BALLYMENA 1914-1918

WELCOME  to the first website devoted to Ballymena and District in the First World War. It now also includes any Glenarm, Cushendall, Cushendun and Carnlough men encountered during research.

Please use the site information freely for your own projects and please also include a tribute to Ballymena and the Great War in your work. Sadly, few currently do this.

We hope that it will help you to understand the magnitude of the sacrifice made by the fine young men of this district, and we trust you will find yourself increasingly proud of them as you see their story unfold.  This is not a perfect telling of their tale but the site is modified to correct errors as information becomes available.

USING THIS SITE

Researching a soldier from the Great War period can be a daunting task, but this site should make the job a lot easier.  Have a look at the 'buttons' at top of your screen. You will see a list of options.

For those who wish to know more about an ancestor who died during the war, simply search the alphabetical listings, the 'Virtual Memorial'. These will give you the man's rank, unit and army service number. A date of death and the nature of his demise is also provided along with cemetery or memorial details.

WEEKLY WAR

'The Weekly War': This is a collection of pictures and reports from the files of the Ballymena Observer newspaper of the period.  By cross referencing dates of death with the appropriate 'Weekly War' section, you should be able to find out more about your ancestor.

TRACKING DOWN SERVICE AND FAMILY DETAILS

Be aware that not all soldiers' deaths were reported in the local press, and that stories printed at the time of the Great War are not always accurate.  Be aware also that the spelling of names and places varies considerably due to spelling errors and who wrote them down, eg Rea, Rae, Ray, Reay, or Rathcavan, Rocavan or Racavan. However, the 'Weekly War' is almost unique in that it contains a vast amount of detail and pictures about men who served, when they enlisted, their wounds and gallantry awards.

Make use of the online Irish Census to trace locations, other family members, occupations, migrations etc - http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/

Wills of some soldiers are also available online from the same source - http://soldierswills.nationalarchives.ie/search/sw/index.jsp

There is online help for locating townlands - https://www.townlands.ie/

POW Records: See 1914-1918 Prisoners of the First World War ICRC Historical Archives - http://grandeguerre.icrc.org/