Yorktown T-Shirt

I thought I'd post a picture of the t-shirt I've just won in an online auction. As you can see, it has the word 'Yorktown' and a picture of a Continental infantry man on the front, most likely paying tribute to the combined American and French victory over the British in 1781 at the Siege of Yorktown.

I look forward to receiving it and it will take pride of place in my wardrobe. It will be used as my 'wargaming' tee. Atleast, for gaming in the Americas.

This picture shows a close up of the detail.

LCpl Hugh Ross, Seaforth Highlanders

I've spent the last few months researching the soldier listed above who died on the 10th May 1915 during one of the many actions of the First World War. The reason I'm so interested in this soldier is because he is my Great Great Grandfather and at the time of his death he was aged 21 which is how old I'll be on the 10th May of next year (although this isn't my birthday).

My search began during a visit to the Imperial War Museum in London where I found his service record. This gave his full title - Lance Corporal Hugh Ross of the 4th Bn. Seaforth Highlanders and his number - 1810. It also gives his date of death as the 10th May 1915, aged 21 years. No other information is given as the free service offered by the Imperial War Museum is meant to merely act as a starting place for further research.

His date of birth is unknown to me but at a guess he was born around 1894. My next aim is to try and find his individual service record which should show where, when and with which unit he served during his time in the army. Unfortunately many of the records who his regiment were destroyed during WWII but if I'm lucky, the National Archives will still keep a copy of his record.

I received an email back from the Highlanders Museum up in Scotland who keep certain records including the War Diary of the 4th Bn and a general history of the Bn written at the time. According to the researcher, there is no mention of a LCpl Hugh Ross but there is a Sergeant Hugh Ross written about on the 9th May, a day of heavy casualties for the Bn. This entry was written about an action that happened at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle whose objective was to capture Aubers Ridge at which I'm sure the Hugh Ross I'm related to died in. Interestingly, the researcher at the Highlanders Museum states that the 4th Bn Seaforth Highlanders weren't serving on the line on the 10th May, the date of his death, so he suspects LCpl Ross may have died the following day of injuries sustained during the battle. He also suggests that LCpl Ross and Sergeant Ross might be the same person as many NCOs died during the battle and LCpl Ross could have been handed a short-lived promotion but this is a long shot and may be difficult to prove.

My next step will involve searching for Hugh Ross' service record from the National Archives and to continue my dialogue with the researcher from the Highlanders Museum to try and discover more about the action of the 4th Bn Seaforth Highlanders on the 9th and 10th May 1915. I will also try and confirm whether or not LCpl and Sergeant Hugh Ross are the same or different persons.

This is an ongoing project to discover more about members of my family who served their country during the First and Second World Wars and I will continually revisit this over the coming year. Please let me know if you found or would find something like this interesting and if you're new to the blog, sign up and 'follow' it or leave a comment!

Update

I thought I'd just give you an update on what's going on with me at the minute and apologise for the lack of recent updates!

Some of you may know that I'm still a young chap and am still at University. As this is my final year I have a lot of work and subsequently my hobbies will have to suffer - especially being separated from all your paints and figures by a 90 minute train journey! But don't worry, I've been keeping up with historical reading and so expect a few articles in the coming weeks on various subject matters including the American Revolution and the British intervention in the Sudan. They'll also be a few pictures of some terrain pieces I worked on before I went off to University and a few buildings made for me by Paul Darnell.

Thanks for your continued interest in my hobby and a big welcome to the three new followers who have taken the time to follow this blog over the weekend.