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Subject: [WW1] My Father's Service History
Date: Sat, 2 Feb 2002 06:29:20 EST

Dear Listers

My Father died in 1938 when I was only five years of age, so that I never
learnt anything of his service history in WW1, other than from my Mother. As
I am compiling a family history, I applied to the MOD about fifteen years
ago, only to be told that his records had been destroyed in the blitz. A
professional researcher is now searching the burnt records for me for
anything remaining, although I realise that this is only a faint hope.

He was 49726 Sapper Frank Bernard Allen serving in the Royal Engineers, and
at the time came from Walsall.

I know that he was in France and possibly even Belgium and Germany and I have
his service medals namely Pip, Squeak and Wilfred. I have no information on
his Field Company as unfortunately my Mother destroyed all correspondence
sent to her, before she died in 1975.

My reason for writing is that there is one rather morbid story that my Mother
related, that might just throw some light onto his whereabouts during one
spell of fighting.

In the trenches, on a corner in the trench, a soldier had been killed and was
left hanging on the wire on top of the parapet. He had flaming red hair but
as it was impossible to move him due to the shooting, he had turned blue. The
soldiers referred to the spot as the 'Corner by Blue Ginger'. This is hardly
likely to appear in anyone's' service history but one never knows that
someone somewhere may have referred to the place in a record. This would at
least give an indication as to the exact location. The only other information
that I have is that my Father was in hospital just before his demob at the
end of the war and this was with illness (probably trench fever), not wounds.

I still live in hope of finding some information.
Robert Allen
Stourbridge
West Midlands

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