It is still possible to surprise people with incredibly detailed and previously unknown information about their ancestors and this was definitely the case when I researched BBC Radio Wales presenter Owen Money’s military ancestry.
Owen Money was born Lynn Mittell in 1947 in Merthyr Tydfil. His father James Lyons Mittell and aunt Augusta Grace Mittell appear on the 1911 census as living at 5 Dale Terrace, Merthyr Tydfil with their parents Rosalie and James Brett Mittell.
Owen’s grandfather James Brett Mittell was born in 1882 in Lewisham. In 1901, his occupation is given as 'Steam Engine Driver' and obviously the lure of work had brought him to the then prosperous town of Merthyr Tydfil where he met and married his American wife in 1903.
Luckily James Mittell’s WW1 service papers survived the blitz intact and Owen now has all 14 pages in his possession. These documents, stored at the National Archives reveal that James left his home in Dale Terrace and travelled to Great Yarmouth where he attested in July 1915. Soon afterwards he was posted into the 206th Battery of the Royal Garrison Artillery with the service number, 54638.
On 7 June 1916, less than a month before the battle of the Somme, James was sent to France and posted to the 108th Siege Battery.
Reading through the 14 pages of a service record is always a sobering process, even when I know that the individual I am researching survived the war. It is incredible to think of the sheer volume of paperwork involved and nothing short of a miracle that so much detailed information is available to us now over 100 years later.
James Mittell’s service record seemed fairly regular. In fact Owen had told me that nobody in his family had ever done anything special and he was worried that he came from a long line of cowards! But page 62482 told me different.
Miltary medal receipt courtesy of the National Archives
While a military medal is not unique (14,504 Military Medals were awarded to members of the Royal Regiment of Artillery alone during World War One) it is still a long way from being an act of cowardice, and the medal came as a huge surprise to Owen when I told him live on air during Eleri Sion on 12 November. Also his grandfather's service record went on to tell me in great detail that James Mittell had been hospitalised in July 1916 and discharged in Dover in 1918, with the additional information that he was “released as a miner”.
However, what the service record cannot tell you is what James Mittell actually did to earn a military medal or where or when the performed his act of gallantry.
The London Gazette lists the basic details and does at least help to narrow down the dates; it confirms that Mittell was gazetted on 28 September 1917.
Consulting an expert was the next step and Paul Evans, the archivist at the Royal Garrison Artillery Museum in Woolwich, was just the chap to ask. He confirmed that sadly there was no war diary for the 108th Siege Battery, but suggested that a search of the local newspapers in the six months prior to the announcement in the Gazette might turn up a story of a local hero.
The librarian in Merthyr Tydfil Libraries was amazingly helpful and diligently set to work searching through archived microfilmed copies of the Merthyr Express until she found just what we were hoping for.
A replica of Mittell's Military Medal with clipping.
Thanks to his local library Owen now has new, valuable and incredibly personal information about his grandfather.
He also has a shiny new replica military medal from the Worcestershire Medal Service with his grandfather’s name and number engraved on the rim to treasure and perhaps wear with pride next Remembrance Day, along with the knowledge that his grandfather was a hero and not a coward.
Listen to BBC Radio Wales on 17 December 2-3pm to hear me giving people special Christmas “Gifts of Knowledge” with Eleri Sion. If you have something or someone you would like me to trace in time for Christmas then please get in touch.
