Thomas Eastwood

[Guest mjeastwood]

I'm trying to find out more about my Granfather (born 29 July 1894, Wootton Bedfordshire) who served with the Royal Engineers. Apparently he was in France for most of the war with the general consensus that he embarked shortly after his marriage in 1914.

Unfortunately I cannot find his war record at the PRO and can only assume he is one of the many whose records were lost in the Blitz. I have checked the London Gazette and can find two Thomas Eastwoods who were awarded the MM during the war. According to my uncle he was awarded the MM after blowing up a bridge whilst his unit was in retreat although I have no other details as to where.

The two listed in the London Gazette are Acting Bombadier Thomas Eastwood (No 1258. Royal Field Artillary later 247388 RE) who is listed in the paper dated 1/9/1916 and Sapper Thomas Eastwood (No 2512, later 522202, RE) in the paper 27 June 1918.

I have spoken to my uncle and the sapper is the more likely as the chap with the RFA was also listed as a driver under the 1914-1915 star medal role and Grandad couldn't drive.

I've found as much as I can through the PRO including details of his campaign medals - all of which (1914-15 Star, Victory, British and MM) are no longer in the possession of the family, a situation I would love to correct.

Grandad survived the war, dying in 1974, but no-one seems to know much about what he actually did, which included being gassed.

Sorry this is so long but I thought I better post as much as possible. At some point I will contact the RE Museum to see if they can help.

Martin

[HarryBettsMCDCM]

Your Index Card details for your Grandfathers 1914~15 star Trio Should give you his Service Numbers that Correspond to any award of the MM{ie The Number of the MM Soldier would match one of the Numbers on the MiC,Also There should be a seperate MiC{Gallantry Card} for any MM Award,The Most likely source of Details of any Award would be from Local Press Auspices Published @ the Time,from the Town Area in which he lived,which often give a short{often just a line or two}description of the reason of the award,there are generally very few Official Citations to WW1 MMs either Published or recorded in Official Sources;so unfortunately a bit of an uphill struggle to find anything out about the reasons for award of MMs,but occassionally one can be pleasantly surprised.Good Luck!

[enoch beard]

mr eastwood,dont forget a driver in the r.a. was more than likely 'driving horses'

enoch

[Guest mjeastwood]

Thanks for the responses - I hadn't thought of the local papers. He was born on Wootton, Beds, his brother is named on the War Memorial there and got married in Litlington Cambs which is where he may have been living during the War - well my grandmother anyway. I'll see what I can find out. I'm still not sure if I've got the right Thomas Eastwood because there are no linking service papers at the PRO.

Also I hadn't though about the driving horses - good point but all adds to the confusion.

Thanks

Martin

[enoch beard]

martin, i've just checked 522202 spr t.eastwood gazette on london gazette on- line

(l.g. 27th june 18 page 7590) it lists his 'town' as bedford ,so i would say there good chace he is your relative.

enoch

[Guest mjeastwood]

Enoch,

Thanks for doing that - much appreciated.

That's the entry I looked at at the PRO but must have missed the home town bit. If that is the case Grandad was with 90th Field Company and presumably I can date the award to a few months before that - I'll check the Bedford papers.

I've got the medal roll details showing the 1914-15 star trio and info on embarkation date 13-12-1915 and move to the reserve 22-3-1919.

I've just checked where 90th saw action - Somme, Ypres and Passchendaele. It's a miracle anyone survived that.

Thanks once again for your help

Martin

[Ken Lees]

Have you considered looking at the War Diary of the 90th Field Comapny, Royal Engineers? There may be some indication in it of where your relative was when the recommendation for the award was made. War Diaries are available at the National Archives, amongst other places.

Regards,

Ken

[Guest mjeastwood]

Ken,

Thanks for the tip - Ill try that as well

Martin

[bedfordyeoman]

Hi Martin,

I can confirm that Sapper Eastwood was a sapper in the local REs, known as the East Anglian Royal Engineers (EARE), the later number 522 being the clue. I don't have a great knowledge about the EAREs but they were formed in about 1901 and were based at Bedford, although they attracted a lot of men from Luton as the county's other industrial base. The 1/1 coy went to France in 1914, I think, and the 2/1 went to Gallipoli in 1915 ( I have the 14/15 trio and medaille militaire to a Sapper from Bedford who served in the latter unit), but I don't recall any reference to the 90th. You will need to search the Bedfordshire Times, which is on microfilm at Bedford library.there is also a book in the reference section about the history of Bedfordshire's regiments past and present so this may assist.

I note your reference to Charles Frederick Eastwood, who is on the Wootton memorial for 1939/45. Interestingly, he also served WW1 in the RN aboard HMS Dido.

All the best

David

[Guest mjeastwood]

David,

Thanks for the info - it's fascinating putting together the real history behind old relatives. I didn't know my grandfather very well as after the war he moved to yorkshire and I didn't see him that often - I lived in Farnham Surrey at the time and was only 14 when he died.

I got the bit about the 90th Field Company from the PRO - London Gazette entries for 27 June 1918. Wasn't it quite common for men to move regiments/companies as the war progressed and casualties took there toll?

There is reference to Charles Frederick (always known in the family as Uncle Fred) on his father-in-law John Pope's grave in one of Wootton cemetaries showing his death on 24 April 1940 whilst serving on HMS Curacoa in Narvik in Norway.

My cousin lives in Bedford and is also researching family history - I'll ask him to check the local paper and the book on bedforshire regiments.

Thanks Again

Regards

Martin

[Raster Scanning]

Finger trouble!

[Raster Scanning]

[Raster Scanning]

Martin

Attached is part of the entry for Wootton in the Absent Voters List.

No mention of your Grandfather just his brother. I guess he was living in Bedford by then.

Both my Grandparents came from Wootton and I am sure would have known your Grandfather and Gt Uncle.

I have quite a few contemporary pictures of Wootton if you are interested.

Cheers.

John.

[Guest mjeastwood]

John

Thanks for the information - much appreciated. I'll add it to my records. Judging by the size of Wootton even today I would be very surprised if they didn't know each other.

I would be very interested in the photographs - thanks.

My Grandfather married into the Keep family, which appears to be a well-known Wootton family judging by the number of graves and census records. My great-uncle married into the Pope family and is mentioned on his father-in-laws grave.

I have asked my cousin to look into records at Bedford Library based on the Information given here. Hopefully that will throw up some more info.

Thanks once again

Martin