shancrom Posted 30 December , 2011 Share Posted 30 December , 2011 Hi, trying to get some info on Sandy Newell, US army DCM winner who was KIA, he originally came from Ireland, any ideas on how or where to access US records, citations etc. Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Mills Posted 30 December , 2011 Share Posted 30 December , 2011 ancestry.com is probably as good a place to start as anywhere as their home page seems to have details of the various American records that you can access. http://www.ancestry.com/ Regards, SM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraemeClarke Posted 30 December , 2011 Share Posted 30 December , 2011 Hi American Battle Monuments is here, but no 'Sandy' Newell listed, although these are not complete records. Was Sandy a nick name perhaps ? http://www.abmc.gov/search/wwi.php regards, Graeme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shancrom Posted 30 December , 2011 Author Share Posted 30 December , 2011 Presbyterian Roll of Honour and local War memorial list's him as follows, so i guess Sandy must have been his name. Sandy Newell Sergeant American army DCM, KIA Newell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nepper Posted 30 December , 2011 Share Posted 30 December , 2011 Sandy is often a contraction for Alexander. There is an American casualty of that name from Chicago listed in American Soldiers of World War I and I see that there a lot of Alexander Newell's from Kilkeel (that's the memorial he's listed on?) Whether this is him and he emigrated I've no idea? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottsGreys Posted 30 December , 2011 Share Posted 30 December , 2011 Ancestry has a U.S. WWI Draft Registration card (it would have been filled out by him): Sandy Newell lived in Chicago, Illinois DOB 01/22/1894 at Kilkell, County Down, Ireland worked as a machinist (lathe operator) Wagner Electric Company Single, age 23 citizen of Great Britain Registered on 06/01/1917 From the American Battle Monuments Commission website (as noted above, it may be him?): Alexander Newell Sergeant, U.S. Army 38th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Division Entered the Service from: Illinois Died: October 11, 1918 Buried at: Plot C Row 7 Grave 27 Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery Romagne, France Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottsGreys Posted 30 December , 2011 Share Posted 30 December , 2011 Found this as well on the Military Times Hall of Valor website (in gallantry awards, the DSC is second only to our Medal of Honor): Chris Alexander Newell Place of Birth: Ireland Home of record: Chicago, Illinois Distinguished Service Cross Citation: The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Corporal Alexander Newell (ASN: 551266), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with Company G, 38th Infantry Regiment, 3d Division, A.E.F., near Chateau-Thierry, France, 15 July 1918. Leading a squad of nine men, Corporal Newell fearlessly passed through an enemy barrage, captured five machine guns and 33 prisoners, and recovered a sergeant of his company who was helpless from wounds, all under violent artillery fire. General Orders: War Department, General Orders No. 99 (1918) Action Date: 15-Jul-18 Service: Army Rank: Corporal Company: Company G Regiment: 38th Infantry Regiment Division: 3d Division, American Expeditionary Forces It was this battle on July 14-15, 1918, that earned the 38th Regiment the name the "Rock of the Marne." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nepper Posted 30 December , 2011 Share Posted 30 December , 2011 That looks a fairly good match. Wonder if the memorial can be changed to say DSC rather than DCM? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shancrom Posted 30 December , 2011 Author Share Posted 30 December , 2011 Thanks for all that info, certainly looks to be a good match,Kilkeel is the memorial he is mentioned on, i guess the DCM wasn't awarded in the US the DSC was its equivilant?. Also is the registration date his sign on for service date?. Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottsGreys Posted 30 December , 2011 Share Posted 30 December , 2011 Thanks for all that info, certainly looks to be a good match,Kilkeel is the memorial he is mentioned on, i guess the DCM wasn't awarded in the US the DSC was its equivilant?. Also is the registration date his sign on for service date?. Regards Right, the United States does not have the DCM--I'm not familiar with its requirements, so I don't know if it is an equivilant of the DSC. No, the draft registration date is different from the service compilation date. It was not an induction, just his providing info to the local draft board so it would know how many were available in a certain age range for possible conscription. In fact, he may have never been conscripted, he may have enlisted on his own accord subsequent to registering for the draft. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottsGreys Posted 31 December , 2011 Share Posted 31 December , 2011 I checked my set of Soldiers of the Great War and the Illinois section in Volume One contained a small pic. