-1176 - in the king's train in his travels in England and France.

[Ladejarlen]

My mothers father was in the Norwegian resistance with the shetland bus.
http://www.shetland-heritage.co.uk/shetlandbus/

Here is a picture of him

[Loki]

A split from this thread can be found here, which discusses the possibilities of long-term ancestral research.

[SwordoftheVistula]

All my ancestors for at least the past 150 years have avoided any actual combat experience, due to age and/or occupation. One cousin of a grandparent was a member of a flight crew of one of the atomic bombing raids though.

[Tabiti]

My maternal grandmother's first cousin was an artilety general in WWII. The others were too young to go to the front, or were just mobilized farmers with no special military honours. There are some cavallerists as well, fighters in local uprisings and so on - nothing interesting if it's about military carrier in our family.