Soldiers Serving in Ireland - 1920
by SLHS on
Monday 12 December 2016
Claims against damage or theft during raids on private properties carried out by British soldiers in Ireland were recorded and investigated by various departments within the British Army. These were documented, and the names of soldiers who took part in the raids were recorded, although it must be noted that all names and ranks were listed regardless of any guilt or innocence, and many of the claims were found to be malicious.
There was one soldier listed from the parish serving in Ireland that was included on the list serving in the 52nd Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regiment), and one from Alfreton, whom we also include as he was found in the same records.
DOCUMENT: Copy of document courtesy of the The National Archives
14 March 1920: Private, 122873, GREGORY, P Cemetery Road, Leabrooks, Alfreton, Derbyshire
14 March 1920: Private, 118792, LAWRENCE, W 71, Nottingham Road, Alfreton, Derbyshire
This reference is recorded in The National Archives records WO 35/165 – Claims for damages – Dublin Streets.
The soldier from Leabrooks is almost certainly Percy Gregory, who was born at Somercotes Hill on 9 May 1900. His parents were Isaac and Mary Gregory. His father worked as a coal miner and came originally from Buckinghamshire. By the census return of 1911, Percy, at the time recorded as 10 years old, lived with his parents and siblings at Cemetery Road, Leabrooks.
PHOTO: Percy Gregory, as a young boy (courtesy of an Ancestry Public Family Tree)