There is nothing like writing about a topic to make you take
a closer look at the information you already have. I learned so much going through the research I had already done on George Welch. I had no idea where he had been
until I wrote a timeline of his ten-year stint. Further
research added depth to my understanding of what he would have faced where he was posted.
Of course, now I want to know more. I also have another place
to visit on my wish list, Winchester. Who knows what more information could be
found there at the Royal Green Jackets (Rifles) Museum? The museum also has the added
attraction of being housed in the Peninsula Barracks, the home of the 60th
Rifles in Winchester, where George Welch once lived.
There is nothing like visiting the ground where your ancestors
once trod. Speaking of which, in the book Army
Records: a Guide for Family Historians, William Spencer talks about media
interest in families, successive generations of men, who have served in the
same places during the various Afghan Wars.* Now there would be a true case of
following in your father’s footsteps. That passage in his book made me realized there was a
connection in my own family, not to the Afghan Wars but to being sent to serve
where previous generations in your family had served. My father, George Welch’s
grandson, spent part of his WWII service in India. I wonder if he knew that his
grandfather had been there before him? It shows that we are connected to the
past in more ways than we may be aware of.
http://rgjmuseum.co.uk/
Spencer, William. Army Records: A Guide for Family Historians.
The National Archives, Kew, 2008 *p 10
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