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shancrom Posted 31 December , 2011 Author Share Posted 31 December , 2011 Many thanks for all info, photo is a real bonus, i guess the guys from the local British legion will get a bit of a surprise when they learn that the local memorial is incorrect with the DCM award, i have been asked to do a WW1 talk to a group as part of a fundraiser with a particular focus on their area, the Kilkeel area where Sandy originated from is not really my speciality so this will go a long way to helping. Pushing the boat out a little, don't suppose you would have anything on the following Kilkeel men. Samuel Keyes Canadian contingent KIA Pte Edward Quinn Canadian H.A KIA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hen190782 Posted 31 December , 2011 Share Posted 31 December , 2011 Hi Shancrom Not sure if you have checked out the Ireland Censi: 1901 - http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Down/Kilkeel/Harbour_Road_Kilkeel/1236184/ 1911 - http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Down/Kilkeel/Harbour_Road/245457/ It might be a nice touch to include his family background in the talk ... just a thought Nigel P.s Going down to the Newspaper Library, so will check the July 1916 papers for your Castlewellan clipping ... assuming I have the right man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shancrom Posted 31 December , 2011 Author Share Posted 31 December , 2011 Thanks Nigel, good idea would definitely give a bit of solid background to the talk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottsGreys Posted 31 December , 2011 Share Posted 31 December , 2011 Here are the entries for Quinn and Keyes on the Canadian Virtual War Memorial--pretty much the same info as you would find on their Commonwealth War Graves Commission entries. Chris In memory of Driver EDWARD QUINN who died on August 8, 1918 Military Service: Service Number: 338967 Age: 33 Force: Army Unit: Royal Canadian Horse Artillery Date of Birth: January 25, 1885 Son of John and Ann Quinn, of Maghereagh, Kilkeel, Co. Down, Ireland. Burial Information: Cemetery: VIMY MEMORIAL Pas de Calais,France In memory of Sergeant SAMUEL KEYES who died on August 20, 1917 Military Service: Service Number: 167057 Age: 23 Force: Army Unit: Canadian Pioneers Division: "C" Coy. 2nd Son of Wm. Joseph and Margaret Keyes, of Newcastle St., Kilkeel, Co. Down, Ireland. Burial Information: Cemetery: BARLIN COMMUNAL CEMETERY Pas de Calais,France Copies of their attestation forms are on the Veterans Affairs Canada website. Try these two links below and click "Front of Form" and "Back of Form" to view/save the copies. Hopefully, the links will work. I note that Keyes' form states he was born in Liverpool, Nova Scotia, although his next-of-kin is living in Kilkeel. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/cef/001042-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=498611&interval=20&&PHPSESSID=jvv3d4gc2vh23b0ejb9kk7elb4 http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/cef/001042-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=594309&interval=20&&PHPSESSID=6bn73kgbp9v5c0qhg32q8g9lf6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shancrom Posted 1 January , 2012 Author Share Posted 1 January , 2012 Many thanks Chris for info. Regards Kenny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottsGreys Posted 1 January , 2012 Share Posted 1 January , 2012 Hi Kenny. Glad to help. Check this link for the War Diary of the Canadian Horse Artillery Brigade. Click on P.5 and P.6 for entries for the day Quinn was killed, 08/08/18. Looks like he was one of two killed and eleven wounded that day. Can't tell whether he was with Battery A or Battery B--both were in action that day. http://data4.collectionscanada.gc.ca/netacgi/nph-brs?s1=Horse+Artillery&s13=&s12=&l=20&s9=RG9&s7=9-52&Sect1=IMAGE&Sect2=THESOFF&Sect4=AND&Sect5=WARDPEN&Sect6=HITOFF&d=FIND&p=1&u=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/archivianet/02015202_e.html&r=2&f=G Regarding Keyes, The War Diary for the 2nd Pioneers says no casualties for 08/20/17. If you go back through the couple days before you can see they did have casualties, perhaps Keyes was one of those. Here is the War Diary for the 2nd Pioneers. Go down to August 1917, see pges 11-13. http://data4.collectionscanada.gc.ca/netacgi/nph-brs?s1=2nd+Pioneer&s13=&s12=&l=20&s9=RG9&s7=9-52&Sect1=IMAGE&Sect2=THESOFF&Sect4=AND&Sect5=WARDPEN&Sect6=HITOFF&d=FIND&p=1&u=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/archivianet/02015202_e.html&r=1&f=G Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David_Underdown Posted 1 January , 2012 Share Posted 1 January , 2012 Well the DCM was second to the VC (for other ranks), so it's roughly equivalent to the US DSC being second to the Medal of Honor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dee tee Posted 11 March , 2012 Share Posted 11 March , 2012 Hello, With reference to Sandy (Alexander) Newell and his DCM. He was my wifes great great uncle and we visited his grave during the summer while visiting the somme in July. We obtained a newspaper article stating that in addition to the American DSC the British awarded him a DCM and the French a Croix de Guerre for his actions on that day. Hope this clarifies the confusion with the medals? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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